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Paddling with Spirits: A Solo Kayak Journey
Inspired partly by her own spirit of adventure, and partly by the stories of her native coastal ancestors, Irene Skyriver celebrated her fortieth year of life with a solo kayak voyage, paddling from Alaska to her home in Washington’s San Juan Islands. Paddling with Spirits: A Solo Kayak Journey interweaves the true account of her journey with generational stories handed down and vividly re-imagined. Beginning with her great-grandmother’s seduction of an Indian fighter turned trader, and following her ancestors on both sides through oil booms, orphanages, wartime romances, dance halls and cattle ranches, Paddling with Spirits dips like a paddle itself between the stories of those who inspired her, and Irene’s own journey down a lonely coast. As she encounters harsh weather, wolves, bears, whales, and the wild beauty of the coastal waters, she reflects upon her own life and on the lives of the many people she meets along the way before her final, triumphant return home. Paddling with Spirits is a wild, brave, and thrillingly original adventure.
240 pages, Paperback
First published October 26, 2017
6 people are currently reading
649 people want to read
About the author
Irene Skyriver
2 books15 followersWashington native, Irene Skyriver was born in Port Townsend and raised in the country. She moved with her children and horses to Lopez Island 35 years ago. She lived off grid and as a single parent, spent most her early years growing a garden and letting the outdoors and beaches be their sanctuary, inspiration and teacher. She organized parades for Earth Days, International Women’s Days and was one of the early founders and shapers of the Summer and Winter Solstice celebrations as well as, Passage Rites ceremonies for the youth. A poet, dancer and a singer of traditional “Earth Circle Songs”, writing came later for her, mostly because it is necessary to sit down to do it!
She received a Fellowship to Fishtrap Writers Conference, based on a submission from Paddling With Spirits. This was followed by a grant to finish the work. She now has a lifetime of materials and experiences she is applying to a variety of writing projects. In between involvement in community, her market garden and milking goats, she plans to sit down try to accomplish these new writing endeavors.
She received a Fellowship to Fishtrap Writers Conference, based on a submission from Paddling With Spirits. This was followed by a grant to finish the work. She now has a lifetime of materials and experiences she is applying to a variety of writing projects. In between involvement in community, her market garden and milking goats, she plans to sit down try to accomplish these new writing endeavors.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 12, 2018
I just know I'm going to mess up this review. For me, it was a unique book, and, based on what I have seen from the other GoodReads reviews thus far, I'm a rather unique reader of it. To start, there are reviewers who clearly have had personal contact, at least to some degree, with the author, and, thus, have some degree of familiarity with the author's surroundings, which play a role in this book. For my own part, I now live in her original home town. I lived in or frequently visited many locations mentioned in her book, ranging from the more southern parts of Puget Sound to the northern tip of Vancouver Island. In fact, I have gone kayak paddling with the author. My wife had the same model of kayak the author used for her kayak journey detailed in this book, so we were both very familiar with how her watercraft may handle in the seas the author was about to confront. In fact, we had used that and another kayak out at Makah Bay a couple times to learn and master our skills at landing in the ocean surf. We paddled out to Tatoosh Island, stayed in Neah Bay. It was very shortly after the author got sponsorship to attempt her journey, that the paddling club to which my wife and I belonged, went out with her on pre-journey paddles. It was always clear to us that the author was not doing this merely as some variation on a kind of triathlon physical feat. Certainly, that had to be a partial factor -- how could it not? -- but it was obvious there was a major element of homage to her family background that was a key to it all. As part of the paddling club, we were among some of the earliest folks to hear directly from the author upon her return, about her adventure, along with a slide show. Not too long after her return, we bumped into the author on the southern part of the island where she lives as she returned from an outing in her kayak. We were checking out additional kayak launch points from the island beyond the ones we had already used. That very brief interaction was the very last time we had contact with her. More than 20 years later, after moving (unbeknownst to us) to the same town where the author started her life, we immediately perked up when we saw the posting from our local maritime center that the author would be speaking in town from her book about her amazing journey. Sign us up! Keep in mind, we had no idea how well her writing skills may be. Both as someone who knew about her trek so many years ago, and as someone whose two main late-in-life goals were bicycle touring and long kayak camping trips and who has read numerous books about major "human-powered" journeys by other persons, I was anxious to hear what she had to say. It was clear from her relatively brief reading at the maritime center that she had ample craft in writing to justify reading the book. It was also clear to me she was being remarkably modest about what she had accomplished on her own. So, there I was reading her book, and I was in near rapture at how well she captured the things I wanted to know about her kayaking experience. Without question, it was the best reporting of long-distance human-powered touring I had read to date. Not only did it talk about all the many "issues" that interested me, but she demonstrated a beautiful use of language throughout, avoiding the cliches of less professional writers while frequently using phrases and comparisons that added insight to my own similar experiences kayaking. I will admit that when the author shifts into a portion of the book about her family background, I expected it to be a fairly brief reflection time, before jumping back into her travel journal. Instead, the reader gets a different but no less interesting dive back into the depths of a side of her family. Someone reading the book only for its kayaking details may be somewhat excused for not appreciating the diversion, but, after realizing what was happening, it all made total sense to me, as someone who always knew there was a strong connection between the journey and her heritage. In essence, the reader gets three books in one: a stirring kayak adventure tale and two separate captivating memoirs, which reminded me, to a degree, of a collection of stories I had recently read by noted author, Wallace Stegner. Will every reader appreciate the smorgasbord? I don't know. As I said, I think I'm a fairly unique reader for this book. I do know I enjoyed the entire reading journey. And one last perhaps minor point: I absolutely did not see it coming when the author reveals how her parents met. Very well written. Read the book and you'll see what I mean.
