Kayak bum's 5,000-mile journey

Restart minor setback for Portage to Portage expedition

Jake Stachovak, a self-proclaimed ‘kayak bum’, is attempting to paddle a kayak around the entire eastern United States. The 5,000-mile journey began on December 6th at Portage, a small river town in south-central Wisconsin and – rather befitting the occasion – once home to another adventurer, Scots-born John Muir.

Stachovak, 34, plans to go down the Mississippi River to New Orleans; east across the Gulf of Mexico; follow Florida’s shoreline peninsula, then go up the east coat to New York City where he will paddle canals to Lake Ontario; then follow the Great Lakes to Green Bay and paddle towards his starting point along the Fox River.

Although Stachovak started his adventure in Wisconsin, ice and a frigid early winter storm forced him to take a 290-mile southerly detour for a restart just north of St. Louis on December 12th, though this hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for the journey.

“I believe it would be irresponsible to paddle solo in a river choked with slushy ice packs in wind chills at – or below – zero,” he wrote on his blog. “It’s just a minor setback. Hell, no-one said this was going to be easy.” He noted that the restart left a gap in the continuity of the loop that must be filled, and he may do that after he returns to Portage possibly sometime in September or October 2010.

Now over a month into his journey, Stachovak has covered 998 miles by water and is averaging 32.5 miles per day. On Dec. 14, he did 51.7 miles.

When resting he is either camping in a tent or staying with pre-arranged stops and people he meets along the way. According to Stachovak’s website, his current GPS coordinates place him north east of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Stachovak’s mission statement for this adventure is this: “To experience wilderness and communities along classic American waterways and to promote paddle sports as an accessible way for all Americans to get to know their own backyard. We are linked by water.”

For updates of his whereabouts go to: www.portagetoportage.com/trip-log-and-location.html

To learn more about his journey, visit: www.portagetoportage.com