Going Solo on the Baltic Sea: 2,500 Kilometres to the Arctic Circle by Kayak

Author and scientist Detlev is someone who has broken free from the shackles of German tradition. One day, he grabbed his kayak and simply paddled off into the sunset: to the Arctic Circle, to be precise, leaving his old life behind. The original idea of the kayaking expedition was to do the entire Baltic Sea and live solely off the fat of the land like a ‘budding Viking’ – pure minimalism. He dubbed the project Shin-ken Sho-bu as a nod to his time in Japan: “Doing things with deadly seriousness”, which, as it turned out, couldn’t have been more apt: halfway through the trip, a cross-eyed motorboat captain ended up crushing him against the wall in a Swedish lock. The resulting bone splinters and cervical spine syndrome kept him side-lined for a year before he could eventually resume the expedition. Detlev had to rethink his original plan. After all, dreams meet reality out at sea and there is an adventure lurking around every corner! Loneliness, hunger, self-doubt and the monotony of paddling were his constant companions on the ninety-one-day voyage, not to mention the pain of sitting for hours on end, the torments of the unpredictable Baltic Sea, the icy Northern European weather and his frequent lack of energy, even for the cosy nightly campfire. Especially in our fast-moving, jaded times, Detlev’s ironic, self-critical and frank account and the descriptions of his bare-knuckle experiences make for a riveting read – not only for paddlers but also anyone who is fed up with life and the daily grind, still has dreams and might like to see them materialise one day. Detlev has been on a number of unusual expeditions since and coined his ‘RoNindoc’ philosophy: ‘Life is short, one day it’s gone!’ www.detlev-henschel.com