Howard Rice is an American small boat sailor, sailing canoeist and small craft skills instructor. In 1979, he started an around the world trip intended to last more than 2 years. In 1989-1990, he sailed and paddled a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

solo around

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. In 2017, he sailed a 11 ft sailboat solo down the Strait of Magellan from Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego.

Early life

Rice's father was in the Navy. Rice studied political science and business at the University of Detroit.

Solo trips

Around the world trip (1974)

In 1974, Rice was preparing for a solo around the world trip expected to last two and a half years. A 30,000 mile trip in 18.5 ft sailing boat beginning with a month-long sea trial. The trip had 29 sponsors. Rice departed in September 1974.

Around Cape Horn (1989-1990)

In December 1989 to March 1990, Rice sailed and paddled a 15' 2" sailing canoe solo around

. Articles about his expedition appeared in ''

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is a magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of the ''Outside'' magazine was published in September 1977. It is published by Outside Inc., a company that also owns various other ventures. History ''Outside'' founders were J ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' and ''Yachting Magazine.'' He utilized a Klepper folding canoe often referred to as a

sailing canoe Canoe sailing refers to the practice of fitting an Austronesian outrigger or Western canoe with sails. Austronesian sailing canoes The outrigger canoe was one of the key technological innovations of the Austronesian peoples. Although there is li ...

. His route took him down the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

through the

Wollaston Islands The Wollaston Islands () are a group of islands in Chile south of Navarino Island and north of Cape Horn and east of the Hoste Island. The islands are ''Grevy'', ''Bayly'', ''Wollaston'' and ''Freycinet'', as well as the islets ''Dédalo'', ''Su ...

to Cape Horn

Hornos Island Hornos Island () is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther ...

and back as far west as Timbales in the western Beagle Channel. Rice reached Cape Horn in mid-January. While at Cape Horn, he double rounded east to west and then west to east. Rice prepared for the effort by extensive training for two years, including sessions with ocean kayaker Eric Stiller using a number of canoe sailing training session in winter conditions. His training included paddling and sailing the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

at times with temperatures below zero. Other training venues included the Great Lakes and the Maine Island Trail. Rice was awarded a certificate of merit commemorating his voyage around Cape Horn by the Armada de Chile (Chilean Navy) at Puerto Williams Chile on March 11, 1990, as the first solo sailing canoe to successfully round and double Cape Horn.

Tierra del Fuego (2017)

From January 2017 through April 2017 he solo sailed an 11' 11" modified SCAMP sailboat down the Strait of Magellan from Patagonia into Tierra del Fuego, the western Beagle Channel and the Southern Ocean. He built the boat specifically for this voyage.

Personal life

In 1992, Rice and two others set up the Great Lakes Outdoor Center in Harbor Springs to offer outdoor trips and expeditions. After his Cape Horn voyage, Rice and Stiller worked on behalf of Klepper America and conducted small craft training sessions at

Naval Air Station Key West Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 NAS Key West is an ai ...

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

US Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, is a branch of the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). The core missionset of Special Forces ...

and Navy SEAL MAROPS and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In this role, Rice delivered small boat specific training as an instructor/trainer in small boat handling techniques and marine operations. He authored the operations section in the US Army Special Forces MAROPS manual pertaining to one and two-man folding boat use.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Howard Living people American male canoeists American sailors Year of birth missing (living people)