Interview: Peter Tranter
Photos: Felipe Behrens

Felipe Behrens, has announced an expedition to circumnavigate the UK and Ireland in 2024. Kicking off in March on the Thames, west of London, he plans to conquer approximately 4,500 miles over six to seven months. We thought it would be the perfect time to catch up with Felipe…

A chat with… Felipe Behrens

Before we start, let our readers know a little about yourself, your family, your background, etc.
I’ve lived in Florida for 23 years since I came to the United States. I’m originally from Brazil, and I graduated with a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. I’ve been living in Miami for the past 13 years. My mother, who is also from Brazil, lives in Miami Beach.

How did you get into kayaking?
It started as a way to visit my mother without having to get in the car and brave the hectic Miami traffic. Miami is a fantastic kayaking destination. There are countless mangrove islands, sandy beaches and hidden inlets to explore. I live close to the sea, and my friends often asked me why I didn’t own a kayak. Eventually, I was convinced to get one. After checking on Craig’s List to see what was on the market, I found a used 9-foot sit-on-top ocean kayak for sale in Hialeah, an hour’s drive away. Once I was certain it would fit inside my Toyota Prius with the seats down, I strapped the trunk lid with a rope and took it home with me.

I started paddling nearly every weekend. From my house in Key Biscayne, it’s barely a five-minute walk down the parking lot to the beach, and from there, I would paddle the six miles to Miami Beach in the morning, get lunch with Mom, and then paddle back in the afternoon.

How does kayaking on the ocean give you particular satisfaction?
When you’re out on the water on your boat far from land, you can take a break from everything else going on in your life. The assignments due at your job, requests from people calling you, things you need to get done, etc… all those things take a backseat to the immediate needs of the kayak. “What can be done about any of that right now? Nothing, I’m on a boat in the middle of the water.” It’s soothing to know that for a few hours, there is no point in worrying about anything in the future other than the waves, the fish, and the sea turtles in front of you.

What draws you to long and difficult adventure paddles such as kayaking around Florida, Vancouver Island and Puerto Rico?
Going on a kayaking expedition is like being on what the writer Joseph Campbell calls The Hero’s Journey. Almost all great stories from literature and folklore are journeys of some type. The main character starts in the Ordinary World and receives a call to adventure, the call to enter the Special World, where he is tested through the Road of Trials and gains new skills and knowledge and then has to find his way back to the Ordinary World, bringing with him the newfound wisdom he has learned in the struggle.

I like to think of my life as a series of Hero Journeys. Like everyone, I reside in the Ordinary World. I go to work, shop at the supermarket, and care for things around the house and at work. After a while, you get numbed to this routine, and the days, weeks, and months merge into one another. As we get older, time feels like it moves faster and faster. When you first turn 20, 40 feels a long way away, but when you’re almost 40, 20 feels like it wasn’t that ago. I get the Call to Adventure to go off on a kayak journey, however, it’s as if I get to slow down time. I get to be a character in a story I tell, setting the pace for how the plot unfolds.

Which of those has been your most challenging expedition?
Each expedition has been a different type of challenge. On the Florida trip, I was still learning how to make a multi-week kayaking trip, so the challenge was finding out if I could even handle paddling 1200 miles.

For Puerto Rico, a big part of the challenge was the logistics of just getting there to do the journey. Kayaks, as you might imagine, don’t move around easily or cheaply unless you’re paddling them. I spent a month searching for a shipping company to get the kayak and the gear to San Juan via shipping container. They had to receive it on a particular day of the week but couldn’t guarantee when it would clear customs and I would only have a few days to pick it up once it did.

That meant I couldn’t give firm dates at work for when I would be away, nor could I book the plane tickets or reserve accommodation, and I had limited time to do the whole trip and account for things like the weather. Once everything was finally there, I then had to find a way to transport the kayak from the warehouse terminal to the hotel. Even with a three-piece kayak, it’s not easy to convince a taxi driver that you need to shove a whole boat into his car or a small hotel receptionist to let you use up the entire lobby for a day or two. When the launch day finally came, I felt relieved; paddling was going to be the easy part.

The challenge of the Vancouver Island trip was learning how to do a kayak trip in cold water. I had to buy a dry suit, and the type of clothing and equipment you carry is very different from what I was used to when paddling in the tropics. I did, however, have some of the calmest weather imaginable on the Pacific Coast. People had warned me that it could take over a week to get a weather window to round either Cape Scott or the Brooks Peninsula. The seas there can be some of the roughest in the world, but on both occasions, I had dead flat conditions.

What kayak and equipment are you using at the moment?
My kayak is a Rockpool Taran 18, which is designed to be efficient in covering long distances. The kayak has a few special custom modifications. It’s a three-piece boat, which makes it much easier to store it inside my house (it has a dedicated stand in the living room) and to ship it to the starting point of my expeditions. I’ve also added a small sail to the kayak, which helps cover long distances when the conditions are favourable and also replaced the backband seat (those things are torture instruments for your lower back when you paddle for up to twelve hours at a stretch) with a comfortable, customised foam seat.

