After successfully completing the paddling of The Northwest Passage, The Arctic Cowboys paddles an additional 50+ miles to the north shore of Nicholson Island. At this point, they needed to decide the best route to take to get to their extraction site. After thorough discussions with local resident Tyrone Raddi, it was deemed too unsafe for a boat to come out to pick them up. They could have paddled through Eskimo Lakes but that would have added additional miles for the team and, even then, the fresh water was starting to freeze and there were no guarantees they would be able to make it all of the way. The route to Tuktoyaktuk was open, at that time, but waves and winds were picking up and the team could not determine how many extra days it would take for them to get there. The team was very tired after their massive effort and just needed to get off of the water. They had a good idea of how long their food supply would last for the four of them and it would not cover too many “down days”. Based on all of this information, we sought out any and all options to get the team back to Inuvik as quickly and safely as possible. The result of this effort was Aklak Air.
Ken Dalton with Aklak Air was instrumental in assuring us they could land on the “airstrip” at Nicholson Island. The airstrip is a strip of Sandy beach strewn with branches, driftwood, and other unknowns. Aklak Air uses a Twin Otter plane to deliver & pick up people from whatever adventures they are seeking in the Arctic. West was extremely skeptical of this plan, as the team did not see an airstrip. We reassured him this was the answer. So, on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 4:30 pm, the two pilots along with Jeff’s wife, Sheila Reiter swooped down onto Nicholson Island and picked up the team, their gear, and their 2 boats, and flew them into Inuvik. They arrived safely after having devoured some turkey and spinach sandwiches made by Sheila. Each of them immediately showered and went to the only restaurant in town to eat some more.
Finally getting to actually talk to the team, in person, was a relief. They will take a day or so to sort through things and all will be making arrangements to head to their respective homes.
Thank you to everyone that followed along, and supported the team financially & emotionally. Thank you!
