... try and find us

There are terrible reasons for wonderful events. This is one of them. After being picked up Lorne in Tuk and enjoying a high-speed and surprisingly non-bumpy drive down the Dempster Highway, we overnighted in Dawson City and the next day continued down the sealed road to Whitehorse. Lorne had a plane to catch, so he deposited us in front of our hotel, we said our ‘goodbyes’ and he left us to make our own way back to Calgary. Then the email came. My brother, Jeff, let me know that Uncle Mark, one of the reasons we were inspired to transit the NorthWest Passage, had passed away last night. Generally in good health, he had been managing some heart issues and had woken up the previous night with chest pains. An ambulance ride to the local hospital took place with him joking with the Medical Technicians on the way.   A helicopter transfer to the regional hospital was next, then the rest of the day in Intensive Care with a brain bleed. By 3 am the next morning, he quietly...

Tuktoyaktuk Hang on.  Whoops, that's not the right photo:  This is the one... Tuktoyaktuk ... again. Who would have thought that we would be in Tuktoyaktuk with one year and one day between visits. It was this time last year that we were on the epic family trip up the Dempster.  This year, we sailed from St John's.  I wonder just how many people have visited Tuktoyaktuk by both road and sea?

Polar Bound - skippered by the legendary  David Cowper From the protection of Summer Bay, we watched the storm clouds pass over and around us and listened to the wind whistle through the rigging.  All the boats in our convoy had pulled into shelter.  Thor, Hauru and Night Owl in Summer Bay, Lumina in Letty Harbour on the east side of the Parry Peninsula and Sky Dancer and Myhann at Pearce Point to the east. We were also joined by Polar Bound and a tug boat with two huge work barges.  The break gave us the opportunity to rest and do some forward planning. Wind and rain - but the blue sky started to peep through! Due to time constraints and concern for the weather slowing progress, we planned to disembark from  Voyager at Tuktoyaktuk.  Our friend Lorne was driving up from Whitehorse to meet us.  He had flown up from San Francisco just to make this journey.  Lorne, you are a legend!  One small complication was he needed to catch...