20th September 2016:
At 8.30 a.m. we were presenting in the gym to the whole high school of about 150 students and in the afternoon to the whole elementary of about 80 students. High school and elementary did a great job in the following TOPtoTOP event cleaning up the neighborhood from trash. As a price they were invited to visit our sailboat and learn about renewable energy the next day.
In between all these school events Meret had to pack her belongings and we had to say goodbye. She was able to do a reservation with Labrador Air out of Nain at 11 a.m. to Goose Bay and from there to San John’s in Newfoundland and finally to London, thanks to Linda&Bill’s wifi last night.
So, after the High School we went to the runway just out of town one hour before departure. On the way Noe said: “There is a plain!” I saw the plain rolling onto the runway for take off. Running towards the plain and waving to the pilot we managed to stop the plain. It came back to the small hangar and like this Meret luckily could join the other 2 passengers. This coincidence happened because she was not listed, may because she did the booking last minute.
There was hardly no time to shake hands, Meret just jumped on the plain and disappeared. That was too much for us and specially for the kids. We all were in tears. Our younger kids ask when she will be back? Since Meret left, Mia is looking all the time for her godmother, Meret.
Meret became a part of the family. This was her 3rd time on Pachamama. All in all she was approximately one year on Pachamama covering approximately 17’000 nautical miles. She is a great person with a big heart and a good humor. She became a good sailor and knows a lot about marine life. She is the woman on board in any research program we volunteer for sampling. Meret, a big thank you and a big hug from all of us. The unique experience to sail the Northwest Passage 1st time via the shortest route through Hudson Strait we share together forever!
In the evening we were invited by Sophie&Harry. They served us a delicious soup with all ingredients from their garden and the land. The night before we had a green salad at Linda&Bill’s; it was the first salad since Hawaii except when we were invited on Hetairos in Gjoa Haven.
Harry works for the Nunavut administration negotiating the contracts with mining companies. Close to Nain is the world reaches nickel mine. The Brasilian company mining the nickel does a fortune. The local government struggles. Nain likes to move to renewable energy to be more independent and is quite green and progressive.
Traditionally people here eat at least 3times a week caribou besides fish. There are people in town, they struggle with food. Food at the store is very expensive. Therefore they have a community freezer. Hunters get munition to go hunting for the whole community.
The population of caribou in Northern Labrador declined from 800’000 to 10’000! They told us, that many caribou drowned because of the warming. On their migration routes they are faced with less sea ice or early break up to cross fjords and the rivers have more water.
Gofundme link:
https://www.gofundme.com/2gb7d6c
Donations: http://www.toptotop.org/bank.php
Voyage link:
https://share.delorme.com/ChristinaHartmann
Best high resolution pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s0aorug11707501/AAC394QkszKupn4syRj2EyMpa/best%20pics%20of%20TOPtoTOP/2016-annual-report?dl=0T
