THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LAWRENCE MADDRY
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines
DREAMS COME in odd shapes and sizes. Don Meyers' dream is a scarred-hulled red canoe 18 feet long tied up at the Waterside marina.
The retired, 50-year-old New York cop has rowed and sailed it more than 5,000 miles.
``I'll probably stick around a few days before heading north,'' he said, taking a breather from his travels. ``I don't stick to a schedule. A schedule will get you in trouble when you're skipper of something this small.''
The Wind Dagger has a strong skipper. He's a former U.S. Navy Seal who was stationed in Norfolk from 1966 through 1970. Rowing the canoe with 9-foot sculling oars for 12 hours a day has sculptured his upper torso, the pectorals straining at his T-shirt.
Meyer, who has a quick smile, sports a raffish handle-bar moustache. Knowing eyes look out from behind glasses. And a pair of long, tanned, thick calved legs stretch from his tan shorts.
He had taken the canoe from New York into Canada, then down the Mississippi and through the Gulf of Mexico to Florida before coming north - through the Intracoastal Waterway - toward the Big Apple.
His vessel shows wear. The tent-like sunshade strung over a boom on the vessel is faded and frayed. A maple leaf flag from Canada flying from a halyard is split by the wind.
He has rigged a metal-framed cot so that its canvas is suspended above water collecting in the bottom. There are plastic and cloth bags containing laundry and food, a one-burner stove, a compass, a small Danforth anchor and an AM-FM radio. That's about it.
The dream began more than a decade ago, when his marriage began to turn sour and ended in divorce.
Inside a Waterside restaurant, he swirled the beer in his mug and took a long swallow.
``I didn't want to become a drunk or blow my brains out,'' he said. ``I knew I needed a goal in life. I had only a few years until retirement from the police. And the idea of taking a canoe on a long voyage like this kept me going.''
Meyers designed everything about the canoe except the Kevlar ) hull - made by Mad River Canoes in Vermont - which he has strengthened with struts. He spent three to four hours a day hours rowing the Wind Dagger - which weighs 500 pounds when outfitted - on New York's Jamaica Bay in preparation for his voyage.
It began in May of 1993, shortly after his retirement from the police force. He rowed out of New York's harbor up the Hudson River, across the Erie Canal and then across Lake Ontario in Canada. He rowed across Georgian Bay into Lake Huron and then south to Lake Michigan, down to Chicago. He rowed the Chicago River down to the Illinois River and then picked up the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
``I've been on the water since '93 except for a few days off for Christmas each year,'' he said.
There are a lot of memories. ``The worst weather I hit was while crossing Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan,'' he said. ``It was very calm. But in a matter of seconds, there were 30- to 35-knot winds and waves from 6 to 8 feet high. The Wind Dagger would ride up the waves and down the other side like a cork. It was like being on a roller coaster.''
About three quarters of his voyage has been propelled by the oars. He sits on a padded, sliding seat when rowing. ``I row 12 hours a day,'' he said. ``I don't have much energy left at the end of the day. I usually eat something and fall into bed.''
He plans ahead, always looking for a creek or cove where the canoe will be sheltered from the wind and waves, usually tying up to a tree.
``Finding a safe haven for the night is very important, maybe the most important thing I do,'' he said. ``If the weather is really bad, I sit it out.
The Wind Dagger hasn't been overturned by weather yet, he said. Even so, he has been overtaken by storms, including a snowstorm as he was sailing down the Mississippi River.
``Hypothermia is always a problem,'' he said. ``I keep a pair of dry sweats in a bag for sleeping. But sometimes the sweats are the only dry clothes I have. I have often slept in the sweats and climbed into sopping wet clothes, hoping the air would dry them while I was rowing.''
Meyers particularly enjoyed the water in northern Michigan.
``The water is so beautiful it rivals the Caribbean. The water is so clear up there they pipe it to houses without treating it. You can probably see the bottom through 10 feet of water.''
When rowing down the Mississippi, he tied up in a small creek for the night and was watching the stars when he saw a giant fireball streaking across the dark sky.
``It was huge, the brightest, most powerful thing I've seen in the sky, with all kinds of colors in it,'' he said. ``It seemed to crash behind some trees only a short distance away. But I didn't find where it landed. On the radio I heard that a meteor so large it could be seen in three states had been seen by thousands of people.''
While on the Apalachicola River in Florida, a large water moccasin dropped unexpectedly into the canoe. He was followed by a manatee while rowing up the waterway after passing the Florida Keys. And he encountered a black bear in Coinjock, N.C., after crossing Albemarle Sound.
``I heard a noise and first thought it was a deer. I was in a creek and got out my flashlight. The next thing I knew, the bear walked right in front of the bow and crossed the creek in about 2 feet of water. He didn't pay any attention to me or the flashlight beam. It was as though I wasn't there.''
He said the Wind Dagger will be given to a canoe museum in Canada after reaching New York. He'll miss the craft, he explained.
``This canoe is more than a pile of wood,'' he said. ``It's a friend.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/Staff
Don Meyers has rowed and sailed for more than 5,000 miles.
by CNB