Sandy, In addition to reading Kabloona, look for "Paddle to the Arctic, by Don Starkell. Victoria and Don paddled together for part of each of their journeys. The contrast in their stories is amazing. They may have been on the same trip but they were on different planets. Dana >-----Original Message----- > >Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 20:47:53 EDT >From: Gypsykayak_at_aol.com >Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Lovely book! <snip> >On the other hand, I'm now reading Kabloona in a Yellow >Kayak by Victoria >Jason and I'm finding it fascinating. I was wondering if >perhaps I'm >relating more to the woman's perspective. > >Most exciting of all was her mention of meeting Phil >Torrens - and that he >and his paddling companion suffered a grizzly attack!!! I >was like, >"OHMYGOD, Phil Torrens. I know him." which just goes to >show how attached >we get to other P'wisers. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>From: "Dickson, Dana A." <dana.dickson_at_unisys.com> Sandy, > >In addition to reading Kabloona, look for "Paddle to the Arctic, by Don >Starkell. Victoria and Don paddled together for part of each of their >journeys. The contrast in their stories is amazing. They may have been on >the same trip but they were on different planets. > >Dana Years ago, my then paddling buddy Mark, and I, met Don at an outdoor show a couple of years where he was promoting and looking for sponsors for his upcoming Arctic trip, which was raising money for a charity (children's cancer, I think). We were there doing rolls, paddle float rescues, bow rescues, and other stunts in a pool to entertain the crowds (there must not have been any performing seals available:-) As we chatted to him between shows, we learned that he could neither roll nor perform a paddle-float rescue. We offered to take him out on the local waters to show him either a roll or a re-entry; he turned us down because "he was not going to capsize." Three days into his first trip, his Puffin overturned under the weight of canned goods on the deck; Don was lucky to make it to a reef. Those "get out of the boat and swim it through the surf" techniques that worked for his Paddle to The Amazon didn't fair so well in the Arctic. Somewhere in Don's book, I believe there is a scene which describes him iced in at the end of one paddling season, and reluctantly but nobly deciding that he must step into the waiting plane rather than try to make the last twelve miles or so to Inuvik. I've talked to the pilot of that plane, and the impression I was left with was of a half-frozen, gibbering figure trying to scrabble back to his kayak, being man-handled into the plane by a local cop. I've heard Don interviewed on radio, and if you didn't know the background, you'd just find him a charmingly eccentric character, if a rather driven one. Which would be fine, if he had only ever put his own life at risk. On the upside, Victoria is a delightful character, full of energy and wonder, friendly and outgoing, with merry blue eyes. She's got some charming quirks too - she carried henna hairdye and mascara in her boat, though she might not see another soul for days on end. Despite what some might see as these "Barbie Doll" touches, she is a better, er, man with a paddle than I; she covered fifty mile days almost routinely. Perhaps most inspiringly, she did not take up paddling until her fourth decade, showing it's never too late to pursue your dreams. Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°06' ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:13 PDT