Fifty-five year old German kayaker Freya Hoffmeister is 487 days and 11,480km into a mammoth journey to kayak the entire coastline of North America.
Hoffmeister estimates that her total journey add up to 50,000km, paddled in blocks of three to five months. She started in Seattle in March, 2017 and aims to complete the long-term project within the next decade.
Hoffmeister is currently in Alaska, heading north. She will then resume a section further south and continue down toward South America. She has been joined by a variety of partners for parts of her journey.
Broadly, she aims to paddle north for half the year and south for the other half. Hoffmeister is claiming a world first circumnavigation, but technically a circumnavigation requires travel in one direction only, and she has decided not to paddle strictly clockwise or counterclockwise.
Her route will take in a number of challenges, including the ice-laden Northwest Passage and northern Canada’s massive Hudson Bay.
Progress to date. Photo: Freya Hoffmeister
Hoffmeister’s previous expeditions include circumnavigations of South America, Australia, Iceland, Ireland and the South Island of New Zealand.
Past honours include the World Paddle Award, National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year and the European Adventurer of the Year.
Links
Expedition Timetable
Expedition Map
