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For three years, Adventure Canada has had permits to enter the restricted waters and bring passengers aboard the research vessels. All five times Mother Nature has vetoed the trip. The company — a Mississauga, Ontario, second-generation family business that has been voyaging through the Northwest Passage since 2009 — keeps trying.

Making tourism history

Photo by Jennifer Bain

“Life would soon lose its charm for most of us … if we could no longer pursue the unattainable,” Edmunds said the morning we hoped to venture to the Erebus, quoting American ornithologist/author Bradford Torrey. Edmunds, an Inuk from Labrador who is married to Adventure Canada CEO Cedar Swan, woke us up each morning with our location, the weather, the updated plan and an inspirational quote.

That day, the unattainable became attainable. The wind calmed so we could safely take Zodiacs from the ship to the RV David Thompson, the lead boat in Parks Canada’s research fleet, and then to the barge that its underwater archaeology team dives from. We saw six objects just brought up from the sea — two bottles, a decanter, leather boot sole, ornate wooden handle and tiny tongs that might have once picked up sugar cubes. We were transfixed by a live feed of a diver pointing to a newly discovered stack of the Royal Navy’s blue willow plates.

Meeting the Guardians

Photo by Jennifer Bain

The fact that it was Sept. 5 seemed auspicious. The Erebus and Terror were both found in the first few days of what clearly is a lucky Franklin month. We were honoured to be the first people to pilot Parks Canada’s visitor experience at the wrecks. As expedition host David Newland put it in his nightly recap: “It’s our story to tell now, too. We find ourselves on the pages of the history books, somehow.”