Baffin Island by Kayak 1981

In 1981 Nigel Foster set off kayaking solo from Iqaluit on Baffin Island toward the south. His goal was to reach the next village to the south, Nain in Labrador, some 650 miles away. He did not make it that far. 

What happened when he crossed Hudson's Strait from Resolution Island to Lacy Island in the Button Islands off the northern tip of Labrador was first recounted in Raging Rivers, Stormy Seas.

After his 2004 return to Labrador to complete his original journey, he published the book Stepping Stones of Ungava and Labrador and more recently On Polar Tides (FalconGuides)

However, there is a lot more to the story than that fateful 40-mile open crossing. This site brings together some of threads that gave that earned the journey’s renown in adventurer circles, and prompted Ray Rowe, as the editor in the British Canoe Union Handbook of 1989, to describe it as; ...arguably the most impressive of any sea kayaking adventure in the world. 

Times change and there has been huge progress in sea kayaking. Here then is a look back at how sea kayaking looked in 1981.