In the past, the fabled Northwest Passage connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific across the top of Canada has been one of the most dangerous spots on earth. Some of the world’s most experienced explorers and sea captains (and their crews) have perished there, most famously Sir John Franklin, a British naval hero, who left England in 1845 to explore the passage with two ships and 128 men; they were never seen again.
Five years ago my friend and former NBC documentary producer Sprague Theobald tackled the passage on his Nordhavn 57, cruising 8,500 miles from Newport, RI, to Seattle with a crew of five, including his son, stepson and stepdaughter. At one point, trapped in the ice, he asked himself, “Have I brought my family together only to lead them to their deaths?” Theobald wrote about his journey in “The Other Side of the Ice”; he also produced a documentary with the same title. Theobald’s Nordhavn was only the 25th recreational boat to transit the passage in history.
Now, with global warming, the passage is opening up to tourism, of a sort. Indeed, the first commercial cruise liner, Crystal Serenity, operated by Crystal Cruises. is set to leave Anchorage today and arrive in New York in a month, if all goes well. The 820-foot ship carries 1,070 passengers and crew of 655; costs vary from $22,000 to $120,000 per person, plus $50,000 worth of insurance to cover an emergency evacuation. For more:
