Two by sea: A couple rows the wild coasts of the far north
Jill Fredston has traveled more than twenty thousand miles of the Arctic and sub-Arctic-backwards. With her ocean-going rowing shell and her husband, Doug Fesler, in a small boat of his own, she has disappeared every summer for years, exploring the rugged shorelines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. Carrying what they need to be self-sufficient, the two of them have battled mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds, dragged their boats across jumbles of ice, fended off grizzlies and polar bears, been serenaded by humpback whales and scrutinized by puffins, and reveled in moments of calm.
As Fredston writes, these trips are neither a vacation nor an escape, they are a way of life. Rowing to Latitude is a lyrical, vivid celebration of these northern journeys and the insights they inspired. It is a passionate testimonial to the extraordinary grace and fragility of wild places, the power of companionship, the harsh but liberating reality of risk, the lure of discovery, and the challenges and joys of living an unconventional life.
Jill Fredston has traveled more than twenty thousand miles of the Arctic and sub-Arctic-backwards. With her ocean-going rowing shell and her husband, Doug Fesler, in a small boat of his own, she has disappeared every summer for years, exploring the rugged shorelines of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Norway. Carrying what they need to be self-sufficient, the two of them have battled mountainous seas and hurricane-force winds, dragged their boats across jumbles of ice, fended off grizzlies and polar bears, been serenaded by humpback whales and scrutinized by puffins, and reveled in moments of calm.
As Fredston writes, these trips are neither a vacation nor an escape, they are a way of life. Rowing to Latitude is a lyrical, vivid celebration of these northern journeys and the insights they inspired. It is a passionate testimonial to the extraordinary grace and fragility of wild places, the power of companionship, the harsh but liberating reality of risk, the lure of discovery, and the challenges and joys of living an unconventional life.
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Publisher:
New York : North Point Press, ©2001.
Edition:
First edition.
ISBN:
9780374281809
0374281807
0374281807
Characteristics:
xiii, 289 pages :,colour illustrations ;,23 cm.
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Add a CommentJill Fredston, a complete masochist, is also an evocative writer and story teller. Ms. Fredston's tales of dragging her two hundred pound rowing boat across the ice above the Arctic Circle do not invoke envy - in fact, one would rightly think her insane. But the places she goes, with her beloved husband Doug, most mortals will never see. A first hand account of a polar bear encounter, and near attack, makes for amazing story telling. Her luminous descriptions of the cold climes and cliffs of Labrador have the place sound enticing, despite it being locked in permanent chill. And it was good to hear that a thousand years of Viking habitation have indeed affected (negatively) the coast of Norway, lest one think that far northern place immune. It's hard to imagine anybody being inspired to do what Ms. Fredston has done, but it is good to know somebody has done it, at least once before it is all gone.
An encouragement for those of us who row... dreaming of longer trips. A reminder that as we age...it is good to go at every opportunity, before we lose the capacity... and as we age ~ to remember that every row is worth doing ~ for it brings peace to our souls and restores the joy of living.