Kayaker starts world record attempt at Lighthouse Beach

With cheers and well wishes, kayaker Traci Lynn Martin set off Thursday from Port Huron's Lighthouse Beach on the first leg of a journey that will take her 8,600 miles around the Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard.

She was headed about 28 miles north along the Lake Huron coastline. If all goes according to plan, the Kansas City, Missouri, resident will be back in Port Huron sometime in August before heading south on the St. Clair River and bound for the lower Great Lakes.

Martin is pursuing both a dream and  a record — the most miles paddled by a woman in one year. Her goal is to finish her trip in December at Lake Erie Metropark in Brownstown Township.

She said she had numerous reasons for taking a year off work as a nurse at St. Luke's Hospital and spending time away from her family back in Kansas City.

"One's personal," she said. "I  want to do it for me. I want to do something that no one has ever done before.  And I mean, I've saved up for two years to do this and it's finally here.

"How many people have a chance to do something that has never been done before?" she said. "It's just magical, and to do it on the Great Lakes — I love Lake Superior.

"And on top of that I have rheumatoid arthritis, and my message is to try to inspire other people who have chronic illnesses, not just rheumatoid arthritis, but chronic illnesses, to not stop doing the things that they love. You can't stop doing the things that give you passion and the things that you love in life, because then you're not living. ...

"You're just a shell of a person, and I see too much of that in the hospital, working as a nurse. People come in and they have chronic illnesses and they've given up on life. They've given up on doing the things that they love."

Randy Orchard, of Marysville, was among the people watching as Martin and expedition project manager Chris Stafford, of Kalispell, Montana, launched their kayaks into the waves at Lighthouse Beach.

"I think it's an awesome endeavor, I really do," he said. "It's an awesome adventure she is going on, for sure."

He said he was a little concerned about Martin tackling the big lakes in March.

"This is an awful time to be taking off and heading north," he said.

Dane Fortney, sales manager at automotive supplier Lacks Enterprises, which has an office in Novi, said the company decided to sponsor Martin after reading a newspaper article about her plans. The company makes a kayak support that Martin will be using on her trip and also will pay for a shadow boat when she crosses the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

"Here's my take on it," he said.  "Any effort where you attach the words "world record" to it, it's hard."

Martha Guella, of Lake Orion, was also in the crowd after reading about Martin.

"I think what she is doing is amazing, especially with having rheumatoid arthritis or a chronic condition," Guella said.

Jericho LeFort, of Columbia, Missouri, said he had to be at the launch.

"I'm a huge supporter of Traci," he said. "I wanted to be here just for that."

He said her planned trip is "pretty incredible. Talk about living a dream. This is really out there grabbing."

He said he has competed against Martin, who is a two-time winner of the women's solo division in the Missouri River 340 kayak race.

"She kicked my butt handily," he said.

Martin's journey is going to take her around all five Great Lakes, through the St. Lawrence River, south along the Atlantic coast and north up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal and back to Lake Ontario via the Oneida and Oswego rivers.

Traci Lynn Martin plans to travel Great Lakes: Kayaker to paddle an 8,600-mile Great Lakes odyssey

Contact Bob Gross at (810) 989-6263 or rgross@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobertGross477.

More information

• Traci Lynn Martin, an experienced kayak racer from Kansas City, Missouri, will attempt to set a record for the most miles paddled in a solo expedition in one year.
• A team of filmmakers will be accompanying her on the journey, capturing footage for a film called "Just Around the Pointe."
• The expedition is called "The Stellar Tour de Force," and Martin will be wearing a tracking device so people can follow her progress at raceowl.com.
• Martin's website is at justaroundthepointe.com.
• Martin is paddling a Stellar USA surf ski kayak that has been modified with extra hatches for gear and supplies.