Stephen- Interesting info regarding your flights over the Bay- did you see any of the fairly recent TV series where a HBC crew tried to relive the trip of a York boat crew in 2002-3 ? Scary to say the least ,and the vessel kept smashing up on the rocks etc. I only saw part of the series, but do remember the hand-picked crew- chosen for toughness, strength etc- kept diminishing one by one by.... not sure if they ever made it from Montreal (?) to Fort York (?). I thought Audrey Thomas had based her novel "Isobel Gunn" on a true story -thanks for confirmation. cheers Thompson

Don't recall that particular series. But I am constantly watching and reading on the subject. When the winds blow on Hudson's Bay, it is scary and inspires awe.. I personally got caught at Winisk, east of Churchill, in a freak late August wind sheer of about a constant 60 knots. I had no gas to go elsewhere or stay aloft, and had to land at Winisk, across the river, into the wind, and cross ways on swells rounding the bend from the big water and abeam the current of the frothing river. (they since have moved the village and call the new one Pewanuk) I waited as long as my fuel would let me till the sheer subsided some, and I landed, flaps extended and as close to the dock as possible. Then with the flaps retracted to 10% and the doors open, we sailed back into the shore with the engine running (ie: prop turning) using the doors for steerage, like little rudders in the wind. Had it not been for a handfull of curious and eager Crees assembled in the wind to watch the probable wreck, I would have smashed into the rocky shore in a serious sort of way, or sank. The protected shore was inaccessible. We all leaped into the shallows to save the aircraft. I left soaking wet with the wind still howling and my tanks full, and the plane wanted to climb out the water prematurely onto the step of the floats, and roll over on it's back! That was a first. I shoved the nose down, took off and headed south the 330 nm to Moosonee. Our tail wind was enormous for about an hour. One of those days I will not ever forget. Neither did my elderly father! I can imagine what some of those early voyages were like. They were based on dedicated seamanship, precise celestial navigation and sheer luck. On Thursday, January 29, 2004, at 08:10 AM, Dutch Thompson wrote: > Stephen- > Interesting info regarding your flights over the Bay- did you see > any of the fairly recent TV series where a HBC crew tried to relive > the trip of a York boat crew in 2002-3 ? Scary to say the least ,and > the vessel kept smashing up on the rocks etc. I only saw part of the > series, but do remember the hand-picked crew- chosen for toughness, > strength etc- kept diminishing one by one by.... > not sure if they ever made it from Montreal (?) to Fort York (?). > I thought Audrey Thomas had based her novel "Isobel Gunn" on a true > story -thanks for confirmation. > > cheers Thompson > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >