Trouble On The Voyage

"What started out to be an oral tale for a special event suddenly morphed into an odyssey which took me back and forth across the Atlantic and into places I had no idea I would visit."

The story is based on the exploration of Captain Thomas James. James sailed from Bristol Harbour on May 3, 1631 aboard the Henrietta Maria. The expedition reached the coast of Greenland on June 4. James sailed around Cape Farewell then up the west coast to Cape Desolation at 60 degrees north latitude. From there he sailed up to the southern tip of Resolution Island, where he arrived on June 18. Ice and extreme foul weather hampered them all the way. Because of the terrible conditions, it was early August before they cleared Hudson Strait. They sailed across Hudson Bay and reached the west coast on August 11.

James travelled south along the coast through fierce storms and treacherous reefs. By the time they reached the mouth of the Nelson River they had entered unchartered waters.

While researching the voyage Barton discovered there were two children on board that ship. 'I couldn't believe it," he says, "Who were they? Were they related? Why were they on board? What must their lives have been like under some of the harshest circumstances imaginable? It was at this point I knew I had to tell their story."

The story is told through the eyes of Jeremy, a homesick boy serving as ship's boy on the mission. Jeremy struggles to develop friendships, learn responsibility and come to terms with the mysterious death of his father at the hands of pirates. Most of the story takes place in the bleak frozen landscape of Hudson and James Bays and includes painful episodes of loneliness, disease, fear and death. The story explores themes such as parenting, loss, learning and changing and safety and trust.