Westworld Saskatchewan

30 w E S t w o R l D | s u m m e r 2 0 1 5 (both pages) liz bryan, (Map) gayleen Whiting, (devon island) national geographic iMage collection/all canada photos then squeeze through tiny Bellot Strait where waters of the Atlantic and the Pacifi c oceans meet in a maelstrom of wild tides and cur- rents. Then on through inlets and channels and sounds to Baffin Island and across to Greenland. It will turn out to be an amazing, mind-expanding 15-day voyage – that almost didn't happen. Adventure Canada, the pioneer of expedi- tion cruising in the Arctic, has had a bad year. Its flagship, the Sea Adventurer, was under engine repair in Greenland, and their sched- ule for the short summer season was wrecked. For passengers it was an on-again off-again situation as the company struggled to fi nd an alternative ship. But they were in luck. e Akademik Sergey Vavilov (a.k.a. Voy- ager), under lease to One Oceans Expeditions, was one of four vessels involved in the Franklin search. It had carried passengers and research personnel, as well as high-tech underwater equipment and Parks Canada's 11-metre alu- minum research boat, the Investigator (whose side-scanning sonar device made the historic discovery). Its part in the Franklin search over and its passengers disembarked, the ship was headed back to its home port on the Baltic and able to take 75 Adventure Canada passengers east through the Northwest Passage. Built as an ice-strengthened scientifi c research vessel, the 117-metre ship has been refi tted for polar exploration cruises. Good food is served buff et style, there's a friendly bar on the observation deck as well as a well-stocked library on the deck below, and the bridge is usually open to passengers. It is not a luxury cruise ship. e cabins are small, with bunk beds and shared washrooms, but I hear no complaints. It is, after all, an adventure trip. And the atmo- sphere on board is most convivial. Climate change has already altered the polar ice seasons, allowing safer summer tran- sit for large commercial and passenger vessels through the frozen seas of the north. In 2015, Adventure Canada's big (137-metre) new ship, the Ocean Endeavour, described as "styl- ish and robust," will carry 198 passengers through the Northwest Passage in both direc- tions – with more creature comforts. Adventure Canada cruises are more than fl oating hotels. e company has a mission: to gently educate its passengers in the realities of the Arctic and its people, scratching far more than skin deep into its magical beauty, native heritage, tough climate and now-uneasy future. Climate change is being felt fi rst and deepest in these northern lands as seas warm and acidify, and ice sheets melt. On board dur- ing my journey is a support team that does more than man the zodiacs: it includes spe- cialists in several areas – history, art, archaeol- ogy, botany, photography, ethnography – and two Inuit people, Susie Evyagotailak and Andrew Kappik, all eager to share their knowl- edge of the Arctic. Every day there are fi lms, lectures and demonstrations. If we can tear ourselves away from the polar bear and nar- whal lookout, the mesmerizing patterns of the pack ice, the icebergs and the ethereal shoreline scenery, we are educated as well as entertained. ere is no cemented itinerary; the weather and the ice decide where we go and what we do. And nearly every day, we are off to explore the land. We don gumboots, waterproof wear and Cambridge Bay Fort Ross Prince Leopold Island Arctic Bay Pond Inlet Icy Arm Karrat Island Ilulissat Beechey Island Jenny Lind Island VICTORIA ISLAND BOOTHIA PENINSULA SOMERSET ISLAND BAFFIN ISLAND KING WILLIAM ISLAND DEVON ISLAND BAFFIN BAY GREENLAND Uummannaq Sisimuit Coast Kangerlussuaq The Akademik Sergey Vavilov squeezes into the mouth of Icy Arm; (inset) the route through the Northwest Passage to Greenland.

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