Date/time: June 25, 2006, 12:00 local (z-9) Position at noon: 64D23'N 170D58'W Noon to noon 180 nm Avg. speed: 7.5 kts Miles to 65D30' and cross our trail: 87 miles Course bearing: 036D Sea state SSW swells 3' Wx: Wind ESE 10 kts, fog until 00, then gradually thinned out Water temp: 6.0D C (min seen was 0.5D C) Crew: Ben, Brad, Kevin & Kurt Remarks: I will be preparing a special report tonight when we cross our trail and also a fresh update to the web. Kevin saw first ice at 19:30, June 24, at 62D58'N/173D54'W, some bergs much bigger than the boat above water and water temp was down to 3.5D. We are very fortunate that it is daylight 24-hours now, so we can see them. Visibility not less than half-mile in fog. At 02:30 we encountered heavy ice, and called George at Commanders who was able to give us helpful information and we slowed to 1 kt or less at times. Stopped to fish briefly, twice, no luck. Thick ice at times, 2 to 8-tenths coverage. We left the ice at 7:20 at 63D50'N/171D56'W, and moved into open water, and carried on directly to our waypoint. Total 74-miles of ice. We had been making record time until the ice got heavy, and after the ice, and to my surprise we still made 180 miles. Sea temp down to 0.5D C for a while in the heavy ice pack, but up a bit now. We hadn't expected to see pack ice here but that indicates we are a little early and very lucky to get through. I've said before, I have an Angel looking over my shoulder. 21-hours 16-minutes sunlight now Now expect 65D 30'N at about 10 PM Alaska time. A few seals and lots of sea birds here, many small ones, no bigger than a robin. -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 powered by a 55-hp Kubota Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com To follow Idlewild with Google Earth: http://tinyurl.com/ksnhg For the Trawler M/V JPEG version: http://tinyurl.com/ovdt7