An Arctic Summer: June 23-30, 1773

A quick note: my name is Mike Romero, and I'm a Historic Interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg.  The postings I make on this site are my own personal opinions and research, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Colonial Williamsburg.  With that said, enjoy the read!

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Pass the word for the Doctor!
Captain Phipps has seen a Redpoll.

In the final days of June 1773, Racehorse and Carcass continue to make great progress towards the north.  When time allows, the crew conducts several observations of the depth and temperature of the local sea.  As increasingly cold temperatures indicate that the western ice may be drawing near, Phipps diverts towards the northeast, for known landmasses he can use as a reference in navigating the ice fields.

"23d.  Very foggy all day; the wind fair; altered the course and steered NE and ENE, to get more into the mid channel, and to avoid falling in with the Western ice, which, from the increasing coldness of the weather, we concluded to be near.  At seven o'clock in the morning, being by our reckoning to the Northward of 72°, we saw a piece of drift wood, and a small bird called a Redpoll. Dip observed at nine in the evening to be 81°30'."

"26th.  Little wind all day; the weather very fine and moderate.  The latitude observed at noon was 74°25'.  The thermometer exposed to the sun, which shone very bright, rose from 41° to 61° in twenty minutes.  By each of two lunar observations which I took with a sextant of four inches radius, at half past one, the longitude was 9°57'30" E; which agreed within thirty-seven minutes with an observation made by the watch at half an hour after three, when the longitude was 8°52'30" E.  Dip 79°22'."

My reproduction brass sextant.

The above entry is one of particular personal interest for me.  In the appendix, 'Account of the Astronomical Observations and Time-Keepers, by Mr. Lyons,' I discovered that "the observations for finding the time at sea, were taken with a brass Hadley's Sextant of eighteen inches radius, made by Dollond; and sometimes by Captain Phipps, with a smaller of four inches radius, made by Ramsden, which commonly agreed with the other within a minute."  The small sextant used by Captain Phipps fits the description of the modern reproduction brass sextant I was gifted with by an anonymous benefactor last summer.  While I haven't been able to find any surviving examples of four-inch brass sextants constructed by Ramsden yet, I can still point guests to Phipps's journal as evidence that instruments similar to mine in size and construction were available in the 1770's.

Meteorological Data:
6/26 Weather on Expedition: 40.5°F at noon, winds from NE by N, fair weather, almost calm, cloudy.
6/26 Weather in Williamsburg (Weather Channel App): 83° at noon, sunny, low humidity, calm.

"29th.  The wind Northerly; stood close in with the land. The coast appeared to be neither habitable nor accessible; it was formed by high, barren, black rocks, without the least marks of vegetation; in many places bare and pointed, in other parts covered with snow, appearing even above the clouds: the vallies between the high cliffs were filled with snow or ice.  This prospect would have suggested the idea of perpetual winter, had not the mildness of the weather, the smooth water, bright sunshine, and constant day-light, given a cheerfulness and novelty to the whole of this striking and romantick scene.

I had an opportunity of making many observations near the Black Point.  Latitude observed at noon 77°59'11".  The difference of latitude, from the last observation on the 27th at midnight to this day at noon, would according to the old method of marking the log have been two hundred and thirteen miles; which agrees exactly with the observation. At three in the afternoon, brought to and sounded 110 fathom; soft muddy ground: hoisted out the boat and tried the stream; found it, both by the common and Bouguer's log (which agreed exactly) to run half a knot North; Black Point bearing ENE.  At four the longitude by the watch was 9°31' E: at eight the variation, by the mean of nineteen observations, 11°53' W.  I could not account from any apparent cause for this great change in the variation: the weather was fine, the water smooth, and every precaution we could think of used to make the observations accurate.  The dip was 80°26'.  Plying to the Northward."

Meteorological Data:
6/29 Weather on Expedition: 39°F at noon, winds from N by E, hazy.
6/29 Weather in Williamsburg (Weather Channel App): 85°F with 87°F heat index at 1 PM, 9 mph winds from SSW, sunny.

Track of the Racehorse and Carcass with
position plots for June 20, 23, 26, 29, and 30, 1773.

"30th.  At midnight the latitude by observation was 78°0'50".  At four in the morning, by Lord Charles Cavendish's thermometer, the temperature of the water at the depth of 118 fathoms was 31° of Fahrenheit's; that of the air was at the same time 40°1/2.  At nine in the morning we saw a ship in the NW, standing in for the land. Having little wind this morning, and that Northerly, I stood in for the land, with an intention to have watered the ship, and got out immediately, but was prevented by the calm which followed.  At noon the latitude observed was 78°8'; the dip 79°30'.  At two in the afternoon we sounded in 115 fathom; muddy bottom: at the same time we sent down Lord Charles Cavendish's thermometer, by which we found the temperature of the water at that depth to be 33°; that of the water at the surface was at the same time 40° and in the air 44°1/2.  Fahrenheit's thermometer plunged in water brought up from the same depth, stood at 38°1/2.  This evening the master of a Greenland Ship came on board, who told me, that he was just come out of the ice which lay to the Westward about sixteen leagues off, and that three ships had been lost this year, two English, and one Dutch.  The weather fine, and rather warm.  At six in the evening the longitude by my watch was 9°28'45" E."

Meteorological Data:
6/30 Weather on Expedition: 42° F at noon, calm and cloudy.
6/30 Weather in Williamsburg (Weather Channel App): 86°F with 92°F heat index at noon, 8 mph winds from SSW, sunny.

In Williamsburg, we had a relatively cool beginning to the week, but now we're starting to get a taste of the Virginia summer to come; temperatures and humidity are rising.  Aboard Racehorse and Carcass, the men are chilly, but the real trials are still to come.  My next blog post should have Phipps and company contending with and charting ice in the north.

Source:
Phipps, Constantine John.  A Voyage Towards the North Pole Undertaken at His Majesty's Command. (J. Nourse, 1773.)