Cindy MacDougall
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 06/00) - It sailed the Arctic Ocean for 20 years, braving icebergs, dangerous seas and 10 long winters frozen into the ice in order to serve far-flung arctic RCMP outposts and traditional settlements.

In its finest hours, the RCMP vessel St. Roch sailed the Northwest Passage twice during the Second World War. It was the first ship to sail around North America.

Now, 46 years after the original ship was pulled from the ocean and put on display, a ship called the St. Roch will sail the Arctic again.

"The St. Roch II will sail from Vancouver July 1, and will recreate the St. Roch's voyage of the Northwest Passage," said Stephen Rybak, project co-ordinator of the St. Roch II Voyage of Rediscovery. "She will also circumnavigate North America, just as the St. Roch did in 1950."

During its voyage, the five-crew RCMP catamaran St. Roch II, which used to be called the Nadon, will visit nine arctic communities, both in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It will be captained by RCMP Corp. Ken Burton and accompanied by the Canadian Coast Guard ship Simon Fraser.

The six-month adventure is a joint project between the RCMP and the Vancouver Maritime Museum. The museum has taken care of the St. Roch since Parks Canada stopped funding the historic site in 1995.

Rybak said the voyage is about more than celebrating the historic ship. It's about saving it from a lack of funding.

The museum is running out of money to take care of the wooden St. Roch, which is beginning to rot.

"Ever since she was brought ashore in 1954, the St. Roch has had to fight for her existence and had to fight in order to not rot away," said Rybak. "This piece of priceless Canadian history has been turned over to a museum society that does not have the funds to protect it."

The new voyage is an attempt to draw attention to the St. Roch's plight.

And as the sail date approaches, Rybak said the ship's endowment fund is still low on cash. The only large cash donation has been $250,000 from the Canada Millennium Bureau.

"We've gone to corporate Canada, both businesses and foundations, and that is where we haven't been as successful in getting cold hard cash."

The St. Roch II's voyage will also honour veterans of arctic RCMP outposts.

Sgt. Phil Johnson, spokesperson for the RCMP's G Division, said Northern police veterans will be flown to Tuktoyaktuk to meet the St. Roch II this summer.

When that ceremony will take place is not yet determined as a schedule for the voyage has not yet been finalized.

Rybak hopes the voyage, through the cold of the High Arctic to the steamy Caribbean and back home, will raise awareness of the importance of the original St. Roch and her crew. part of Canadian history."