Gulf of St. Lawrence cruise returns this summer

It was a trip of a lifetime for 92-year-old Harvey Lewis, whocashed in the interest on his life insurance policy and last July took his family on a10-day tour around the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

"Oh wonderful, seeing all these places that I heard of before, but hadn't seen," said the former mayor of Louisbourg

Lewis, his three children and their spouses,were among 120 people on board the research vesselAkademik Ioffe.

They kayaked and hiked around Sable Island, St-Pierre-Miquelon, the Magdalen Islands, the Gasp Peninsula and Newfoundland and Labrador.

'The best tour we do'

The tour was so successful, the company behind it, One Ocean Expeditions will be back again this summer.

The company is based in British Columbia and much of its business is scientific research in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Managing directorAndrew Prossinsaidalthough there are no polar bears or penguins in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the islands tour is in some ways better.

"Minute-by-minute, it's the best tour we do because there is lots of wildlife right there," he said. "It's one of the best places to whale watch in the whole world."

Good press

There were a dozen travel writers on the expedition last July, and articles have been written in publications in Europe and Australia.

This month's feature in Air Canada'sEnroutemagazine has already brought the company business.

"Within 48 hourswe had already received more than a dozen phone calls, people inquiring about the voyage and several of them have already booked a trip," Prossin said.

There are only a few berths left for the 2016 tour, which will depart LouisbourgonJuly 16.

Prossinsaidthere's noquestion there is an interest in this type of tourism."It'sa great attraction if packaged properly for the nature seeker."

He saidhe has had good co-operation fromCape Breton and is eager to work with localpeople.

Prossinsaidthe one tour last summer and another this summer areonly just the beginning."I'd like to be running several a year if we can build up the business," he said.