Just back from two weeks aboard a Russian icebreaker in The Passage. As the official sponsors of the documentary, Dan Streech and Jim Leishman of Nordhavn/PAE sponsored the trip and we spent 14 days traveling the very waters that Bagan will be transiting this coming summer. What started off as an exciting chance to grab footage for promo packages for the doc ended in all but personal disaster for me.

About six months ago Dan, Jim and I met in Dana Point, CA where I pitched the idea of the documentary to them. By the end of the meeting they had signed aboard to underwrite just about the full cost of the piece. What none of us knew was that during our stay in the Arctic the world’s economic situation would plummet to near Depression levels, all because of a handful of shady, disreputable banks handing out loans that they shouldn’t have.

During the trip, each morning at breakfast we’re read the downloaded world headlines and each morning I could see less and less enthusiasm from Dan and Jim about the trip. The original plan was that PAE was going to build a boat that would travel in tandem with Bagan. That was the first to go. Originally Dan or Jim were planning on being aboard for the full transit. That was the second piece to crumble. Finally the morning came when after reading of near financial collapse they intimated that the funding offered would not be as planned. Normally one takes hits like this and continues on; in my case I’d already financially committed to the documentary on several different levels and for me to call it off would mean a personal loss of a great deal of money. To say I was devastated was an underestimate. I was considering my future hidden far, far away from creditors above the Arctic Circle. However… I’ve known Dan Streech as a very close friend for over fifteen years now and the pain and anguish I saw in his eyes when he told me they had to rescind the offer was the very reason I count him as one of the very few men of honor going. No one knows how deep this recession will go but I fully agree with Dan (without him saying it) that paying for a trip of this nature, all the while looking at potential layoffs, would be just about as callous of a business philosophy one could cite. It hurt, brother did it hurt, but I fully understood and supported his decision. Dan assured me that Nordhavn would help in any way possible, and after knowing Mr. Streech for close to two decades, I rest assured I can take that to the bank!

It would appear as though I now have to try and raise sponsorship while the world is suffering a financial meltdown… and they said transiting The Passage was going to be tough… What I’m feeling now is sheer terror.

by Sprague
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