Two men in a 17-foot rowboat take in the glory of the Inside Passage
Terry Gardiner, left, and John Sund in their 17-foot rowboat.
On May 10, Terry Gardiner and his friend John Sund left Seattle and began rowing home to Ketchikan in a 17-foot rowboat.
Gardiner, 71, and Sund, 73, grew up in Ketchikan and served in the Alaska Legislature as young men. They went on to become leaders in the fishing industry, among other adventures.
Gardiner, the youngest person ever elected to the Legislature, at the age of 22, is one of the creators of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Sund is a lawyer and with Gardiner and others he started Silver Lining Seafood 40 years ago.
Both of them still love the outdoors. And they’ve had plenty of time in the outdoors in the weeks since they pointed their rowboat north.
A motto adopted long ago, “what are we waiting for,” served as a reminder that it was time to get moving. Before getting the oars wet, they had plenty of practice on rowing machines.
Gardiner posted regular updates of their trip on Facebook. It was a privilege to follow their journey vicariously, enjoying the high points, reading about the blisters, and learning about the scary parts when the waves kicked up. And all without any of the exhaustion.
“Bringing back old memories of my salmon drift gillnetting days in Alaska where we lived by the tide, currents, weather and mother natures rules,” Gardiner wrote.
On one video the other day he said he wanted to “share with everybody the glory of the Broughton Islands” on a calm day. They were zig-zagging through the islands with seals and ducks and all kinds of wildlife.
“There’s incredible marine riches here. The beaches are just covered with clams and sea cucumbers and barnacles and kelp,” he said.
“What a feast of a country.”
They had days of flat water, wind, waves, storms, sun, clouds and idyllic campsites on rocky islands.
Since they faced south in the rowboat while heading north, they had to use their rear-view mirrors to navigate. The three biggest obstacles were rocks, logs and large shrimp buoys, Gardiner said.
“Scenery gawking, wildlife sightings and good ole daydreaming caused a few collisions. One log was too big to go over and we launched so high on a rock, John had to get one leg out and push off while I back rowed.”
Gardiner and Sund are experienced travelers, on the ocean and on land.
“Power mush starts the day—oatmeal, Craisins, walnuts, chia seeds, hemp hearts and protein powder. Intense exercise requires more protein and seniors are less able to uptake protein,” Gardiner wrote.
They needed to consume 3,500 calories a day to row 20 miles a day. They had shipped 180 pounds of food to various resupply points along the British Columbia coast.
“We also have to stay healthy so developed an elaborate spreadsheet of calories, protein, fat, carbs, vitamins, minerals to make sure we stay healthy,” Gardiner wrote on Facebook.
“After our hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail and Arizona trail, we've got the camping part down. The 17 ft. Whitehall we purchased is built in Victoria, B.C. by a wonderful company that builds quality rigs,” he said.
They had spent more than five years hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in sections, with 25 days the longest single portion. The standard lunch perfected over those years—dried black beans, olive oil, crunchy dried onions with either albacore or sockeye salmon.
Their loaded boat weighs 450 pounds and the best days were those in which they rowed with the wind and a good current.
And then came day 20, after having rowed nearly 400 miles.
Their priority had always to put safety first. During seven hours on the water that day, Gardiner wrote he was “dogged by dizziness and lack of energy every time I rowed. John pulled us forward, but bucking waves and wind, it takes a team.”
Gardiner called his cardiologist, who suggested that he needed to be checked out. With no other choice, they called the Canadian Coast Guard and a 60-foot vessel arrived soon from Port Hardy.
A helicopter flew him to Comox, B.C. where he was checked out overnight.
“Tests overnight reveal I do not have an urgent heart issue, but will need more testing and taking it easy until then. Thanks goes out to all the rescue and health care people here in B.C., so professional, well trained and immediate! Thanks to all our family and friends that followed our journey and all the new friends along the way that helped us out. It meant so much to feel the support every day,” Gardiner wrote.
They didn’t make it 750 miles to Ketchikan, but they made it 400 miles. My comment to them on Facebook, “I know this is not the end you wanted, but the journey was a great one. I’m inspired by your endurance and achievement.”
Perhaps they can approach this like the Pacific Crest Trail and do it in sections, completing the trip to Ketchikan the next time they get back on the water.