It was my absolute pleasure to interview Traci. She is one of my paddling heroes. Her trip was one of the most amazing and inspiring things I have ever witnessed and to be able to follow her in real time with the help of social media was incredible. Many of my personal friends met her and even housed her along her journey.

I personally met Traci in July at the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Symposium. She was as humble and gracious as you can imagine. Amazingly, her journey was a controversial topic in the kayaking world. Like any major expedition, there are risks. Her spirit to continue when people told her it was impossible, is second to none.

The Adventure began on March 9th, 2017

Traci Lynn Martin, an experienced expedition kayaker and successful ultra endurance competitive kayaker, will attempt to set a new World Record in paddling a surf ski.

She will attempt to set a record for the farthest documented non-stop paddling trip by a Surf Ski in one year.

Currently, according to Guinness World Records, the longest solo journey by a Surf Ski is by Gerhard Moolman (South Africa) when he covered a distance of 3,822 miles (6,152 km) on a surfski between Hout Bay, South Africa, and Lamu, Kenya, from 20 April to 23 October 2002.
His expedition was called The Far Blue and served to raise funds for, and awareness of, AIDS among children in Africa.
****************************************

Please click me, I help pay for the costs of running this blog.

A surfski is similar to a kayak, except that the paddler sits atop the vessel rather than inside it.
A surf ski is typically longer than a kayak, with a deeper cockpit. Despite its typical instability, a surf ski (with an experienced paddler) is a very effective craft for paddling in big surf and waves.  Surf Ski’s were created in Australia.

A synopsis of the trips timeline – To Inspire Others

On October 15th, 2017 Traci became the first person to circumnavigate the 3 largest lakes in North America (Lakes Michigan, Superior, and Huron) in 1 calendar year.
She paddled the entire South shoreline of Erie.
On Saturday November 18th, she walked her boat around Niagara Falls.
Monday November 27th she bagan paddling Lake Ontario.
She was caught in Toronto for 2 weeks during a winter storm.
On December 16th, due to ice forming on Lake Ontario, she decided to end her record attempt.
3,592 Miles Paddled in 10 months

What was your motivation for this trip?

I am 50 years old and I grew up in the Kansas City, Missouri area. My love for the outdoors began very early in my life. I had always enjoyed playing in the wooded areas behind my house and in my neighborhood, and I absolutely fell in love with canoeing when I went on a canoe river trip with a friend at 10 years old. Canoeing was my first love and being out on the water has always given me a sense of peace.  I actually did not begin kayaking till my 30’s, when I bought my first 10 foot long plastic kayak. I was hooked. It seemed like every year I would upgrade to something longer and faster.

Before embarking on ‘Just Around The Pointe’ I was competing in numerous kayak endurance races such as the Missouri 340 kayak race (which is on the Missouri River, 340 miles across the state), the South Dakota Kayak Challenge, the Freedom Race, as well as many other kayak races where I would routinely place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. I was also active in other activities as well, such as running 5K’s, 10K’s and Sprint Triathlons. I have always seen myself as very strong and capable, and I push myself to achieve things which other people didn’t think I could do, such as exploring the BWCA alone for a week at a time. I am also a proud Mom of 3 beautiful children. I have a daughter and two sons, whom are the center of my universe. I would ALWAYS take them with me as I explored new hiking or camping opportunities. I have taken them with me when I backpacked portions of the Continental Divide and the Colorado Trail, as well as camping in Missouri, Texas, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico, Minnesota, and the BWCA.

In 2010, my life as I had known it came to a sudden halt when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
RA is an auto-immune disease which attacks and destroys the joints in your body. Symptoms includes severe pain and swollen joints. Some days, you wake up hurting so badly that you don’t feel like you can move. Sometimes it feels like someone has taken a baseball bat and they have beaten you with it and every bone in your body has been shattered. You just have to force yourself to get up and keep moving. As long as you can keep moving, the pain will ease up. But without a doubt, the mornings are the worse.

