The Global SUP Community

From the rugged highlands of Scotland, husband and wife team Julie and Colin Angus rowed more than 7,000 km to Aleppo, Syria in the heart of the Middle East. Their course followed ancient transportation corridors traditionally used for trade and migration. They experienced and learned about the rich cultural tapestry that makes up present-day Europe, while in a manner that promotes environmentally responsible travel.

Running wild in the mountains of eastern Washington as a child, world-class extreme kayaker and entrepreneur Tao Berman continues to run wild through the record books and life. A world-record waterfall-drop holder since his 98.4-foot kayak flight off of Upper Johnston Falls in Banff National Forest, Berman is a powerhouse, a living riveting story of pushing envelopes to the unthinkable edge.

Dropping into the unknown on a rubber raft, hurled and beaten against rocks and cliff walls through narrow canyon chutes, only to round a blind bend, go vertical on a 10-foot standing wave, and flip over backwards into a seething, deafening cauldron of near-freezing whitewater… Such is the life of the brave souls who dare commit themselves to ride the backs of surging untried rivers.

Colin Angus began his quest to circumnavigate the Earth under his own power in Canada in June 2004. His 720-day journey took him through Alaska, across the Bering Sea, through Europe from Moscow to Portugal, across the Atlantic to Costa Rica, and then back to Vancouver. While facing the relentless cold of the Siberian winter, Angus battled an even greater danger—the steadily mounting rift between himself and expedition partner Tim. Ending the fateful pairing mid-Russia, Angus plowed forward now competing with his friend-turned-foe to be the first to finish a human-powered journey around the globe.

African Veins, compiled by Celliers Kruger, is a collection of paddling stories by various African paddlers.