UtopiaNorth Atlantic I
in the
An interview with Leon Sommé about the 2003 Iceland Expedition photos by Leon Sommé and Shawna Franklin
n May of 2003, three expert kayakers from Washington State embarked on a circumnavigation of Iceland. Leon Sommé and
Shawna Franklin—BCU coaches and co-owners of the kayak school Body Boat Blade International—joined Chris Duff, also a BCU coach, sometime carpenter and one of the world’s foremost expedition pad- dlers well-known for his solo circumnavigation of New Zealand’s South Island in 2000. Iceland was first circumnavigated by Nigel Foster 25 years ago.
Few paddlers have repeated the feat, partly because of the challenging weather—you have to put in long days on the water to get all the way around the 1,700 nautical miles (3,000 kilometres) in the short sub- Arctic summer. With the open North Atlantic on all sides and unpre- dictable weather, much of Iceland is challenging paddling. The South Coast is undoubtedly the crux, presenting an unbroken
expanse of windswept black sand beach and dumping surf. In storms, there is no place to hide from the wind, the rising seas can consume the beaches, and the nearest dry land is far away over impassable areas of glacial ponds and quicksand. Beginning in the eastern town of Seydisfjordur and travelling clockwise, Leon, Shawna and Chris hit the South Coast at the begin-
ning of their trip, where they paddled all day every day without pulling ashore until it was time to camp—to minimize the number of times they’d risk getting pummelled in the surf. One night on the South Coast, a storm hit and the three had to seek
shelter in one of the numerous well-stocked emergency shelters that dot the Iceland coast. From there they were evacuated to an inland town to wait out the storm, rest and re-supply. “The Rescue” became the team’s harrowing adventure story that everybody hears first. But beyond the bleak South Coast, Leon, Chris and Shawna were charmed by what they describe as a “utopia in the North Atlantic”—a tidy land of hospitable people, free-running herds of domestic Icelandic horses, summer wildflowers and unlimited free camping. It’s a place where every little town has geothermal heated swimming pools and hot-tubs where friendly attendants serve you coffee while you soak away the aches of a three-month paddle. The team successfully made it back around to Seydisfjordur in 81
days. Shawna became the first woman to paddle around Iceland. Adventure Kayak magazine interviewed Leon Sommé to learn more about this remarkable trip.—Tim Shuff
ADVENTUREkayakmag.com 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52