Everything changed for me in 2015 when my Mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I took time off from work to care for her (I am a Registered Nurse). During that time, my mother became very sad and she talked about not waiting to do something you really want to do, as you never know exactly how much time you have left on this planet. She had many regrets about things she didn’t get to do, like learning to play a piano or visiting Australia. During this time with my mother, I had a lot of free time on my hands, as my mother was sleeping a lot and resting frequently. I remembered that a friend had told me that no one had ever paddled all 5 of the Great Lakes in a single calendar year before, so I began researching it and taking notes about it, just to pass the time, mainly to prove him wrong. What I discovered was that he was right, no one had ever done this before.

After my mother passed away, I returned to her home and saw my notebook of notes about the Great Lakes, and I just decided that I was going to do it. I was going to be the first person to circumnavigate the 5 Great Lakes in 1 calendar year. But it was more than that. I also wanted to inspire individuals with chronic illnesses to Never Give Up on life and to Never stop doing the things which give their life meaning.

I want to empower other women and individuals that they can conquer whatever limitations life throws at them.

What does it take to prepare for a trip like this?

This expedition took me about two years to plan.  It included figuring out the exact route, purchasing maps, contacting other paddlers and asking their advice, figuring out where I could stay along the shoreline, protocols for paddling around nuclear power plants, weather notification equipment, what was the requirements for each specific state, what was the requirements for paddling in Canada, what permits I needed to have, where I would absolutely have to remote camp and for how long, how I would carry what I absolutely needed in a boat only 18 inches wide, what other supplies I would need to have available and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I contacted marina’s and asked if I could camp overnight there, I made a list of business and individuals whom would help me, I leaned about the different gps units available, how was I going to document my trip, photography equipment that was water proof that I could take with me, tracking devices necessary to keep me safe, cold water equipment needed, clothing that I would need to paddle a surf ski in very cold temperatures, and bear protection. The logistics for any kind of expedition of this length is mind-blowing. The realization that you are going to be cold, wet and miserable for almost a year is a daunting task to say the very least! I However, I learned one thing……don’t over-pack!! There are plenty of places to resupply around the Great Lakes and it would have saved me hauling a years worth of food around all the time!

The start of the trip had some challenges, how did you overcome them?
For those readers who are not aware of my story, let me begin by briefly explaining what the challenges were. I had a friend, Chris, who had been helping me plan out this expedition since October of 2016. He was also going to be my support driver for the entire 10 months. We had planned on starting the expedition around April 1st. In February we drove up to Port Huron on a scouting mission, and discovered that the water had been ice free for over a month and the temperatures had been very mild. All of the local people whom we talked with told us that I should have come up and started paddling in early February. Based on this information, we rushed to get all of the last minute details done and was able to start the expedition several weeks early. I felt like this would give me an even more viable shot at the paddling record.

Unfortunately, 4 days after beginning the expedition, Chris decided that it was not something that he wanted to do after-all, and he packed up his things and left me alone on the side of the highway with the support truck and trailer. Because I was paddling a surf ski, I was only able to carry about 7 to 10 days worth of supplies with me. I had to have the support truck. I was therefore unable to paddle any further until I found a new support driver. A retired acquaintance from KC, Bill Noble, volunteered to come up and help me, but he was not available until May. My sister and her husband were generous enough to take a leave of absence from their jobs, and they drove up to Port Huron to be my support drivers until Bill was able to make arrangements and come up sooner than he had originally planned.

During this time-frame, a late winter storm suddenly hit the area, and with it came the ice.

At this point, I had quit my job a month early to paddle. My sister and her husband had taken a leave of absence from their jobs to help me. I didn’t feel like I could just quit and go back home.  I was fresh, I was fired up, I was full of energy, and I was ready to go. Therefore, even though I had no experience paddling in ice, and the late winter freeze had me pushing huge pieces of floating ice out of the way just to reach the open water, I made the decision to push forward.

It was the wrong decision.

Within less than two weeks, the Huron County Sheriff’s Office had been called twice. The first time they were notified by my ground crew because they had lost contact with me, and they did not know where my location was out in the ice. The last contact with me had been my radio transmission that I had lost my rudder due to the ice. However, I was personally unaware that the Sheriffs office had been contacted, and as they were formulating a plan to come out in the ice to attempt to locate me, I paddled my boat to the takeout place where they were all gathered around. The second time the Sheriff’s office was called, I did require a rescue boat to bring me back to safety. I am very grateful to the Huron County Sheriff’s department for their quick and decisive action on that second call that was placed to them. They saved my life that day.

