Course Correction

// custom header art window.tgam.meta.photo_desktop = "https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patarmain-xl.jpg"; window.tgam.meta.photo_mobile = "https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patarmain2-sm.jpg"; // editable custom header parameters window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay_vertical_position_desktop = "top"; window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay_horizontal_position_desktop = "right"; window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay_vertical_position_mobile = "top"; window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay_gradient = true; window.tgam.meta.centre_headline = false; window.tgam.meta.large_headline = false; window.tgam.meta.label_text_colour = ""; window.tgam.meta.label_box_colour = "#a00f19"; window.tgam.meta.banner_overlay_gradient = false; window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay_gradient_opacity = ""; // editable custom header display overrides window.tgam.meta.display_head = "Course correction"; window.tgam.meta.display_deck = "How a failed voyage through the Northwest Passage aboard a century-old tall ship serves as a reminder that there is still much to learn from the Arctic and its Indigenous Peoples"; window.tgam.meta.label = ""; window.tgam.meta.byline = "Photography and story by Dustin Patar"; window.tgam.meta.byline2 = ""; window.tgam.meta.creditline = "The Globe and Mail"; // non-editable custom header parameters - PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH window.tgam.meta.headline_overlay = true; window.tgam.meta.two_column = false; window.tgam.meta.swap_column = false; window.tgam.meta.full_width = true; window.tgam.meta.narrow_width = false; window.tgam.meta.dark_background = true; window.tgam.meta.dark_background_colour = "#0a0a0a"; window.tgam.meta.sans_headline = false; window.tgam.meta.label_text_colour_overlay = "" ; window.tgam.meta.label_box_colour_overlay = "#a00f19"; window.tgam.meta.audio_bar = false; window.tgam.meta.banner = true; window.tgam.meta.banner_border = false; window.tgam.meta.banner_overlay_dark = false; window.tgam.meta.caption_background_colour = ""; window.tgam.meta.caption_text_colour = ""; window.tgam.meta.full_height = true; // gi lazy images window.lazySizesConfig = window.lazySizesConfig || {}; Object.assign(window.lazySizesConfig, { lazyClass: "gi-lazyimage", loadedClass: "gi-lazyimage--loaded", loadingClass: "gi-lazyimage--loading", preloadClass: "gi-lazyimage--preload", errorClass: "gi-lazyimage--error", autosizesClass: "gi-lazyimage--autosizes", expand: 1000 });

const gi_content = ` series: false [content] :skip ****** standalone text ****** :endskip [.slide] type: text [.text] [.+paragraphs] When the Statsraad Lehmkuhl pushed off from the dock in Nuuk, Greenland, this summer, it did so to little fanfare. The throngs of well-wishers and onlookers that used to pack piers to help send off the Arctic voyages of centuries past had been replaced by a small handful of curious tourists and dock workers. [] [] [] :skip ****** video ****** :endskip [.slide] type: video video: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/TallShipDay.mp4 video-caption: fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 4-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 4-3 caption: credit: audio: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/WavesBirds.mp3 audio-label: true audio-description: interactive: [.text] [.+paragraphs] With its three towering masts and an accoutrement of brass and wood sailing hardware, the 111-year-old Norwegian tall ship recalls the Arctic expeditions of yore. But the Lehmkuhl – and its course through the famed Northwest Passage and Beaufort Sea – was aiming to chart a different course than those often imperialistic explorers. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar2-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar2-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar2-xl2.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: true mobile-aspect-ratio: 2-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: Marcus Seidl, Captain of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, leads the students and educators in a sea shanty. credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] Aboard the August journey were more than 80 students and educators from countries including Canada, Norway, France and Kalaallit Nunaat – the Kalaallisut name for Greenland. They were there to participate in a course called Arctic Future Pathfinders, organized by the Arctic University of Norway, known as UiT. [] [] [] :skip ****** diptych ****** :endskip [.slide] type: diptych mobile-aspect-ratio: 4-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 4-3 map: [.diptych] photo-1-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar3-sm.jpg photo-1-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar3-lg.jpg caption-1: Voyage participants clad in survival suits drift in a secluded harbour in Nuuk, Greenland, as part of their pre-trip training and preparation. credit-1: audio-1: audio-1-label: audio-1-description: photo-2-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar4-sm.jpg photo-2-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar4-lg.jpg caption-2: Throughout the voyage, students collected marine specimens and sampled water from different depths to learn more about arctic ecosystems. credit-2: audio-2: audio-2-label: audio-2-description: [] [.text] [.+paragraphs] For the next two months, two cohorts of the field school were to be taken into the heart of the Canadian Arctic and exposed to a cross-disciplinary foundation of Arctic knowledge. [] [.+paragraphs] Through lectures, assignments and hands-on research, they’d learn about everything from how the Arctic’s ecosystems are changing to the nuances of the geopolitics that surround it. The students also got hands-on experience in scientific methods such as collecting samples of marine organisms and analyzing ocean waves. