Loved this entire project. One of the best parts was the description of Wallace Island in the Gulf Islands, where I had kayak camped years ago. Well done! Just beautiful.
Simple, not overpowered by music. Brilliant! The narration easy, well put together. Glad its about the trip, not "look at me" dialogue. Totally enjoyable. I look forward to the next videos!
Thank you John! Aside from not getting enough calories, despite constantly eating, I always had plenty of food and fuel and managed to stay mostly warm and dry.
Man, that brought back some memories! In 2016 I rowed through the same rapids on my way north. You put in some epically long days, too, way longer than I usually did. Kudos to you for imagining, planning and then executing the trip! It will stay with you forever. Thanks so much for taking the time to document it so beautifully.
Such surprising places you find to set up a camp! Loved this episode and seeing the gradual influence of more people on your trip and mindset. Oh! And the sounds the sea lions make...so cool! Congratulations on such a tremendous journey and achievement. Thanks for sharing!
Likewise! I can't thank you enough for all that you did. The random acts of kindness from you and others were clearly a highlight of the trip and have rekindled my faith in humanity.
Super cool! Thanks for documenting and sharing your remarkable journey!!! In the early 1930's my grandparents spent a summer rowing portions of the Inside Passage. Let me know if you'd like access to the trip's glass positives that have now been digitized.
Thank you, that's very much appreciated! It was difficult to stop, especially since Waterbird and I had merged and it felt like we could go on indefinitely. But I ran out of water, or at least relatively protected water. There is a plan developing to go back to Alaska with Waterbird but it's formative and will depend on the Alaska ferry schedule.
Thank you and good eye! That is a simple pulley system on an anchor. It's called a running line or an outhaul, and there are many variations with one design described here: coastview.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AnchorPulleySystem.pdf
Thank you for the comment! This is my first long rowing trip, but I have a lot of experience with long distance biking, hiking, sailing, and kayaking trips in Alaska and Arctic Canada.
Wonderful and thank you, a terrific series and have been waiting for the last part. Question - at your steady rowing rate in still water, what speed do you travel? Looks like a fast boat, I am guessing you go 4 mph?
And forgive me for the questions, but were you using one of those phone based navigation systems to track your course, something you could charge with the sun, perhaps, mounted where you could see it so you always knew where you were? I am thinking otherwise you;d be stopping all the time to check charts.....this assumes of course you could be in "range" up there....I use a Rowing in Motion thing to track distance and splits and atroke rate and time, and it does map my course, but not with a navigation chart background or basis. I do know those exist lots of people use them I think for the 70/48 race and the R2Alaska race...
No problem, I appreciate the questions. I used iNavX and Gaia apps on my phone, but I found that many geographical names were missing from these apps, which was annoying, especially since the sailing directions use geographical names to reference navigational features and hazards. So, I also had scanned paper charts and topo maps as PDF files on the phone. I also had paper charts as a backup, but never had to use them. I found the apps mostly useful for measuring distances and directions while on the water and for route planning. I didn't use the phone for real-time navigation, since the power draw of the screen was too much for the 5-6 hours of daily rowing for up to three weeks, but the apps with GPS were running in the background, so I could verify my position at any time if necessary. I carried three small (about the size of a phone) battery packs that had enough power to recharge all the devices every day, and each battery would last about 6 days. I also had a solar panel. In general, I would memorize the day's course the night before and then only open the apps or charts when I was confused about my position, or if I needed to know a distance to a landmark. I used a Spot Tracker, set to record a position every 10 minutes, to create the actual track of Waterbird. I have the Rowing in Motion and Ritmo apps on the phone, and use them every day for training, but never used either one on the trip.
@@Wayward_Waterbird Thanks, just what I wanted to know. Aside from the dramatic and surely staggeringly scary event when you had to swim out to get your boat, did you have any occasions where it became so rough you thought you were done? It sounded like the last fetch in to Bellingham was sketchy on the way to the ferry. Were you often rowing in chop over two feet high, or breaking chop? What would you say was the maximum wind speed to be able to handle the boat into the wind and running before it? In my 15 foot guide boat, smaller than yours, all was good but when the chop got to three feet, especially short seas, it got sketchy, with a real risk of boraching if crossways to the seas....
Loved this entire project. One of the best parts was the description of Wallace Island in the Gulf Islands, where I had kayak camped years ago. Well done! Just beautiful.
Thank you! Yes, that is a special place, maybe because it was the last night of the trip but also because it is so beautiful.
Simple, not overpowered by music. Brilliant! The narration easy, well put together. Glad its about the trip, not "look at me" dialogue. Totally enjoyable. I look forward to the next videos!
Thank you! That's exactly what I was going for, so very much appreciate your compliment.
Wow. All around amazing: the planning, the boat work, the camping and not making it look like you were just surviving.
Thank you John! Aside from not getting enough calories, despite constantly eating, I always had plenty of food and fuel and managed to stay mostly warm and dry.
and lots of Ibuprofen...
I'm not sure which is more impressive - your toughness or your patience. In any case, you are a rare bird, my friend. Well done!
