stefansson-wrangel-09-30-001-001

Appendix II

The Report of Captian Joseph Bernard on the [Relief]
Operations of 1922.
Captain Bernard's Report

about 1400

Nome, Alaska,
Sept. 22, 1922.

Footnote on page attached

MR. Ralph Lomen, *
Nome, Alaska.

Dear sir:

I wish to give you a detailed report of th$ attempted voyage
to Wrangel Island.

We left Nome [in the auxiliary schooner "Teddy Bear"] on August 20, 1922, at four o'clock P.M. There
was a southeasterly wind, which was in our favor, which continued all that
night.

The next morning we ran into a heavy northwestern wind and we had
to pull into shelter at Cape York, where we stayed all day.

On the 22nd we left Cape York at eleven o'clock A.M. and got as
far as Cape Prince of Wales. It was my plan to go to Point Hope and take what
is known as the "Outside Passage" to Wrangel Island, but the northerly wind
delayed us - we could not "buck" it.

While we were at Cape Prince of Wales the schooner Sea Wolfcame
down from Kotzebue and reported that all of the ships that had gone North on the
Cape side were in the ice most of the summer at Point Hope and around there and
that the ice conditions were unusually bad.

On the evening of the 23rd, at eight-thirty P.M., the Northwestern
wind was still blowing and I decided to cross the Straits and take my chance on the
south of the ice along the northern coast of Siberia, or in other words, what is
known as the "Inside Passage." When we got to East Cape the gale was still blowing
and I decided to go into the East Cape Station and wait for a change of weather.
Three or four miles of ice laid off the East Cape.

On the morning of the 24th at eleven o'clock A.M. the wind
moderated and in company with the Olga we rounded East Cape and entered the ice.
Just at this time a southeasterly gale blew up, which gave us a good many uneasy
hours in pulling through the ice, but we made for the land at Youton. From there
on we had no difficulty with the ice, as the southerly gale had blown the ice off
shore. I was rather in hopes that the gale would continue, as it gave us free,
open water along the coast.

On the evening of the 25th the wind suddenly changed to the Northwest.
The ice pushed us in and we had a little difficulty getting around Cape Serge.
We stopped there for the night, as we did not consider it safe to travel in the
dark. On account of the ice conditions we stayed here until the morning of the
28th.

On the morning of the 28th we began to push through the

*This report was addressed to Mr. Lomen because he had asked on behalf of the Stefansson Arcitc
Exploration and Development Company, LTD. in engaging Captain Bernard.