don starkell's paddle to the arctic
Lloyd Bowles
"Eric Taylor" <e...@umich.edu> wrote in message
news:54W74.2993$b5.5...@news.itd.umich.edu...
> I recently read Don Starkell's Paddle to the Arctic. Now I don't know
> how to kayak but there were a lot of things in his book that didn't
> make sense to me.
Nothing about Starkell makes sense. I read his Paddle to the Amazon & vowed
never to read his stuff again. I have Victoria Jason's book "Kabloona in
the Yellow Kayak" but skip her 2 years with Don because I can't stand him.
> How hard is the Northwest passage? Could one of the master kayakers
> here in this group redo the journey starkell took with relative ease?
Nobody could do this trip in relative ease. Nasty storms come up very
quickly & last for days, no shelter, very short paddling season, ice is a
frequent problem even in mid summer, bears an occasional menace.
When Victoria Jason returned to complete the trip on her own, she met &
joined a couple of kayak instructors who were equipped with everything she
didn't have - roll, training, drysuits, sea anchor, etc. They were young &
strong. She was in her late 40's & had recovered from 2 strokes a few years
before. They thought she would slow them down.
The experts managed 8 or 10 miles per day, when she planned on at least 39
miles per day. They couldn't handle rough water & had to turn back. On the
way back they cooked in the vestibule of their tent & were attacked by a
barren ground grizzly.
Victoria continued on her own as weather permitted, regularly paddling 12
hours straight & doing as much as 60 miles a day. Try that in a drysuit!
She couldn't pull her kayak (containing 350 pounds of gear) far enough up
shore when she made camp. So she often set her alarm to wake her every hour
to move the boat as the tide rose. When approaching winter stopped her, she
left her kayak at a radar base. When she returned the next year to complete
the trip, she gave herself a 50/50 chance of survival.
In her 2 years with Starkell, she paddled from Churchill on Hudson Bay to
Gjoa Haven on King William Island. On year 3, she solo paddled down the
MacKenzie to Tuktoyaktuk & almost to Coppermine. On year 4 she reached Gjoa
Haven. The total trip distance was 7500 km.
The last time I read about her, she was teaching Inuit the lost art of
kayaking.
Another book is Polar Passage by Jeff MacInnis & Wade Rowland. It's an
account of a couple of guys doing the Northwest Passage by Hobie Cat.
--
Lloyd Bowles
The Mad Canoeist
"Keep the open side up!"
http://www.madcanoeist.4ever.cc
frank malinowski
<e...@umich.edu> wrote:
> I'm not really a boater, more an arm chair explorer, reading books
> mostly about epics and such.
>
> I recently read Don Starkell's Paddle to the Arctic. Now I don't know
> how to kayak but there were a lot of things in his book that didn't
> make sense to me.
The guy is totally crazy IMHO. Both his paddle from Canada to the Amazon
and accross the Artic. Very impressive survival skills but not a companion
I would want to paddle with. Read Victoria Jackson's "Kablona in the
Yellow Kayak" for some insight. Your idea that an accident leads to an
epic is a good lead for reading Starkell. Interesting reading but in this
case I would rather be an armchair explorer than be on those trips.
--
delete "X" for correct email address
Eric Taylor
mostly about epics and such.
I recently read Don Starkell's Paddle to the Arctic. Now I don't know
how to kayak but there were a lot of things in his book that didn't
make sense to me.
1) on his first trip out he nearly died of exposure, because his boat
capsized. Isn't there a technique one can learn that can help avoid
this problem? I believe it's called rolling.
2) he didn't wear a wetsuit or a drysuit. I believe a drysuit is the
one without insulation where you wear clothes under some sort of latex
suit, whereas the wetsuit is rubber. Now I can understand him not
wearing the wetsuit because he might sweat too much. Is there any
reason he couldn't wear a drysuit? Would that also cause him to sweat
too much? Maybe drysuits weren't invented yet? I don't get it.
