
Marcus Demuth Starting June 6th 2008, New York City based kayaker Marcus Demuth will begin to solo circumnavigate Iceland by sea kayak. This estimated 2 ½ month and 1,450 mile trip has been attempted solo only twice, but has been successfully completed only once.
Marcus’ Around Iceland 2008 sea kayak expedition will be a fundraiser for the all volunteer Icelandic sea & mountain rescue organization ICE-SAR, which coordinates 220 sea and mountain rescue teams, accident prevention divisions and youth sections. Thousands of volunteers dedicate themselves to accident prevention night and day 365 day a year. Marcus chose to dedicate his trip to ICE-SAR in the hopes of raising awareness and valuable funds for the vital work that their volunteers do under life threatening weather conditions each day.
Iceland, with its Northern shore just 2 miles shy from the Arctic Circle, is located in one of the toughest marine areas in the world, the North Atlantic Ocean. The exposure of its South Western coast to the large Atlantic swells creates large, dumping surf which makes landings extremely difficult; the whoosh of katabatic winds that howl down over sloping glaciers and scarcely populated jagged shores, not to mention the cold temperatures and fast changing weather patterns, seriously challenged previous expeditions. This may explain why so few kayakers have attempted to circumnavigate Iceland by sea kayak.
Kayak Blogger “Wenley” of www.onkayaks.squarespace.com fame will be writing and updating the Around Iceland 2008 blog (as he receives reports from Marcus by phone) with his fun maritime writing style.
Marcus, a seasoned kayaker, is confident this journey will be a success. In 2007 he successfully circumnavigated Ireland as a fundraiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Association (RNLI), a trip of over 1,100 nautical miles in 42 days. Past expeditions brought Marcus to Patagonia/Chile (2006), the South and West Coast of Australia (2007), and Nova Scotia, Canada (2005).
Find out more about this expedition and its sponsors at www.aroundiceland2008.com