You ask how I overcame the challenges? Well, I got smart really fast and realized that despite my commitment to push forward with the expedition, that weather conditions were going to dictate when I paddled and when I didn’t. I went back home and took about two more weeks to regroup. I allowed the ice to melt, I acquired better equipment, I purchased a much better quality Marine radio (Standard Horizon), I purchased a second cell phone (so I would never be out on the water with only one phone that had a dead battery) and I waited until Bill Noble was able to return back with me. Bill brought experience to the expedition that I desperately needed. (He had paddled his own canoe expedition in 1980-81. Over a 2 year period, he canoed 4,500 miles along the French Canadian Fur-Traders Route, from Montreal to the Arctic Circle).

I returned with a much better appreciation for what I was up against, and much more respect for the Great Lakes. But more importantly, I learned that this was not a race that I had to fly through at top speed. This was an expedition that I needed patience and common sense in order to be successful. I returned in April and paddled 3,592 miles without another incident. The learning curve was very steep and the Great Lakes was a harsh teacher, but I never gave up. I overcame by not giving up…..just regrouping and learning patience.

Once you hit the Canadian border, what things stuck out to you?

The very first thing that I noticed when I crossed over the border and ventured into the north shore of Lake Superior and the Georgian Bay area was just how remote it quickly became. The natural setting was still wild and untamed without a lot of development. It was breathtakingly beautiful.
As I progressed along the shoreline, there were fewer and fewer places to take out and I was doing more and more remote camping.
I was captivated by the unspoiled natural beauty of it all. I felt like I was the only person on Earth, because there were many times that I could go 4 or 5 days without seeing another living person, and I had not encountered this on the American side of the Great Lakes.

I was especially taken by how bright and stunning the Milky Way was.

I would always try to be in my tent before the sun set, due to the hordes of mosquitoes that would come up out of the trees, but later at night, around midnight or so, I would wake up to use the bathroom, and the night sky would be alive with stars. It is hard to describe the feeling of standing out over such a huge body of water, which gave the illusion of stretching across infinity and merging into the shimmering night sky which was ablaze with millions of stars. It was bewitching. I would stand there in the coldness of the night and become mesmerized by it.
It was like I was standing on a different world and I was looking out over the universe.  I have never seen the night sky that way before, and it will be a memory which I will always treasure.

At first, I wasn’t sure of what the reaction to my expedition (and me) would be on the Canadian side, mainly because of the political turmoil going on in the states right now. But, the Canadian people were incredibly warm and friendly. I had as many people from Canada offer me aid and comfort along my journey as I did in the US. One night I pulled off to camp on what, unbeknownst to me, was private property. The land owner had no idea who I was, but, when I told him my story, not only did he allow me to camp there, but he later returned with an entire tub of wild blueberries for me! I thought that was wonderful. My largest single donor was from Canada as well, and it turns out his sister has Rheumatoid Arthritis as well. I actually got to speak to them both and I am eternally grateful for the generosity and connection I have there. Another day, grounded by foul weather in Thunder Bay, I went to a museum and it turns out the museum was also hosting a bridal shower! Well, one of the guests there recognized who I was and she told the mother of the bride, and I was invited to join the party. The mother of the bride then introduced me to the bridal party and I told them what I was doing, and was very warmly received. Along the Bruce Peninsula there was an incredibly charitable couple, Christine and George, who allowed my entire team to stay with them for 5 days in their home and they took me to my very first Canadian Thanksgiving! Another very generous couple, Joan and Peter of Brentwood Cottages, worked endlessly to help my expedition gain exposure along the Canadian Shoreline by introducing me to numerous newspaper and television reporters. There were many, many individuals whom opened up their homes and hearts to me along the Canadian shoreline of the Great Lakes. The genuine kindness of the Canadian people is something I’ll never forget or be able to say “thank you” enough for.

