The Boats Are North. We Follow Soon

There's a moment in every expedition when it all becomes real. For us, that moment came in early July, when our kayaks left Vancouver and began their long journey north to Gjoa Haven.

Getting anything way up north is an expedition in itself. The boats travelled by road (thanks Warren!) and by Buffalo Airways across thousands of kilometres to reach Gjoa Haven, the small hamlet on King William Island that will serve as our staging point. This week we got the news we'd been waiting for: Jacob Keanik has collected the boats and tucked them safely into a sea can, where they'll wait for us until we arrive at the end of July.

It's a small logistical milestone, but it means everything to us. The boats are there! The expedition has, in a very real sense, already begun.

Back home, rooms in our home have disappeared under a mountain of food and clothing. Most of our technical gear shipped with the boats but rooms in our home have still disappeared under a mountain of food and clothing. How we’re going to fit it all in!? God only knows!?

These final weeks are a blur of checklists and last-minute fixes. It's the least glamorous part of any expedition and, in many ways, the most important. Get there super prepared and your chance of success is increased. It’s all you can do.

In a couple of weeks, we'll board our own flights north and be reunited with the boats in Gjoa Haven. From there, the real journey begins!

Follow our progress at arctickayak.ca and on our live tracking map once we're underway.