For paddles, I usually use a small wing paddle, which I find to be more efficient and easier on the joints than a Euro blade, especially when you’re paddling into a strong headwind. If I’m going downwind and the wind is strong, I will sometimes reach for a large euro blade that helps handle the boat and steer through the swells.

One thing I learned to do in my extended kayak expeditions is to have at least one Skwoosh bilge sponge inside every hatch. Getting your gear wet is pretty much inevitable at some point. Even dry bags spring leaks from time to time, and no hatch cover is perfect. Having a bilge sponge to mop up small leaks adds some peace of mind, especially if the gear that would have otherwise got soaked is your sleeping bag.

Your next expedition is sea kayaking around the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the many islands and islets that make up the British Isles. What draws you to Ireland and the British Isles?
Several paddlers have paddled around the United Kingdom and Ireland using the same kayak I have. There is a lot of experience I can tap into for guidance along the way. It’s also going to be my 40th birthday; I decided to be a good friend for myself and give myself an adventure. We all dream that we will one day go off on a big adventure, but if we keep finding reasons to postpone the decision, eventually, we run out of time.

During the circumnavigation, will you plan any stand-out moments, such as your ‘hide and seek’ game?
I don’t have any particular stand-out moments for this trip. I thought the ‘ hide and seek’ game would be a way to drum up interest in the journey. I sell hats and beanies on my website with my logo, so If I find anyone along the way wearing one of my hats and beanies, I will buy that person a drink or a meal in exchange for them telling me a good story. If, on the other hand, someone following my journey finds me and buys me a drink or meal, or gives me a bed for the night, then I will give them a hat or a beanie and tell them a good story. For every exchange, I’ll donate $5 to St. Mungos, a charity that helps people experiencing homelessness in the south of England, for which I’m raising funds while on this trip.

Will you be taking any of your favourite pieces of kit?
One of the items I like to take with me and keep in reserve are small packs of caffeinated Jelly beans. I call them ‘He-Man’ Jelly Beans because I eventually get burned out and exhausted, especially in long paddles (like 40 miles and more). That’s when I rip open one of the jelly bean packs and gulp down the contents, and within five minutes, I’ll get a jolt of strength through my whole body. Paddling goes from feeling like you are whipping a bucket of concrete to fanning a pile of feathers.

Have you spoken or taken advice from any paddlers who have paddled around the British isles and Ireland?
Yes, I’ve been talking to several paddlers who have either done the entire journey or several essential sections in the past. There are also several books and blogs from paddlers that have taken on the challenge. I’m hoping to meet several of them along the way.

Any favourite conditions for sea kayaking?
Well, it’s complicated. In most of my paddles around Key Biscayne in Miami, if there is a strong wind, one of the legs will be into the headwind and there will be a constant conveyor belt of short waves the kayak will be banging up against. That can be very frustrating while you’re in it, but after I’m done, and in the middle of doing the downwind leg with the sail up, I feel rather fulfilled at having completed it. The one condition I would not want to find myself in is broadside in the soup zone between waves and cliffs.

How have you changed as a person due to your extended expeditions?
In every expedition, I am often reminded of a lesson from Epictetus. There are things in our control and things beyond it. We gain wisdom when we learn to distinguish the two clearly, but it’s often difficult to tell them apart. We have to focus our efforts on what we can be proactive about, bear the circumstances of what we can’t, and accept that goals take time and that sometimes they won’t be achieved.

What’s the most memorable encounters with wildlife that you’ve had?
In Cape Scott, when I was paddling around Vancouver Island, I hiked up to the lighthouse to see the cape before going around, and on the narrow trail leading up to the summit, I stumbled on a large bear walking down the path. We stood about 20 feet apart for what felt like an eternity, wondering what to do. When I walked back, the bear walked forward; when I stopped, the bear stopped. Eventually my escape path was blocked by a fallen log on the trail and couldn’t walk backwards any more, and the bear decided to detour around me through the bush. He then got back on the trail and kept going. He was just a few feet away, and my heart was in my throat with all the noise he was making, scraping and cracking the branches. But the bear couldn’t have cared less about me and went about his day. For him, I was just another thing in the forest.

If you could capture just one ‘feel good’ moment in your time on the ocean – which would it be?
The biggest feel-good moments in the ocean are on a strong tailwind and a following sea. You get to ride the swells from one wave to the next, and the paddle strokes become almost leisurely. Any paddler can relate to the exhilaration of sliding down the face of a wave, and just as you are about to slow down on the back of the wave in front of you, you give two or three paddle strokes and catch a ride down that wave as well. The longer you can keep that going, the more fun it is.

Tell us a bit about your book, ‘Around Vancouver Island on my Kayak,’ which is due for release in the first half of 2024.
The book is an account of my adventure around the island and the ins and outs of life during a paddling expedition. But it’s also a travel log filled with humorous anecdotes, colourful characters I encounter, and insights into Canadian and local BC culture. It’s also, in part, a memoir about the time in my life that allowed me to embark on this adventure and where things might go from there. I think the book will appeal to a broad audience.

