Chris Duff is an American expedition sea

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each ...

er, who is most notable for his large-scale projects and world-record breaking attempts. Since 1983, he has kayaked over 14,000 miles.

Expeditions

Chris Duff is famous for many of his

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from an ...

kayaking expeditions, including circumnavigation of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

Chris Duff kayak expedition around Iceland
/ref> and solo circumnavigations of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

.Chris Duff - Featured Paddler at CackleTV.com
He has also broken the world record for being the first person to circumnavigate

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

alone. When asked why he chooses to partake in these solo expeditions, he replied:

There are very few times in our busy lives where we have the luxury of true solitude. I love the simple focus of these journeys; the physical challenges of the sea balanced by the inner calm which comes from living purposefully and so simply.The Expedition

In May 2012, Chris successfully crossed the Atlantic between the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

, as part of a journey to

in his kayak.

Millennial Expedition

In 1999, Chris Duff decided to circumnavigate the south island of

. He began preparations on 29 November 1999 but did not start his voyage until 5 December 1999. Despite being considerably shorter than many of his other routes, at around 1700 miles, this journey is viewed as particularly demanding due to its location in the

Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. The strong west-to-east air currents are caused by the combination of air being displaced from the Equator ...

Career

Duff has been a guest speaker on the subject of sea kayaking many times. His appearances include L.L.Bean Symposium (Maine 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001), West Coast Symposium (Washington 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000), and The Great Lakes Symposium (Michigan 1997 and 2001). He is also involved in many motivational talks to schools and businesses. In 1999 he was featured as the

keynote speaker A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

at Canoecopia. He also has a BCU four-star qualification for the teaching of sea kayaking.

Author

In addition to kayaking, Chris Duff has written two books about his expeditions. * ''On Celtic Tides, One man's journey'' (1999), St Martins Press. about his record-breaking circumnavigation of

* ''Southern Exposure, a solo sea kayaking journey around New Zealand's South Island'' (2003), The Globe Pequot Press. about his solo circumnavigation of New Zealand's South Island.

Awards and honors

*2000

National Outdoor Book Award The National Outdoor Book Award (NOBA) was formed in 1997 as an American-based non-profit program which each year presents awards honoring the best in outdoor writing and publishing. It is housed at Idaho State University and chaired by Ron Watte ...

(Outdoor Literature category), ''On Celtic Tides'' *2003

(History/Biography category), ''Southern Exposure'' *2004

Banff Mountain Book Festival The Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada. Grand Prize * 1994: Chris Bonington and Audrey Saukeld (editors), ''Heroic Climbs'' * 1995: Thomas Wharton, ''Icefields'' * 1996: Stephen Ve ...

(Grand Prize), ''Southern Exposure''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Chris Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Kayakers