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Most Epic Sea Kayaking Adventures of All Time

Posted by on October 23, 2012

I’ve recently found myself immersed in a pile of kayaking adventure stories that have been burning a hole in my bookshelf for quite some time. The titles include “Fearless: One Woman, One Kayak, One Continent” by Joe Glickman which chronicles Freya Hoffmeister’s 2009 circumnavigation of Australia and “Crossing the Ditch” by James Castrission which takes you along for the first successful crossing of the Tasman Sea in a kayak. Most would agree that circling a continent or crossing one of the most perilous stretches of ocean in the world via kayak are certainly deserving of “Epic Adventure” status.

Inspired by the magnitude of these recent pinnacles of sea kayaking achievement I asked myself the obvious question: “What are the most epic sea kayaking adventures of all time?” My research uncovered dozens of worthy examples from pioneering firsts to audacious odysseys of Homeric proportions that may never be repeated. With so many trips to choose from it would take the next five years to cover them all! Therefore I narrowed the list down to 10 by imposing the rather arbitrary (and “armchair”) requirement that the adventure be at least 2000miles in length in order to qualify. If that’s not intrepid enough for you just wait until you read the stories of…

The Most Epic Sea Kayaking Adventures of All Time:

  1. From Germany to Australia by Kayak
  2. Circumnavigation of South America**
  3. Circumnavigation of Australia
  4. Tasman Sea Crossing
  5. Atlantic Ocean Crossing
  6. California to Hawaii Crossing
  7. Bering Sea Crossing
  8. Circumnavigation of New Zealand
  9. Circumnavigation of Great Britain
  10. North American Odyssey**

**Expedition currently underway.

This list is composed such that the level of peril, sheer magnitude, and impact may be considered higher as you climb up the list to #1 (what I consider to be the most epic sea kayaking adventure ever). I thought that it might be fun to tackle these stories one by one over the course of the winter. I’ll start with #10 and work my way up the list to #1. Be sure to check back here as I plan to update this post with links to reflect my progress.

Happy Adventure Reading!

-Kayak Dave

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