Thank you!
Man, that brought back some memories! In 2016 I rowed through the same rapids on my way north. You put in some epically long days, too, way longer than I usually did. Kudos to you for imagining, planning and then executing the trip! It will stay with you forever.
Thanks so much for taking the time to document it so beautifully.
Thank you for following the story!
Awesome video series. Thanks for sharing. This episode brought back memories for me.
Thank you for following the story. I am very happy to know that others can relate to this experience.
Such surprising places you find to set up a camp! Loved this episode and seeing the gradual influence of more people on your trip and mindset. Oh! And the sounds the sea lions make...so cool! Congratulations on such a tremendous journey and achievement. Thanks for sharing!
High and dry, but not so good for long walks!
This was such an inspirational series, and beautifully filmed and narrated. Had to laugh at the JPL finish! Well done, sir!
Thank you! I'm very glad to hear that you enjoyed the story (and the ending).
Great videos Carl! Was a pleasure to meet you along your journey.
Likewise! I can't thank you enough for all that you did. The random acts of kindness from you and others were clearly a highlight of the trip and have rekindled my faith in humanity.
Amazing great trip! Thank you for sharing
Thank you for following this trip!
Super cool! Thanks for documenting and sharing your remarkable journey!!! In the early 1930's my grandparents spent a summer rowing portions of the Inside Passage. Let me know if you'd like access to the trip's glass positives that have now been digitized.
Thank you and it's my pleasure! Wow, I would absolutely like to see those pictures.
What an amazing adventure and story. Really loved this. Are you going to do it again? Bests, Duncan.
Thank you, that's very much appreciated! It was difficult to stop, especially since Waterbird and I had merged and it felt like we could go on indefinitely. But I ran out of water, or at least relatively protected water. There is a plan developing to go back to Alaska with Waterbird but it's formative and will depend on the Alaska ferry schedule.
Awesome trip. Unbelievable journey. Have you submitted it to the Adventure Club in NYC? You should.
Thank you! I haven't looked into that yet but thanks for the suggestion.
Great adventure and video! What is the double line system that seems to lead to Waterbird when you camp?
Thank you and good eye! That is a simple pulley system on an anchor. It's called a running line or an outhaul, and there are many variations with one design described here: coastview.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AnchorPulleySystem.pdf
Thank you for a beautiful and inspiring series!
Did you have a background of rowing before this trip? Or of long term, minimalist camping?
Thank you for the comment! This is my first long rowing trip, but I have a lot of experience with long distance biking, hiking, sailing, and kayaking trips in Alaska and Arctic Canada.
Wonderful and thank you, a terrific series and have been waiting for the last part. Question - at your steady rowing rate in still water, what speed do you travel? Looks like a fast boat, I am guessing you go 4 mph?
Thank you for the compliment! I tried to keep the rate between 16 and 18 spm and that kept Waterbird going at 4 mph.
@@Wayward_Waterbird So what is your next adventure?
And forgive me for the questions, but were you using one of those phone based navigation systems to track your course, something you could charge with the sun, perhaps, mounted where you could see it so you always knew where you were? I am thinking otherwise you;d be stopping all the time to check charts.....this assumes of course you could be in "range" up there....I use a Rowing in Motion thing to track distance and splits and atroke rate and time, and it does map my course, but not with a navigation chart background or basis. I do know those exist lots of people use them I think for the 70/48 race and the R2Alaska race...
No problem, I appreciate the questions. I used iNavX and Gaia apps on my phone, but I found that many geographical names were missing from these apps, which was annoying, especially since the sailing directions use geographical names to reference navigational features and hazards. So, I also had scanned paper charts and topo maps as PDF files on the phone. I also had paper charts as a backup, but never had to use them. I found the apps mostly useful for measuring distances and directions while on the water and for route planning. I didn't use the phone for real-time navigation, since the power draw of the screen was too much for the 5-6 hours of daily rowing for up to three weeks, but the apps with GPS were running in the background, so I could verify my position at any time if necessary. I carried three small (about the size of a phone) battery packs that had enough power to recharge all the devices every day, and each battery would last about 6 days. I also had a solar panel. In general, I would memorize the day's course the night before and then only open the apps or charts when I was confused about my position, or if I needed to know a distance to a landmark. I used a Spot Tracker, set to record a position every 10 minutes, to create the actual track of Waterbird. I have the Rowing in Motion and Ritmo apps on the phone, and use them every day for training, but never used either one on the trip.
@@Wayward_Waterbird Thanks, just what I wanted to know. Aside from the dramatic and surely staggeringly scary event when you had to swim out to get your boat, did you have any occasions where it became so rough you thought you were done? It sounded like the last fetch in to Bellingham was sketchy on the way to the ferry. Were you often rowing in chop over two feet high, or breaking chop? What would you say was the maximum wind speed to be able to handle the boat into the wind and running before it? In my 15 foot guide boat, smaller than yours, all was good but when the chop got to three feet, especially short seas, it got sketchy, with a real risk of boraching if crossways to the seas....