I read in the Chinese Post recently that a Canadian man named Mark Western (his real name, ‘‘Western’’?) is going to embark on a 30 day kayak trip around the island to raise money for environmental awareness.
Who is he and is he really the first to circumnavigate the island in a canoe or kayak ever? He said so in the interview. There are some websites on this in English but they don’t say much other than that he is from Canada and married here 12 years ago. And he walked around the island a few years ago, it said, to raise money for orphans.
Anybody know him or know of his campaign? He started in Tamshui on Saturday in a one man kayak, with 30 stops planned along the way and a big support crew.
I just wonder if such a trip will really do much to stop people from garbaging up this island. Environmental awareness seems pretty low here. Garbage everywhere, even on mountain trails.
[quote=“Cola”]I read in the Chinese Post recently that a Canadian man named Mark Western (his real name, ‘‘Western’’?) is going to embark on a 30 day kayak trip around the island to raise money for environmental awareness.
Who is he and is he really the first to circumnavigate the island in a canoe or kayak ever? He said so in the interview. There are some websites on this in English but they don’t say much other than that he is from Canada and married here 12 years ago. And he walked around the island a few years ago, it said, to raise money for orphans.
Anybody know him or know of his campaign? He started in Danshui on Saturday in a one man kayak, with 30 stops planned along the way and a big support crew.
I just wonder if such a trip will really do much to stop people from garbaging up this island. Environmental awareness seems pretty low here. Garbage everywhere, even on mountain trails.
I know Mark (and, yes, his last name is “Western”) and everything you mentioned in your post is true. He’s a real good guy, ambitious and hard-working with an adventurous spirit. As a child, his family sailed from Canada to the Caribbean.
He will be the first to circumnavigate Taiwan in a kayak. There is a short window for navigating around Taiwan due to currents and typhoons. It is my understanding that May is the month to do it.
I know Mark (and, yes, his last name is “Western”) and everything you mentioned in your post is true. He’s a real good guy, ambitious and hard-working with an adventurous spirit. As a child, his family sailed from Canada to the Caribbean.
He will be the first to circumnavigate Taiwan in a kayak. There is a short window for navigating around Taiwan due to currents and typhoons. It is my understanding that May is the month to do it.[/quote]
Thank you smerf for that news. He sounds like a real adventurer, and maybe he got it as a kid on that Carribean sail.
I had heard that some local guy canoed around the island a few years ago, in summertime. Is canoeing the same as kayaking or is that splitting hairs?
Most importantly, how is this trip raising money. Can we at forumosa.com send donations in? Where?
He left from Yungan harbor (Taoyuan County) this morning at around 7:00am…
He’s hoping to clock between 40-50k today so that should put him somewhere in Hsinchu County tonight…
Mark is indeed one hell of an adventurer! In 1999, he(along with Sydney Mills) walked around Taiwan for Charity and managed to raise several millionNT for various orphanages here in Taiwan. In the end, that event was forshadowed by the 9/21 earthquake, which took place while they were walking the Su-ao gong- lou.
I’ve been fortunate enough to share some crazy adventures with him over the years, and he lives next door. I’ll try to find out some more information about donations tonight when he gets home…
I also saw his photo on the front page of one of the local newspapers, I think it was the United Daily News on Sunday morning. Maybe someone can give us a link. On the first page, there was just a photo and a small descritpion, i think they call him MA KAU WEI in Chinese, that’s what my teacher told me.
Inside the pages on page 7 there was a bigger article about him in Chinese.
I didn’t see any news about him in any of the Enlgish publications though, did you? You’d think this would be big news for the expats who read. Maybe the are planning a big story about him when he completes the voyage.
I know Mark too, thanks to Gus.
Nice guy. Very creative.
He seems to be the kind of person who can survive well in Taiwan and not spiral down into the abyss of self-degradation, misery, overindulgence and cynicism.
[quote=“Alien”]
He seems to be the kind of person who can survive well in Taiwan and not spiral down into the abyss of self-degradation, misery, overindulgence and cynicism. :p[/quote]
No canoeing is not the same as kayaking and I don’t think that’s splitting hairs. A canoe is open on top (although I guess one could cover it), the paddler sits in the back and the paddle only has a blade on one end. A kayak is closed on top, the paddler sits in the middle and has a double-bladed paddle. I would think canoeing around the island would be more difficult, because the boat would blow around more in the wind and take on more water. . . not that either would be an easy feat.
