An Iglu & A Drill

School was cancelled for the morning of Monday, March 22, due to extreme cold.  When it comes to weather cancellations, the school follows Environment Canada’s weather website.  (The Weather Network isn’t good enough).  The website posted an extreme cold warning for the community and a temperature of -50°C.  That’s cold.  However, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly.  If there is no windchill, -50 is tolerable.  February is usually the coldest month of the year, but sometimes, I guess, March gets jealous and wants the same attention.  Up here, we don’t start thinking about cancelling school until the temperature dips below -40°C. 

Several teachers decided to go home for the morning after the cancellation was announced.  I chose to stay and get ahead in my work.  There’s always something to be done.  A co-worker informed me that someone built an iglu near the Northern Store.  I went down to the ice to investigate just after 11am.  I had my camera with me.   It was in my pocket, but I still held it because I didn’t want the battery to run out of power.  Batteries lose power a lot faster when exposed to extreme cold. 

I’m not sure who built the iglu, but they did a really good job.  Experienced builders are able to complete an iglu in an hour or less.  I got as close as I could and took pictures of snow structure from every angle I could think of.  I didn’t go inside because I was worried my large Canada Goose jacket would get stuck in the entrance and break off a piece.  I didn’t want to be known as that guy who damaged, or worse, collapsed an iglu.

Two large white camping tents had also been set up nearby.  They were being heated by propane tanks.  I assumed they were put there by the local Hunters & Trappers Organization, but I can’t be sure.  I could have gone inside to investigate, but I didn’t want to intrude.

I returned to school.  Classes resumed in the afternoon because the temperature increased by at least 10 degrees.                 

Two loaders plowed several patches of snow around the breakwater pier, and a wide path to the shoreline on March 25.  This would make it easier for large vehicles to drive onto the ice.  I thought they were a making skating rink or a large parking lot, but the real reason came on the afternoon of Friday, March 26.

I was walking home from school when I saw a large CAT loader slowly moving in reverse down the main street near the shoreline.  It was pulling a very large wooden box with no roof.  Workers were slowly walking on both sides directing the driver.  I passed the Northern Store to get a closer look at the operation.

There was another loader on the other side of the box pushing it.  I wondered how could a large wooden box require two loaders to move until I noticed the large metallic machine inside.  The machine was a Logan GeoTech drill.  The drill was being moved down to the ice where the snow had been cleared.  The machine will drill through the ice, into the ground beneath, and extract land samples.  The samples will be analyzed and used by the contractor chosen to build Arctic Bay’s new small craft harbour.  The project was announced by the federal government in 2019, part of the $190 million in infrastructure investments outlined in the Tallurutiup Imanga & Tuvaijuuittuq Agreements.  You can read more about them in my November 2019 post here.  (Clyde River was also selected for a small craft harbour).

Having a small craft harbour will greatly improve the lives of boaters in the community.  I have copies of the plans in my classroom and they look impressive.  Wooden docks to park boats, a loading & launching ramp, fixed wharf for larger vessels to dock & unload supplies, and another breakwater pier to protect boats from high waves.  The wharf will not be large enough to accommodate sealift ships so they’ll still have to anchor in the bay.  Construction is set to start this summer, but may get delayed to next year because of the ongoing pandemic.

This particular Logan GeoTech drill is a land-based drill so the drilling has to be done on the frozen ice.  If the workers waited until summer, they would have to use a drillship or barge.

The moving operation came to a brief halt in front of a pair of low hanging power lines.  The top of the drill was sticking out and was higher than the power lines.  A worker got a long wooden stick, climbed onto the drill, lied down, and then gently lifted the wires above the drill.  He held the wires as the two loaders slowly moved the drill underneath.  The loaders then stopped, letting the worker get off the drill.

I continued walking home, while the workers moved the drill onto the ice.  The drilling started on the weekend.  The wooden box protected the machine & workers from wind and cold temperatures.  It would also make it easier for the loaders to move the machine because there were several places to drill.

I photographed the drill in operation over the weekend.  The generator powering the machine was also enclosed in a wooden box.  A constant droning sound from the generator could be heard from the shoreline.  On Sunday, March 28, the workers used several blue tarps to add a roof.  I guess they needed an enclosed heated area around the drill to keep the machine from freezing.  The drilling will only last several days.

I don’t think the sled dogs out on the ice were bothered by the large mechanical contraption.  They probably howled along to the sounds it produced.  They mostly howl when its feeding time.  When the dogs are eating, ravens from all over town flock for a chance to get some of the food.  I photographed several large congresses of ravens hanging out with the dogs.  The two species seem to get along.