Homemade Russian boat in Nunavut on Arctic tour
CBC News
Posted: Aug 23, 2011 1:00 PM CT
Last Updated: Aug 23, 2011 1:00 PM CT
The Russian crew is using a boat made out of bamboo, rope and duct tape as it heads through the Northwest Passage. An unusual homemade boat with a crew of four Russians arrived in Clyde River, Nunavut on Saturday, making a stop on its transarctic trip to study the geography and people of the North.
The 25-foot (7.6-metre) boat is made out of bamboo, rope and duct tape.
"Absolutely fascinating. I've never seen the likes of it in my life," said Constable Rolland Lavoie, who's with the RCMP in Clyde River. "I would expect that a trip of this sort to be on a huge cruise boat, something huge, but this is something out of Gilligan's Island, for crying out loud. Very Interesting."
The boat set sail from St. Petersburg, Russia on May 10 for a six-month journey and is now heading through the Northwest Passage.
The Russian crew expect to arrive in Cambridge Bay around Sept. 5.
Lavoie said the crew members have met all the legal requirements to make the voyage.
The sail-motorized trimaran (multi-hulled) "Rus" is scheduled to end its voyage in Anadyr, in the Chukotka region of Russia in late October or early November after a visit to Alaska. It has already made stops in Denmark, Iceland and Greenland.
The expedition will be the subject of a book and documentary about nature and inhabitants of the Arctic.
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