3) he didn't take a rifle. I know that the best way to keep from
starving to death in the arctic or antarctic is to carry a rifle. the
inuit live on an all meat diet. Several famous expeditions lived out
an entire winter in the arctic because they were able to shoot their
food and make blubber stoves to melt water. I guess he begrudged the
weight, but it seems essential. I know he didn't take a radio either,
but I totally understand that idea. When Nansen crossed the Greenland
interior the first time it had ever been attempted he burned his boats
so that he would not feel tempted to turn back.
4) just what was his problem with not knowing how a compass works in
the arctic? How on earth could he see the sun set in the "east" and
not immediately trust the sun? He travelled south with the sun setting
in the "east" several days on his first journey out with Victoria Jason
(sp?).
5) His method splashing through the half/frozen leads seemed extremely
precarious to me. Surely there is a better way to get through half
frozen sea. He should have died a dozen times over, when he capsized
that first winter, when he lost his paddle, when he got stuck on the
sandbar.
I just get the feeling that here was one guy that wanted an epic. He
got one no doubt. I guess at the seat of every epic is some mistake,
some small thing tha mother nature was waiting to kick you in the
crotch if you took her just a little bit lightly.
I guess in the end you can say his journey turned epic because winter
came early, but still. Winter could have come late and it could have
been the same.
I don't know the weather there, but it seems possible that in autumn it
might get very windy so no matter how he approached it, his timing was
going to be cut short because he didn't give himself enough time even
if winter was right on time. A lot of days it was not too cold, but
too windy. Did he even think about that?
Has anyone listened to an interview with Don and has anyone asked him
the questions I just posed here?
Was he looking for an epic? He spent the entire summer before pulling
around a sledge but he never taught himself how to roll.
What if an Inuit were to take a journey like this?
I wonder if the Inuit would make the journey look simple.
How hard is the Northwest passage? Could one of the master kayakers
here in this group redo the journey starkell took with relative ease?
Like a said, I'm not a boater myself, just an arm chair explorer, who
likes to read epics.
Happy paddling
--- edt
Frculkin
This guy RULES.
This (these) guys paddled from Canada, down the Missippi to the Gulf of Mexico,
and then to South American and then up and down the Amazon in a shitty canoe,
with his son and they didn't kill each other.
Possible paddlers of the Millenium contenders.
frank C
somebody wrote:
>Eric Taylor" <e...@umich.edu> wrote in message
>news:54W74.2993$b5.5...@news.itd.umich.edu...
>> I recently read Don Starkell's Paddle to the Arctic. Now I don't know
>> how to kayak but there were a lot of things in his book that didn't
>> make sense to me.
>
snip snip
Lloyd Bowles
"Frculkin" <frcu...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19991221233600...@ng-fn1.aol.com...
> I read the "Paddle to the Amazon" book by Starkel.
>
> This guy RULES.
Not a chance. Starkel did his trips by being incredibly tough & stubborn
but not by being smart. His reaction to everything is to disagree & do the
opposite. He would paddle against the tide but rest when the tide went his
way. He would paddle long distances in the wrong direction because he
refused to believe his compass or his partner.
> This (these) guys paddled from Canada, down the Missippi to the Gulf of
Mexico,
> and then to South American and then up and down the Amazon in a shitty
canoe,
> with his son and they didn't kill each other.
One son quit & went home. He had fist fights with the other son. He did
his arctic trip without gloves & lost his fingers. This kind of guy is
quite capable of leading others to their deaths.
Frculkin
are highly questionable (In the "Paddle to Amazon book - didn't read "Arctic").
It is a miracle they made it in one piece. It is a great book though - I would
recomend it to anyone. What ever happened to this guy? Does he still paddle?
frank c
quote:
rick etter
snippage...
>
> The last time I read about her, she was teaching Inuit the lost art of
> kayaking.
>
=====================
Yes, Victoria is involved in getting together "Inuit Guided Sea Kayaking
Tours" out of Pelly Bay. She talked about it last Feb. at the Wildeness
Canoe Symposium. The Tours are in a very short 6 week time frame in
July/Aug. btw, this years Symposium features Northern Ontario and the
James Bay Watershed. It's Feb 4th&5th, in Toronto. It's always sold
out. see info at:
http://members.tripod.com/northernbooks/symposium/symposium.html
--
Canoe North!
