On the line – March 2009

Jude: Hello, I'm Jude Holland from the exhibitions team here at the National Maritime Museum. Over the last few months, we've been busy putting together a new exhibition, The North-West Passage: An Arctic Obsession. Along the way, we have discovered many fascinating stories about this famed sea route that links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the top of Canada. Stories about people who live in the area and about explorers from the past and from today.

One of the expeditions we've been finding out more about is the Catlin Arctic Survey - an international collaboration between polar explorers and scientists. They are in the Arctic right now with one question on their minds: how long will the Arctic Ocean sea ice remain a permanent feature of our planet?

Eager to catch up with the expedition, we talked to Catlin team member Ann Daniels and asked her how she first got involved with travelling in the Arctic.

Ann: I became involved in 1995 where basically I just saw an advert in newspaper asking for ordinary women to apply for the first all female expedition to the North Pole. And whilst it was in a relay, I was certainly ordinary. I did have triplets, small ones, and I applied along with 300 other women. I was the only one that had no outdoor experience, but I sort of grasped the mettle, learned what to do outside and thankfully when I went back for the final selection, I was picked for the relay.

In 1997, I went in relay format to the North Pole with guides. It was put together by Pen Hadow and the Polar Travel Company. But out there, I fell in love with the Arctic, with exploration life. I just felt I found what I was meant to do with my life. The door had opened and I walked in it and I was good at what I did.

Jude: I was also keen to find out about Ann's favourite experience of travelling in the Arctic.

Ann: Well, that's a very strange question. The relay obviously was the first time, and my mind was blown away. The only outdoor experience that I had was a week on Dartmoor. So that blew me away. But I would say, if I was holding any of my expeditions close to my heart as the favourite, it would be the one in 2002 where we became the first all women's team to walk to both poles. And we did a full expedition from Ward Hunt Island to the North Pole and it nearly killed us.

We had three storms. We were stuck under a piece of material for three days without any food. We had carbon monoxide poisoning; we had frostbite; we had gangrene. On day 37 of our 75-day trip, we had gone 69 miles of the 500 miles we needed to do. It was horrendous, but we got there.

And when I came back, you forget about all those stresses and the pain and the frostbite and you remember the comradeship, the difficult times, that getting through things when it all goes wrong.

The fighting with the Arctic, which can be really evil, and then of it turning and showing its beautiful face when it becomes caring and lets you go through and in a way almost looks after you. And that expedition for me, with all its real lows but also real highs, is my favourite.

Jude: Next, I asked Ann about the kits she takes with her and whether this is always the same.

Ann: The short answer I guess is very similar kit, so yes, but every time we go on an expedition, it's really important to look at what has been developed since you last went, how you can improve, because nothing will keep the cold out really. So, it's how to make your life more bearable. And I have always gone with a sort of a Pile and Pertex top clothing wise and layers of underwear, but as they have gotten better wicking qualities, better thermal qualities, then I do look at improving them.

But some things I take that I've always taken that bog standard compass. We navigate by the sun and our watches, very simple navigation. We cook on a stove that uses fuel and we melt snow. So there is an awful lot of kit that will be the same throughout.

But my first expedition, let's say, we used a HF radio; now we have satellite phones. And some people pooh-pooh that in the modern day, but I'd bet anything the olden days explorers used whatever was available and what was the best in their time and the same now, we use whatever is the best.

Jude: Of course, I had lots more questions too, especially about the expedition's scientific research. You will be able to find out more about the Catlin Arctic Survey in the exhibition. The North-West Passage: An Arctic Obsession opens in May. It's free and we hope to see you there soon. Goodbye.