| Arctic
Explorer Packs it in
Ananova.com
Posted September 12, 2003
An Arctic explorer using a collapsible rubber boat has abandoned
his expedition just 35 miles from his final target after being
trapped by pack-ice for three days.
Dom Mee, 32, was retracing the route of Victorian explorer
Sir John Ross through the Northwest Passage when a build-up
of ice in the water forced him to pitch camp on land at Lord
Mayor's Bay.
He was only 35 miles from Victory Bay, where Ross's steamship
was crushed by ice in 1830.
After waiting to see if the ice would break for more than
60 hours, Mr Mee, a former marine commando from West Buckland,
Somerset, was forced to turn back.
Adrian Wibrew, the project manager for the expedition, said:
"He's massively disappointed. Dom has lived and breathed
Ross's endeavours for months, and to reach Victory Bay was
very important to him.
"I spoke to him last night and he said there might have
been a route through the ice, but he couldn't guarantee he
could row back from Victory Bay, so he couldn't risk it.
"He likened it to standing at Dover and being able to
see France, but the Channel being iced over. He might get
to France but he might also end up stuck there. It was too
big a risk." Mr Wibrew said the explorer could not wait
any longer in one place for the ice to break as polar bears
were becoming a threat, and the winter was drawing in.
"He's now paddling back towards Spence Bay, where he
will be picked up and flown back to the UK, hopefully in time
for his birthday on September 27."
Ananova.com
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