Stepping Back in Time at Mystic Seaport

During stage 1 we will kayak 1,400 miles from Seattle, Washington to Skagway, Alaska. The Pacific Northwest is home to a wide range of aquatic and terrestrial animals. We will be studying whales and other marine mammals, kelp forests, salmon, and many other species.

The Pacific Northwest is home to a variety of large land mammals including Grizzly Bears, and Black Bears. Above and below the surface we are sure to find plenty of things to learn about. Many of these large mammals need large undeveloped spaces to thrive and the roadless sections of British Columbia and Alaska provide the perfect habitat.

From Skagway, Alaska we will hike over the Chilkoot Pass in the footsteps of thousands of gold seekers who struggled across the pass to reach the Klondike. Many of artifacts remain from those early days, and we will follow their path all the way to Dawson City along the mighty Yukon River.

From Bennet Lake on the eastern side of the Chilkoot Pass we will canoe through a chain of lakes that form the headwaters of the Yukon River past White Horse and down the swift flowing Yukon River to Dawson City.

From Dawson we will hike 100 miles through the mountains to the headwaters of the Blackstone River. The Blackstone flows into the Peel River, which flows in the McKenzie River, which will lead us to the Arctic Ocean. The rivers flowing through these rugged mountains as some of the most pristine wild rivers in North America, with hundreds of miles of flowing waterways between towns or roads.

After over 2,600 miles of paddling and hiking we hope to reach the Arctic Ocean before freeze up. We will spend the month of October,2010 training our dogs, and learning about native life in the Arctic. In November we will head south along the McKenzie River by dog team, crossing 1,800 miles of frozen wilderness. There are many remote native communities along our way and we are sure to learn a lot from the people we encounter.

When the ice melts in the Spring of 2011 we will transition from dogsled to canoe and paddle 2,300 miles along the historic travel and trade route pioneered by Alexander McKenzie, Samuel Hearne, and other Canadian Explorers in the 1700's. We will finish this stage of our journey in the fall of 2011 by completing the 8 1/2 mile Grand Portage which will lead us to the rock shore of Lake Superior.

After spending the winter giving presentations and making final preparations we will begin 4,800 mile kayak journey from Grand Portage, Minnesota to Key West, Florida. The first 2,200 miles will take us through the Great Lakes and out the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Great Lakes contain 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water, which is one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. We plan to demonstrate the importance of properly managing and protecting this amazing resource.

During the final stage of our journey we will kayak the length of the Atlantic Coast from the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Key West, Florida. We will be following the seasonal whale migration from the Bay of Fundy in Maine to the warm clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way we will visit cities large and small, and study a variety of ecosystems and environmental topics. We also plan to take side trips into the cyprus swamps and Everglades National Park looking for Alligators, birds, and other critters.

Wenonah Canoe and Current Designs Kayaks

GoMacro makes wonderful macrobiotic energy bars.

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Expedition Blog

Stepping Back in Time at Mystic Seaport

Saturday, 06 October 2012 10:37 Written by Administrator

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Recently, we spent the day at Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea. We explored a 19^th century coastal village. We had the opportunity to climb aboard tall ships and learn about things like whaling, harvesting clams, making barrels, and navigation.

On board a whaling ship

There is even a working preservation shipyard at Mystic Seaport. The ship they are currently working to restore is the Charles W. Morgan. This ship is the last surviving wooden whaling ship. It was built in 1841 in New Bedford, MA. That means it is 171 years old! The Morgan had an 80-year whaling career until it was retired in 1921. Dave and I had the chance to walk on the ship's deck and inside. We decided that we prefer traveling in our small kayaks and camping in our tent compared to the cramped quarters that the crew lived in for years at a time.

Below the deck of the Charles W. Morgan

Why where whales hunted?

I bet you are wondering why people would hunt whales. Before petroleum oil was discovered, whale oil was used for lighting and lubrication. Several other things were harvested from whales in addition to whale oil. They include baleen (used for corsets, hoop skirts, brushes and other things), spermaceti (used to make candles) and ambergris (used in perfumes and for medicinal purposes).

Ships like the Morgan hunted for Sperm Whales, Right Whales and Bowhead Whales. These three species of whale were easier to catch than other species. They could harvest a lot of the desired products from these whales. The other factor that influenced their choice of whales is that these three types of whale would remain floating after they were killed.

A Mystic Seaport staff member describing the use of the harpoon

How did they catch whales?

When whales were spotted from the ship, smaller boats would be launched to pursue the whales. These boats were rowed, sailed or paddled. Once they got really close to the whale, a harpoon with a long rope would be thrust into the whale. This would basically attach the boat to the whale. The whale would most likely swim away until it grew tired. This part of the process (the boat being dragged by the whale) was called the Nantucket Sleighride. Can you imagine paddling up to a 50 ft long creature that weighs 120,000 lbs and then being dragged behind it?! When the whale stopped swimming, the crew would bring the boat close again and kill it with a long lance or firearm. The crew would then have a long row back to the ship, towing the whale behind their boat.

The Joseph Conrad at Mystic Seaport