Sealift Storage

The MV Camilla Desgagnes arrived in Koojese inlet on Tuesday night. On board the 133 metre cargo ship is  the fourth of eight shipments that form the 2011 "sealift" for Iqaluit and other communities in the Canadian Eastern Arctic. None of Nunavut's 25 communities is accessible by road at any time of the year, Ice Road truckers is in the West. The 33,000 people who live in the Territory rely on air transportation to deliver supplies throughout the year. During the summer, when the ice retreats and the ocean becomes navigable a series of cargo ships make the journey north to deliver all manner of goods: Building supplies for the construction industry (including heavy equipment); vehicles both for individuals and commercial bulk orders; dry goods to resupply the grocery stores and for those individuals who have the resources to place an individual order.

Much like ordering alcohol (other than from the poorly stocked and overpriced Rankin Warehouse) the sealift is out of reach to most of the population as it requires credit cards, internet or fax connections, and considerable investment. If you are interested in learning more there is an excellent article about food mail / nutrition north in Up Here magazine. Back in July when we were in Montreal we spent almost $3,000 in one day on dog food and groceries which we delivered to the NSSI cargo packaging company in Ste Catherine. A few weeks ago we got the bill for crating and shipping which was $750. Spending $3,000+ in trip to the grocery store is not something you are used to before moving up here Revenue Canada tax returns fund the majority of private sealifts. If you can't tack a shopping trip onto a holiday there are a number of companies in Ottawa who will do the shopping for you (for a fee).

So when your year's supply of toilet paper, canned tomatoes, pasta, flour and dog food arrives, what do you do with it? We are lucky enough to have both a "Cold Storage" and a "Sealift Room". The Cold Storage is a secure lean-to on the side of our house, it looks like part of the house but it is not insulated, hence it is cold, sometimes very cold indeed. We store empty suitcases, camping gear, tools, the generator, snowboards and bikes in here, shortly it will also house sixteen bags of dog food.

Our cold storage room

A door leads from the cold storage to the Sealift Room which is a kind of a corridor between the cold storage and the downstairs hall. This room is within the house proper and has insulation and heat, although it is always the coolest room in the house, once there was frost on the inside of the door to the cold storage. This room doubles as the dog's bedroom, a cool dark room with no windows is essential for letting them know it is bed time during the never-dark summer nights. As you can see there are two deep shelves running the length of the room, the bottom shelf is currently devoted to dog food and out of date soda, the top shelf holds light bulbs, coffee, pasta, spices and the extra toilet paper that I couldn't fit in the laundry room. In a characteristically anal way I have labeled the rubbermaids for easy reference.



Our sealift room



We believe that our crate is here in Iqaluit, but because two ships arrived at the same time everything is backed up. tomorrow Blaine is going to cruise around the compound by the coastguard looking for our crate so that we can get it delivered to the house for unloading. stand by for an account of the delivery and unpacking experience!