Vancouver couple sailing from Saskatchewan Glacier to Lake Winnipeg
A Vancouver couple is hoping to sailing the North Saskatchewan from top to bottom.
Suzanne Steele and her partner Jeff Hilberry had just landed their boat, the Miss Moose, on a river bank in Edmonton on Thursday when they were happened upon by a CBC News crew working on a story about water levels in the North Saskatchewan — something the two have become intimately acquainted with over the past little while.
The couple started their journey at the Saskatchewan Glacier, the head of the river system which runs across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
"It's a truly an awesome sight to see a river being born," Steele said of the glacier.
Then, after a glass of scotch with a chunk of glacier ice thrown in, they jumped in a raft and spent three days paddling downstream through the Rockies to Lake Abraham, where they boarded their sailboat.
Since then, there's been some sailing, but a lot more paddling, Steele said.
"Mostly, the winds have been not in our favour so Jeff has done 56 kilometres a day of rowing."
The wind is not the only element causing complications. Along the way, generally low water levels combined the impact from hydroelectric projects have left them scraping their boat's hull along the bottom — and at times left them high and dry.
"Two nights ago, we went to sleep floating and we woke up and we were so far on land it took us two hours of really heavy work and rolling the boat out into the channel."
For Steele, the appeal of the trip lies in its history.
"I'm Metis, so I have 14 generations back in Canada, and I wanted to understand one of our major historical highways."
She also wanted to learn more about the wildlife, nature and health of the river, as well as the people who live and play along it.
So far, she says, the people she's met along the way have been her favourite part of the trip.
They will end their journey at Lake Winnipeg, Man.