Rick Etter
http://www.bright.net/~retter
Step outside...The Graphics are Amazing!
Eddy Rapid
frank malinowski wrote:
> The guy is totally crazy IMHO. Both his paddle from Canada to the Amazon
> and accross the Artic. Very impressive survival skills but not a companion
> I would want to paddle with. Read Victoria Jackson's "Kablona in the
> Yellow Kayak" for some insight.
Victoria Jason found out very well what Don Starkell was like in the first
year they set out together. She did not even bother training with him after
their first year's mishaps. And yet, she went with him again for the second
year. Makes one wonder about her judgement. I also wonder if she would have
anything to write about if it was not for Don Starkell. The part of her book
that is not about Don comes close to being a new age yawner for my taste.
Don Starkell is a complex character. I too would not choose him as a trip
companion, much less a trip leader or a role model. He seems more self
centered than is useful, and he seems to constantly outcourage his smarts.
But he was a hell of an adventurer! One can't take that away from him.
Eddy "adventuring comfortably in his arm chair" Rapid
---
AKA Parham Momtahan
Al Bowers
> > The guy is totally crazy IMHO. Both his paddle from Canada to the Amazon
> > and accross the Artic. Very impressive survival skills but not a companion
> > I would want to paddle with. Read Victoria Jackson's "Kablona in the
> > Yellow Kayak" for some insight.
> Victoria Jason found out very well what Don Starkell was like in the first
> year they set out together. She did not even bother training with him after
> their first year's mishaps. And yet, she went with him again for the second
> year. Makes one wonder about her judgement. I also wonder if she would have
> anything to write about if it was not for Don Starkell. The part of her book
> that is not about Don comes close to being a new age yawner for my taste.
I have to agree, Starkell is a bit obsessed. Jason is less so, though
both are obviously driven people.
For a counterpoint, there is Martin Leonard III and his trip across
the NW Passage via kayak in _ONE_ season. Leonard's approach, travel
light, and travel FAST, are words of wisdom (Leonard's gear weighed 35
lbs all up, and he used a 20 ft x 14.5 in beam Kevlar kayak; he was
even able to paddle UPSTREAM while crossing the Bothia Penninsula).
Al Bowers
--
Al Bowers Aerodynamics NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
"...tactics always degrade strategy..." -Frank Bethwaite
Lloyd Bowles
"Al Bowers" <bow...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov> wrote in message
news:ttpuvxi...@orville.dfrc.nasa.gov...
>
> I have to agree, Starkell is a bit obsessed. Jason is less so, though
> both are obviously driven people.
>
> For a counterpoint, there is Martin Leonard III and his trip across
> the NW Passage via kayak in _ONE_ season. Leonard's approach, travel
> light, and travel FAST, are words of wisdom (Leonard's gear weighed 35
> lbs all up, and he used a 20 ft x 14.5 in beam Kevlar kayak; he was
> even able to paddle UPSTREAM while crossing the Bothia Penninsula).
One season & only 35 lb of gear? He must have had exceptional weather that
year. Also I assume that weight didn't include food? Otherwise he'd have to
be totally dependent on a support team. Communities are too far apart, pack
ice & extreme weather can stop you cold for days at a time in mid summer, or
end your travelling season altogether.
Jeff MacInnis took 100 days to do the passage by Hobie Cat. But those 100
days had to be spread over 3 seasons. The open water season is just too
short.
Donald Haines
obsessed.... but isn't that the personality type that is needed for these
ultamarathon epics?
He is just about the last person in Canada that I would go paddling with. I
have no respect for his common sense, his wilderness skills, and
particularly his people skills...... but that single-minded focus that most
of us find so annoying is what makes the trips possible ( and lot's of good
luck).
