The destination is the destination
Expedition cruise company offers culture, recreation and history
Andrew Prossin has been to the ends of the earth.
But, after 25 years of guiding adventurers to some of the most remote places in the world, the Cape Breton-raised 48-year-old is now proudly showcasing his native island as a must-see destination on the itinerary of his latest expedition cruise package.
“With the traditional cruise ships, the ship itself is the destination, but with us the destination is the destination,” said Prossin, who was in Louisbourg recently for the inaugural departure of One Ocean Expeditions’ newest adventure.
The East Coast Golf Expedition, marketed as the “Fiddles and Sticks” package, sailed out of Louisbourg Harbour on the Akademik Ioffe, a former Soviet oceanographic research vessel that had spent the day at anchor just a couple of hundred metres from the partially restored 18th century French fortress that is managed by Parks Canada as a national historic site.
As its name suggests, the cruise offers guests the opportunity to play golf at some of the top courses on Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and perhaps even the Madeleine Islands, while enjoying a generous sampling of the local cultures, including, of course, traditional Celtic and French music.
After departing Louisbourg, the ship navigated its way around the top of the island on its way to Inverness, where many of the 40 or so paying passengers and a number of invited international travel writers had tee times at the highly-touted Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs golf courses.
For those who don’t golf, the vessel is also stocked with plenty of bicycles, kayaks, paddleboards, walking poles, binoculars, waterproof all-weather wear and func- tional rubber footwear designed for the ship’s regular visits to the Arctic and Antarctica. And, as is befitting of any cruise ship, the vessel also features a Jacuzzi, sauna and plunge pool. Other features include a communal dining room, lounge and bar, library, theatre-style presentation room, gift shop, fitness room and massage studio.
Despite its present function, the Akademik Ioffe, named for the late Russian physicist Abram Ioffe (1880-1960), still looks like the hardy research vessel that was launched in 1990 after its construction at the Rauma, Finland shipyard that also built its sister ship, the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, also in the employ of One Ocean Expeditions.
The two ships were built with the intent of conducting sensitive hydro-acoustic ocean research and, as Prossin suggests, would probably have been utilized as spy vessels had the Cold War not come to an abrupt end around the time they were launched.
“The ships were designed to send and receive sound between them at different depths to learn how sound is transmitted through different pressures, temperatures and salinity levels – they could be thousands of miles apart and still be sending and receiving sounds,” said Prossin, One Ocean’s managing director, who added that some of the high-tech equipment aboard the Ioffe is still operational.
Prossin said that while the ship maintains its scientific character, it has been refitted to meet the needs of expedition travellers.
“We never use the word luxury — we use the word comfort and our ship is very comfortable and clean.”
Apart from guests, the vessel is also home to more than 40 Russian crew members and more than 25 One Ocean staff, an international group that includes guides, photographers, historians, naturalists, geologists and concierge workers. Prossin said he’d like to have the ships in the area for the summer.
“Last year, with this ship, we spent more than six- million American dollars in Nova Scotia, so imagine if I could bring all my ships here and do it more freely and spent $30- to $40-million, that could translate to hundreds of jobs here in Cape Breton.”