Video (37:03) Northern Reach
Viking Stepping Stones - Rowing the North Atlantic
The sea voyage of Ireland’s St. Brendan in the 6th century is the inspiration for Chris Duff’s attempt of rowing solo his 19-foot boat from Scotland to Iceland, a distance of about 500 miles. Known as the Viking Stepping Stone Route, Chris rows the Northern Reach among the Orkney, Shetland and Faeroe Island groups, encountering rich Celtic and pre-Celtic history, island inhabitant’s stories of Norse invaders, massive populations of sea birds and mammals, and the challenging waters of the North Atlantic.
Chris Duff has traveled thousands of miles by sea kayak since 1983, when he paddled eight thousand of them around the eastern third of the United States and Canada. In 1996 he became the first person to solo kayak the British Isles, circumnavigating Ireland and authoring On Celtic Tides, which won the National Outdoor Book Award for 2001. A second award-winning book, Southern Exposure, came after his epic circumnavigation of New Zealand’s South Island. These narratives reveal the philosophical and psychological life of a man who has chosen the sea as the master to sit before and to learn from.
The sea voyage of Ireland’s St. Brendan in the 6th century is the inspiration for Chris Duff’s attempt of rowing solo his 19-foot boat from Scotland to Iceland, a distance of about 500 miles. Known as the Viking Stepping Stone Route, Chris rows the Northern Reach among the Orkney, Shetland and Faeroe Island groups, encountering rich Celtic and pre-Celtic history, island inhabitant’s stories of Norse invaders, massive populations of sea birds and mammals, and the challenging waters of the North Atlantic.
Chris Duff has traveled thousands of miles by sea kayak since 1983, when he paddled eight thousand of them around the eastern third of the United States and Canada. In 1996 he became the first person to solo kayak the British Isles, circumnavigating Ireland and authoring On Celtic Tides, which won the National Outdoor Book Award for 2001. A second award-winning book, Southern Exposure, came after his epic circumnavigation of New Zealand’s South Island. These narratives reveal the philosophical and psychological life of a man who has chosen the sea as the master to sit before and to learn from.