March 23, 2018
What an amazing story, memoir, and journey. The word choice and visualizations put you in the moment whether on the water or with her ancestors. I have recommended this book to everyone I see and use it to teach writing techniques to create quality writing that others will enjoy. Irene is a natural story teller.
February 13, 2018
I had the immense pleasure of cohosting a book signing with Irene. She is an incredible person with an engrossing story, and I had fun getting to know her. This book follows Irene on her PNW kayak journey, but it also tells the story of her history from her great-grandparents down to her parents. The trials they faced reveal the strong and courageous family she comes from. Irene exhibits both qualities in both her everyday life and in her voyage. The craziest thing about her 700+ mile kayak journey from Alaska to the San Juans? Irene doesn’t even know how to swim!
There are a couple things that could be improved. The dialogue is important to the story, but it felt a bit forced. A lot of information was stuffed into each sentence, and it didn’t feel natural. The overall grammar and syntax could be polished as well. However, Irene is such a gifted storyteller that it was easy to overlook these faults. She is funny, clever, and spiritual, and she makes you fall in love with the PNW and its people all over again.
There are a couple things that could be improved. The dialogue is important to the story, but it felt a bit forced. A lot of information was stuffed into each sentence, and it didn’t feel natural. The overall grammar and syntax could be polished as well. However, Irene is such a gifted storyteller that it was easy to overlook these faults. She is funny, clever, and spiritual, and she makes you fall in love with the PNW and its people all over again.
February 9, 2018
Inspiring to me. So simply stated, this story grows on the reader, unfolding from one page to another, so much about the courage and clarity that are in this woman's heart. Paddling by kayak, alone along the wild Alaskan coast, the telling is deeply honorific of her native coastal heritage. It is almost dreamlike, the "echoes" of a culture lost, only felt through imagination and experience with spirit. I recommend to anyone who is tempered by loss, and seeks alignment with natural wisdom. You will resonate with Irene Skyriver's journey and fascinating, interspersed stories of family history.
October 2, 2017
PADDLING WITH SPIRITS: A SOLO KAYAK JOURNEY by Irene Skyriver
I was aware of Irene Skyriver as a welcoming, charismatic presider over community gatherings and had heard tales about the Lopez Island community welcoming her home from her solo kayak journey, on the beach at Odlin Park. So, when I was given the opportunity to preview her
book, I was eager for the experience of sharing in her adventure.
The key theme emerging from the stories within the pages are of courage. It is interesting to note that Skyriver does not describe her decision to embark on her solo kayak journey from Alaska to Lopez Island, Washington, as an endurance challenge but rather as a call of destiny.
Still, she is aware that much of what she encounters would be a challenge for a more experienced kayaker. Her perspective juxtaposes a sense of being very present in the moment, connected to earthly elements, as well as moments some might consider supernatural, where she is comforted by a sense of spirit guides of ancestors.
It is not difficult to associate courage with a solo kayak journey but the other act of courage by this first time writer was to take the historical family photographs and threads of family stories and data and weave them into a cohesive historical fiction. Skyriver imagines, largely from the point of view of female ancestors (Makkah and Tlingit), what life was like for her Native grandmothers and great grandmothers, who lived on the shores and traveled in the waters of her kayak journey. She explores bonds of family that endure through addiction, rape and bigotry, in the stories of her female characters and herself.
In reflecting on the journey this author has taken I am drawn to two quotes about courage by Brene Brown:
" Courage starts by showing up and letting ourselves be seen."
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness."
I was aware of Irene Skyriver as a welcoming, charismatic presider over community gatherings and had heard tales about the Lopez Island community welcoming her home from her solo kayak journey, on the beach at Odlin Park. So, when I was given the opportunity to preview her
book, I was eager for the experience of sharing in her adventure.
The key theme emerging from the stories within the pages are of courage. It is interesting to note that Skyriver does not describe her decision to embark on her solo kayak journey from Alaska to Lopez Island, Washington, as an endurance challenge but rather as a call of destiny.
