Kayaker braves seas, only to have boat stolen.  Times-Standard, Tuesday, Aug, 1, 2000

by John Driscoll

EUREKA - A kayaker bent on paddling along the coasts of the continental United States has braved wind, waves and whales only to be held up by the theft of his boat.

Mike Falconeri, 40, of Wallingford, Conn., has spent the past month working his way down to Eureka from the Quinault Indian village of Tahola, Wash. He covered the distance between Neah Bay, Wash., to Tahola in October.

Falconeri came over the bar into Humboldt Bay Sunday, pulled his kayak out of the water at the foot of Truesdale Street, and walked to a hotel.

In the morning, Falconeri went to retrieve dry clothes and gear from his kayak, only to find it gone. Dejected, Falconeri phoned police and got a ride to a pawn shop to see if anything had turned up. "If it doesn't turn up," Falconeri said, "I guess it's time for plan B."

Despite his loss, Falconeri, who runs Urban Eskimo Kayaking in Connecticut, remained upbeat. He has paddled his 18-foot-long, 21-inches-wide West Greenland-style Nordkapp sea kayak about 20 to 25 miles a day, camping on isolated beaches at night.

He has braved 15-foot waves and split another kayak's hull while entering a cove. Once, he had to bail out of the craft after it got hung up in a treacherous whirlpool. He used his paddle to catch waves into shore.

"That was my first 'wet exit' from a sea kayak," he said.

The time at sea has given him pause to consider the weighty things one might ponder alone at the hands of nature.

"You're just one-on-one with the sea," Falconeri said, "so open and exposed to forces that change. You're right in the middle, between the earth and the sky.

"We're not long for this earth when you think about it," Falconeri said, "but in our short time we make a significant impact."

Falconeri said that he became determined to learn about the coastal and marine environment long before he began planning the trip four years ago. As a kayak guide and instructor in Connecticut, he helped people reap the rewards of paddling the quiet craft into remote, pristine places.

With funding from his friend and fellow instructor Nancy Lovelace of Wallingford, Falconeri started the Sea America Expedition. Promoter Brian Bach of Weston, Conn., came aboard and recently got American Oceans Campaign a Washington, D.C.- based environmental organization, to sponsor Falconeri.

Falconeri said he needs to talk with coastal residents before he forms a solid opinion about environmental issues on which to take a stand.

"I'm not going to change the world," he said. "But I might change someone else that could."

That attitude has made it worth it to sleep on slippery rocks with waves that sound like nearby jet engines, completely exhausted and wearing soaked clothing, he said.

Falconeri expects the expedition to take six to eight months. On the way he will paddle along the West Coast, portage from California to Texas, paddle along the Gulf of Mexico, and ride the waves to his destination in Connecticut.

Falconeri said that the loss of his boat is one of the many challenges he has faced along the way. He has been paddling the craft for 12 years and hopes that it will be returned. The kayak, he added, is extremely unstable and dangerous for the uninitiated.

The kayak is red, white and blue with Sea America and other stickers on it. A bilge pump and a compass are built into the deck of the craft. Anyone with information on its whereabouts should call the Eureka Police Department at 441-4044, or Falconeri's voice mail at (203) 284-9212.

The tail fluke of a small gray whale juts from the sea near Luffenholtz Beach on Saturday afternoon as seen from Mike Falconeri's sea kayak, with Trinidad Head visible at upper right. Falconeri watched the migrating whale's activity for about 45 mins befor he paddled to Eureka on Sunday night.