Northwest Passage Arctic Adventure

The Search for an East West Route

The quest for a passage linking Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the high Arctic has lured explorers for centuries, and it recently lured me on a Northwest Passage Arctic Adventure.

Historically the route to the riches of the Orient, Cathay, and the spice trade was Overland on the Ancient Silk Road. Sea routes via Africa’s Cape of Good Hope or Tierra del Fuego in South America were arduous and dangerous. Some visualized a short cut, a Northwest Passage through the Arctic waters and islands north of Canada. This potential route inspired European explorers including Christopher Columbus in 1492.

Centuries of Exploration

Centuries of exploration for a passage through the icy archipelago, 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, followed. Explorers mapped and charted the glacier-carved landscape, islands and channels some of which are named after intrepids like Baffin and Bylot. Many men and ships never returned, including the storied Franklin Expedition.

Finally in 1906 Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, successfully completed the voyage from Baffin Island to Nome Alaska. It took him three years.

Northwest Passage Arctic Adventure 2022

Fast forward: when I was invited to join a small group on a private exploration of the Northwest Passage I jumped at the chance. A yacht, Asteria, was chartered from Eyos Expeditions. There would be eleven of us and an Eyos guide. As the Arctic region warms there is now a window of about six weeks, mid-August through September, when the area is navigable without the need for an icebreaker to cut through sea ice.

This August we flew north from Yellowknife in Canada’s North West Territories to Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. Four hours later the prop plane bumped down on the gravel runway.

Asteria, Our Home in the Arctic

Our yacht, Asteria, began work as a salvage tugboat in Greece. After several refits its luxurious interior belies its sturdy frame. It was the perfect vessel for us, supremely comfortable, but a workhorse well up to the challenges of our Arctic exploration.

I first spotted Asteria in the bay at Pond Inlet Bay gleaming in the sun. However the sky was an ominous backdrop.

The wind was also picking up. By the time the transfer tender reached Asteria the wind was strong and there was a hefty swell. Clambering aboard was wet and challenging. Welcome to the Arctic.

Lone yachtsman, David Scott Cowper, in his book Northwest Passage Solo, describes the Northwest Passage as

“the most hostile environment that it is possible to reach by boat.”

Our Itinerary

The entire Northwest Passage, from Baffin Island in the Atlantic to Nome Alaska in the Pacific is roughly 1,000 miles. Our plan was to explore the maze of eastern islands and channels which are both historic and scenic.

The itinerary was flexible, often dependent on weather. Because of the swell and storm leaving Pond Inlet we crossed Lancaster Sound to Devon Island the first night. I slept though the storm and woke the following morning to see Croker Bay, a sheltered fjord, from my porthole. There were two huge white gleaming glaciers. It was misty and calm, the water milky with ice melt and littered with blue chunks ice.

When were we going on shore?

Devon Island

Devon Island is the world’s largest uninhabited island and roughly the size of Croatia. The South coast is indented with incredibly deep fijords. The sedimentary cliffs of the fijords tower 1,500 feet and the layers glow golden in the sun. It is scenic but desolate with a polar desert climate and a barren treacherous terrain. It is often veiled in fog. Some have compared the island to Mars, both in topography and temperature.

Somehow my uneducated vision of the Arctic, before this journey, was of endless swaths of snow and ice. But not this time of year in the summer with 24 hours of sun, the steep golden cliffs were unexpected and a stunning contrast to the blue ice-melt water.

Exploring the Arctic Islands on Foot

We went ashore by zodiac once, sometimes twice each day. We wore “muck boots,” knee high insulated boots with heavy soles which could handle sloshing about in icy water as we landed on the shore.

We explored the Tundra with its spongy mosses and delicate diminutive pink and yellow Arctic flowers which bloom in the short summer window. We walked along rocky shores and clambered up piles of shale and cliffs. We discovered hidden waterfalls.

Perhaps one of the most amazing things was how pristine everything was, the water, the skies and the beaches. Just us in this remote place, completely off the grid. I imagined what it must have been like for those brave explorers, so far from home, who landed on these shores centuries ago. Some never returned.

The ill-fated Franklin Expedition

Much has been written about the doomed Franklin Expediton of Sir John Franklin which set out in 1845 with two ships and enough provisions for three years. Their Quest? To find the illusive Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

It was on Beechey Island towards the end of our journey that the bravery and intrepidness of those who charted and explored in previous centuries really made an impact on me. On a remote beach we found four grave markers of crew of the Franklin Expedition. They lie at peace alone here in the Northwest Passage. Alone in wind and snow and Arctic gales. It was very moving to stand and see tangible signs of Arctic exploration. We saluted the brave sailors.

Polar Bears, Narwhals and Walrus

There is much to write about this Arctic Adventure. This first account is an overview with some images sets the scene, shows the area and tells some of the tale. The where, the why, some history and a just little of what we saw.

Naturally we spent a lot of time watching and photographing polar bears, walrus, narwhals and amazing white beluga whales swimming in unison in the ice strewn waters. My next account will introduce those. Then there is the serious global warming aspect and the interest of Russia and China in the strategic location and minerals.

Just two days after I returned from my exploration the US appointed an Ambassador at Large to the Arctic. The area is likely to become contested in many ways.

Stay Tuned for Much More…

Wildlife, global warming much more about the Arctic coming in subsequent posts.