Dark Waters (the Expedition Trilogy, Book 1): True Story of the First Human-Powered Circumnavigation of the Earth

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BillyFish Books LLC, 2012 - Travel - 246 pages

“This is a delightful and funny adventure ... It is also lonely, dangerous and frightening.”—THE LONDON TIMES

He survived a terrifying crocodile attack off Australia’s Queensland coast, blood poisoning in the middle of the Pacific, malaria in Indonesia and China, and acute mountain sickness in the Himalayas. He was hit by a car and left for dead with two broken legs in Colorado, and incarcerated for espionage on the Sudan-Egypt border. 

The first in a thrilling adventure trilogy, Dark Waters charts one of the longest, most gruelling, yet uplifting and at times irreverently funny journeys in history, circling the world using just the power of the human body, hailed by the London Sunday Times as “The last great first for circumnavigation.”

But it was more than just a physical challenge. Prompted by what scientists have dubbed the “perfect storm” as the global population soars to 8.3 billion by 2030, adventurer Jason Lewis used The Expedition to reach out to thousands of schoolchildren, calling attention to our interconnectedness and shared responsibility of an inhabitable Earth for future generations. 


* * WINNER of the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARD & ERIC HOFFER AWARD * *

“Often funny and irreverent, always frank and authentic, Lewis’s first volume of The Expedition series is also marked by the thrills of a first-rate adventure.”—FOREWORD REVIEWS

“Skating through Alabama with long hair, duct tape on the nipples, and women’s culottes … What were you thinking?”—JAY LENO, The Tonight Show

“A riveting true-life adventure as inspiring as it is thrilling.”—UTNE READER

“An extraordinary expedition on an epic scale.”—BEN FOGLE, television presenter and adventurer

“Last great first for circumnavigation.”—THE SUNDAY TIMES

“Truly a tale for our time. You really smell, taste and breathe this journey in a way that is only possible by travelling more slowly.”—ROYAL SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY

 

Selected pages

Contents

The Big Idea
5
Into the Big Blue
69
Reefs Pirates Maggoty Salt Sores
141
Skating the Deep South
163
GLOSSARY
229
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

“Arguably, the most remarkable adventurer in the world today.”—THE DAILY MAIL


Jason Lewis is an award-winning adventurer, author, and voice for global sustainability, recognized by Guinness World Records as the first person to circumnavigate the Earth without using motors or sails: walking, cycling, and inline skating five continents, and kayaking, swimming, rowing, and pedalling a boat across the rivers, seas, and oceans. Taking thirteen years to complete, the 46,505-mile journey was hailed “the last great first for circumnavigation” by the London Sunday Times. 


RECORDS

Jason has set three additional records: the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean from mainland Europe to North America by human power (February 1995, Lewis and Smith); first crossing of North America on inline skates (September 1996, Lewis); and first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by pedal power (August 2000, Lewis).


AWARDS & MEDIA

He has been nominated The Times inGear Man of the Year (2007), the Land Rover Toughest Sportsperson of the Year, and featured as one of Sport Magazine’s Athletes of the Year. A Fellow of London University, the Royal Geographical Society, and The Explorers Club, he has appeared on numerous television and talk shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC), Good Morning America (ABC), and CBS This Morning.


BOOKS 

A frequent contributor to magazines (Men’s Fitness, Sports Illustrated, Geographical) and travel books (Chicken Soup for the Traveler’s Soul, HCI, 2002; Flightless, Incredible Journeys Without Leaving the Ground, Lonely Planet, 2008; The Modern Explorers, Thames & Hudson, 2013), Jason is the author of The Expedition trilogy (BillyFish Books, 2012/3): Dark Waters, The Seed Buried Deep, and To The Brink.


He is a popular speaker and sustainability advocate. Find out more at jasonexplorer.com.

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