‘Kayaking through the Place of Spirits’
In 2023, 4 sea kayakers set off on a remote 1,000km journey to the ‘Place of Spirits’ in the Canadian Arctic. They traversed a land of steep mountains, polar bears, glaciers, caribou and shimmering northern lights. The sea ice had recently broken up, and the paddlers had to weave around, and carry over thick belts of icebergs jostling on the frigid sea. They passed Inukshuks and stone circles that hinted at Inuit travel routes and hunting grounds used for thousands of years. They were able to stay in a handful of hunting cabins but otherwise saw only 5 other people during a month of travel on the uninhabited wind-swept coast. The trip started in Ungava bay, home to the world’s largest tides and traveled around onto the exposed Labrador coast. They traversed through Torngat National Park which comes from the Inuktitut word Tongait, meaning “place of spirits”. Totally self-sufficient, carrying 4 weeks food and everything they need to travel through this inhospitable but beautiful land. Justine Curgenven, JF Marleau, Frank Wolf and Larry Chomyn are seasoned paddlers and explorers with solid track records in the paddlesports industry. Between them, they have sweated through 50,000 km of wilderness travel. Long-time adventurers Frank and Justine have produced award-winning films and published many articles for national and international audiences. JF is one of the most experienced and highly qualified sea kayak professionals in Canada. Larry can be frequently found on an adventure and is passionate about dynamic water paddling and touring. Nigel and Kristen Foster completed this trip 20 years ago and no one has attempted it since. 
@frankwolf70 @justinecurgenven  www.cackletv.com @skils.ca   www.skils.ca

@lchomyn

Justine wrote almost daily blogs about the trip which can be found here. All the team shared photos and videos on their social media channel.
Contact Justine for a multi-media presentation about the exciting adventure, including 10 polar bear encounters.

A massive Thank you to our sponsors

Boreal Design Kayaks – Dependable kayaks to #gobeyond
Kokatat – Amazing drysuits and other paddlesports gear
Werner Paddles – world class paddles
Air Inuit Cargo – shipping our kayaks to the Canadian Arctic at a discount
Fjallraven – Great outdoor gear
Hilleberg the Tentmaker – the best tents!
Loksak – odour-proof bags for our food
MSR – Providing cookware, sleeping bags, water filters
Thermarest – providing thermarests
Seal line – Providing compression dry bags
ICOM – providing waterproof, submersible, handheld VHF radios
Northwater – paddlesports accessories including deck bags and paddle floats.
Showers Pass – providing waterproof socks and gloves

Hornby Organic Bars – delicious and nutritious snacks