The Arctic Air Expedition 2024 originated as an idea to make a simple film about Gino Watkins and his contribution to the development of modern sea kayaking (see the “White Kayak” teaser video below). It’s title based on the often seen and iconic image of Watkins seated in his kayak, rifle in hand, hunting for seals in East Greenland. However as our team studied the narrative more, it became clear that the BAARE was very much more than Watkins.

Rather, a kaleidoscope of epic adventures by a unique team of men, full of daring, undertaken with 100% commitment, accepting the very high risk and in one of the most hostile environments on Earth.

The BAARE included long and committing dog sledge journeys into uncharted regions, the discovery of whole new mountain ranges. The expedition members learned to live as the local Inuit, adopting vital hunting & travel techniques from these Polar experts. They learned to paddle the skin covered kayaks used by the Inuit hunters, they travelled vast distances in tiny sail boats whilst surveying this volatile coastline. Included into this daring mix, they also assembled and flew two tiny de Haviland Moth aircraft across the ice, over the mountains and far up and down the coastline, bush flying at its earliest, purest and most risky, with little or no margin for error and almost fatal consequences in the event of engine failures.

The whole narrative of the BAARE is a heady mix of adventure, risk, exploration, fortitude, tenacity and outright commitment by those who undertook it. It is this narrative and those people that inspire our own small group of modern day adventurers, sailors, kayakers, dog musher, pilot and filmmakers, to undertake our own quest to East Greenland, to film and tell this story whilst experiencing first hand some of the same sights, sounds, smells, places, fears and elations as they must have in the 1930’s.

We hope you will join us in following our adventures through our regular blogs, short video uploads and social media presentations, and of course, our eventual film documenting the BAARE.