Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak: One Woman's Journey Through the Northwest Passage

by Victoria Jason

Book Overview

During the summers of 1991 through 1994 Victoria Jason and two companions--Fred Reffler and Don Starkell--set out to kayak from Churchill, Manitoba to Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea. When she set out in 1991, Victoria, already a grandmother of two, had been kayaking for only a year and was still recovering from the second of two strokes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0888012187
• ISBN13: 9780888012180
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Turnstone Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Brave Woman

I read "Kabloona" several years ago and have reread it again twice. Jason not only could write well and make me experience her trip vicariously, she also had the ability to spur me into new and different experiences of my own. Although I have not braved the Arctic as she did, I have conquered my own little fears and challenges. My mother used to wonder why cancer only got the most wonderful, caring, creative people. My mother was right. Jason may not have lived to write book number two, but her energy and her passion have been a road map to women in at least two countries. Thanks for the trip, Victoria!

A vicarious adventure to be sure

Victoria Jason makes you feel like you are paddling the kayak. You experience the wind on your cheeks, the cold spray on your face, the pull of the current and strength of the waves on your boat. But even more powerful are the emotions which you share as you glide through the pages like gliding through the water. You sense her anxiety and vulnerability, her regrets and her doubts. She is independent and totally in control of her own destiny in a land where danger lurks in the water, on the land, and in the weather. She misses her family, thinking of her grandkids often. But she also experiences a sense of accomplishment since she is singularly in control. She is one with nature and gains inner peace and tranquility. In the few times she interacts with others, she is met with caring and sincerity, developing friendships and getting to know them better and deeper than one would in a "normal" setting. Unlike her short-time paddling companion, Don Starkell, who seemed to approach the trip as a task--as he against the elements--she embraces the elements and forms a synergy. She doesn't oppose the land, water, weather, or situations, she lets them work for her with finesse. And even when face to face with a grizzly and having a shotgun which could have been a more certain outcome, she chose a flare gun at the grizzly's feet. Maybe she's a paddling grandmother, but she's also an inspiration to all.

A most courageous woman!

A friend lended me Victoria's book a few years ago, and I am grateful for that. I found her to be such an inspiration. This book has had a profound influence on my life. Her experiences are fascinating, her inner strength is amazing, and her love for the beauty of man and nature is uplifting.Victoria was a terrifically generous woman. In spite of the fact that she was battling a very aggressive brain tumor over the last year, she gave me the pleasure of her company for an afternoon during a recent trip through Winnipeg. She spoke of a second book she was working on about her return to the North. Unfortunately this second book remains unfinished, as Victoria passed away on May 20, 2000. She was a great lady!

If you like sea kayaking and wilderness you'll love this...

A great adventure and wilderness story. The author displays a sensitivity towards nature and a bit of insanity (good insanity) given the risks involved in the trip through the Artic. If you like to sea kayak you will enjoy this book. If you like adventure stories you will also like this book.

outstanding story of a womens determination

If you have never been to the artic you might not understand the true heroics and determination of this Grandmother. It is an unforgiving land spotted with with wonderful interesting people and the author puts her story to paper telling of her fantastic adventure, kayaking the North West Passage. The first part of the book covers the turmoil of traveling with a man who is filled with his own ego and a times incredible stupidity.At times you wonder how he survived after striking out on his own. Victoria Jason full fills a life long dream and shares her adventures in a most entertaining writing style. Its like sitting across the table sharing a cup of coffee and listening to a great adventure story of just a common country girl.She has talent to tell a story and the spunk to have lived it.