First Days Of School & Visit To Nanisivik

Arctic Bay. August 19, 2021.

I have written about the difficulties of travelling in the Canadian territories in many previous posts, detailing how the unpredictable Arctic weather can wreak havoc on all forms of transportation.  On foot, by dogsled, atv, skidoo, vehicle, boat, airplane, it doesn’t matter.  Mother Nature always wins, even with the best weather monitoring & warning technologies at our disposal.  Sometimes, it’s not the weather, but the equipment that fails.  These delays are always frustrating and unwelcome, but the best we can do is adapt and overcome.

So far, the majority of weather-related delays I’ve experienced are during the winter months.  I’m always surprised when a delay occurs in the summer.

Arctic Bay. August 19, 2021.

I returned to Nunavut on August 13.  I was not required to isolate in a hotel for two weeks because I am double vaccinated against COVID-19.  My next flight was the following afternoon, so I enjoyed a day in the territorial capital.  Unfortunately, my flight on August 14 was cancelled due to “crew issues”.  Canadian North offered a hotel voucher, but I declined, because I could stay with my brother.  The airline rebooked me for August 19.  Naturally, I was very surprised to see the faraway date in the email, but the Customer Relations people on the phone explained there was a backlog of passengers for that travel route.  I requested them to find a seat for me on an earlier flight.

A teacher I had been travelling with managed to get a seat on the August 15^th flight by putting himself on the standby list.  I decided to do the same on August 16^th.  No luck.  Thankfully, the ticket counter staff verbally guaranteed me a seat on Wednesday’s flight (August 18^th).  I would miss the first day of school.  I notified the principal of my situation.  Wednesday’s flight went ahead without serious problems.  We were only delayed by an hour.  I finally made it home after being stuck in Iqaluit for 5 days.  In August!  I hope I don’t have to go through that again in the future.  I quickly unpacked, organized my apartment, and prepared for the second day of school.

The second & third days of school went well.  I went over the course outlines, the layout of my classroom, handed out binders & folders, and began the first units of each class.  I breathed a sigh of relief when school was dismissed for the weekend.

Friday evenings are usually spent at home relaxing after a long week of teaching.  This time was different.  On Friday, August 20, I visited the Nanisivik Naval Facility (NNF) with Frank to see if all the structures & equipment were still in good order.  The NNF is in the final stages of becoming operational.  I think the government is aiming for the summer of 2022. 

The trip reminded me of the previous trip I took with Frank in 2014.  We passed several people picking berries near the Road to Nanisivik.

We started the inspection at the Interim Site Office (ISO).  The ISO belongs to the Department of National Defence (DND) and I believe was the first structure to be built at the site after the mine closed in 2002.  The ISO was used as a political tool by the federal government in Ottawa as a way of asserting sovereignty in Canada’s Arctic.  I’m not sure how effective the building is in that regard because it’s a portable building sitting on metal stilts.  The building has been sitting locked for most of the year.  I’m assuming the building will see more activity when the NNF becomes operational.

Frank drove down to the docks to continue his inspection while I remained on foot.  I took several landscape photographs as well as pictures of the facilities.  As mentioned before, the largest structures are the two white diesel silos.  I’m not sure how many litres of diesel they store, but I bet it’s a lot.  The fuel is meant for the six Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship(s) (AOPS) that will be patrolling Canada’s Arctic.  The Harry DeWolf is the only active AOPS at the moment.  (More on this in a future post).

Seeing the pipes going from the silos to the piers looks complicated.  They stop short of the piers and to the left of the tall fuel crane.  (This was my first time seeing the crane in the summer).  A separate pipe will be used to connect the AOPS to the diesel pipeline for refueling.  The crane & its ropes will hoist the pipe off the ground to prevent damage.  It’s already been done with other navy vessels.

The modular barracks are still there, built by Almiq Contracting Ltd.  All the windows are boarded to prevent break-ins. 

There’s a large assortment of vehicles at the NNF.  There are cranes, excavators, loaders, pickup trucks, gas trucks, and even an ambulance.  Arctic Bay could use an ambulance. 

A small fenced off section of the facility is reserved for the Canadian Coast Guard.  The only items I saw were a few shipping containers.

Next to the Coast Guard area sat piles of large anchor chains and anchors.  I didn’t try picking them up because they appear to be really heavy. 

Satisfied that everything was in order and not disturbed, Frank & I got back into his red pickup truck for the drive home.  We stopped in front of a road sign that stated that Arctic Bay was 40km away by road.  Frank reset his odometer and I photographed the sign.  He wanted to prove his hunch that Arctic Bay is closer than what the sign said.  He was right.  When we entered Arctic Bay proper, the odometer read 37.5km. 

I thanked Frank for the tour of NNF and immediately went to work cropping & editing some of the photographs I took. 

Strathcona Sound. August 20, 2021.