I’m a paddler and going on vacation; where would you recommend?
If you want to go on a kayaking adventure (and have the means and perseverance to get your kayak to the launch point), I recommend Puerto Rico. It takes about three weeks to paddle around the island, but you’ll get to experience a variety of conditions, from ocean swells and surf on the north coast to tropical islands, mangroves, coral reefs and hidden beaches along the south, and all along the way you get to see some incredible rugged scenery from the water that only kayakers get to enjoy.

What advice would you give your younger self?
The older I get, the more I know that I only know a diminishingly small amount about everything there is to know. If I could talk to my younger self from 20 years ago, I would ask many probing questions about things I thought I knew well, only to watch myself admit that I don’t know very much at all. In life, you have to be humble and admit that the best answer we can give on most things is going to be, “I don’t know.”

Do you have an ultimate achievement?
One day, if I can eventually turn my kayaking adventures and travel writing into a successful career, then I will be very pleased with myself. I have the means to give it a go, but much of it is beyond my control. Time, effort, and a dose of good fortune will determine if that happens.

What’s the one location you haven’t paddled that would be on your bucket list?
I would like to go around Cuba in 2025. The plan would be to leave my house, go as far as Key West, cross the Straits of Florida to Havana, paddle around the whole island, and then cross back. But I’ll think about that when the time comes. For now, going around the UK and Ireland is plenty enough to keep my mind busy.

What do you do when not kayaking?
The other sport I do regularly is cycling. In years past, I’ve made several cycling journeys, which have included going around Colorado, across the Alps, the Brazilian coast from Santos to Rio De Janeiro, and two journeys from Boulder, Colorado, to San Francisco. One was in the summer, and I crossed the Grand Canyon and the Nevada desert (I had to cycle from 10 pm to 9 am to avoid the 120 degrees Fahrenheit plus heat during the day), and the other was in the fall through Yellowstone, up to the Pacific Northwest before heading south along the Pacific Coast.

Sadly, I didn’t complete the second journey. I was hit by a pickup truck and had a clavicle fracture about two days before arriving in San Francisco. When people ask me if I’m crazy about paddling in a storm, I tell them I feel much safer in the cockpit of a kayak out in the ocean than riding a bicycle on a busy road.

Quickies…

If you could paddle with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?
I want to paddle with Socrates. Spending a few hours with him to see his viewpoint on the world today would be fascinating.

Pick two celebrities to be your parents.
Stephen Fry is the author of one of my favourite book series called ‘The Greek Myths Reimagined’, and he writes with humour and wit. I think he would make a great dad with many great life lessons. For my mother, that’s more difficult. I would have to say probably Michele Obama. She managed to raise two daughters through their adolescent years in the spotlight of the White House, which mustn’t have been easy, but they both seem to have turned out alright, so she must be a good mother.

Which one sports person has inspired you?
Sir Ranulph Fiennes. His books about his adventures to the poles, tropical jungles and deserts, have inspired me to dream of my own adventures and try to make them happen.

An ideal night out for you is?
A night paddle in Miami. The city lights mean that you can see most things around you, and in the hot, steamy south Florida summer, that’s the most pleasant time to be out on the water. With the work-from-home routine, it became possible to go out for a ten-mile paddle on Biscayne Bay at 5:30 pm after work and return around 8 or 9 pm.

What one luxury item would you take with you on a desert island?
Sparkling water. I load up on them whenever I have a re-supply stop on my kayak trips.

What’s in your fridge right now?
There’s some flatbread, Swiss cheese, pesto sauce, cheese ravioli, bananas and apples, greek yoghurt, a pot of Nutella, three pints of chocolate ice cream (my favourite food), a box of arugula, a pack of sliced turkey, six ripe avocados, several bottles of sparkling water, and a box of chocolate chip cookies (to be eaten with the ice cream). If someone looked at my fridge and pantry, they would probably say, “This person has some strange eating habits.”

What would you prepare for us if we came to your house for dinner?
I would order pizza. I don’t like to cook at home or during my kayaking expeditions. We would, however, eat ice cream with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Who are your kayaking buddies?
Sadly, I am almost always alone when I go paddling. I don’t have a regular kayak buddy. If my dad were younger and lived closer to me, I would get him a kayak to go with me.

If you could be a wild animal – what would it be?
I would be a killer whale. The animal is as big as an african elephant yet agile and nimble like a leopard.

What three words would you use to describe you?
Thoughtful, attentive, and observant. At least, I would like to think that. My friends would say I am pigheaded, aloft, and sprinkled with a little crazy.

Finally, any final shout-outs?
I want to thank my friends Lee Richardson, Justine Curgenven, and JF Marleau. They are all tremendously skilled paddlers. Their guidance and experience were indispensable for my journey around Vancouver Island, and I would not have been able to complete the journey without their support.

In an interview, I always ask, “If you could pick one of two superpowers, the ability to fly or the power of invisibility, which would you choose?” Those in the know, know that invisibility is the correct answer for obvious reasons.