Atwood, Belugas & Dundas Harbour: Why sail the Northwest Passage?
DAY EIGHT: Dundas Harbour Sept. 12 As the ship neared the foot of Croker Bay, voyagers crowded onto the deck, dazzled by the sunshine magnificence of Croker Glacier, essentially an ice river pouring down from the Devon Island ice cap. This was our first look at big ice and we liked it. The bay takes…
Read MoreMerry Christmas from the Northwest Passage
Okay, so we aren’t there at this moment. But we WILL be going back in August. Party on! DAY SIX: Port Leopold and Beechey Island 2015: Sept. 10 Spectacular Thule sites greeted voyagers who went ashore at Port Leopold, at the northeast corner of Somerset Island. Archaelogist Latonia Hartery identified these dozen dwellings as Thule…
Read MoreAdventure Canada voyagers discover Fort Ross
DAY FIVE: Fort Ross Sept 9 (Pix by Sheena Fraser McGoogan) The Ocean Endeavour anchored for the night where Bellot Strait meets Prince Regent Inlet. Starting at 8:30 in the morning, we went ashore in zodiacs and made a wet landing at “Fort Ross.” The site, so named by the Hudson’s Bay Company, comprises two…
Read MoreChasing history through the Northwest Passage
Voyaging in the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada. We’re going to do it again next August. Photos by Sheena Fraser McGoogan. DAY THREE: Gjoa Haven Monday, Sept. 7 Exhilarated. The word surfaced again and again as people arrived back from Gjoa Haven. Were they excited by the zodiac ride through choppy waters? No, one woman…
Read MoreNorthwest Passage voyage dazzles even old hands
This past autumn, we sailed Out of the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada. Our Hero wrote the logbook (see pic), a full-color version of which goes automatically to passengers. Next August, we’ll sail the other way: Into the Passage. What’s it like? Coming your way: a few excerpts. This voyage left even old hands awestruck and…
Read MoreThe Art of Fact: Creative Nonfiction course turns up on your desktop!
He’s back! In response to a raucous clamor, the Dr. Jekyll in me (see photo to the right) has clawed his way free to announce an online course in Creative Nonfiction. It’s called The Art of Fact: An Introduction to Writing Nonfiction, and it’s available through the University of Toronto. We launch on January 25,…
Read MoreSailing into the Northwest Passage in 2016. Are we excited yet?
This particular voyage is going to sell out, make no mistake. So for those interested in Arctic exploration, this is a heads-up. Adventure Canada’s voyage Into the Northwest Passage 2016 is going to be special — not because Sheena and I will be aboard (though we will), and not because we will visit Beechey Island, probably…
Read MoreAlmost incredibly, against all the odds, despite the forces arrayed against him, and in the face of conspiratorial resistance (you know who you are), Our Hero fights on!
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Read MoreJohn A. Macdonald made mistakes . . . because he had lost Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Again this morning, on CBC radio, we heard the now familiar attack on John A. Macdonald: how in building the Canadian Pacific Railway, and not incidentally laying the foundations of Canada, Macdonald mistreated the native peoples. There is no disputing the allegation. But I would suggest, and do so in Celtic Lightning, that this was…
Read MoreHaven’t we forgotten the French? In Celtic Lightning?
The question is fair enough. In writing Celtic Lightning, and exploring the origins of Canadian nationhood, did I neglect a crucial element? Given that I am one-quarter Quebecois, with pur laine roots stretching back to the early 1600s, I could hardly forget Canada’s French Fact. But I also view myself as a realist. And I…
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