The entire flurry lasted less than five minutes, but in that time the steering gear was almost disabled. The back of the rudder was twisted on the stock, the heavy iron head-bands and fittings broken, and the steel tiller rods snapped. Temporary repairs were effected, and as soon as the pressure relaxed we steamed on around Cape Sumner and tied up to the fast ice in Newman Bay under Cape Brevoort, to repair our damaged steering gear and await the opening of a lead across Robeson Channel to Cape Union or vicinity.
BRINGING OFF THE “POLARIS” BOAT FROM BOAT CAMP, NEWMAN BAY
CAPE SUMNER, GREENLAND
BIRTHDAY CAPE, WRANGEL BAY, GRINNELL LAND
The winter’s ice was still intact in the bay, its surface level and granular, and the pools of water upon it covered with ice strong enough to support a man’s weight.
As soon as the lines were secured I walked ashore and climbed to the summit of Cape Brevoort. The crest of the northward-facing cliffs commanded the entire northern approaches to Robeson Channel, from Repulse Harbour across to Cape Rawson and southward along the Grinnell Land coast to Lady Franklin Bay. The Greenland coast south of Sumner was hidden by the cliffs of that cape. The ice all along the Grinnell Land coast, and in the centre of the channel, and to the northward as far as I could see, was densely packed. The water in which we had come north still remained open and the Roosevelt could have worked her way close to the shore along the Greenland coast to Repulse Harbour and possibly to Cape Bryant, had my objective point been in that direction. No indication of lead or crack across the channel was to be seen. While on the summit a school of narwhal came sporting down the shore close to the ice-foot below us.
In Newman Bay we remained five days mending the rudder, replacing the tiller chains with wire cables, and crossing to the south side of the bay, where I took on board the Polaris boat left here by Chester and Tyson of Hall’s party in 1871, at Boat Camp. Then as the northern ice filled into the bay, we were gradually crowded out of our shelter behind Boat Camp delta, and tide by tide forced out to Cape Sumner, sometimes grazing the shore as we dodged a floe. During this time the Bay filled completely with ice and the entire northern part of the channel was packed solid. Captain Bartlett and Marvin made several trips to the top of Cape Sumner to reconnoitre the channel but without satisfactory results.