2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – End of the Trail
At the end of it all, I’m back where I started. Four summers ago, I loaded up the truck with 500 pounds of gear and set off for Hudson Bay, hoping to photograph the beluga whales here in Churchill, and maybe see a polar bear or two. More than two weeks of bashing myself stupid […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – Once is Enough
I don’t ever need to do that again. An old Inuit hunter once told me that before you cross Wager Bay, you must confess in a loud voice all your sins. I worked my way down the list through Pride, Lust, Greed and Vanity, but I must have overlooked a few. Or maybe I needed […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – The View from Above
This changes everything. Like most boys, I dreamt of flying. My young nights filled with aerial adventures that come crashing to earth with the morning alarm. And like most men, I lacked the ambition, attention span or available stockpile of cash to make those dreams a reality. These days, most of my flying dreams are […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – A Very Repulse Welcome
I wonder who should play me in the movie. My short visit to Repulse Bay, a remote and insular Inuit hunting village perched on the arctic circle has all the dramatic trappings of good, pulp cinema. Though I’m still trying to figure what kind of story it is, or even who are the good guys […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – Prisoner of the Wind
Every time you step out the front door, you put yourself at the mercy of the elements. Traffic is snarled, flights are cancelled and you can rest assured that it’s going to rain on someone’s parade. Today seems to be my turn. For a small boat out on the water, there’s a special circle of […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition – Heading North
After days of utter calm, the wind returns like a jilted lover in a country song; howling with rage, waving a pistol and busting up the furniture. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. For three days I motored north and east, making a stately five knots over glassy seas. At times, it was practically […]
Hudson Bay Expedition – Away We Go
It’s time to go. All the same, I keep finding small excuses to stay. I need more fuel. Have to edit that video. Might need some more groceries. Facebook beckons. It’s time for lunch/coffee/a nap. With the wind and fog, I had an excuse. But the easterlies have gone and the fog is only an […]
Hudson Bay Expedition – Tour the Boat
This boat. This 22-foot floating fiberglass money pit. For the summer it’s my home, my office and my bedroom. It’s also my jail cell and my ticket to adventure, my shelter through the storms to come and my private little shop of horrors. I’ve often compared her to a VW camper of the sea, but […]
Hudson Bay Expedition – Into the Sea
This whole thing feels like it’s held together with baling wire and wishing thinking. But has it ever been otherwise? After all the running around, stringing wires and stowing cases, it comes down to this: will the boat float and can I make her go. I mention to my friend Chesley that it seems as […]
Hudson Bay Expedition – Flying to Nunavut
Flying north from Thompson, we leave the road system behind and head north for an hour toward Hudson Bay under skies full of promise and over miles of mosquito-plagued tundra. We land in Churchill to drop off 90% of our passengers, and pick up cargo and fuel. I study a massive polar bear carcass strung up in a […]
On the Road Across Canada
It’s 2:45 in the morning, and I bolt awake, my brain spinning in full hamster-wheel mode. I am so not ready for this. But the sun comes up whether I’m ready or not. And soon, it’s time to go. My eyes brim with tears as I hold Janet in my arms. Despair grips me. Is […]
2015 Hudson Bay Expedition
For weeks, I’ve been packing as if my life depends on it. Because, not to be a drama queen, it kind of does. How do you prepare for six weeks alone on a boat in the Canadian arctic? Most modern explorers take the travel light and move fast approach. I’m more of a kitchen sink […]
2013 BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year – Animals in Their Environment
Polar Bear lurking beneath melting sea ice on Hudson Bay, Canada. Photographed July 11, 2012 using a Canon 7D camera, 10-22mm lens and at the end of a six-foot camera boom. Exposure 1/320 second at f/4. I had been making noise for years about going to Hudson Bay to photograph polar bears. The town of […]