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar5-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar5-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar5-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 2-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: credit: audio: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/MiyukiIntro8143.mp3 audio-label: true audio-description: Miyuki Qiajunnguaq Daorana, a youth knowledge holder from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) speaks to course participants about Inuit knowledge [.text] [.+paragraphs] Before classes began, the students sat down with Sámi and Inuit mentors who introduced them to Indigenous knowledge systems, which are ever-evolving and flexible ways of thinking rooted in the environment and Indigenous experience. The participants learned that these knowledge systems are not simply context for Western-centric knowledge, but are an equally credible and essential way of seeing the world. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar6-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar6-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar6-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] “I feel like it’s the first time I’m hearing this in an academic setting. It is very weird but very amazing to me,” says Lilja Ljetoff, a Sámi student from UiT. “It feels like validation.” [] [] [] :skip ****** diptych ****** :endskip [.slide] type: diptych fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: true mobile-aspect-ratio: 3-2 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 map: [.diptych] photo-1-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar7-sm.jpg photo-1-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar7-lg.jpg caption-1: Statsraad Lehmkuhl’s bosun, Jesper Rosenmai, assists crew members with the mending of a sail using the ship’s industrial sewing machine. credit-1: audio-1: audio-1-label: audio-1-description: photo-2-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar8-sm.jpg photo-2-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar8-lg.jpg caption-2: Volunteer crew member Christian Fjord supervises a group of students as they adjust the rigging of the sails. credit-2: audio-2: audio-2-label: audio-2-description: [] [.text] [.+paragraphs] Alongside their coursework, the participants were also responsible for assisting the 20 or so professional crew with the ship’s sailing needs: setting and lowering sails, steering, cleaning and other daily tasks. The first few days were a challenge. Schedules were split into four-hour shifts, separated by eight-hour breaks. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar9-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar9-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar9-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] It would have been manageable had it not been for rougher seas that, when combined with the first-time experience of being on a ship, left many students with varying degrees of seasickness. [] [] [] :skip ****** diptych ****** :endskip [.slide] type: diptych mobile-aspect-ratio: 3-2 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 map: [.diptych] photo-1-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar10-sm.jpg photo-1-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar10-lg.jpg caption-1: Justin Barnes, a PhD student at Harvard University, is marked with face paint as part of the polar baptism ceremony. credit-1: audio-1: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/PolarBaptism9171.mp3 audio-1-label: true audio-1-description: Course participants experience a "polar baptism," the final part of a ceremony for crew who pass into the Arctic circle for the first time photo-2-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar11-sm.jpg photo-2-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar11-lg.jpg caption-2: Ana Luisa Sanchez, a course educator from UiT, receives her polar baptism from King Neptune. credit-2: audio-2: audio-2-label: audio-2-description: [] [.text] [.+paragraphs] [] [] [] :skip ****** standalone text ****** :endskip [.slide] type: text [.text] [.+paragraphs] But just as the journey was really starting to set in, it took, quite literally, an unexpected turn. In the late-evening hours of Aug. 8 – just three days into the trip – the ship was forced to divert south while in the waters of Baffin Bay, between Greenland and Canada, where the Atlantic and Arctic oceans meet. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar12-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar12-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar12-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: true fullscreen-desktop: true mobile-aspect-ratio: 2-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: Icebergs dot the path of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl as it sailed out of Nuuk fjord and into Davis Strait. credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] The next day, after discussions with Transport Canada, Captain Marcus Seidl broke the news: The Canadian authorities had denied their entry into the Northwest Passage because of the number of icebergs in the water and the Lehmkuhl’s lack of an ice rating, which indicates a vessel’s ability to navigate icy waters. [] [.+paragraphs] Icebergs drift south from Greenland, Ellesmere Island or any number of other islands in the Arctic archipelago where climate change is causing glaciers to melt and split at alarming rates. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar21-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar21-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar21-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: First officer Kamilla Steenvinkel speaks with a crew member about an iceberg that was spotted off the starboard side of the Statsraad Lehmkuhl. credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] A paper published by Nature last year found that as the climate continues to warm, thick, multiyear ice – ice that hasn’t melted in the summer – from the High Arctic drifts into various parts of the Northwest Passage, posing navigational challenges and potentially even shortening the shipping season. [] [.