The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage

The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage by Dave Shively

Ed Gillet had done long expeditions. He narrowly escaped some angry locals when trying to find a place to camp in Ecuador. He decided a solo trip across the Pacific from California to Hawaii would be the next great adventure. He used a stock kayak with some "special gear" and set out in a time before satellite phones and GPS. He discovered some of his special enhancements did not work as well as he hoped. He spent much of the time very much alone. He lost some gear, some failed. His trip took longer than expected and he ran low on food. He was able to catch a few fish, but those were hard to find. He stumbled upon the Pacific garbage dump. One time he even had reconstituted coffee from a trashed coffee cup. There was a time when he was tempted to turn around, but then decided to proceed. He did finally make it and was glad to finally get more food.

His trip across the pacific is finished in the first half of the book. The remainder explores some others that had done or tried to do it. There were some that had tried to before Ed tried. (Though this was pre-internet, making it hard to find details.) Others had tried afterwards. Many had failed and had to turn around. Recently, another man has made it.