Victoria Jason - Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak

Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak

One Womans Journey Through
the Northwest Passage

VICTORIA JASON

Copyright 1995, 1997 Victoria Jason

Originally published in 1995.
First paperback edition 1997.
Second paperback printing 2000.
Third paperback printing 2005.

Turnstone Press
Artspace Building
206-100 Arthur Street
Winnipeg, MB
R3B 1H3 Canada
www.TurnstonePress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanicalwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request to photocopy any part of this book shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright (formerly Cancopy, the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), Toronto.

Turnstone Press gratefully acknowledges the assistance of The Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and the Government of Manitoba through the Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Arts Branch, for our publishing activities.

Cover photographs: Don Starkell and Victoria Jason
Author photograph: David R. White
Interior photographs: Victoria Jason, Don Starkell and Mike Macri
Design: Manuela Dias

This book was printed and bound in Canada by Friesens for Turnstone Press.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Jason, Victoria, 1945-2000.
Kabloona in the yellow kayak : one womans journey through the Northwest Passage / Victoria Jason. 1st paperback ed.

ISBN 0-88801-218-7

I. Jason, Victoria, 1945-2000JourneysNorthwest Passage. 2. Northwest PassageDescription and travel. 3. Sea kayakingNorthwest Passage. 4. Jason, Victoria, 1945-2000JourneysHudson Bay. 5. Hudson Bay RegionDescription and travel. 6. Sea kayakingHudson Bay.
I. Title.

FC4167.3.J385 1997 910.916327 C97-920100-4
FL090.5.J385 1997

Idedicate this book to all my children. To my daughter Angela, her husband Brian Everts, and my youngest grandchild Aleia Victoria. To my daughter Debbie, her husband Grant Peterson, and my granddaughter Denine (Rosebud). To my daughter Teresa, her husband Gregg Davey, and my grandsons Garrett and Keith. The best children a mother could hope for! I write for them, so they may one day forgive me for my wild wanderings and understand how much I appreciated the land I had learned to love.

And to my late mother and fatherFrances and Wasyl Polon. They taught me love, respect and consideration. I felt their presence many times during the trip.

My heartfelt thanks to the many individuals who encouraged me to write this book. How could I disappoint you? You were the source of my strength.

My thanks to Don Starkell for consenting to allow me to come on the first expedition.

My thanks to the North West Company for their much appreciated support in supplying our groceries and accommodations in the settlements, through their Northern Stores.

Special thanks to all their staff for their devoted consideration. They buoyed up our spirits so many times.

My thanks to Urban Trail for supplying me with hiking boots, to Marks Work Warehouse for the solar fleece sweater, to Kodak Canada for the slide film in 1994, to the Nutri-Bar Company for their generous addition to my food supply.

Thanks to my friends and co-workers at CN. They worried about me, but encouraged me to follow my dream. Im sure in their minds they believed my mental processes should be carefully examined by a shrink. However, their support was unwavering!

Thanks to my friends in the Big Lake Kayak Touring Club and the Manitoba Recreational Canoeing Association. Their enthusiasm was infectious.

Thanks to my sisters, Ann, Olga, Wilma, Nadia and Christine. They must have wondered why a farm girl from the Swan River Valley would be so interested in the Arctic. Their questions were always polite. I love them all dearly!

Thanks to Geoff Ball, Director of Purchases and Materials at CN, for having the nerve to sign my leave of absence forms four years in a row.

Thanks to the many people I met on my journey. Each individual was a treasure. They left me with memories money cannot buy!

Thank you to Steve Hawyluk for allowing me the use of his lovely cottage, where I found the solitude to start my writing. A daunting task indeed!

And last, but certainly not least, my deep appreciation goes to Louise Ferris for having the courage to decipher my handwriting and type it into the word processor. An excellent job, my dear friend!

The strong life that never knows harness;
The wilds where the caribou call;
The freshness, the freedom, the farness
Oh God! how Im stuck on it all

Robert Service

I will not dwell greatly on the history of the North as I write. Much research has been done by professionals and many history books written. Reflections are entered here and there only because they were of interest to me.

This book is about a true adventure that haunted me for half my lifetime. To experience the North from a kayak was beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.

I suppose I should try to explain the magnetic attraction that drew me to the North, but perhaps it doesnt need an explanation. Perhaps it was just the passion for feeling free.

I came by the love of kayaking quite accidentally. My ex-husband Dennis and I had done a great deal of canoeing in our seven years together, but when we divorced in 1989 he took the canoe, boats, and the all-terrain vehicle along. It turned out to be the nicest thing he ever did for me. It forced me to search for something I could handle on my own. I would try kayaking!

I was 45 years old and had never seen a kayak, except in pictures. Being a touch claustrophobic, I was leery about sitting in something that looked so confining. Gary Brabant at Wave Track changed my mind. He was very patient. He demonstrated the proper technique for getting in and out, and we hashed over pros and cons. Instantly, the idea of owning a kayak took hold.

I had one more concern. If I flip over, will I be able to get out easily? I asked Gary.

Yes, he replied, the kayak is a very stable craft, but if you flip over, the law of gravity says you will fall out.

That was all I needed to know. I went home with a Canoeing & Kayaking magazine containing an article, A Primer on Paddling Strokes. I bought a thirteen-foot yellow River Runner and on May 5, 1990, I slipped it into the water for the first time at Willard Lake in Ontario. With the open magazine in my lap, I followed the instructions step by step. By evening I was completely hooked on kayaking.

Leroy and Betty Goodell, the owners of Pleasant Point Lodge, became like family to me, and I spent every weekend in 1990 on Willard Lake or the surrounding area, portaging from one lake to another. Having so much freedom was exhilarating. I would wonder no longer what was around the next bend. I would find out on my own. Never in my life had I felt better. I was strong, lean and deeply tanned from the days on the water.