'Windy Wendy' circumnavigates Newfoundland by kayak
Last Updated: Thursday, August 17, 2006 | 4:02 PM NT
CBC News
An Ontario resident has become the first known woman to circumnavigate Newfoundland by kayak, picking up unforgettable memories — and a new moniker — along the way.
"That's my nickname — I'm Windy Wendy," Wendy Killoran said Thursday, a day after completing a three-month journey that she said was marked by beautiful vistas and some exceptionally strong winds.
Killoran estimates she paddled about 3,000 kilometres — mostly solo — as she took her sea kayak around Newfoundland, the world's 16th largest island.
Killoran started her journey May 5, and finished where she started — in the fishing village of Isle aux Morts, on the southwest corner of the island.
"I certainly know why they nicknamed it the Rock," she said.
"It's stunning, it's varied, it's so vast, and it's colourful … [You can] spend your day gazing in awe at the extreme beauty that surrounds the island. It's a very unique perspective to see Newfoundland from the outside edge, gazing inward," she said.
A veteran kayaker, Killoran — who lives in London, Ont. — has paddled in the past in the Great Lakes, and has also circumnavigated Prince Edward Island.
Nothing, though, prepared her for some of the conditions she encountered off in the North Atlantic Ocean.
"This is in a whole new league. I was on swells some days that were like rolling hills of water," she told CBC News.
"I had a few close encounters with high wind coming at me, but you know, it makes you a stronger person, and it helps you grow. You realize what you're capable of."
Killoran did most of her voyage alone, packing camping supplies into a lightweight kayak.
On several occasions, fishermen ventured out to her kayak to investigate what they had seen. "In Trinity, I had a Zodiac come up to me, because they thought I was a whale," she chuckled.
Killoran is not sure about her next adventure, although she is considering writing a book about her Newfoundland voyage.
