A man who is in the middle of a 10,500 kilometre kayaking trek to raise money for two charities made a stop in Kingston, Ont.
Mark Fuhrmann made his way down the Cataraqui River Tuesday morning on his way through.
Starting and finishing his trip in Halifax, his route will take him through Ontario, south into the United States and up the eastern seaboard.
Fuhrmann was born in Atikokan, a small town near Thunder Bay, but for the last 36 years, Oslo, Norway has been his home.
“I just wanted to relink with who I am and experience the fantastic nature of Canada,” he says.
Fuhrmann is calling this monumental trek Reverse the Bad.
“Mother Teresa said not everybody can do great things, but everybody can do small things with great love,” he says.
That’s what Fuhrmann is hoping to do by raising 100,000 Euros, about C$130,000, for two charities, one of which is Doctors Without Borders.
“I was happily married for 25 years to a doctor, and (unfortunately) she died of brain cancer 10 yeas ago,” says Fuhrmann. “This is part of my reason for paddling.”
Fuhrmann’s other charity of choice is an organization that helps provide a marine education to underprivileged women and minorities, called Captains Without Borders.
“When they’re finished, they have their electrical officer’s certificate, their machine room officer’s certificate or an officer’s certificate,” he says of the training offered by the charity.
So far, Fuhrmann has paddled 2,400 kilometres in 69 days, but he’s started marking time and distance a little differently.
“That’s over 400 hours on my bum,” he says.
Fuhrmann estimates his 10,500-kilometre trek will take about a year; he hopes to be in Florida by the time the worst of winter rolls around.
To follow Fuhrmann’s journey, visit his website.
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