Sanikiluaq men help hot air balloon expedition
Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services
Sanikiluaq (Apr 16/01) - A high-flying expedition to film polar bears from a hot-air balloon was almost grounded even before it got off the ground.
The Canadian Polar Safari expedition plans to launch the balloon from Sanikiluaq and drift back to Northern Quebec.
John Davidson and his three-person team were 16 kilometres onto Hudson Bay sea ice last week when one of two Argos they were using to cross the bay blew a clutch. An Argo is an all-terrain vehicle with treads that is designed to float should it crash through ice.
Bill Fraser, a Sanikiluaq outfitter, got their call for help.
"It's tricky business, crossing there. This is the only time of year it can be done because it takes the Hudson Bay this long to freeze," said Fraser. "Then when it's ready, it turns around and starts melting.
"It rained today."
The group was just 160 miles from Sanikiluaq when the clutch blew and they had to retreated to the Quebec mainland Thursday.
The necessary part was delivered 24 hours later by three Sanikiluaq hunters: David Mickiyuk, Lucassie Ippak and Jack Iqaluq.
The part was found in a broken-down Argo in town.
Both the Polar Safari team and hunters were expected back in Sanikiluaq Monday.
The breakdown was likely caused by hauling loads too heavy for the vehicle, Fraser said.
Davidson, a Canadian adventurer, undertook a similar trip last year. Polar Safari 2001 left Ottawa on March 31.
Expedition members are expected to make a presentation at Nuiyak school and offer quick, tethered trips in the balloons. Last year's expedition marked the first hot air balloon crossing from Nunavut to Quebec.
"It was a spectacular thing to see. The town came out," Fraser said. "Everyone came out."