Still, she is aware that much of what she encounters would be a challenge for a more experienced kayaker. Her perspective juxtaposes a sense of being very present in the moment, connected to earthly elements, as well as moments some might consider supernatural, where she is comforted by a sense of spirit guides of ancestors.
It is not difficult to associate courage with a solo kayak journey but the other act of courage by this first time writer was to take the historical family photographs and threads of family stories and data and weave them into a cohesive historical fiction. Skyriver imagines, largely from the point of view of female ancestors (Makkah and Tlingit), what life was like for her Native grandmothers and great grandmothers, who lived on the shores and traveled in the waters of her kayak journey. She explores bonds of family that endure through addiction, rape and bigotry, in the stories of her female characters and herself.
In reflecting on the journey this author has taken I am drawn to two quotes about courage by Brene Brown:
" Courage starts by showing up and letting ourselves be seen."
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness."
October 12, 2017
Irene Skyriver’s beautiful book braids memoir with family storytelling for a compelling example of personal strength and wisdom. In lyrical, vivid language, she carries the reader through trials and triumphs across generations. Irene’s love and respect for her ancestors is apparent in her kayak journey from Alaska to Lopez Island, WA and in the stories she tells of the ways their lives intertwine. A mesmerizing read.
February 14, 2021
“Kayaking with Spirits,” eh. I figured a story about someone kayaking alone from Alaska to where we live in Washington State couldn’t help but be interesting. So I read it for the kayaking and wound up equally fascinated by the spiritual part. Two successful journeys.
First, the kayaking. People die on that coast, people in large boats. As an example, the stretch of water just south of Alaska along the British Columbia coast is pure hell. One participant in the annual Race to Alaska (R2AK) described it as “…one of the most diabolically hostile environments that wind, sea, and land are capable of conjuring up.” Skyriver did it, and without the escorts that the annual racers have. Except she had spiritual assistance. Maybe that’s why she made it and many R2AK racers don’t.
But as fascinating as the kayaking adventures are, Skyriver intersperses the paddling with a recounting of the systemic sociological barriers erected against Native Americans in general and her family in particular. Skyriver’s personal account of her family’s struggles, failures, and successes really brings it home. That part of the story remains in my mind more strongly than her kayaking mishaps. I needed that enlightenment.
This has to be a movie.
First, the kayaking. People die on that coast, people in large boats. As an example, the stretch of water just south of Alaska along the British Columbia coast is pure hell. One participant in the annual Race to Alaska (R2AK) described it as “…one of the most diabolically hostile environments that wind, sea, and land are capable of conjuring up.” Skyriver did it, and without the escorts that the annual racers have. Except she had spiritual assistance. Maybe that’s why she made it and many R2AK racers don’t.
But as fascinating as the kayaking adventures are, Skyriver intersperses the paddling with a recounting of the systemic sociological barriers erected against Native Americans in general and her family in particular. Skyriver’s personal account of her family’s struggles, failures, and successes really brings it home. That part of the story remains in my mind more strongly than her kayaking mishaps. I needed that enlightenment.
This has to be a movie.
May 1, 2018
What a treat to read!
Not only did I admire Skyriver’s inner strength as she described her paddling journey, I thoroughly enjoyed Skyriver’s family history, complete with cultural details and engaging characters. The juxtaposition of her past and present voices flowed seamlessly! I was able to navigate both story lines with ease and appreciation.
Not only did I admire Skyriver’s inner strength as she described her paddling journey, I thoroughly enjoyed Skyriver’s family history, complete with cultural details and engaging characters. The juxtaposition of her past and present voices flowed seamlessly! I was able to navigate both story lines with ease and appreciation.
March 2, 2018
Sparkling, dappled storytelling of the most satisfying quality. Like sitting around a campfire listening to tales of the ancestors interwoven with a real life adventure tale. Inspiring, heartbreaking, wise and gracious. I never ever wanted it to end!
December 5, 2022
If you're from the PNW or an adventurous woman you'll want to read this! I loved this - I felt transported to an adventure and ready to plan my own!
October 17, 2024
I really liked the parts relating to the journey in a kayak. Wouldn't want to do it myself, but loved that the author did.
September 16, 2025
Loved this book! So inspiring and tangible. It makes me want to be a better person, trust myself and do good in the world.
January 2, 2024
wonderfully descriptive of family and region
April 30, 2019
Irene brings her readers along on her kayaking journey from her ancestral home on the west coast of Canada down to the San Juan Islands where she lives today. Along the way we learn about her family's Native history through compelling stories and beautiful descriptions of the natural environment. I was transfixed by the way Irene weaves the past and present into her book. Life was very hard at times for the women in her family, but their strength and support for each other kept them going. This is one of those books that changed me, and gave me renewed appreciation for the strength of the human spirit.
October 12, 2017
Delicious, inspiring, and cathartic...from the first page.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews