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Trust the journey – that’s the mantra that’s guided Ken Burton his entire life.
Through a number of interests and occupations, he’s travelled half the globe.“(I’m) humbled to be able to meet these people and go places I’ve been able to go and tick off things on my bucket list,” said Burton.But the high Arctic has always been his calling. In 2000, while with the RCMP, Burton was captain of the St. Roch II, retracing the voyage of the first ship to circumnavigate North America.“They thought it was going to take them 90 days,” said Burton of the original voyage. “It took them two-and-a-half years. They spent two years locked in Arctic ice.”
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Burton’s own trip wasn’t quite as arduous.“Fifty ports of call in seven countries. We did it in 169 days,” he said. “We told the story of the original St. Roch worldwide to an audience of about 17 million people.”A separate trip to the Arctic had him on the hunt for the long-lost Franklin expedition ships. Working with Sonar alongside an associate they came pretty close, 14 years before the Erebus was finally discovered.
“We were 60 nautical miles, which in the Arctic is this like that much,” he said, pinching his fingers together. “Just over the horizon.”Over the years Burton has been a captain, a diver, a photographer and an expedition leader, making connections everywhere along the way. “I don’t go into any Arctic community unless I’m returning something to the community,” said Burton. “Sometimes that’s cold hard cash for economic support. Sometimes it’s donations.”Burton, who was the executive director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum — where the original St. Roche now rests — has also spent time with non-profits like the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue and several societies.He’s shared experiences on both sides of the ocean’s surface, from one pole to the other, with many stops in between.“I trusted the journey. I took advantage of the opportunities that were presented,” he said.“Don’t be afraid to step through the door.”
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