Faces along the way: Meet some of the people on a journey along Labrador's north coast

The Kamutik W set off on its maiden voyage up the north coast of Labrador on July 9.

I had the opportunity to board the vessel, and to meet people who were also there — as passengers, as tourists, as crew, as residents of the communities that the Kamutik W will serve in the years to come.

Austin Daley

"You want to fulfill your job and keep the places stocked with their provisions and do that the best that you can," said Daley, the captain of the vessel.

Douglas Jacque

"It's pretty good," Jacque said. "I'll have to get used to it."

Adam "Sparky" Sparkes

"So far everything's been working perfectly," said Sparkes, after successfully offloading in Makkovik.

"These ramps were made specifically for these ships. We built up the shore facilities and everything's been working excellently. We came in almost high tide and everything went off without a hitch."

Harold Lambert

"We are a ship, right from the captain down to the deck crew. Our purpose is what we set out to do when we set out in Goose Bay," Lambert said.

"To transport passengers and cargo to ports up and down the Labrador coast as safely and efficiently as possible."

Mathis Henaff and Axel Kuentz

"We're very passionate about northern Canada and the northern regions," Henaff said.

"We wanted to discover more about the Inuit culture and the North coast of Quebec."

All aboard! Join Jacob Barker and watch his feature report on the first voyage of the Kamutik W

Emily Broomfield

"I think it's really important because if you're a tourist and you're coming here, you go to kind of sense the culture and get a feel of the culture," Broomfield said.

"[The stand] is kind of like a welcome."

William Walsh

"We take a lot of pride in what we do and I'm very happy to be a part of helping communities on the coast get their deliveries," Walsh said.

"I'm really happy to be a part of this whole operation."

Sandi Michelin

"Like every change, some people don't want it, some people are scared for it," Michelin said.

"I welcome change, change is good sometimes but ... it's going to be one of those things that we don't know until we've dealt with it for a few weeks or a few months or maybe even until next year."

Toby Andersen

"[The provincial government] came to the communities after the contract was awarded to Woodward's for this vessel and said 'this is what you're getting' as though 'this is good enough for you Inuit', you know?" Andersen said.

"It would work well for passengers and vehicles but they should have kept our freight service out of Lewisporte."

Noah Nochasak

"We really do need this boat, so it's good to see," Nochasak said. "We haven't definitely been any faster than the Northern Ranger in terms of speed but it hasn't really been tested yet [so] we'll find out."

Jason Webber

"I actually drove my first vehicle off of a boat here in Rigolet," Webber said as he pulled off in a red Ford F-150 he's been waiting to get into the community. "It's pretty cool, yeah."

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