Iqaluit (Jan 17/05) - Thoughts of getting home to his family kept Andrew Cox going as he and three others survived 15 hours stranded on the sea ice of Frobisher Bay.

Cox, with friends Jimmy Akpalialuk, Russell Chislett, and Russell's 10-year-old son Marcus, became stranded during a seal hunt at the floe edge about 40 miles from Iqaluit on Jan. 12.

Though their snowmobiles and kamotiqs were lost -- worth about $12,000 -- Andrew is just grateful to the people who worked to save his life.

"What we lost on the ice is nothing compared to the grief we caused and the money that was spent to save us," he said, adding that he has found it hard to sleep since his ordeal. "When I would lie down and close my eyes, I would picture myself on the ice again."

At the start of their trip, while sighting in his gun Andrew noticed vapours rising, which signalled they were floating away on the piece of ice they thought was secure.

During an interview two days later, he said it was difficult to tell how far the ice had drifted, but the tide was going down and a steady 20 kilometre per hour wind was in the group's face.

Andrew rushed back to help the others gather up the equipment -- guns, a Coleman stove, a satellite phone, coolers, and a boat -- which had been spread out near the floe edge in anticipation of catching a seal.

With the water level even with the ice, Andrew, Russell and Marcus climbed in to cross the gap in the boat. "My main thinking was to get to that good ice as quickly as possible," he said.

After dropping off Russell and his son, he told them to call town using the satellite phone; an item which he recommends everyone carry with them no matter how long they plan to be out travelling.

He then turned the boat around to get Jimmy, who had floated more than 400 metres from the floe edge, and "was starting to disappear in the vapour."

After 10-15 minutes of paddling, he met Jimmy, and yelled at him to get the survival suit which was laying on the ice.

The two then tried to get back to the solid ice. But their hands began to slip on the boat's iced-up paddles, and the pockets on their clothing kept getting caught on the oars.

"The current was so strong, it basically seemed like we weren't moving," said the hunter who grew up in North Long Shore, Que.

Finally making it back to what they thought was safe ice, Andrew climbed to the top of the island they were huddled beside. He could see another crack in the ice in the distance.

On foot, the four then dragged the boat and supplies six miles across the ice to a safer area.

For about a mile they moved non-stop, but then fatigue set in. For the rest of the four-hour trip they could only move a few hundred metres at a time until they reached solid ice.

"By then it was like six o'clock and I realized that we shouldn't move much further," he said.

Marcus and Jimmy took shelter under the boat, while Andrew and Russell jumped up and down outside while yelling to keep the two awake, in case they had hypothermia.

"My biggest fear was that the ice was going to break again, but this time in the darkness," he said.

The popping and cracking of the ice as the tide went lower, "was really very discouraging," he says.

By keeping the battery for the satellite phone warm on the Coleman stove, and sticking it in his pants, Andrew was able to make hourly calls to the search and rescue team.

Though once he thought he saw the lights from the rescue team's snowmobiles, another eight hours passed before the team's actual arrival at around 2 a.m.

A Hercules airplane was also flown in, dropping flares to light up the area so that a helicopter could land on the ice.

The flares lit up about a 20 square-mile area, which Andrew called, "the freakiest thing I've ever seen."

After battling the wind to get onto the helicopter which could only hover just above the ice, "the only thing on my mind was to get home and see my kids and family."

Some people may think it is dangerous to hunt seals out where open water meets the ice but Cox disagrees.

"To me, you have more of a chance to die here in Iqaluit, than you do at the floe edge. And after two or three times you can get addicted. There's life and the water, and it's exciting, but you never, ever think that freak thing is going to happen to you."