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FEARLESS, One Woman, One Kayak, One Continent

Posted by on February 25, 2013

FEARLESS

One Woman, One Kayak, One Continent

By Joe Glickman

Joe Glickman, I believe, could not have chosen a better name for his book about Freya Hoffmeister’s 8,565 mile kayak circumnavigation of Australia. Solo for most of the 332 day little trip, Freya kept Australia on her left and paddled; FEARLESS.


Before we dive into the book, I think it is worth really trying to complicate the feat she accomplished. For almost a year, she paddled a normal touring style sea kayak for 10 hours or more covering between 20 to 40 miles in that time. Even without taking into account the 30 knot winds, rough seas, Great White sharks nipping at her boat, the saltwater crocs, surfacing whales a mere few feet from her boat, and nightly solo beach camps, paddling for 322 days covering over 8,000 miles is crazy enough. What she did was unfathomable.
In his book, FEARLESS, Joe Glickman follows Freya stroke by stroke on her trek around the coast of Australia. But so did thousands of people thanks to her blog updates as the trip unfolded. What Joe adds in his book is insight. He looks into her past attempting to explain how this strong, highly self-reliant sexy woman became to be. He adds just the right amount of geography and cultural background of the places she encountered adding to the story without boring the adventure seeking reader. I enjoyed the book and Joe’s writing style.
This late spring I am planning a paddle adventure of my own. One that is hardly more than a simple float down a placid river, literally and figuratively when compared to the feat Freya completed.  She was the first woman to completely circle Australia and she did it in the fastest time by any person, man or woman. My little trip down the full length of the Monocacy River covering 60 river miles in three days will be a fun diversion from the 9 to 5 grind, and maybe a little insight, even if just a mere glimpse, into what it is like to paddle multiple days solo. Minus the salt water crocs of course.

Instead of going into a full recount of Freya’s travels and Joe’s book, FEARLESS, I strongly suggest you purchase a copy and read for yourself how tough but imperfect Freya Hoffmeister really is. Thanks go out to a special friend who turned me onto this book.