New Great Loop Record By Kayak

After 6,800 nautical miles, a 65-year-old is the first to complete the Greater Loop as a solo kayaker.

By Lidia Goldberg

August 28, 2023

Mark Fuhrmann, 65, has become the first person to solo kayak the Greater Loop, a 6,800-mile nautical journey across Canada and the United States.

The journey took Fuhrmann 268 days and 1,643 hours of paddling. That’s the same as paddling for 68 days, nonstop, without rest. Fuhrmann left Halifax on June 2, 2022, to raise money for Doctors Without Borders and Captains Without Borders.

Fuhrmann emphasized how “99.9%” of the people he encountered while traveling the Great Loop were “genuine, good people.”

“It’s been a hell of a trip but worth every minute of exertion, discomfort and pain,” he said in an article from the Good News Network. “Not only to raise money and awareness, but also to connect with nature, people and something deep within myself.”