Cause for concern

Winter definitely arrived in Iqaluit this week. With windchill the temps have dived to under -20. The funny thing is, by next April that will be considered positively balmy. I'll be walking around in the BFC (Big Fucking Coat for those of you new to these parts) with the the front undone. It'll be warm.

However, right now the body is still trying to get used to those temperatures. So right now -25 is fucking cold. In a few weeks, not so much. I've been trying to hold out breaking out the BFC until at least the 1st of November, purely for psychological reasons. However, I had some running around to do today - I think the bank now officially owns our souls - and the Australian outback coat I've been using for the last few months might have just been retired for the season. We'll see, but certainly it's days are numbered.

The dip in temperature is not the cause for concern, however. It's completely to be expected that it would start getting very cold right about now. Welcome to the arctic. No, what concerns me a bit is this.



That is the last cargo vessel of the season. She's been floating out there for about two weeks or so. When she first arrived she was a beehive of activity and barges were running back and forth between her and the beach as often as was able. They had to move quick because the inner bay is starting to freeze.

Then there was ice in the bay, the barges stopped running, but the boat stayed out there. It was a touch confusing, but then a fuel ship arrived. "Ah ha," I thought, "they must be heading out together or something. They probably have an ice breaker further out the bay waiting for them."

Sounded logical. Completely wrong, though. The fuel ship left, the cargo vessel continued to mysteriously float in the bay.

Then, about 30 minutes ago, I saw this.



That means they're still trying to run cargo. It's -25C with wind chill, the inner bay is filled with ice and they're still trying to run barges back and forth. Which is craziness.

So why is that a concern? Because NorthMart hasn't contacted us yet about our sea lift. We weren't too worried because we assumed it was in already and we were going to ask them to hold off delivering it until December. No sense delivering it here and then having to move it when we go to the new house in December. However, if they're still running barges filled with cargo that means there's is the possibility our sea lift is still on that bloody boat and at risk of not making it in if the bay freezes shut, which could happen any day now.

Yup, this could be a whole lot of fun yet.

Last Five
1. Little Bones - The Tragically Hip
2. Poison oak - Bright Eyes
3. Gimmie sympathy - Metric
4. Unhappy song - Lloyd Cole
5. Walter Reed - Michael Penn*