Freya Hoffmeister - Jedi Master

Last night, the 2010 Spring Olympics Games opened in Vancouver with a lavish opening ceremony under perfect weather....what's that, you say? They're the Winter Games? In Vancouver?!? Who's bright idea was that? Vancouver doesn't have winter! You're joking, right?
Well, whatever happened Olympics-wise last night, we weren't watching as we were down at Ocean River Sports listening to Freya Hoffmeister's lecture and slide show about her recent 11 month-long 15,000km kayak trip around Australia, sponsored by the South Island Sea Kayaking Association.

Freya offered up a great slide slow and a fabulous talk. She talked about her preparations and her time alone on the water. She has gave detailed explanation of how one goes to the bathroom during a ten-day crossing -- all that was missing was a set of technical illustrations. Perhaps the best example of her character and determination was she explained why she called her expedition a "race around Australia." Clearly, she wasn't racing anyone. She explained that she called it a race because she was racing herself. She said that some people online were referring to her expedition as an "attempt" and whenever she read that she would respond, "It is not an attempt. I am doing this." There's a lot of will wrapped up in that black leather.
She talked about being harassed by crocs on land and flying fish on the water, and the shark attack that holed her kayak. We had a terrific time, and if she's coming to your area it would be well worth checking out this kayaking legend.

Freya still has a few more stops on her North Amercian West Coast speaking tour.

Freya In Victoria

I don't think she'll be paddling to get here, but Freya Hoffmeister, fresh off her one year long kayaking trip around Australia, will be here in Victoria as part of her West Coast speaking tour.
She'll be speaking at Ocean River Sports on February 12. Doors open at 7:00 pm, slideshow starts at 7:30. The event is hosted by the South Island Sea Kayaking Association. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased here.

Freya Has Earned Her Christmas Vacation

As reported here, here, here, here and here, Freya Hoffmeister became the first woman and only the second person ever to kayak around Australia. She did it in 332 days, beating Paul Caffyn's mark of 361 days set in 1982. Congratulations, Freya!

A Degree of Commitment

I've enjoyed sea kayaking over the last couple of years. I've pushed unsuitable boats out to their limits, built my own boat and paddled it on expeditions, and generally had a pretty good time on the water. I still think that paddling twenty kilometres in a day is a pretty good day. What I have not done is paddle sixty kilometres in a day, and done that for 332 days, completing a 13,790 kilometre trip. But Freya Hoffmeister has.
Some women are remarkable. Some are extraordinary. Freya seems to be in a class by herself. She's a former gymnast, bodybuilder, and skydiver, who started kayaking in 1997.  Over the years, this 45 year old has had a kid, built an chain of seven franchise ice cream cafes, a salad bistro and a Christmas shop, circumnavigated Iceland by kayak, done a solo around New Zealand's South Island, and now has completed the circumnavigation of Australia. Not only has she now completed the trip around Australia in 332 days, she's done it 28 days faster than the only other person to have completed the trip (New Zealander Paul Caffyn made the first circumnavigation in 1982).
Freya hauled between 50 and 100 kilos of gear along with her most of the way, until, a couple of months ago, she met Geoffrey Bethune, who has paralleled her on shore, hauling much of her gear in a van.
The coast of Australia offers some pretty extreme paddling, with a number of different challenges.  Peter Costello, president of the Victoria sea kayakers club, points out;"There are hundreds of kilometres of sheer cliffs without any landing zones, massive surf, exposed crossings, cyclones and tropical heat that take their toll on the body.''
Freya's trip was not without a few moments of startlement. One night in "murky water" off Broome, a shark took a bite out of her kayak, leaving her taking on water and paddling quickly to shore. Once she saw the bite marks, she made the rare to her decision to stay off the water the rest of the night. Thankfully, the attack occurred at a place where there was a landing site.
Freya made it off the water December 15th, looking for a hot meal and a chance to get out of her swimsuit and into dry clothes. An amazing woman, making the extraordinary look, well, ordinary. I'm waiting to see what she decides to do next.

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