POLAR EXPEDITION
KARTESH
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July 20, 2015. Rynda
The now-abandoned settlement of Rynda with a history of several centuries, is now represented by several dilapidated houses populated in summer by fishermen. The ancient graveyard disappears in the low grass of the magnificent sand shore of the Barents Sea.
This is the very place where the St. Martyr Foka schooner with the survivors of the Sedov and Brusilov expeditions aboard arrived some 101 years ago. To commemorate the deeds of the explorers, we fix up a memorial complex here, which consists of a large, nearly 4-meter tall larch cross, a flag pole with the Russian flag and a granite memorial tablet.
The weather is cold and windy, and it is starting to rain. Nevertheless, we are in a good mood, and the work goes with a swing. We remove the sward to cover the soil later, dig sandstone grit, assemble the cross and its metal support structure, which we have to bury it almost one and a half meter deep. Finally, we raise the cross, which has a weight of almost 300 kilos. Now we have to assemble the flag pole, fly the flag and install the tablet. Considering the amount of work (it’s only six of us to do the job), in five hours we are through.
There is so little time for us, as the expeditionary research groups are already waiting for us in Naryan-Mar. We quickly collect our gear and head to Kanin Nos.