The Northwest Passage – Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

Hurray. Splish splosh and away. We have passed our second mandatory Covid test and we can now sail after four long years.

Actually, despite the elation, I am feeling quite emotional prior to our sailing. While we are much looking forward to the trip especially with our history of the Northwest Passage when in 2018 we hit the rocks within 24 hours of sailing and had to be rescued from the northern extremities of the Arctic by the Canadian Coastguard over the following 24 hours; then, having rebooked for 2019, there were ship availability issues; and following that the company went belly-up prior to our 2020 sailing due to the knock-on (pun intended) effect of the crash, one cannot overlook what this route is all about.

A hundred and twenty-nine men lost their lives in the mid 1800s in the search to find a faster shipping route from Europe to Asia. And they would have died an awful death, of cold, malnutrition, disease and despair having overwintered for two seasons, ice-bound. In a last-ditched attempt they abandoned the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus in a bid to find a way back via the ice and, hopefully, the Back River. They never reached the Back River.

What also saddens me is the fact that, while many of the leading names from the admiralty were honoured after that time, one John Rae never was. He originated from Orkney and was a surgeon. His upbringing in the rugged areas of Scotland provided him with essential skills for his future working life. He was noted for his stamina, hunting skills and boat handling. He later became employed by the Hudson Bay Company as a fur trapper and land mapper. His inquisitive nature and a strong desire to learn survival techniques led him to work with native groups to acquire their skills. He also learned the art of surveying.

Throughout 1846 to 1854, while working with the Hudson Bay Company, he mapped almost 1,800 miles of uncharted Arctic lands, particularly along the coasts.

To cut a very long story short, Rae visited remote Inuit communities, one being at Repulse Bay where the local people wished to trade ‘relics’, which included silverware engraved with the crests or initials of Franklin’s crew. Through an interpreter he found that four winters previously about 40 men had passed through the area dragging a small boat. Their leader was a tall man, later thought to be Francis Crozier, second-in-command to Sir John Franklin. They had traded items from the ships with the Inuit communities in exchange for food. At a later stage the Inuit communities found 30 bodies and evidence of cannibalism.

Rae reported his findings to the UK Government in a confidential report. The intention was for this never to be made public. However, it did become public, the findings published in the media and also in Charles Dickens’ ‘London Illustrated’. Dickens was a friend of Lady Jane Franklin, the wife of Sir John. The Victorian public were in disbelief that such fine and decent men could resort to cannibalism. Rae was vilified. He never received a knighthood for his hard work and findings.

Other people followed in his footsteps to find out more about the outcome of the men and their two ships. The story continues even today. It was only in recent years that the grand discovery was made of the sunken ships, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. Part of the attraction of sailing with One Ocean in 2018 was that they were involved in the transportation of researchers to the site of those sunken ships.

So interested were we both in the history of John Rae that we visited Orkney where he lived in the early years, seeing his home which still stands, his resting place in St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwell, and his memorial inside the Cathedral. There are some people today still fighting for a knighthood for Rae in recognition of his efforts.

Our current trip is taking a less involved route. In 2018 we were to travel between Prince of Wales Island and King William Island which appears to be notorious for ice as Franklin’s men found out. Hopefully our trip will be less frozen. We are yet to find out. We are scheduled to visit Beechey Island where some of Franklin’s men are buried. That will be a salutary moment.

As I watch the weather forecast it seems that rain and fog will be with us. This is not uncommon. We happened by chance to bump into Michael Palin at the Greenwich Maritime Museum a few years ago when he was researching his book on the HMS Erebus. He was a really nice guy and happy to talk. He had been on the One Ocean trip. When I asked how he had found it, he said “There was a lot of fog”.

So we head towards the north tomorrow with fingers crossed. But I would like to say a special thank you to our friend Liz. For it was with her, over the years on the golf course, that such maritime explorers were discussed, and I got hooked… not in the golfing sense you understand!

Copyright: Words and photos: Sue Barnard 2022