Four Degrees Celsius by Kerry Karram Read Free Book Online

ice. Snow squalls hampered visibility and made their flight extremely treacherous. Dropping lower to avoid cloud, the three pilots were dismayed to see that all small lakes were iced over, signalling the beginning of freeze-up. Luckily the larger open water lakes, including Baker, still allowed safe float plane landings.
    At Baker Lake they discovered that Brown and Spence had not been able to do as many search runs as hoped for because of fuel shortages. They also found that supplies were dismally inadequate. After conferring with them and Guy Blanchet, Cruickshank decided that he and the others would return to Stony Rapids via Wholdaia Lake to continue freighting supplies. During the flight, the weather turned on them with clouds, mist, and rain, reducing visibility and forcing them to set up camp at Wholdaia for the night and wait it out.
    While the air engineers tended to the aircraft, Cruickshank got out the frying pans to make bannock, a staple food in the bush. He mixed flour with water and formed the dough. Then he fitted one frying pan over the other, creating a sort of oven. He placed the “oven” over the open sputtering fire, which then captured and retained the heat and the dough baked. He cooked up some beans and meat and the men sat down in the tent to enjoy a nice hot dinner. Walker, however, broke a tooth during dinner, which he claimed was a victim of Cruickshank’s bannock. They finished off their meal with tea, which was the proven stimulant in the bush, as it “went further” than coffee.
    The group settled down to wait out the storm that was raging outside, thankful for being inside a tent that did not leak. Cruickshank and Semple were both inveterate tellers of remarkable tales, and Semple guffawed at every yarn Cruickshank spun, hooting his disbelief at each opportunity. The evening passed in a jovial manner and in relative comfort, and they finally separated into their tents and drifted off to sleep.
    The Manitoba Free Press gave an updated report from Thayer Lindsley on September 30, saying that no word had been received from the planes scanning the rocky Barren Lands but the search was being “prosecuted with vigour.” Lindsley also stated that the pilots were “howling for gas.”
    Then, during the night of October 1, near disaster struck. One of the mechanics approached Bill Nadin and Hollick-Kenyon that morning and calmly said, “Your aircraft has sunk.”
    Nadin replied, “Don’t be daft.”
    The bearer of the news answered, “Take a walk down and have a look for yourself.” [1]
    Although ’SL’s fuselage was completely submerged, the front end of the plane was held above the water’s surface by a rope attached to the stump of a rotten tree. The plane had been loaded the previous day with drums of fuel, and, although the aircraft was thought to be secure, the wind had changed direction during the night, creating a problem for ’SL. Water receded, causing the tail to dip, which, in turn, allowed water to seep into the rear end of the floats, gradually filling them and causing the plane to sink tail-first. It was salvaged, repaired, inspected, and passed airworthy by Semple, and, once weather permitted, it continued to fly provisions along with ’SQ and ’RK to Wholdaia Lakes during the daylight hours. [2] Cruickshank stayed in touch with Spence and Brown, using the wireless, and kept them informed of the progress that was being made, which wasn’t much.
    On October 3, Cruickshank, Hollick-Kenyon, Vance, and all the mechanics left the base at Stony and flew to Wholdaia with the expectation of continuing to Baker Lake. However, snow squalls blew up, and again the pilots and their crew were forced to remain at Wholdaia and wait for a break in the weather. That meant that they were grounded without communication. The search preparations had come to a complete stop.
    _____
September 29, 1929
    Richard Pearce’s