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An ArcticQuest 1831 news item
Written by Adrian Wibrew (project manager)
- 5 Nov 2003
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Dom Mee, former Royal Marine Commando, Maritime Explorer has returned from his latest epic maritime adventure Arctic Quest 1831. Dom navigated his rubber boat IDS a 17ft kayak through elements of the North West Passage. Among other achievements Dom completed the mammoth task of reaching the Magnetic North Pole discovered in 1831, the first successful expedition to reach it for 170 years and with good reason! “The area makes Dartmoor look like a stroll in Hyde Park” quoted Dom on his return to the UK.
Dom’s adventure started at the small Inuit settlement of Gjoa Haven located on King William Island, Nunavut in the High Arctic. He travelled some 450 nautical miles retracing the footsteps of Victorian Explorer Sir John Ross who endured four winters in his search for the North West passage, but claimed many firsts. Eventually six weeks later Dom staggered into the Inuit settlement of Taloyoak, having endured, by his own admission, the most emotionally and physically testing experience of his life.
Dom’s recent expedition has uncovered some truly remarkable discoveries. Dom has returned from the region brandishing artifacts, which have been verified by independent experts as pieces of Sir John Ross’s doomed ship ‘The Victory’. This vessel vanished beneath the ice having been abandoned by Ross and his crew in 1832. This is the resurrection of an epic tale of true British spirit and endeavor, in this, the most unforgiving of environments. A tale that could have been forgotten with time has now been highlighted as an equal to the exploits of Shackleton, Scott and Franklin.
Dom not only spent the entire trip avoiding the continual threat of polar bears and Walruses, he negotiated ice fields, trekked across mountain ranges, carrying his kayak and all of his supplies. He undertook all of the above with the additional burden of four broken ribs as a result of a Musk Ox attack during his trek to the pole of 1831. “Kayaking through pack ice, surrounded by polar bears, with four broken ribs is about as extreme as I would ever like to be!” quoted Dom.
In addition, he also successfully crossed the Boothia Isthmus, which has not been attempted since 1953. This corner of the World is a truly unforgiving wasteland. Crossing it is a remarkable achievement the scale of which Dom was unaware, until he was in the tundra.