Turbulence

After some onboard shenanigans, including a goofy celebration of the 150th year of the Canadian Confederation and a polar plunge in Ramah Bay, we left Torngat National Park and steamed toward our next landing. I was looking forward to visiting the mission site we had learned so much about in the days prior; shut down by the government in 1959, the remote Hebron Mission Station forced a massive relocation of its residents to more southerly Nunatsiavut communities. Films we had viewed onboard represented the trauma this caused, as Hebron was an important trading center for Inuit in the area, and these communities depended on its educational and medical services. It was also an important site for celebration during Christian holidays; the Moravian church had been established there in the early 19th century and the residents often gathered there for community dances and musical services.

We unfortunately had to miss the visit to Hebron due to weather; fifty-knot winds made for choppy waves and unsafe conditions for the zodiacs, and we were left with only the haunting images of Hebron’s abandoned structures and homes we had only seen in photographs. The storm chased us down the coast, and we were forced to ride it out until we made it to our next stop at Nain.