65 year old Mark Fuhrmann paddles his way into the record books Mark Fuhrmann is clearly made
of tough stuff. I am even more impressed given his age (which matches mine) and I know full well I could never achieve such a feat of endurance! After 268 days in his kayak, 1,643 hours of paddling and a journey of almost 11,000km, 65 year old Mark Fuhrmann has completed his epic “Reverse the Bad” charity expedition across
Canada and the United States; and in doing so, he becomes the first person to solo kayak the ‘Greater Loop’ circuit, beginning (and ending) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and traversing the Great Lakes, the Illinois, the Mississippi, the Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers, before hitting the Gulf of Mexico and heading up the Atlantic Coast.
A smiling, but understandably exhausted Fuhrmann, stepped out of his kayak for one last time greeting well- wishers with the memorable line “can I get a beer please?” As it happened, it seems he got more than one!
“It’s been a hell of a trip,” he exclaimed, “but worth every minute of exertion, discomfort and pain. Not only to raise money and awareness, but also to have such a genuine experience; one where I feel I’ve really connected with nature, people and something deep within myself.”
I add my heartfelt congratulations to Mark on his amazing achievement.
Flower the wonder narrowboat towing horse
David Ray of Norbury Wharf Ltd said: “Flower did really well. She is usually ridden by my daughter, Elizabeth, and we use her to pull a cart, but this is the first time we have used her to pull a narrowboat. We are all really pleased with how it went, and we hope to be able to do more.”
Sometimes turning the clock back to a bygone era is rather appealing and reminds us of how things used to be.
Let me introduce you to a horse named Flower, an eight-year-old mare...
Recently, the Shropshire Union Main Line near Norbury saw a Shropshire Union fly-boat hauled by a horse, perhaps the first time that’s been seen on that stretch of water for 100 years. This rare and wonderful sight is the well-known boat Saturn, that Flower hauled effortlessly.
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