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| 2009/06/09 06:17:42瀏覽918｜回應5｜推薦7 | |
Alvah Simon and Halifax in the Arctic 1994, look like walking phantom (幽靈） Halifax, my cat, was furry and fat. Oh, a finer companion could not be. I was trapped in the Arctic, My life was so stark it Had no other warm company. And so side by side, the dark months we did bide, Huddled as bleak blizzards blew. And when the food ran out, At eight pounds thereabout, she made a fine and filling meat stew." December 25, 1994, Tay Bay Zero Hours Daylight, little poem by Alvah to Halifax Alvah, the author of North to the Night, and his wife Diana, these days, continue sailing the same boat (The Roger Henry) that led them to Arctic 1994, cruising on river, bay, island, ocean all over the world. They have lived on The Roger Henry until now. Halifax, the once 8 pound cat standing shot on the head of Alvah in Arctic, weighs at least 20 pounds in 2007 seen on the picture above. Alvah wrote his own cruising blog periodically on cruising world magazine since october 2008. http://www.cruisingworld.com/article_search.jsp?author=Alvah+Simon ps. More adventurous stories of cats can be read in Purr，n，Fur. http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/adv09.html "I(Diana) don't feel that we are ready for Arctic. Perhaps it would be best to wait for next year." "When other wives feel insecure they ask, 'if I dies, would you remarry?' I have to ask you(Alvah), 'If I died, would you eat me?'" Diana White, a native New Zealander, independent, adaptive and gentle woman. Also a rare species on the land. "Early in our (Alvah and Diana) relationship， I (Alvah) learned not to confuse gentle with soft. As months floated into years, this woman stood beside me under attack in the bone-in-the-nose highlands of Papua New Guinea, drifted in the pirate-plagued waters of the Sulu Sea, rafted down swollen Bornean rivers. Diana dragged me, delirious with cerebral malaria, out of African Swamps. She sailed Cape Horn, our small boat blasted to its beam ends by ferocious winds. She sat awaiting my return from solo jungle explorations with simple instructions: "If no words, set sail, remarry." She wept over the bodies of dead comrades, drowned or shot in far outposts of a dangerous world. She rose to every challenge and remained a steadfast companion at the front lines of adventure and experience. She was driven by her own deep love of life and, I hoped, in part by love for me." "The devil was in the details. I divided the expedition into two parts: sailing in and freezing in. The first was familiar water, but the second carved in harsh relief the inexperience with which we approached our overly ambitious first Arctic venture. Through the searing summer months, we woke early and worked late, all thoughts and efforts shaped to one end: going north. The cabin was papered with lists and reminders. ~Alternators: Two, interchangeable. ~Batteries: Two gelcells, 18o- and 9o-amp capacity. ~Charging: Main engine; wind generator; hand-starting air-cooled diesel; solar panels? Is the sun strong enough at low declinations? ~Charts: American, Canadian, Danish—5o at $r5 each!; photocopies? Mechanical: Wrench set; socket sets; Allen set; drill; bits; files; hacksaw; Vise-Grips; pliers; sledge hammer .. . ~Medical: Bandages; sutures; I.V. solutions and setup; injectable adrenaline; antiseptic; antibiotics; catheter; eyes, ears, nose, and throat medicines . . . Note: remove snakebite kit. ~Permits: Yacht importation exemption certificate; registration; radio license; Diana's alien registration card . . . ~Publications: Light List; Radio List; Tide Tables (three nations); Ice Atlas . . . ~Repair Materials: Extra steel, aluminum, copper; tubing; fiberglass; epoxy resin; rubber; glue.... ~Survival Equipment: Sleds; harness; skis; poles; backpacks; ice axes; crampons; shotgun; rifle; ammunition; flares; sleeping bags; face-masks; parkas; pants; gloves; goggles; ice chisel; snowknife; camp stove; signal mirror .... And on and on, into dizzying detail. " Page. 29-30 |
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