Press Release: Kayaker to Attempt to Circumnavigate the World for a Cause

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Kayaker to Unattempt a New Route for a Cause

Grand Marais, Minnesota (March 2, 2013) — Starting on April 1st, 2013 expedition paddler Bryan Hansel will attempt a never before attempted kayaking route in the pursuit of becoming the first person in the world to circumnavigate the world by kayak. He’s attempting the solo expedition to bring attention to the slowest growing religion in the world, The Church of the Latter-Day Dude.

Hansel begins his journey in the Great Lakes where he’ll paddle from Grand Marias, Minn. on Lake Superior out the Saint Lawrence Seaway. After reaching the Atlantic coast, he’ll head north and cross the gap between North America and Greenland, eventually paddling to the eastern shore of Greenland to cross to Iceland. After reaching Iceland, he’ll cross to the Faroe Islands, then the British Islands and after visiting his birthplace of London, he’ll cross to mainland Europe and paddle south to the Mediterranean Sea. From the Mediterranean Sea, Hansel plans to  paddle through the Suez Channel and follow the shoreline of the Arabian Sea.

From there, Hansel’s journey takes him around India, with a short jaunt below the equator just so critics can’t say he didn’t dip below it, and up the Asian coast to Shanghai to the longest crossing of the trip. He’ll kayak from Shanghai to Japan and follow the Japanese coast north, eventually crossing to mainland again and crossing to Alaskan via the Aleutian Islands. From there he plans to follow the west coast of North and Central America to the Panama Canal. Then the journey heads north from the Gulf of Mexico until he reaches the northern reaches of the Mississippi River. Once at Sandy Lake, Minn., he’ll portage 6 miles from the Mississippi watershed into the Lake Superior watershed via the Savanna Portage. Once on Lake Superior, he’ll follow the familiar north shore to his home in Grand Marais.

“It’s important to me to attempt the most difficult and unlikely sea kayaking expedition ever conceived in the history of mankind,” says Hansel. “And tack on some unrelated cause to help raise money.”

For the last year, Hansel has been training for this record-breaking, first attempt in his home of Grand Marais, Minn.

Kayak Training Video

“With less than one month to go before departure,” says Hansel, “I feel strong and confident of the success of this unusual expedition. I’m looking forward to sharing the Dudeist belief with the world.”

Hansel expects the expedition to take five years, during which he’ll take limited breaks, except for a week-long celebration each March centered around the Day of the Dude, the yearly religious holiday for Dudeists.

Hansel owns a kayak guiding company called North Shore Expeditions based in Grand Marais, Minn. He offers Lake Superior kayaking trips and Grand Marais kayaking trips. He has kayaked the entire American shorelines of Lake Superior and Lake Huron and has paddled as far away from the Midwest as the Lofoten Islands in Norway.

The Church of the Latter-Day Dude (Dudeism) is the world’s slowest-growing religion. It’s an ancient philosophy that “preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible…” Hansel has been an ordained Dudeist Priest since 2009.

The expedition is sponsored by these generous companies: The Bank of the Global World, Big Water Kayaks, Groovy Paddles, Around Ankles Kayak Skirts, and many individual donations from generous supporters.

Contact:

John “The Kayaker” Smith, PaddlingLight.com