'The ocean speaks to me': St. John's youth to cross Atlantic with Indigenous tall ship project

Paddy Davisson says he's always had a close connection with the ocean, somewhere he'll be spending nearly a month as he crosses the Atlantic on board a tall ship.

Davisson is one of 45 Indigenous youths randomly selected from across Canada — and one of four from Newfoundland and Labrador — to take part in the Msit No'kmaq Tall Ship Project.

He said he's always had a close connection with the ocean, growing up in Washington state and later moving to Newfoundland.

"I'm part of the Makah tribe … they're very seafaring people," Davisson told CBC Radio's the St. John's Morning Show.

"Their entire ancestry has the southern half of Vancouver Island, then they came down to the cape on the Washington peninsula … they've hunted whales for over 2,000 years."

The project will take Davisson, and the other youths, from Halifax to LeHavre, France, aboard the Gulden Leeuw.  Davisson said it's a "completely amazing" opportunity.

The group will write in journals daily on the ship, and their notes will eventually be combined to create a detailed record of the journey, Davisson said.

He's hopeful it won't be the last time he gets to make such a vast journey.

"The ocean speaks to me," Davisson said.

"I hope to have a future career doing this for the rest of my life, so that I can see the entire world."