Canoeing Down Under

Race Along The Way

The Yukon River (from the mountains to the sea)

This is the story of Terry Bolland and Ed Van Eer who paddled the entire 3300km length of the Yukon River from the mountains to the sea. Along the way they also took part in one of the Worlds Longest Canoe Races and came a credible 6th place. When other paddlers returned home to rest, Terry and Ed continued the long wilderness journey to the Bering Sea.

It's an easy and enjoyable read with full colour images and well worth buying.

108 colour photographs, 181 pages, 7 maps. Printed in WA

Cost: $ 28.00

The Yukon River Quest~ The Race

It read, 'The Yukon River Quest, at a distance of 740kms is the longest endurance marathon canoe & kayak race in the world'!! Now that's impressive, this race was five and half times longer than West Australia’s Avon Descent and with only two compulsory stops, one of 7 hours and another of 3 hours it’s truly an endurance race. Here was a river that could be paddled for 24 hours, here was a place that didn't get dark and to top it all off, here was a place that most of the river was running at a good speed through wilderness areas. 

Whilst researching on the internet for a planned expedition of paddling the entire length of the Yukon River, I happened to read about the ‘Yukon River Quest’ and immediately I was captivated. I just knew that Ed Van eer my expedition partner and I had to take part in this fantastic event and with Ed needing no convincing we sent in our $300.00 entry fee.

The time to leave for Canada came so quickly that Ed and I had only managed three short training sessions in Australia together, both of us had been too busy. I had my canoe shop to run, Ed had to work long hours to get the money together for the trip.

Our main goal was to paddle the entire Yukon River from the mountains to the sea, through Canada’s Yukon Territory and the heart of Alaska, a distance of 3300kms, so the race was only a small part of our trip. We arrived in Canada early so we could complete the first leg of our journey from the mountains near the Canadian/USA border to Whitehorse just before the race started. This was a six day journey across beautiful lakes and through stunning mountain wilderness entering the Yukon River about 30kms upstream from Whitehorse. We were hoping that my past base fitness, and in Ed's case, youth, would get us to the start line and endure the longest canoe kayak race in the world.

After completing our amazing six day journey, we arrived in Whitehorse two days prior to the start of the Yukon Quest. This gave us just enough time to buy the majority of provisions and gear for the complete journey after the race and time to prepare for the race as well.