Ellesmere Island

Starting in May 2011 Jon Turk and Erik Boomer set out on a seemingly impossible journey to circumnavigate Ellsemere Island by kayak.

Their route around Ellsemere Island

Why impossible? Well the majority of the Ellesmere Island coastline is locked in ice with only the east and south coast navigable in summer. So Jon and Erik hauled their 13ft Wilderness Systems Tsunami kayaks designed for ‘weekend adventures’ across the sea ice loaded with 300lbs of gear and supplies. These plastic kayaks stood up remarkably well to the abuse.

The crux of the journey was Cape Union and the Robeson Channel where they were stalled for three weeks due the channel being choked with ice and steep cliffs that prevented them from portaging around the impasse.

They completed the 1485 nautical mile journey in 104 days.

You can read Jon’s Blog here. And there is an excellent article on their epic journey at the New York Times online.