The Heart and Soul of Team Viking

Today is ten years to the day that I flew back from the Baltic region after spending the better part of six weeks sea kayaking from Stockholm, Sweden, to Helsinki, Finland, with a team of colleagues and students from Gettysburg College. This 350-mile journey was a tremendous success, thanks to the expertise, guidance, and friendship of Russell Farrow, Nigel Foster, and Kristin Nelson, who also participated in this expedition. What was supposed to be another expedition with Russell this summer was derailed in May when he succumbed to an unexpected medical situation.

My heart aches for the loss of a dear friend I met in the summer of 2003 while searching for an instrumental partner to help launch a premier sea kayaking platform for Gettysburg College. I was captivated by Russell’s business mantra at Sweetwater Kayaks, based in Saint Petersburg, Florida—“Paddle or Die.”

This is day two of our In the Wake of Vikings expedition, and we are now in Sydney, Nova Scotia. We drove 14 hours yesterday from Gettysburg to St John, New Brunswick. We were uncertain where we would end up, though we knew dinner was waiting for us along the way at our Maine base-camp, operated by Team Viking Official Pit Crew Nancy and Bucky Brown. Last summer, we spent a week in Maine with Russell and Tim preparing for this trip. Meanwhile, unexpectedly and generously, Nancy and Bucky opened their doors to us and provided us the luxury to lounge in their home each night after we paddled, all the while feeding us as if we still were growing adolescent males who required 3000-5000 calories a day to survive. Yesterday evening Nancy and Bucky again took care of the Viking Boys, and we four all lamented together the loss of our beloved Russell.

Last night, after crossing into Canada and making it as far as Saint John, New Brunswick, I rose after a few hours of sleep and went down to check on the kayaks parked outside the front entrance of the Hilton Hotel. Yes, as we drove across the bridge at 2:30 am last night into Saint John, one building stood out with a bright red blurry illuminated sign that spoke to us. Robert, a delightful lad, approached me in the lobby this morning asking about our Sylvansport Go trailer. He said he looked at one during the pandemic, though he was uncertain about its utility. After seeing our trailer loaded with our kit and kayaks, he’s eager to head south to find one for his boats. Thanks, Robert, for keeping your eye on gear while we slept and for the morning conversation about paddling in the region.

As Chris and I headed north in the driving rain later today, I thought back to my morning encounter with Robert, and I missed Russell being there with me. I miss his wit, his ability to make the most random connections, his sharing of his excitement about what’s to come, and most importantly, his priority of always asking where to find the best espresso in town. I will take what I miss and leverage that energy, channeling Russell’s ever enthusiastic and generous spirit as we move forward these next few weeks. ​

Follow our journey in ten-minute intervals via this link:

https://share.garmin.com/IntheWakeoftheVikingsCFee