(Okoboji)-Okoboji Photographer and Sailor David Thoreson has returned from an adventure in the Arctic. KUOO’s Becky Thoreson has details:
(Okoboji)-Okoboji Photographer and Explorer David Thoreson has recently returned from assisting with a Northwest Passage Sailing Expedition.
Thoreson says he was asked to help when the vessel, Polar Sun, got into some difficulty in the Arctic. “I received a call out of the blue from my old sailing friend, Herb McCormick, that I sailed Around the Americas with, and he asked me if I’d be willing to share some knowledge with the crew of Polar Sun and this fellow named Mark Synnott, who was going to be the Skipper and Expedition Leader for a National Geographic cover story on the Northwest Passage. Originally, I was just kind of consulting with them and sharing information and helping them plan their voyage through the passage, but I wasn’t really planning on going sailing with them. Then, they got in a little trouble in the ice and delayed, and almost lost their vessel a few times, a pretty harrowing situation, and I got another call toward the end of the summer here a month or so ago, and they asked me if I could come up north and make my way and help them finish out the voyage.”
He says the crew ultimately made it to Nome and completed the mission. “Mark completed the Northwest Passage, an east to west route. It was exactly the same route as we did on Cloud Nine in 2007, so, 15 years ago, so that was pretty interesting, and his Captain on board that he had hired for the story also completed the Passage, so those guys will go in the history books, and I will also, as my 7th time now that I’ve sailed across the Arctic Circle, so that was pretty cool.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW:
For more on David Thoreson click here
