When Jason Week and I started the ‘Lost in the Arctic’ project, we thought it would be just another neat CLYW release … some people might appreciate the historical significance of the Franklin Expedition and some might get a kick out of the frozen zombie art … what ended up happening didn’t cross our minds at all.
In July of this year I got a tweet from Will Mansbridge of Ontario, Canada. He was super stoked on picking up a Glacier Express and was counting down the minutes for its release. Like most cool kids, their dads want to be just like them and get into whatever they’re into. Well within a couple days, Will’s dad ordered a CLYW direct from me … he picked up one of the ‘Lost in the Arctic’ Canvases, ‘#1: the Franklin Edition’. I originally thought it was a gift for Will, since their last names matched, but that wasn’t quite the full story. Later in the week I ended up getting an email from Will’s dad, Peter Mansbridge, he told me that the Canvas was actually for him and that he would be taking his new return top with him on his search for the lost Franklin Ships in the Arctic!!
You see, the Canadian government recently made a huge investment to find the sunken ships of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition and Will’s dad, Peter Mansbridge, was part of this crew. To those of you that don’t know, Peter Mansbridge is a Canadian news icon and is also the host of the CBC news show ‘the National‘ that features important stories from around the globe. Yes, there are things that are more important to Canadians than poutine and maple syrup!
The BEST PART is that Peter also promised to send some photos from the Arctic with his Franklin Edition Canvas … AND today is that lucky day! Here are a couple shots taken while Peter was on board the ice breaker Sir Wilfrid Laurier right near the spot where the Franklin ships were last known to have been.
On September 10 and 11 there will be a special feature on ‘The National’ about Peter’s trip and their findings. For more info click here.
On behalf of Jason Week and myself thank you so much Peter and Will for your support and for sharing your stories with us! We’re still pinching ourselves (is this actually happening? … haha). Have a safe trip home from your Arctic adventure Peter! All the best!
-Chris