Route through the Northwest Passage

Cook left Hawaii and sailed north to find a way home through the arctic ice. He never made it. History tells us he was slaughtered and devoured here on the big island and, curiously, Hawaiians still try hard to hide Cooks’s unfortunate demise…

We too need to somehow make our way back to England from Hawaii. Personal problems are stacking up over Henry’s education and his well being, it’s not an easy situation. Marie takes a continual moral kicking from other moms and establishment experts who sleep well in their beds each night. But, let’s agree, it’s also not right that Marie and Hen have to spend time apart? Can we say it’s wrong for Marie to be judged by the standards of others? The ones who always tell her they know best..?

Now the conundrum… If we ourselves head for England northwards then we can make for the remote and desolate Aleutian Islands, but our insurance people say no. Or we can head for British Columbia, Canada and our insurance experts say, well that’s ok. Surely we can then keep going north to Alaska to find a route back through the Arctics’ Northwest Passage, just like Cook’s voyage. Now our insurance company are having the mother of all dicky fits and saying absolutely not. It’s painful, we must have insurance because every first world country we sail into now insist, not the least Canada and the US. Then our insurers tell us they will give us cover only as far as 50 deg north and, even then, not after the first of November…

Things are changing. It’s not easy to slow the world down and jump off anymore, to leave the establishment world of global commerce and authority. We have huge sailing experience, a well found vessel that can sail into the arctic and a sensual desire for adventure. We are explorers too but the wilderness wilds are inevitably now controlled. Sänna can go anywhere and we have no need for authority or authoritarian governments. But then we are dictated to by insurance underwriters who do not know a great deal except risk algorithms and financial return on risk management. Is it right that we have to seek the permission of our insurer before we do anything…? Is commerce interference and government control getting out of hand?

….I’ve thought about this a great deal. Our insurers are risk averse and puritanical, they wield too much power. We’re going north regardless. Marie and I have talked and decided that maybe Henry can sail north with us too. Absolutely No! Now the education authorities and the teacher experts say not. It’s dangerous, with huge adverse affects on Henry’s growing mind and will contravene new education laws in the UK. So we have yet another head on collision of ideals; once again we are teasing the experts which is never a good thing to do. We are challenging their comfort zones…

The establishment is fighting back vigorously as it always does. We are irresponsible itinerants of no fixed abode, sea gypsies with low moral attitudes. We need to be reigned in and put back into our ant like slots…

No matter. We’re going north into the icepack to find our way home.