Posts Tagged ‘adventure canada’
Adventure Canada Book-Tour Extravaganza
The headline doesn’t do it justice. Full title: The Adventure-Canada, Searching-for-Franklin, Ocean-to-Ocean-to-Ocean, Book-Tour Extravaganza. Yes, we’re launching my new book, going voyaging in the Northwest Passage, and offering YOU a chance to win a $5,000 voucher to come sailing with us. Let’s break that down. My publisher, Douglas & McIntyre, has produced a splendiferous objet…
Read MoreThe Devil made me jive with Margaret Atwood
The Devil made me do it. I knew it was wrong. I knew I had no business inviting an iconic Canadian writer out onto the dance floor. I knew people would hate me for it. Who did I think I was? But a little voice told me to go ahead and ask her to dance.…
Read MoreStone village in Orkney proves one of a kind
A massive storm swept through this region and so we remained tied up in Kirkwall. In retrospect, this looked providential. We were able to visit the Broch of Gurness and the town of Stromness, and those of us who had not yet managed to explore Kirkwall got to visit St. Magnus Cathedral, with its John…
Read MoreOutlander lives on the Isle of Lewis
We arrived on the Isle of Lewis around 6 a.m., precisely on schedule, and tied up at the dock so that passengers could walk off the ship. That we did with voyagers organized into six groups. We piled into three buses in the morning, the same three in the afternoon, and everyone got a chance…
Read MoreVoyage around Scotland proves magical
Savoring the sunshine view from the high hill in St. Kilda. Exploring the Blackhouse Village on the Isle of Lewis. Getting right down into the neolithic Broch of Gurness on Mainland, Orkney. On our Scotland Slowly voyage with Adventure Canada last June, the magical moments kept coming. As it happens, I…
Read MoreSt. Kilda evokes Flight of the Highlanders
The December issue of Celtic Life International features a gorgeous 3-page spread on a visit to the Scottish island of St. Kilda. We turned up in the vicinity while sailing with Adventure Canada earlier this year. A version of the article, which begins as below, will appear in a 2019 book to be published by Patrick Crean…
Read MoreVoyage around Scotland inspires Celtic Life spread on the Highland Clearances
The October issue of Celtic Life International features a gorgeous 3-page spread on the 1853 Highland Clearances at Knoydart. The writer — that would be moi — turned up in the vicinity by great good fortune while sailing with Adventure Canada earlier this year. A version of the article, which begins roughly as below, will…
Read MoreVoyage to the Erebus meets Arctic reality
Snorkeling was back on the agenda. Last September, when we boarded the Ocean Endeavour to sail west Out of the Northwest Passage with Adventure Canada, we expected to don wetsuits and go snorkeling over the wreck of John Franklin’s Erebus. The Arctic had other ideas. Click on this link to see the article I wrote…
Read MoreBIG ICE never fails to work MAGIC!
Final posting from our Adventure Canada voyage Out of the Northwest Passage . . . Day 15: Ilulissat Late afternoon in Ilulissat, voyagers returned from a 90-minute zodiac cruise among the icebergs looking and sounding exhilarated. The message they carried: BIG ICE! BIG! FANTASTIC! Ilulissat is the third-largest town in Greenland, with 4,541 people (as…
Read MoreArctic landscape calls out for Return
Voyaging Out of the Passage with Adventure Canada Day 13: Qikiqtarjuak “The whalers used to call us Yaks,” Billy Etooangat said as he rode back to the ship in the zodiac to retrieve his luggage. He was arriving home in Qikiqtarjuak in the sunshine. “After Yaks, we were Eskimos.” He took a beat. “I didn’t…
Read More