Sailing the Northwest Passage – who me?

Baffin Island kayaking - breathtaking!

Looking through the photos from the Northwest Passage makes me realize that yes, I really did do it! It's always been a dream, even a fantasy, to go through to Baffin Island, maybe even Ellesmere Island, and go on to Greenland. Ellesmere Island will have to wait for another trip (I've got the website) but I've felt the magic of the Canadian Arctic and stayed a while in Greenland. One Ocean Expeditions' 'Akademik Ioffe' takes twice as many passengers as Aurora Expeditions' Polar Pioneer, so is larger, and although there is kayaking, the convoluted performance for getting the kayaks + kayakers into the water is remarkable. I have to say that Jimmy the Kayak guide handled it all with considerable aplomb and earned our respect. My first focus was the kayaking, and initially it was a tad ho hum, with fairly uninspiring paddles, but that changed rapidly the further east we sailed. The towering mountains and deep dark fjords of Baffin Island, and the hundreds of incredible icebergs of Greenland's Illulisat and Disko Bay were every bit as astounding as I'd been led to believe.

Beechey Island, where 3 of Franklin's men are buried

The history of the NorthwestPassage is full of daring do, heartbreak and despair, and death and loss. The much vaunted John Franklin's vessels have never been found, let alone any more than 3 of his sailors, and huge amounts of money have and are being spent trying to find out what happened to him. At least Scott made it easy for people to know what happened to him and his men. It was another John, John Rae, who completed the last link of the northwest passage, through to Greenland, and I'd never heard of him. The historian on board the Ioffe was full of fascinating information about the exploits of the area, and it was made all the more captivating as she's a wee slip of a girl with a gorgeous Scottish accent! I had to hand it to the staff on Ioffe. Between the Expedition Leader, Boris, and including all the staff there was a harmonious and enviable working atmosphere, which made the voyage very pleasant for the passengers; can't do better than that. We had a photographer and painter husband team on board; Daisy Gilardini, a world acclaimed photographer, and David McKeown, a wonderful watercolour artist. They made themselves available to us, pretty much at any time, and produced a slideshow recapping the voyage, made from the passengers' photos, and with Daisy and David 'filling in the gaps' with their photos and videos. We were presented with a USB stick containing the slideshow plus other relevant trip documentation at the end of the trip; a nice gesture.

Paddling near the Equip Sermia glacier, Baffin Island

We had a great group of kayakers, from very experiences, to near-novice, and somehow everyone was happy with the challenges we had. One girl had only paddled 3 times before, and ended up happily going off in a single by herself, with a grin from ear to ear, totally chuffed with herself. I paddled a single all the time, but could have easily gone in a double had there been someone wanting a partner. The equipment was in good condition, and the drysuits were great – Kokatat.

Can't a bloke have any privacy round here?

And yes, there were polar bears. Many. Maybe 35 or so, all up. So exciting to see two sets of Mumma Polar Bears with their twin babies, on a zodiac trip through the Bellot Straits. The polar bear who strolled right down to the shore in front of our zodiac, turning its back to us and pooping was polar hilarity at its best. Beechey Island may be the resting place of some of Franklin's sailors,




 but it was also home to an almost tame arctic fox, who posed for us most artistically, in between racing madly between its food and anything else taking its fancy.

A great two week's voyage. I feel privileged to have been able to make it.
After arriving in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, I went on an amazing trekking/kayaking adventure, as well as going back to Illulisat for three days - that will have to be in another blog! 
Vi ses . . . bye for now (that's Danish - can't manage Greenlandic!)