Transcription: "The J.E. Bernier II: a small sailboat driven by a big dream"

This page includes the written transcript of this podcast, translated into English.

The smallest of our boats in the river park is certainly not the least significant. This pleasure craft took on an immense challenge: crossing the mythical Northwest Passage, the northern sea route described in another segment of the podcast. It was in 1975 that the idea of carrying out a major maritime project was born in the mind of navigator Réal Bouvier. Ironically, he was in the West Indies when he imagined this expedition to the Arctic ice. He and his partner Marie-Eve Thibault embarked on a crazy adventure that would see them leave the Lachine marina, in the province of Quebec, on June 30, 1976, barely 10 months after they had the idea. This is quite a feat in itself, as this kind of project is usually conceived over several years. But passion would prove more powerful than any constraint. It motivated the troops, who had the boat built and found sponsors, including Canada Steamship Lines, which financed the construction. For all intents and purposes, the crew members gave up their respective jobs in order to accomplish the dream of a lifetime.

In both cases, the obstacles encountered were overcome, both in the preparation and in the realization of the project. In both cases, we find, in the character of the protagonists, the vision of a goal to be reached as well as a true love of adventure, freedom, and the beauty of the icy continent. It would take three seasons to sail from Montreal to Vancouver, and a fourth to bring the ship back to Quebec and circumnavigate North and Central America via the Panama Canal. Between triumph and misery, the different crews participating in the adventure navigated through the Arctic ice, facing a force of nature stronger than any other. Beechey Island, which ships crossing the Northwest Passage inevitably pass, reminded them that death had been the lot of many explorers before them. With the graves of the sailors of the infamous Franklin expedition, none of whom survived, the mournful atmosphere of the place commands respect. One thing that really impresses me is to see the cavity left on the J.E. Bernier II when it spent some time stuck in the ice, indenting a small section of the hull. I invite you to look closely at the hull of the sailboat to find it. There’s so much to say about this incredible voyage of the J.E. Bernier II! You can follow its route on the granite map drawn on the ground, which shows both the route of the Arctic, Joseph-Elzéar Bernier's boat in 1909, and the sailing ship. A few decades later, the J.E. Bernier II would bear the name of the famous captain and lead the crew of young dreamers in an expedition worthy of Bernier's greatest exploits.