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When will "small vessels" first be able to traverse the Northwest Passage in 2023?

Before August 1
9 (23.1%)
August 1 -  15
20 (51.3%)
August 16 - 31
7 (17.9%)
September 1 - 15
3 (7.7%)
September 16 - 30
0 (0%)
Extremely late in the season
0 (0%)
No way Jose!
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 39

Voting closed: July 24, 2023, 03:44:46 PM

Author Topic: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?  (Read 6926 times)

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #50 on: August 13, 2023, 12:01:24 PM »
Que Sera has just become the first "pleasure craft" of 2023 to pass through the Bellot Strait:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-13

Meanwhile Americaborg is approaching the Bering Strait, and thence the completion of the first "commercial" east to west "circle to circle" voyage through the Northwest Passage this summer:
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Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #51 on: August 15, 2023, 11:13:51 AM »
The Canadian Ice Service aren't covering the area yet of course, but "unofficially" a particularly adventurous yacht captain could probably now navigate out of McClure Strait into the Beaufort Sea:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-15
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gerontocrat

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #52 on: August 15, 2023, 11:54:19 AM »
According to the GFS forecast rain on the CAA today, & mostly rain and some snow this weekend.
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Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #53 on: August 15, 2023, 03:04:02 PM »
Assorted small "pleasure craft" in the NWP, including Que Sera, are sheltering from the current storm in the CAA:
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grixm

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #54 on: August 17, 2023, 08:02:31 AM »
Officially open

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #55 on: August 17, 2023, 10:11:33 AM »
The southern route is officially wide open! The "pleasure craft" Terra Nova and Que Sera are heading for Gjoa Haven:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-17

Now I wonder when (if?) the CIS will start coverage of the Parry Channel and McClure Strait:
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KenB

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #56 on: August 17, 2023, 03:14:47 PM »
The southern route is officially wide open! The "pleasure craft" Terra Nova and Que Sera are heading for Gjoa Haven:


I'm curious about the persistent chunk of ice in the Gulf of Boothia (see last image Jim posted), apparently blocking that route completely.  A quick look back seemed to show this happens fairly often (but I didn't look too carefully).  It's pretty far south; almost everything that far south seems to be melted out completely.
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Supak

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #57 on: August 17, 2023, 04:29:20 PM »
The southern route is officially wide open! The "pleasure craft" Terra Nova and Que Sera are heading for Gjoa Haven:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-17

Now I wonder when (if?) the CIS will start coverage of the Parry Channel and McClure Strait:

Jim, when you say "officially" does that mean you see open seas or that some government entity has announced that the passage is open? If the latter, which agency? I asked Canadian Ice Services and they pointed me to the Canadian Coast Guard, but I don't see anything from them.
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John_the_Younger

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #58 on: August 17, 2023, 05:49:22 PM »
But what matters [/sarcasm] is who won the poll?

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #59 on: August 18, 2023, 01:08:12 PM »
Jim, when you say "officially" does that mean you see open seas or that some government entity has announced that the passage is open?

I mean that the "official" CIS daily ice charts show that the assorted southern routes are all "wide open"
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Supak

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #60 on: August 18, 2023, 02:25:30 PM »


Thanks, I'm a bit surprised there's not an official announcement from the Canadian government but I suppose they might not want to "officially" encourage "particularly adventurous" yacht captains!
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Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #61 on: August 18, 2023, 02:46:57 PM »
I'm a bit surprised there's not an official announcement from the Canadian government

The US National Ice Center usually provide weekly maps of the NWP when they deem it to be "open":

https://usicecenter.gov/Products/ArcticPeriodic

For some reason they haven't started doing that yet this year. With a bit of luck it might be published later today.

Here's the first chart from last year:
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #62 on: August 25, 2023, 11:51:33 PM »
According to the latest weekly CIS ice chart Route 1 through the Northwest Passage is now "open" to anyone willing to try ploughing through a large area of 5/10 concentration ice:
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #63 on: August 28, 2023, 03:31:57 PM »
Route 7 via the Foxe Basin is also now "open" according to the <= 6/10 criterion:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-26

I wonder if the bulk carrier Trinityborg will take that route for the last part of its voyage from China to the St. Lawrence?
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg

Jim Hunt

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Re: When will the Northwest Passage "open" in 2023?
« Reply #64 on: August 31, 2023, 07:48:09 PM »
The latest weekly CIS ice chart shows that the northern route is now navigable without coming across anything worse than 2/10 concentration ice:

https://GreatWhiteCon.info/2023/06/the-northwest-passage-in-2023/#Aug-31
"The most revolutionary thing one can do always is to proclaim loudly what is happening" - Rosa Luxemburg