In todays instalment of adventure of sailing I present you : Fort Ross
In my School days, I learned a lot about the Hudson’s Bay Company, learned about the fur traders I learned about the Arctic and how the Hudson’s Bay Company set up trading post. Never in a million years did I think I would get the opportunity to see a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post in person, even leaving for this deployment it never crossed my mind I would get the opportunity.
Fort Ross was established in 1937 by Hudson’s Bay Company, its establishment was meant to capitalize on fur opportunities on the island and to facilitate company trade passing through the Bellot Strait. its location is at the eastern end of Bellot Strait and was chosen by its first manager and longtime trader Lorenz Learmonth. The post was named after related Arctic explorers John Ross and James Clark Ross.
Learmonth and the other staff for the post including two clerks and three Inuit families from Cape Dorset who built their homes near the fort post buildings.
Explorer Henry Larson reached the post in 1942. During his traversal of the Northwest Passage, the first successful navigation from west to east.
After the annual resupply of the post 1941 The next two supplies of 1942 and 43 failed to reach for rush due to ice conditions. Forcing the icebreaker ship, SS Nascopie to turn back in September 1943.
The then planned to evacuate the staff in the post.
However, evacuation plans were unavailable due to the country’s participation in World War Two.
On November 4, some supplies were air dropped,
and Captain JF Stanwell-Fletcher parachuted down to build a landing site for the plane, this resulted in him being the first parachute jump north of the Arctic Circle.
On November 7, after a landing strip was prepared on a small lake about 10 miles away from the post.
The plane landed, deposited the remaining supplies for the Inuit population and quickly took off again evacuating three staff members of the post.
In 1944 SS Nascopie was able to reach Fort Ross, and the post was reestablished with a new manager but again, ice pack did not allow them
to bring the supplies that where needed and the post was abandoned in 1948.
Only two of the four buildings today remain the post managers house and the store.
The store was recently refurbished and strengthened and is still used as a shelter for Inuit caribou hunters from Taloyoak, and is also used as a refuge for researchers and small boat traveller’s passing through.
the two of the four buildings remaining. 
close up of the shop