I also had some of the most wonderful food in Canada. I had never had Shepherd’s Pie before and it quickly became my favorite thing to eat. It is the ultimate comfort food. After a long, cold, painful day on the water, a meal of Shepherd’s Pie always made me feel markedly better! I was constantly looking on a menu for it! I also loved how everything was printed in both English and French. I think that the diversity in Canada is a wonderful aspect of the Canadian culture. I not only interacted with individuals from Ontario, but I also had interactions with individuals who were from Quebec, and I was impressed and grateful at how hard they tried to make me feel welcomed by speaking English and asking me about my expedition. I found Canada to be a wonderful kaleidoscope of culturally diverse individuals whom seem to live in harmony with one another. I found myself wishing the United States was more like this.

What was your most challenging moment?

My most challenging moment was attempting to paddle around Tobermory, which is on Lake Huron, and is a part of the Bruce Peninsula National Park.  It was the most physically, emotionally and mentally challenging experience of the entire expedition.  It was towards the end of September, and I had already circumnavigated the east shoreline of Georgian Bay, cutting between Christian Island and Beckwith Island, and landing at AC Marina, by Sand Castle Beach, for the night.  I knew there was a fierce storm with strong winds approaching from the east. I had only a few calm days left to make it around the peninsula of Tobermory. The storm was going to bring winds of 25 to 35 mph, which was going to turn the entire Georgian Bay into an wrathful mass of 6 to 8 foot waves. I also knew that the strong winds were going to continue for 2 weeks. The days were becoming shorter and colder, and I was experiencing rougher and rougher water.  I knew that I had to get around the peninsula before this new storm hit, or else I was going to get trapped on the Georgian Bay side of Lake Huron and it could mean the end of the expedition.

I left AC Marina at sunrise, and rather than following the shoreline towards Wasaga Beach, I headed straight across the bay towards Big Bay. I did a 40 mile open water crossing that day and I my feet never touched land until I landed my boat several hours past sunset that night. The crossing saved me 2 days of paddling, but I knew that it was still going to be a race to get around Tobermory.

It took me 2 more days of hard paddling to reach Cabot Head Lighthouse and Provincial Nature Reserve. By the time I made it to Wingfield Basin, which is a small protected area behind the Cabot Head Lighthouse, I was exhausted. I pulled into the Basin as the sky was darkening with clouds, the temperature was noticeably dropping, the wind was picking up quickly, and the first round of storms were rolling in. I had been praying the entire way, “Dear God, please let me get to the Lighthouse before this storm envelopes me”. I paddled into the Basin along with a lone sailboat, that was also seeking refuge from the oncoming storm and dangerous waves.  That night, I was in constant pain. My entire body was suffering from the Rheumatoid Arthritis and my hands had swollen several times their normal size.

I was unable to paddle the next day, both due to the weather outside and my RA flare. The storm was still raging across the lake. The wind was shaking the small trailer that Bill and I were huddled in, and so I took advantage of the squall by staying in bed and sleeping literally all day. From the weather reports, I knew that the following day was going to have 22 mph winds until around noon, then the winds would start to calm down to 10 mph. By 5pm, the wind was going to crank back up again to 25-35 mph.  The plan was to paddle 20 miles to Big Tub Harbour, which was around the Peninsula and on the protected west side of Tobermory. After the wind died down, I decided to give the water an hour to calm down. I was hoping the waves would be calm enough to paddle on by 1pm, which meant I had 4 hours to paddle 20 miles. I took off from the calm, quiet water inside of the protected Wingfield Basin and headed out into the confused and ill-tempered water of Georgian Bay.

