Nunavut family travels Mackenzie River, Arctic Ocean to take new boat home

A family from Kugluktuk, Nunavut, recently purchased a new boat in Manitoba, only to drive it more than 2,000 kilometres to get it home.

"When you are an outdoor person, and your family likes to go out, that's why we do this," said Joe Evyagotailak.

Evyagotailak, his wife and grandson began their 21-day journey just outside the community of Hay River on the Mackenzie River, which eventually empties into the Beaufort Sea.

He said that part of the trip was relatively tame — for the most part.

"We ran into a forest fire just before we got to Wrigley," he said.

"We were looking for a place to camp, and the next thing we started seeing smoke in front of us. It was kind of scary, because we could see the flames right on the shore of the Mackenzie, but we managed to get through because we could see the buoys."

The family encountered another hiccup when they arrived at the coastal community of Tuktoyaktuk. Adverse weather meant they were trapped for eight days before moving on.

Despite the delay, Evyagotailak says it was a great trip, made even better by the people they met along the way.

"Just as we were getting close to Bennett Point, outside Paulatuk, we saw some young hunters looking around for beluga.

"They told us there were some polars bears around, and for us to come and have tea, so we went to see the polar bears and my wife got some nice pictures of them swimming, and then we just let them be."

It's the third time Evyagotailak has made the trip, and he says "he would go again if [he had] to.

"It is fun, but some days you just have to go, go, go when the weather is nice."