In the news

Paddling for his life

	Philly Joe Joe Philly Joe - Koe Kolodziejski rowed into Boothbay Harbor on Wednesday, August 2, completing 6,000 miles of his 24,000-mile American Victory Tour. (Photo Joe Orchulli II)

On Wednesday, August 2, Joe Kolodziejski, or "Philly Joe" as he is called (he grew up in South Philadelphia,) paddled into Boothbay Harbor under a blazing sun in his custom-made canoe.

There was no cannon fire, 21-gun salute or fanfare, though Joe had just completed 6,000 miles of the 24,000-mile United States circumnavigation self-titled American Victory Tour he began in 2002.

Almost 10 years ago, on Joe's 50th birthday, a doctor informed him that he had cancer and that he was in "Stage 4b" of Hodgkin's disease, a form of lymphoma.

According to Joe, "4b is the stage just before they put your name in the paper and people gather around to say what a swell guy you had been." He continued saying, "At that time, I decided I wasn't quite ready to sing baritone with the heavenly choir."

Having it in his mind that he would not let the disease keep him down, Joe started going to the gym while undergoing chemotherapy.

Though he lost weight and his hair and his lungs were working less than half their capacity from chemotherapy, he persevered, laying out a plan to circumnavigate the contiguous 48 states by canoe.

"This trip would give me the opportunity to both explore America and find out if I had the right stuff to be a mountain man."

As Joe began to research the possibility of such an adventure, the route emerged. From Texas to the Florida Keys he would travel along the Gulf shore, then up the East Coast, across Canada, touching on Alaska and down the West Coast to the Panama Canal. He would then head north and finish where he had started in Texas.

His original estimate for gear to begin the trip was $18,000 so he decided to wait to pursue the dream until a later date.

In the meantime he chose to satisfy his passion in another way by going on a six-month camping trip with a $30 tent and a $20 sleeping bag across 48 states in 2000.

Following that experience, Joe realized that he could do the canoe trip for a lot less money than he originally thought, so, on February 2, 2002, Joe began his adventure.

Since that time, he has 21 months in the water, completing 6,000 miles in his custom canoe designed by "the world's greatest canoeist," Verlen Kruger.

In his first year paddling, he met and became good friends with Cathy Cloud in Texas. Cathy would meet Joe at different ports and join him on different legs of the trip.

"I didn't believe in romance and held Joe off for a year. Then I thought, he's having more fun than I am, so I'm going with him." The couple was married shortly after.

One of the many adventures that Joe remembered was when he attempted to cross Choctawhatchee Bay in Florida.

"The bay was covered in whitecaps with foam spread across their faces. At my last motel, I had watched the movie "The Perfect Storm." I hoped it wasn't an omen.

"About three-quarters of the way across, the boat was taking water and growing less responsive. I began to have serious doubts about whether or not I could make it across. I remember checking my schedule that morning and there was nothing penciled in about drowning in the Choctawhatchee Bay. Then the boat swamped.

"The next wave started to roll her but I was able to recover. The one after that started the water shifting inside her and the weight took her over. The canoe floated, as did some of my gear. The rest went to the bottom.

"I tried firing $30 flares that the Coast Guard required me to have. One floated away, the second was too wet to ignite and the third worked for about ten seconds before burning my hand. I dropped it.

I don't know if anyone would have seen them anyway. A flare held two feet above the water in a five-foot sea doesn't have a great deal of visibility."

He was eventually rescued by passing boaters though he had lost most of his belongings.

Another predicament found Joe surrounded by more alligators than he could count.

Joe plans on spending two weeks in Maine camping at Little Ponderosa and then he will be off for the Bay of Fundy.

Next spring Joe plans on continuing his journey from the St. John's River to Fort Kent via the 740-mile canoe trail to upstate New York.

If all goes as planned, Joe said that he will be the first person to travel that route from east to west.

When asked what he would say to someone who wanted to accomplish such a feat, Joe responded, "Pick a date and tell everyone that you know what you are going to do so when the date comes, you will be too humiliated not to do it."

Prior to beginning his voyage, Joe was in the Merchant Marine for 28 years working for Texaco until he was 45.

A detailed account of Joe's adventures can be read on his web site http://www.americanvictorytour.org.