The water had not calmed down, but I was heading out anyways, because I knew if I didn’t, I would be trapped at Cabot Head Lighthouse for the next 2 weeks.  The water was still rough, it definitely was not ideal paddling conditions, but it wasn’t anything that I had not paddled in before. I felt anxious and nervous, like a thoroughbred horse waiting to charge out of the gate for a big race. A storm was chasing me, as was sunset. The condition that made me the most nervous, wasn’t the rough water, it was that there was really nowhere to pull off at if I had wanted too. It was all cliffs and huge rocks all along the shoreline. I paddled in the rough conditions till almost nightfall. The weather continually worsened, raising 4 foot waves that I knew would soon surpass 5-6 feet. My pace was slower than I had hoped for, and I knew that I was not going to make it to Tobermory. I began to feel more anxious about the situation. I wasn’t worried about the waves in the daylight. As long as I could see them, I was confident in my ability to handle them. I once explained it to a friend that I imagined myself as a little duck floating atop of the waves. My surf ski was long and thin and it innocently bobbed up and down over the waves, like a little brown duck bobs over huge waves during a storm. But, the trick was to see them coming in order to keep my balance. I had never paddled in 5 and 6 foot waves in the dark, and I didnt want to either. The problem was that there was nowhere safe to pull off at. The sun was setting, the lake was getting dark, and I was getting scared.

I called my support driver, Bill, on my phone, and told him my situation. The decision was made to land at Little Cove Provincial Park which was still another 8 miles away. I was going to be paddling in the dark, without any moonlight, surrounded by rocks and cliffs, and with a strong wind increasing its intensity as the night became darker and darker. As the sun set on me, I was in 4 and 5 foot waves. I knew before I could get to Bill, the waves would be increasing to 5 and 6 feet. My heart was pounding in my head. There was nowhere to land and my only choice was to keep paddling forward. As dusk went into darkness, I could hear the waves crashing against the rocks on my left, but I couldn’t see them. I went from scared to terrified. I began to pray. Waves were coming out of the darkness and slamming into me. Random waves were coming out of the darkness and going over my head. I couldn’t see them coming till they were on top of me. I knew if I fell out of my boat, I would have been smashed against the rocks and cliffs. I was trying not to panic. I was trying not to hyperventilate. I was trying to keep my emotions under tight control. I began to put my focus into praying. I began to repeat a bible verse that I remembered as a child “if the Spirit of God can bring Jesus back from the dead, and Gods Spirit lives in you, then he will also give you life and keep you safe”… I kept repeating this, over and over, like a mantra. It kept me calm as a rising tide of fear was drowning me from the inside. I didn’t want my boat thrown up against the rocks, that night, alone and in the dark. I knew I had no one to depend on but myself, and I knew that I had to keep myself calm. I kept saying out-loud, “I’m a little brown duck floating on top of the waves and I’m going to be ok”.

Then suddenly, as if my prayers were answered, I saw Bill’s spot light shining out of the darkness! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life, because I knew that the light meant safety. Now, even if the waves flipped me over, the light was a beacon for a safe place to land, a safe place that I could swim to. A safe place away from the rocks and cliffs. But the waves never did topple me over, and about 30 yards before I finally landed on solid ground, I was able to see the beach, and I finally allowed my emotions to take over. I began crying tears of relief.

Can you end with your future plans and some details on your next attempt?

At this time, I’m still trying to fully recover from last year. During my expedition, I was diagnosed with bronchitis multiple times while paddling, which turned into full blown pneumonia once (in May). It is now April 2018, and I am still not fully recovered. I have this dry cough all of the time and my energy levels are not where they should be. I’ve decided that I’m not going to push my recovery, but take it easy so that I will be strong in 2020.
Am I going back?  “Yes!” Just Around The Pointe II is in the planning stages and I will go back smarter, sharper, better prepared and with the lessons I’ve learned in the forefront of the planning. I consider myself a quick study, and I am grateful for the lessons I’ve learned and they will be a crucial part of my next expedition. Right now, I am working on multiple speaking tour’s talking about Just Around The Pointe and the experiences of the Lakes. Some of my presentations have been focused for other paddlers and some of my presentations are at high schools, encouraging young adults to “Never Give Up, no matter how hard things might become”.  I will be attempting to paddle all 5 of the Great Lakes again, in one calendar year. My next attempt must be more efficient. I plan on spending more time camping and less time in the support trailer or staying in people’s homes. I was much more efficient when I was camping. I was always able to get onto the water earlier and I paddled longer, when I was camping, so that will be the biggest change from my 2017 attempt.

You can follow Traci at https://justaroundthepointe.com/

---

If you are interested in supporting Kayak Ontario, please do so by attending our kayaking lessons (clinics, classes and events). To find more information, please visit our shop by clicking here