Choice in tripmate can make or break even a weekend canoe trip in Algonquin Park, let alone a multiweek expedition in a remote location. For couple Sarah McNair-Landry and Erik Boomer, they found the perfect adventure partner in each other. Since they started dating more than a decade ago, they’ve been on 10-plus big trips together.
In 2022, they embarked on a 69-day expedition on Canada’s Baffin Island, skiing mountains, kite skiing the frozen ocean, climbing rock walls and crossing glaciers to find never-before-paddled rivers to whitewater kayak.
You can watch McNair-Landry and Boomer’s epic adventure in the film A Baffin Vacation, Love on Ice, which is touring in the 2026 Paddling Film Festival and won Best Adventure Film, sponsored by Kokopelli.
With years of remote expeditions under their belts and various extreme sports within their skill sets, the pair have a lot of options at their disposal when planning a trip. McNair-Landry says sometimes they start with a destination and decide what activities to do while there, and other times they start with the activities and figure out where to go.
“Boomer spends a lot of time on satellite images scanning for new rivers to paddle,” she continues. “The ideal, like in Baffin Vacation, is when there are multiple rivers close together, giving us several options.”
For this trip, they started with a desire to go to Kangiqtualuk Uqquqti (formerly Sam Ford Fjord), on the northeast coast of Baffin Island. Because access is generally the most challenging part of doing a trip on Baffin, they decided to bring many types of sporting equipment with them.
“Kite skiing was the best way to travel the 150 kilometers to the fjord,” says McNair-Landry, “and since we had our skis, we decided to do some backcountry skiing along the way. With hundreds of miles of granite coastline, climbing a big wall was next on our list. And as spring turned into summer, we headed inland to find new whitewater rivers to paddle.”
Amid showcasing the stunning views and impressive feats of skill, the film also explores McNair-Landry and Boomer’s relationship. How they push each other, deal with “the grumpies,” rely on each other for safety, accomplish goals and celebrate successes.
“My favourite thing about doing trips with Sarah is creating all these shared memories together,” says Boomer. “That is something we can take with us forever.”
In the film, Boomer talks about how he could be doing polar trips with “some grisly old dudes” but that being able to do those same trips with his girlfriend is really special. In an interview, he explains it can be difficult to be away from your partner for months at a time, so being able to do expeditions with McNair-Landry makes it feel as though they’ve moved somewhere together. And they have fewer reasons to go home early.
When it comes to adventuring with a significant other, Boomer says good communication, like with any team member, is essential.
“Having the same expedition goals and trusting each other in decision making and safety are key,” he continues.
Spoiler alert: Near the end of the film, Boomer gets down on one knee next to a rushing glacial river and asks McNair-Landry to marry him. She says yes.
“It’s something I had been thinking about for a long time, but I didn’t really know what Sarah would say or how she would react,” says Boomer. “During the trip, I started to realize how epic it was and how many great adventures we were having and it occurred to me that this was a really good time to let Sarah know how I felt.”
McNair-Landry says she was totally surprised by the proposal.
“We have not gotten married yet,” she says. “But we have been on several more adventures since.”
A Baffin Vacation, Love on Ice is winner of Best Adventure Film, sponsored by Kokopelli. You can watch A Baffin Vacation, Love on Ice in person at a Paddling Film Festival World Tour event or watch at home with a subscription to Paddling Magazine TV.
Accessing the fjord where they’d be spending much of their vacation required traveling 150 kilometers by ski and kite ski. | Feature photo:Erik Boomer
