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any light from getting through. In places, it is 4000 metres deep. It looks
very eerie. We had to don our dry suits to cross one lead that was about
30 metres wide. The water was black and deep, and it was a hellish cross-
ing. The ice was very thin on both sides, making it extremely difficult to
get out. You slip and slide and the ice crumbles, all the while trying to
manoeuvre the kayak, and purchase is almost impossible to find.
As I write this, I am receiving texts from Brooke and Dillon; this
gives me the strength to push on.
aPril 12
One of my ski bindings broke today, and the other one cracked. Eric
blamed it on the way I ski, which is probably fair enough, though this
doesn't explain his own binding breaking. Eric is treating us like school
kids; he said that I need to be gentler on my equipment. He doesn't
seem to realise that my sole objective is to get to Canada as fast as pos-
sible. He and I are clashing because we are both natural leaders.
Clark didn't film our barney because he is employed by Eric and
wants more expeditions, but our disagreements are the dramatic stuff
that should be documented, because they are the reality. We're not the
Brady Bunch!
I have been forced to wear snowshoes and think I will just stay
in them and hope they hold up. The problem with snowshoes is that
wearing them takes a lot of energy and also makes crossing wide leads
very dangerous. I have to pull my sled right to the edge of the lead and
then jump across, before pulling the sled behind.
We have 625 kilometres to go before we reach the end of the polar
region, and we're averaging 21 kilometres per day. If we can bump this
up to 25 kilometres, we can make up a day's travel every four days. I
know I'm a pain in the arse to my companions. I never let up on the
need for us all to keep moving, going as far each day as humanly pos-
sible, so we can get back on schedule. 'Every kilometre counts!' I've
said endlessly, like a cracked record.
aPril 13
Very cold start, -35 degrees. I didn't sleep much last night. At night—
and I say that advisedly, because at this time of year it's daylight for
