As noted by Doug Lloyd and Ole Christian Bjerke, the accomplished Norwegian paddler Roy Willy Johansen died this last weekend. He was found in his kayak on Lake Melville in Labrador. The circumstances of his death are a bit mysterious. He was found in his kayak, and according to the police report there were no wounds on his body. Because the cause of his death is unclear, an autopsy has been requested. There is no suspicion at this point of foul play. Johansen was on the second (and by far the easiest) stretch of his 2800-km journey retracing the voyage of Leiv Eriksson. This past summer he became the first person (or so it is believed) to have kayaked the 380-km from southern Greenland to the southern part of Baffin island. On this stretch he encountered 15-foot waves, dense pack ice (across which he had to drag his boat), and polar bears. Once while sleeping in his kayak he capsized. He eventually developed severe frostbite in his feet and hands, and was evacuated to a hospital in Goose Bay, Labrador. He spent time in the hospital and in Florida recovering from his frostbite before returning to Labrador to finish his trip. There is some speculation that he was pushing himself too hard after his injuries. The above is based on the following news reports: http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/d164277.htm http://uk.news.yahoo.com/000925/80/akljs.html Dan Hagen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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