‘It’s been a journey of incredible stories, learning about Canada’s past, our present and our future’
By Clare Hennig, CBC News
Three oceans and 145 days into an epic sea voyage, the Canada C3 expedition has docked in Vancouver on the final leg of its 150-day trip from one side of the country to the other.
“It was amazing to sail under the Lions Gate Bridge [on Monday] morning as the sun was rising,” said Geoff Green, founder and expedition leader of Canada C3.
Pulling into Vancouver was a real moment to reflect on the trip, he told CBC guest host of On The Coast Gloria Macarenko. Green had been in Vancouver earlier, before leaving on the trip.
“I didn’t think we’d ever get here, but here we are,” he said. “It’s been remarkable. It’s been a journey of incredible stories, learning about Canada’s past, our present and our future.”
The Canada C3 expedition passes through the Torngat Mountains. (Jackie Dives/Students on Ice Foundation )
Three oceans and coastlines
The expedition team left Toronto on June 1 and passed through Canada’s three oceans from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific.
“Every single day we’ve stopped, for 145 days, at small towns, big cities, national parks, marine protected areas, just kind of wrapping the country in a blanket of stories from coast to coast to coast,” Green said.
He recalled one memory from the trip, when he was travelling with an 70-year-old Inuit elder who told him a story about getting shipwrecked and stranded on an island when he was five.
The next day, the ship stopped at that very same island in the Northwest Passage and the team found pieces of the boat from more than six decades earlier.
Further up the island, the group then discovered an old letter dating back to the mid-’80s and then later, on top of the island, came across an ancient Dorset site.
“And that’s just one evening in the journey,” Green said.
The Canada C3 expedition passed through three oceans and coastlines from the Atlantic to the Arctic to the Pacific . (Michelle Valberg/Students on Ice Foundation )
‘Voyage of reconciliation’
The trip is part of a project for Canada’s 150th anniversary, but Green said it is as much about moving forward on a path of reconciliation as it is about celebrating the past.
“This has really become a voyage of reconciliation,” he said.”It’s been a journey of incredible stories learning about Canada’s past, our present and our future.”
The Canada C3 expedition is set to be completed this week, with plans to arrive in Victoria on Saturday.
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