Photo: Northwest Passage sailor completes record-breaking 7th transit

Northwest Passage sailors take a break in Cambridge Bay: David Scott Cowper, 74, seen here Sept. 8 with his son Fred, 38, on board their bright-yellow “Polar Bound” vessel in Cambridge Bay, is a British yachtsman—and the first man to sail solo around the world in both directions. Considered by many as the best yachtsman in the world, Cowper completed his seventh transit of the NW Passage in 2016. Cowper remains the first to successfully sail around the world via the NW Passage single-handed and the only person to have sailed the NW Passage three times single-handed. “What is happening in ice terms is catastrophic,” said Cowper about this year’s voyage from west through the Hudson Strait— he’s also the first to attempt this difficult route. Unlike 30 years ago, Cowper said he saw no multi-year ice and relatively few polar bears, although he and his son did see the Crystal Serenity cruise ship and the RRS Endeavour in the Bellot Strait. Cowper said he’ll be back next year to head back east through the NW passage. (PHOTOS BY JANE GEORGE)