A Marine Institute researcher braved the Northwest Passage — in a kayak

A Marine Institute researcher lived an explorer's dream over the summer, when he paddled through the Canadian Arctic. 

After thinking over the trip for a decade, Maxime Geoffroy and his adventure partner Simon Carrier kayaked 2,000 kilometres of the Northwest Passage. The passage runs through the Arctic Ocean – around the Canadian Arctic Archipelago – between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

For centuries, European explorers have attempted to venture the pathway, thinking it could be an efficient route for the transportation of goods. However, ice gets in the way of smooth sailing.

"For a large part of the years, this has been preventing most of these explorers to reach their goal," Geoffroy told CBC Radio's On The Go. "A lot have died in the process." 

But, he made it across in one piece. 

Two years of planning

Geoffroy is no stranger to the Canadian Arctic. Part of his research at the Marine Institute in St. John's is arctic oceanography, so he spends at least a month on a research vessel every year. 

Every time he had boarded a vessel in the past decade, he said, he wondered what it would be like to experience the harsh waters of the Northwest Passage.

The exploration took precise planning, he said. Geoffroy and his partner had to get familiar with the map and with precision work out their route. They tracked the weather conditions for every 10 kilometres of their path.

The duo had to embark in early July to make it before the ice formed again in September, and they had to ensure they were in good enough shape to endure at least 40 days of paddling. 

The journey

The whole journey took two years to plan, but it was time to pick up the paddles.

For Geoffroy, the trip started with a flight to Edmonton, followed by a 5,000-kilometre drive.

"That in itself was an adventure," he said.

The explorer says he hit the water at Tuktoyaktuk, a hamlet situated in the Northwest Territories. What lay ahead of the exploration duo was 50 days of paddling for 10 to 12 hours at a time. 

"We were not really able to take any days off," said Geoffroy, noting that the weather forced them to camp out for a few days before hopping back into the kayak. 

The voyage ended in August in Gjoa Haven, on the southeast coast of King William Island, Nunavut.

Geoffroy and Carrier got stuck in the ice, which forced them to stop.

At times, Geoffroy said, the exploration was "a mental game," as he was always on high alert for grizzly bears and other wildlife.

Still, those long days forced Geoffroy and Carrier to take in their surroundings, which he says were vast and humbling.

"It might sound cliche but one of the reasons we do this, it's to have some kind of reality check on how comfortable we are in our day-to-day life," he said.

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