+paragraphs] With the ship needing to be on the west coast of North America by the fall for its next journey, its new route now ran through the Panama Canal, not the ideal place to conclude a course about the Arctic. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar13-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar13-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar13-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] The change in route meant the course organizers had to adjust their plans. Among them was the voyage’s cruise leader Maxime Geoffroy, who is no stranger to having the Arctic change his plans. [] [.+paragraphs] Last summer, the researcher at Memorial University of Newfoundland attempted to kayak through the Northwest Passage with a friend. About 2,000 kilometres in, near King William Island, ice conditions forced them to turn back. Mr. Geoffroy has also faced similar ice-related setbacks while aboard even the best-equipped vessels, such as Canada’s premier research icebreaker, the Amundsen. [] [] [] :skip ****** diptych ****** :endskip [.slide] type: diptych mobile-aspect-ratio: 3-2 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 map: [.diptych] photo-1-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar14-sm.jpg photo-1-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar14-lg.jpg caption-1: Sofia Lorenzo Broderstad, a masters student at UiT, scans the horizon while on helm watch. credit-1: audio-1: audio-1-label: true audio-1-description: photo-2-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar15-sm.jpg photo-2-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar15-lg.jpg caption-2: Maxime Geoffroy, the cruise leader and a professor at Memorial University, delivers the daily post-dinner briefing, providing students with updates on the voyage and their coursework. credit-2: audio-2: audio-2-label: audio-2-description: [] [.text] [.+paragraphs] Mr. Geoffroy said the Arctic’s biggest lesson is adjusting to the environment. “Because that’s what the Canadian Arctic is,” he said. “You go there to do research, but it’s not always going as you expect, and if they continue to go in that area, it will happen again, maybe differently, but it’s also part of the learning experience of these immersive courses.” [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar16-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar16-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar16-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: true mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: As nights became darker and longer, the northern lights became visible overhead. credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] As the Lehmkuhl meandered south and the nights grew darker, the course organizers decided that while the ship would continue its voyage to the tropics, the Arctic Future Pathfinder participants would disembark in St. John’s. [] [] [] :skip ****** diptych ****** :endskip [.slide] type: diptych mobile-aspect-ratio: 3-2 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 map: [.diptych] photo-1-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar17-sm.jpg photo-1-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar17-lg.jpg caption-1: Hana Chelly, a PhD student at the Université de Bretagne Occidentale, assists Statsraad Lehmkuhl crew member Oliver Nordtveit Fagerbakk with the deployment of a water sampling device. credit-1: audio-1: audio-1-label: true audio-1-description: photo-2-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar18-sm.jpg photo-2-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar18-lg.jpg caption-2: Sámi Elder Jan-Erik Henriksen speaks to students about two-eyed seeing, the practice of viewing the world through the lenses of both Indigenous and Western knowledge. credit-2: audio-2: audio-2-label: audio-2-description: [] [.text] [.+paragraphs] In the 10 days after the 180-degree course correction away from the Northwest Passage, the students and educators continued their learning, whether in the classroom or high in the rigging. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar19-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar19-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar19-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: false fullscreen-desktop: false mobile-aspect-ratio: 1-1 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: The Statsraad Lehmkuhl closes in on St. John’s Harbour, the voyage's new destination. credit: audio: audio-label: audio-description: [.text] [.+paragraphs] Nearly 2,000 nautical miles after leaving Nuuk, the Lehmkuhl passed through the narrows of St. John’s harbour. Although the physical journey through the Northwest Passage was a failure, the course itself was a success. [] [] [] :skip ****** photo ****** :endskip [.slide] type: photo photo-sm: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar20-sm.jpg photo-lg: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar20-lg.jpg photo-xl: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/patar20-xl.jpg fullscreen-mobile: true fullscreen-desktop: true mobile-aspect-ratio: 2-3 desktop-aspect-ratio: 3-2 caption: credit: audio: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/files/editorial/News/nw-na-photoessay-tall-ship/Shanty7809.mp3 audio-label: true audio-description: Captain Marcus Seidl leads the students in a sea shanty [.text] [.+paragraphs] “I feel like the whole experience has [meant] that I have to maybe change my life back home,” says Thea Tennoy, a master’s student at UiT, about learning the value of Indigenous perspectives when conducting research as part of the course. “It’s affected my way of thinking.” [] [] [] :skip ****** photographer bio ****** :endskip [.slide] type: bio label: photo: photo-credit: bio: [] :skip ****** credits ****** :endskip [.slide] type: credits [.+credits] Photography and story by Dustin Patar Editing by Ayesha Habib Digital presentation by Mackenzie Lad Photo editing by Taehoon Kim Visuals editing by Solana Cain Interactive design and development by Christopher Manza [] [] [] `; !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r