For those who are interested, I’ll be posting excerpts from his daily journals right here on forumosa starting tomorrow…
He’s currently in Miaoli, and had to put ashore due to inclement weather…They may be stuck there for a bit as this weather front is producing some pretty large seas…
Until their website is translated, check here for Marks progress and comments regarding his journey…
[quote]No canoeing is not the same as kayaking and I don’t think that’s splitting hairs. A canoe is open on top (although I guess one could cover it), the paddler sits in the back and the paddle only has a blade on one end. A kayak is closed on top, the paddler sits in the middle and has a double-bladed paddle. I would think canoeing around the island would be more difficult, because the boat would blow around more in the wind and take on more water. . . not that either would be an easy feat.
[/quote]
Depends where you come from though! Where I come from, what’s commonly referred to as a canoe is enclosed, double paddle, sit in the centre, a kayak is open, single blade, sit in the back (like the eskimos use) ! Googling both shows both types of result, although the descriptions given by MT seem to be much more common.
[quote=“SuperS54”][quote]No canoeing is not the same as kayaking and I don’t think that’s splitting hairs. A canoe is open on top (although I guess one could cover it), the paddler sits in the back and the paddle only has a blade on one end. A kayak is closed on top, the paddler sits in the middle and has a double-bladed paddle. I would think canoeing around the island would be more difficult, because the boat would blow around more in the wind and take on more water. . . not that either would be an easy feat.
[/quote]
Depends where you come from though! Where I come from, what’s commonly referred to as a canoe …[/quote]
Super54, just where do you come from? In most parts of the world, all parts of the world, a canoe is not a kayak. Two different animals. Can you cite your googol references? What is your native language?
And for Michael: does Mark sleep in a tent each night along the beaches, or does he van back to his home or a hotel? How many nautucal miles does he paddle each day to go around the entire island? Is he alone out there or are there other kayakers with him in separate boats? Does he eat in the canoe, er, kayak at lunchtime and how does he proteect himself from the immense sun rays at sea?
I wish the guy best of luck. I think that unfortunately the timing of the trip is bit off, since the election mess has got the newspapers glued to political coverage, TV too, and nobody really cares about the damned polluted environment right now. It seems that in a way, mark’s trip will be a futile endeavor, given the timing. But props for trying and doing it.
I admire the guy!
Super54 may be right. There are different types of canoes and kayaks. I’m hardly an expert, although I’ve paddled in a few of each.
My brother could tell you more about the subject. He and his wife each built their own beautiful wooden kayaks, which they take out often from the island they live on in the Puget Sound (Whidbey Island, near Seattle). He took me out one January in large swells, cold wind and slight drizzle and it was hard work and pretty scary. You sit way down low in a kayak, down at the waterline, and the boats are extremely squirrely, sliding about somewhat uncontrollably under your butt if you’re an amateur like me, and it would be easy to capsize.
My brother’s much more comfortable in the boat and he often catches salmon from his kayak. Here’s a photo he sent me of a couple fish he caught (it’s hard to tell cuz the photo’s so small, but his cat is checking them out), along with his handmade boat that he caught them from (that’s the kind of stuff that makes me wonder why am I living in Taiwan).
Me too. He’ll often see whales, eagles and ospreys while paddling, often catches salmon from his kayak (pulling it into the boat must be a challenge) and sometimes stops to dig clams at the beach, on the way home, for dinner. He built his own house surrounded by trees, has weekend projects such as building an outdoor sauna, putting up fencing to keep the deer out of his garden, or walking with his nephews to his friend’s house to see the goats. His phone calls and e-mails cause me to seriously question why I am living in Taipei. Some day. . . some day. . .
I used to fish for mackerel from my kayak, pulling them in 6 at a time. Not a problem unless there were seals around.
As for the rest, I feel the same as you every time I visit my folks and can walk down the garden to fish for salmon or flight ducks, shoot deer from the bedroom window or walk from the front door for 30 miles without crossing a road.
If you like kayaking, or even if you don’t, a fabulous book is The Starship and the Canoe, a true story about a nobel-prize winning (I think) genius physicist who seriously contemplates covering an object in space with vegetation in order to create an atmosphere as a basis for life; and his son who is an expert builder and paddler of beautiful eskimo kayaks. Fantastic book.
sandman and Mt, speaking of fishing from kayaks, there is now a new kind of hook to snag fish… not turtles.
The new “circular” fishing hook could save thousands of endangered marine turtles snagged accidentally each year by commercial fishermen…
The new hooks, which are called “circular” but actually resemble the letter “G,” do not snag inside turtles or can be more easily removed than the well-known “J”-shaped hook. They are still effective in snagging fish, however.
