Sarah Outen finishes London2London Expedition
- November 03, 2015
Sarah's journey has clocked over 25,000 miles. Her journey took 2 years longer than initially planned, having faced lots of challenges and changes to timing, route and equipment while making her loop.
London2London is not classified as an official global circumnavigation of the earth as it does not cross through antipodal points (opposite points on the earth’s surface) or the equator. A geographically correct description is journey ‘around the Northern Hemisphere’ or as Sarah call it "Loop of the earth".
The original goal of the expedition was to be entirely human-powered, using just her rowing boat (Happy Socks), bike, kayak and feet to row, kayak, bike and walk her route. A typhoon on the North Pacific forced a mid Ocean rescue from her rowing boat in 2012 and a hurricane on the Atlantic this summer forced a pre-emptive evacuation after 143 days at sea. The forced diversion to Alaska in 2013 on the North Pacific row meant an additional 1500 miles of sea kayaking through the Aleutian Islands and along the Alaskan Peninsula the following year. Sarah and her kayaking partner, Justine Curgenven, made the decision to use small sails on their kayaks as they paddled, to help them move more swiftly through long passes in the changeable conditions of the region. The use of the sail meant that this portion of Sarah’s journey should be described as ‘wind assisted’.
Sarah has overcome huge obstacles and endured extreme conditions while kayaking some of the most treacherous waterways in the world, and cycling across North America during one of the harshest Winters on record, where she was faced with -40c temperatures.
Sarah has had one of our YB trackers since she began her endevour in 2011. We have sent her replacments when we lauched new models, so she was always at the front of handheld gps tracking technology. Family, friends and many schools have been comforted by being able to track her progress throughout her adventure, with preset updates and a reliable way to contact her no matter where she was around the globe.
For more information on Sarah's incredible journey please visit her London 2 London website.
