A Butler resident and former U.S. Coast Guard seaman is on his way to Michigan today to take place in a reunion voyage bringing together members of the crew that sailed the Northwest Passage.

Charles Schmitzer III, 79, who is a real estate broker in Butler, was a member of that crew, and earlier this month received an e-mail he said presented him with an unexpected and exciting opportunity.

Schmitzer was just 20 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard as a seaman apprentice in 1956. He ended up serving on the Coast Guard cutter Storis, the flagship of a three-vessel exploratory convoy that tried, and failed, that year to become the first U.S. registered vessel to sail the Northwest Passage — a treacherous sea route that connects the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean.

A year later, in 1957, Schmitzer’s ship, along with the cutters Spar and Bramble, tried again — this time succeeding in circumnavigating the North American continent and collecting hydrographic information on the Passage.

It was a vital mission for the Coast Guard, reported Newsweek in July 15, 1957. The publication said the sea route was a vital escape route for radar-line supply ships which might become trapped in the Artic by ice or war.

For Schmitzer, who celebrated his 21st birthday on board the Storis during the voyage, the expedition was a perilous and challenging time.

“We almost didn’t do it. It was a real close call,” he said.

Now Schmitzer and some other surviving members of the crew will get a chance to reunite in Port Huron, Mich., where the final ship of the convoy, the Bramble, has been purchased and refitted by a private citizen. The crew will reunite tonight and take a voyage Saturday to Toledo, Canada, to commemorate their mission.

About eight years ago the Storis was decommissioned and sold for scrap, and the Spar was sunk off a coastline to be used a an artificial reef. The Bramble, though, has been saved and will carry some of the missions’ crew members one final time.

“I’m kind of excited,” Schmitzer said. “It’s great that someone actually saved the ship.”