CHARBONNEAU – The odds of making it through the Northwest Passage
Columnist David Charbonneau is on board the Ocean Endeavour in the Northwest Passage.
IF I WERE A BETTING MAN, I would bet that we’d make it through the fabled Northwest Passage. Adventure Canada has had good success with our ship, the Ocean Endeavour. Eight of the last ten attempts have made to Kugluktuk.
However if you wanted me to bet on John Franklin’s chances in 1845, I would be more hesitant.
There were times when it didn’t look promising for us. Ice sloshes back and forth in the channels and it takes a skillful captain to pick a way through the ice. Some days one path would open up only to close up the next.
Many explorers tried to find the Northwest Passage, but probably the most well-known was Sir John Franklin. He left England aboard HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. We visited the grave sites on Beechey Island where two of his men perished where they overwintered.
David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
John Franklin’s chances in 1845 depended on a magnetic compass. Was the North Magnetic Pole, when he was in Larsen Sound between Victoria Island and Boothia Peninsula on September 12, 1846, beneath his boat? The NM Pole has been on the move for a while now.
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