Young love in the arctic
Sunday April 13, 2014
Reporter: Chris Bath
Producer: Lisa Ryan
Chris Bray sailed the world with his parents and sister from the ages of five to 10 and Jess Taunton grew up on a hobby farm. They were born literally worlds apart.
But when the unlikely pair met in 2009 it was love at first sight and the start of an incredible adventure, they told Sunday Night's Chris Bath.
Less than a year after meeting, the young couple bought a rundown yacht in Canada and prepared to sail to the Canadian Northwest Passage.
It would be the best of times and the worst of times.
Jess, then 23, had never sailed in her life and, as it turned out, suffers from terrible seasickness, but it was a journey that tested both of them and, ultimately, brought them closer together.
They began their journey, after months of refurbishing their run-down vessel, at 3:45pm on Sunday June 19 2011. It wasn’t long before their 29-foot boat, Teleport, was battling through 35kn winds and monstrous waves.
Visit Chris' website for more information about one-day photography courses in Australia and photo safaris around the world: www.chrisbray.net
"I've ever seen anyone that ill, ever. She couldn't even sit up without vomiting, or trying to, on average I'd say, about every 10 minutes, non-stop for days," Bray told Sunday Night.
They worried they would never make it to their destination as conditions got worse.
"If we were lucky, at the top we'd simply then plunge down the far side, but more often than not, the wave chose to break while we were perched on its crest."
"With the wave top we were just on suddenly gone, we'd either then free-fall and slam with a truly freighting impact that shuddered the whole boat as though dropped onto concrete."
When they finally saw land it would be another five days before they got to walk on it, but with land came the photographic expedition of a lifetime.
Both keen photographers, they took trips ashore to film and photograph wildlife including Polar Bears, Peregrine Falcons Arctic Foxes and seals.
It was also on shore, that Chris planned his romantic proposal with fireworks and a stainless-steel hose clamp for a ring.
From Chris' blog:
By far the most exciting piece of life-changing news ever - the other day I secretly ATV'd out to Mount Pelly (the only mountain around, and clearly visible from afar, with a great Inuk legend associated with it) and spent many hours finding the perfect spot: One with a breathtaking view out across the mosaic of lakes stretching across the tundra to the ocean in the distance; right on the edge with a big secondary grassy slope popping out just below which only becomes visible once you walk right up close to the edge. I then laboriously built a lovely little stone table and chair set at that point, and then dropped down onto the ledge below and spelled out two words about 1.5m high each with white rocks, built an inukshuk to mark the place, and rushed back to town. After convincing Jess that we should go camping that night, we borrowed a muskox hide from Brent, gathered a few other secret items and putted off back out to the mountain. It was still raining lightly (or 'mini-ing' as they call it here), but the weather forecast promised sunshine and when we finally got to the top it was perfect.
Pretending I needed a toilet break, I hurried over to the spot, lit a bunch of candles rimming my little stone table, and came back and surprised Jess with a thermos mug of mulled-wine (her favourite) that our good friend (and amazing cook) Athlyne had secretly made for me. Together we wandered over to 'check out the inukshuk I saw' and when Jess saw the little table and bench I'd made she couldn't believe it, and was so delighted that she didn't even see the words 'MARRY ME' that had now emerged on the hillside below. It took a while, but suddenly I saw her spot it, and which she stared at it in complete disbelief, I dropped down on one knee and offered her a ring, asking if she'd be mine forever. I should point out that the ring was only a tiny stainless steel hose-clamp (one size fits all and super adjustable with a screwdriver) but it apparently did the trick, and to my joy, Jess didn't even hesitate in her reply 'Yes!' =) How lucky am I!?!? (Can you imagine if she said 'no' - that'd be an awkward 2 month sail hey!). We slept on a wonderfully cosy muskox rug after cooking up some fresh Arctic char, and we even had fireworks that I'd saved from the ones Jess bought me last year for my Bday! It was pretty special, and something I've been planning for ages, and been stressing about ever since asking her parents for permission in June.“
Jess and Chris returned to Sydney in September 2012 but continue their adventuring together through their businesses taking photography tours all over the world.
Chris has released a documentary, The Crossing, of his foot-crossing of Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic with fellow Australian, Clark Carter, in 2009 which has won multiple awards. It will be released as part of the Sydney Film Festival later this month.
Watch the trailer on The Crossing website
