this that
The September send-off.
Yup, summer’s over. Internet EXPLORERS Circumnavigators beam Lake Superior into the classroom
>> AS AUTUMNAL GALES whisked fair weather paddlers away for the season, Dave Freeman, Amy Voytilla and 35,000 grade school students from across the U.S. had all of Lake Su- perior to themselves. Weighed down with laptop computers, cameras and a satellite phone, Voytilla and Freeman began their Superior Waters Project in September in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and shared their journey with school kids through a website called The Wilderness Classroom. Fifty-four days, 1,760 kilometres, 45 website updates and 1.1 million hits later, they completed the circumnavigation. Adventure Kayak caught up with Freeman and Voytilla to
talk about the challenges of sea kayaking on Lake Superior in the fall and how to make your dream lifestyle a reality.
AK: How did the idea of the trip originate?
Amy Voytilla: I mentioned my desire to paddle around Lake Superior to Dave in 2005. By the end of the summer, we had started planning the Superior Waters Project.
AK: Did you have any unusual challenges paddling on Lake Superior in autumn?
AV: During the last half of the trip we were packing up camp in the dark and getting on the water a bit before sunrise. As we crossed from Michigan into Wisconsin, we decided to keep operating on Eastern Time instead of Central because hearing the alarm at 4:30 in the morning was too painful.
AK: What about the weather?
Dave Freeman: We were windbound for 14 of the 54 days we were out. At times 10- to 15-foot waves driven by 30- to 40-
knot winds battered the shore in front of our campsite. AK: What is the larger purpose of your trips?
DF: To inspire students to learn and explore outside. Kids are our future, and if they do not develop a desire to explore, the world’s remaining wilderness will be lost.
AK: How does the “Wilderness Classroom” concept work?
DF: It’s a technology-based program that enables third to eighth grade students to become involved in our trips through online polls, moderated live chats and email on our website. We can’t bring every fourth grader in the country to Lake Superior, but we can bring Lake Superior into their classrooms.
AK: How do you pull off your lifestyle?
DF: By keeping overhead costs low. Living simply lets me devote a lot of time to the Wilderness Classroom, rather than focusing my energy on making a lot of money. I live in a 16- by 20-foot wall tent that’s heated by a woodstove. I haul my water from the lake, use a composting toilet and live totally off the grid.
AK: What’s next?
DF: In March of 2007 Amy and I will begin a six-month, 5,000- kilometre trek across South America. We will hike up and over the Andes Mountains, and when we reach the Amazon River, we’ll paddle 4,500 kilometres to its mouth. The Trans-Amazon Expedition will be broken into three, eight-week-long projects spread over three school years. —Conor Mihell
ADVENTURE KAYAK | | 17
Rest day, anyone?
PHOTOS: WILDERNESS CLASSROOM
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