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| Russian Arctic infrastructure 1961 lighthouse in Kara Sea MLAE-2011 |
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| Ridges forming in Kara Sea. Russia Arctic Expedition MLAE-2011 |
MARCH 27th 2011
We lost four days in the vicinity of Russkiy island due to extremely unfavorable ice movements. Southerly wind shifted the ice away from the Nordenshel’d Archipelago and we therefore still have not had the chance to cross over to the drifting ice cap. Barometric pressure is low, weather is warm and extremely unstable. We are taking care of minor chores and maintenance work. We added another pair of aluminum ladders to the old ones that we had tied together to implement them as improvised bridges over narrow clefts in the ice. Afanasiy seems to have shared the secret skill exclusively to Sergey Isaev and they are now the only two enlightened in possession of the secret Eskimo rope and cable knot code.
We are waiting for Northern winds to improve the ice positioning. We are standing still near a wooden lighthouse tower on U-3 extremity of the Russkiy island. The lighthouse was built in 1961, it is 20 meters tall. and it used electric batteries as well as acetylene to produce light. It was most likely maintained by the staff of the polar station located on the north side of the island.
Vasily Elagin
Translated from Russian by Ilya Kovalev
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