We are off the Northwest Passage on Monday. We are flying to Edmonton via Toronto where we join our shipmates for a charter flight to Resolute where we board the ship, Akademik Loffe. Before we leave Edmonton we will enjoy the sights of the town and are lucky that our visit coincides with the Edmonton fringe festival.
The trip is primarily historical and follows in the footsteps of the ill fated voyage of Sir John Franklin which left Greenhithe, England in 1845 tasked with finding a way across the top of Canada, referred to as the “Northwest Passage”.
Franklin and his men sailed in two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and overwintered on the ice for two winters before they abandoned the ships. Franklin had already died by this time and the crew tried to hike back to the nearest civilisation via the Back River. All 129 perished hundreds of miles from the nearest civilisation.
The ship we are travelling on was part of the expedition that found both ships, the Erebus in 2014 and Terror in 2016. We will see the graves of 3 of the Franklin crew who died in 1845/6 on Beechey Island as well as other artefacts left 170 years ago.
In addition to the historical side of the trip, we will also visit remote Inuit communities and see the fantastic wildlife such as Polar Bears, Walruses, Whales and countless species of birds.
As you would imagine, the window for this trip is very short and there is normally only a couple of months a year when the ship can navigate this area.
More to come when we reach Edmonton.