Don Haines
Mary Malmros
I don't think it's really true that single-minded focus is what makes
it possible to pull off these epics. I think it may just look that way
from the outside. People who succeed at an undertaking that involves
this level of risk and difficulty generally bring a lot more to the
table: intelligence and preparedness and flexibility and good sense,
typically. And, yes, there is a good amount of determination needed
to carry it through, because even with all the other ingredients in
place, there will be times when it's damn hard and you have to make
the call as to whether to keep going or turn back. And that's where
the myth gets made. People look at that determination to keep on going
at a point where they, sitting in their armchairs, would have quit,
and they shake their heads and say with admiration, "Now THAT's
determination!" And some of them get the idea that determination is
all that matters, if you're just "determined" enough, you'll get
through. This, of course, is bull. It's a romantic myth, born in
the oversimplification of stories where you don't see the intelligence
and preparation and flexibility and good sense (because those things
are boring), but only see the verve and determination and derring-do.
It's a romantic myth nurtured by the small percentage of determined
yahoos who lack intelligence and preparation and flexibility and
good sense, but who get way luckier than they deserve and somehow
make it through. Honestly, I don't think that that type of personality
makes for a successful expedition. Most times it makes for an
expensive disaster. Arguably, you have to have a different set
of priorities than the average bear to want to do it in the first
place, but I don't call that "obsession".
--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mary Malmros Very Small Being mal...@shore.net
"I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart
for the joys of the multitude"
paddlrat
mal...@shore.net (Mary Malmros) wrote:
> Arguably, you have to have a different set
> of priorities than the average bear to want to do it in the first
> place, but I don't call that "obsession".
Even so, it would be no pic-a-nic. Hey, hey, hey! :>
--
paddlrat
living proof that rats can swim!
RBP Clique #00
(aka ets...@bellnospamsouth.net)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
culp...@tbaytel.net
paddling today. It has been illustrated over and over that until you
learn to understand and accept your environment, you are looking for
trouble, but once you come to terms with your environment, your
companions, and yourself, then you can travel at ease through through
the wilds. This if foreign to Starkell. He simply does not get it, and
embarrasses the remote wilderness paddling community in the process. I
would much rather if he spent his life smacking his head against a
board, or wandering about perpetually holding one arm in the air, or
some other expression of self-deprevation and physical self-abuse. That
he chooses remote wilderness paddling as a backdrop for his
self-flagellation is a great pity, for it reflects poorly on the rest of
us.
Cheers,
Richard Culpeper
culp...@tbaytel.net
www.tbaytel.net/culpeper
Eric Taylor
: I don't think it's really true that single-minded focus is what makes
: it possible to pull off these epics. I think it may just look that way
some quibble over nomenclature, but otherwise I agree.
an "epic" is when an expedition fails, goes wrong horribly. if
everything goes well, all you have is a nice adventure.
single-minded focus and determination is what turns an adventure into
an epic
amunsen at the south pole: "The skiing is great."
scott at the south pole: "My God what an awful place!"
naturally scott's epic makes for more interesting reading that
amunsen's journey.
Nobody wants to hear about the cat that walked home safely and ate its
cat food and its breath smells like catfood. We all want to hear
about the cat that got stuck in the tree, the fireman comes by to get it
out, and the fireman decides to get it out by splashing it with water
from his hose but forgets it's winter so instead of a cat out of a tree
you have a cat frozen solid that lands thunk on the ground. That's an
epic.
--- edt
Randy Hodges
> Mary Malmros <mal...@shore.net> wrote:
> an "epic" is when an expedition fails, goes wrong horribly. if
> everything goes well, all you have is a nice adventure.
We have a simple rating system that we use to rate our "Epics" They range
from "E0" which means that it wasn't an epic at all - Bright sunny day, no
one gets lost or breaks a fingernail to an "E10" in which the whole party
dissappears and is never heard from again.
Low "E" ratings ( E1 or E2) involve inconviencies such as "We forgot the
Mountain Money." or "We had to wait two hours in the snow for the shuttle."
Lost or damaged equipment can also lead to an E1 or E2.
E3 to E4 must involve either minor injury or a search and rescue squad - Or
Both.
