Four
people, my three children and myself, who were separated more than a
decade and a half ago were now being given the rare opportunity to
reconnect and perhaps start anew. June 16, 2009, dawned with a deep blue
New England sky. A fresh, morning breeze out of the northwest played
about Bagan and gently bumped her up against what might be one of
her last secure resting places for the next five months. Her tired crew
quietly stowed last-minute items and double- checked deck lashings and
safety devices for events and places no one could predict or, as of yet,
imagine. As the small crew scurried about silently, an invisible
transition was occurring. After waiting for two years, Bagan was now ready to lead the way into a vast and deadly unknown.
The docks at Goat Island were virtually empty. Those few who did saunter by took little notice of Bagan or her crew. At 11:00 a.m., 103 years to the day after Amundsen’s ship Gjoa left Oslo, Bagan’s 325-horsepower Lugger diesel engine was fired up in earnest and, with little fanfare, she slipped her lines.
As
we slowly powered through Newport’s inner harbor, I picked up my cell
phone and called Pierre Irving, a very dear sailing friend in Newport.
Pierre and I had shared many hard-fought miles together, The Two Man
Transatlantic Race in particular being some of our toughest. I wanted to
call and simply say good-bye to him and his wife, Kathy.
Bagan made
her way out of the harbor entrance, past Ft. Adams and Goat Island
landmarks that I’d known and honored for years, landmarks that I was
starting to realize I may never see again.
Not
near his phone, Pierre’s outgoing voicemail message played. As it did,
the enormity of what lay ahead of us hit me—8,500 miles through some of
the world’s harshest maritime environment. The concept of navigating un-
charted waters and as yet unknown perils to cross from the Atlantic to
the Pacific swept over me and I couldn’t speak.
As
Pierre’s voicemail beeped, my tears kept me from leaving the simplest
of messages. I merely wanted to say that I’d see them in five months and
wanted to wish them a wonderful summer.
I couldn’t.
The
overwhelming thought of what my summer and fall held choked off any
words. I wasn’t ready for it but unintentionally I’d severed the last
connection to home and could only pray that we were ready for what lay
ahead.
( TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL HD TEASER FOR “The Other Side of The Ice” [book and documentary] PLEASE GO TO: VIMEO.COM/45526226)
A sailor and his family’s harrowing and inspiring story of their attempt to sail the treacherous Northwest Passage.
Sprague
Theobald, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert sailor with
over 40,000 offshore miles under his belt, always considered the
Northwest Passage–the sea route connecting the Atlantic to the
Pacific–the ultimate uncharted territory. Since Roald Amundsen completed
the first successful crossing of the fabled Northwest Passage in 1906,
only twenty-four pleasure craft have followed in his wake. Many more
people have gone into space than have traversed the Passage, and a
staggering number have died trying. From his home port of Newport, Rhode
Island, through the Passage and around Alaska to Seattle, it would be
an 8,500-mile trek filled with constant danger from ice, polar bears,
and severe weather.
What
Theobald couldn’t have known was just how life-changing his journey
through the Passage would be. Reuniting his children and stepchildren
after a bad divorce more than fifteen years earlier, the family embarks
with unanswered questions, untold hurts, and unspoken mistrusts hanging
over their heads. Unrelenting cold, hungry polar bears, and a haunting
landscape littered with sobering artifacts from the tragic Franklin
Expedition of 1845, as well as personality clashes that threaten to tear
the crew apart, make The Other Side of the Ice a harrowing story of
survival, adventure, and, ultimately, redemption.
( TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL HD TEASER FOR “The Other Side of The Ice” [book and documentary] PLEASE GO TO: VIMEO.COM/45526226)
( TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL HD TEASER FOR “The Other Side of The Ice” [book and documentary] PLEASE GO TO: VIMEO.COM/45526226)
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Memoir, Adventure, Family, Climate
Rating – PG
More details about the author
Website www.spraguetheobald.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment