The rain is incessant, a constant pounding on Novara’s hatches. It’s cold outside – about 12 degrees C, and for the first time in nearly 18 months we have turned the heating on. We’re in Connecticut, heading north, and everyone keeps asking us, “why are you going that way. Don’t you know it’s cold up there?” After spending the last 15 months in the Caribbean, working and sailing our way from one tropical island to the next, it’s a good question.

There are three reasons. First, climate impacts on coastal communities are most pronounced in the Caribbean, the Arctic and the Pacific. We aim to sail to each of these areas and continue to record stories of coastal community climate resilience.

Second, adventure beckons. Veronica and I have always wanted to push ourselves. We lept out of our comfort zones by embarking on this adventure. We’re now going to push our sailing skills to the limit by heading in to the Arctic Circle and attempting to transit the Northwest Passage.

Finally, this is where Novara is at home. Novara is built as a high-latitude sailing vessel. She was an oven in the tropics, and it was so hard to keep the cabin cool. Here in the cold, she’s in her element.

And so we continue north. From here, our next stop is Maine where we meet our crew and make final preparations for the passage to Newfoundland, then Greenland and then the Canadian Arctic.