E5 - E7 involve serious injury(ies) with the possibility of an ugly
evacuation.
E8 is when there is a death.
E9 has multiple deaths
Other factors can add or subtract from the E Rating. For example, a minor
injury can get an E5 if it is the injured party is a whiner and the
evacuation is long and ugly.
We had one of our fellow kayakers who was swept out to sea in his whitewater
kayak when he got too close to the mouth of the river at flood stage. A
potential E7 or 8. Unfortunately for his E-Rating though, the local S & R
helicopter was right there, practicing rescues. Sorry - Only E2.
One of our strangest epics involved some bad communication. Our wives were
to pick us up after a John Muir Train hike in Yosemite Valley at noon on
Sunday. Unfortunately, they had been told we would be there at Noon on
Saturday. We arived right on time on Sunday to find some very unhappy wives
who had spent a very cold, uncomfortable night in the back of a compact car.
No deaths, injuries, and the rescue squad hadn't even started looking yet
but a really ticked wife is worth at least an "E3." They can almost laugh
at it twenty years later.
Randy Hodges
k.pearson
> amunsen at the south pole: "The skiing is great."
>
> scott at the south pole: "My God what an awful place!"
>
> naturally scott's epic makes for more interesting reading that
> amunsen's journey.
Amunsen, (as I remember the quote from 5th grade) "An adventure is a
sign of incompetence"
Is an epic just another word for adventure?
frank malinowski
but this is so well said Mr. Culpeper
--
AVIDFLYER
has more sense than he does
Visit my home pages http://hometown.aol.com/AVIDFLYER/index.html
http://hometown.aol.com/barptwaves/index.html
Eddy Rapid
AVIDFLYER wrote:
> if i had been vicki, i would have killed him the 1st day out.
I wonder why you would have done that on the 1st day. Why would that make
good sense?
>she obviously
> has more sense than he does
She found out what Starkell was like in the first season and went back with
him for a second season, without even bothering to train with him in
between. How did that make good sense?
I find the Starkell bashing here unbalanced. He is far from a perfect
expeditionist: he certainly does not appear to have a good understanding of
the enviroment, or the people, he faces. I personally would not choose to
paddle anywhere near the guy, but that does not take away from what he has
managed to achieve with all his limitations. The man conceived and carried
out two of the more daring expeditions in the history of paddling. This
takes more than mere luck. I would say his strengths are in imagination,
courage, and stamina; rather than in knowledge, intelligence, and human
relations.
Eddy "often unbalanced" Rapid
----
AKA Parham Momtahan.
Blakely LaCroix
<paddl...@hotmail.com> writes:
>The man conceived and carried
>out two of the more daring expeditions in the history of paddling. This
>takes more than mere luck. I would say his strengths are in imagination,
>courage, and stamina; rather than in knowledge, intelligence, and human
>relations.
Reminds of the book "Why the Reckless Survive".
Blakely LaCroix
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
The best adventure is yet to come.
Al Bowers
"Eddy Rapid" <paddl...@hotmail.com> writes:
> I find the Starkell bashing here unbalanced. He is far from a perfect
> expeditionist: he certainly does not appear to have a good understanding of
> the enviroment, or the people, he faces. I personally would not choose to
> paddle anywhere near the guy, but that does not take away from what he has
> managed to achieve with all his limitations.
I think Richard Culpeper said it best. However, as one who has also
gone down that road, and come to accept his limitations read Jon
Turk's "Cold Oceans." At first, I thought Turk was another of the
Starkell mold. It isn't until the epilog to the book Cold Oceans that
you find out what the truth is.
One who performed an epic adventure without the self-immolation was Ed
Gilet and his Hawaii trip (California to Hawaii, in a kayak, 63 days),
or Hannes Lindemann and his TWO Atlantic crossings (canoe and kayak,
one each), or more recently, Arthur Hebert's Gulf of Mexico crossing
(Yucatan to New Orleans, 20 days). These seem to be a bit less well
known, maybe because of the lack of conflict than for Starkell?