Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge

I'm not a rower and truly, I'm not much of a water person. I can barely doggy paddle, but I picked up Jill Fredston's Rowing to Latitude because my sense of adventure is easily satisfied by the turn of pages. I hoped for a book which would give me a peak at the Arctic and its animals without having to suffer its chill and biting winds. I was satisfied on that count as this description of her journey from Seattle to Skagway Alaska describes:The sun reappeared shortly after Petersburg. In celebration, we stopped uncharacteristically early on the end of Cape Fanshaw, a low-lying peninsula that protrudes into Frederick Sound. Though shiny, sculpted pebbles spoke of frequent waves, the sea was docile that day. As soon as we landed, we began to turn in circles, like chickens on a rotisserie, binoculars and cameras in hand. All around us were humpback whales, at least twenty-five of them, spouting geysers of spray, swimming with gentle undulations of their dorsal fins, leaping into clear sky, and slapping the water with their fifteen-foot side flukes and broad, notched tails. A mother and clad eased by, their sides touching. Only a hundred yards away, a forty-foot whale repeatedly torpedoed free of the water, twisted sideways in midair, and landed with a cannonlike explosion. Another whale, closer to shore, continuously and deliberately beats its tail against the water like a gong.Jill Fredston was a competitive rower in college, she is an environmentalist and an avalanche expert with her husband Doug Fesler. Together they spend their summers engaging in mind boggling Arctic trips. Jill rows while her husband Doug paddles in a kayak. This works well for them as it provides them with a good 360 view with Jill rowing backwards and Doug facing forward.Rowing to Latitude is a memoir giving the reader a glimpse of the forces that shaped Fredston's life, her philosophy as well as following along on her amazing journeys. We are introduced to some of the Inuit people who she meets on her journeys, we admire the wildlife and are scared by bears during the night. Jill takes the reader through some truly scary moments she has had in her boat and we witness some extraordinary sights as a whale suspended in an iceberg high above their heads by Spitsbergen Island.For those who are fond of the environment and love tales of travel and adventure Rowing to Latitude is a great book to read

Beyond the sense of being there with the author through true wilderness and incidents along the way, this is simply beautifully written with a delightful voice and tone. After initially picking this up at the library, I ordered a copy to keep and share.

This unusual book is somewhat about rowing, but really more about finding a path through life when your desires and goals don't fit neatly into the standard suburban saltbox. The stories she tells about her travels are interesting - after all, she's been to some unusual places and done some unusual things - but what has stuck with me more is the sense of someone with the desire to live the life that has been right for her. Avalanche rescue and summertimes spent rowing through the Arctic Ocean aren't for everyone, but the larger lesson that it's ok to follow your own heart is universal.

This book is so well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What an amazing couple and their endurance and fortitude is so inspiring. Stunning pictures too.

I first read this book in hardcopy and enjoyed it so much that I ordered it in the Kindle edition as well. This is written with humor and warmth, and is a truly enjoyable read throughout. I got it because I enjoy kayaking, and although her boat of choice is a rowboat, hey she's on the water and going under her own power. The more I read, I realized that even if I didn't enjoy paddling or being on the water, I would have loved this book. Well done, Jill Fredston, well done.

I love this story by Jill Fredston. It rates as one of the best travel books I've ever read - and I've read a lot! I highly recommend it if you're looking for adventure, but it just doesn't fit into your current life for one reason or another!!

I ordered this book after hearing an interview with Jill Fredston on NPR. I was intrigued by the way she told stories. This book definitely taught me so much that I didn't know about the world of rowing, especially with regards to rowing the often unforgiving coast. It was fascinating to learn about the lifestyle involved in dedicating a large part of one's life to this beautiful pursuit.

Great journeys, well written, a very good book that I enjoyed reading. I found it a bit dry in its writing style, such as on this day we did this, on the next day we did that. However that aside, it is a very good book, I liked it very much and it inspired me a great deal, Four stars out of five.

Firstly, Jill Fedstone can write and this book is a pleasure to read for its light self deprecating humour. This is about two people's explorations of the wilderness they love and which they find is slowing being destroyed (together with the culture of the people living in it). It is very different from the "we rowed across the atlantic in record time and now we understand ourselves so much better" type of book exemplified by, for example Cracknell and Fogle say. The endurance, courage and seamanship required by Jill Fedstone and her husband to row, on their annual holidays(!), a thousand plus miles is just awesome. For example they rowed the Inside Passage (from Seattle to Skagway)or if that's not ambitious enough, they went round the coast of Norway.. (all the coast that is!). And yet the physical difficulties and dangers of the trips are described in a beautifully understated manner. Of course its not just a travelogue, and the author does use the experiences of the wild places to illuminate and illustrate her values and understanding of life (... the universe and everything) but there is depth to the insights and descriptions that makes this an excellent read (and reread). Huge respect.