After more than four months on the water, the Canoeing The Continent expedition is nearing the end of its journey, as the two paddlers draw nearer to Istanbul. The pair has embarked on an ambitious challenge: to canoe across the whole of Europe, connecting waterways without portaging.

“On our entire crossing of Europe, our longest portage between waterways was 25 meters, from one side of a campsite to the other!” says James Warner Smith.

Currently, Warner Smith and Nathan Wilkins are more than 130 days into their trip, heading east, and dealing with all the challenges that the Black Sea can throw at them, including terrible weather, huge waves and rocky headlands.

The expedition began on the Atlantic coast of France, in the city of Nantes. They’ve since paddled through a variety of landscapes, including untouched rivers, historic canals, busy shipping rivers and the Black Sea. The two spent more than 2,000 kilometers on the Danube River alone, following its course through Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.

“Each section of the route presented new challenges, as well as numerous language barriers since we both speak decent French but nothing of the other nine countries,” says Warner Smith.

Undoubtedly, upstream paddling has been the most difficult for the pair, especially along the Loire River, since it was combined with the intense heat of southern France in July. 

The wide lakes on the Danube, the result of Serbian hydroelectric dams, also caused problems. “Here the waves caught us off-guard and out of our depth and it was probably the closest we’ve come to really getting hurt. After a very close scare, we spent some very nervous days paddling around rocky headlands,” says Warner Smith.

The two students, who met through running, were awarded a grant for the trip through the University of Warwick. Both agree that their athletic backgrounds have allowed them to weather the physical demands of the trip relatively unscathed.

“I originally got the idea for the trip after I canoed the Yukon River in 2010. I spent two weeks there in the wilderness and had the most fantastic canoeing experience. After that I was keen to do another big canoe trip but wanted something large scale and original,” says Warner Smith. He hatched the plan and Wilkins, who’d never actually canoed before, was game.

While they are struggling to cope with the winter waves on the Black Sea, they had mentally prepared themselves that this last part of the journey would be heavily reliant on good weather. If canoeing over the Turkish border becomes impossible, the two may opt to hike through the Bulgarian mountains. They’re gutted at the thought of changing their route, but trying to remain optimistic.

“But to be honest, when we look back at the challenges we’ve overcome and the distance we’ve made since day one, it gives us a pretty good feeling,” says Warner Smith.

Follow their expedition at Canoeing The Continent. 

The ladies of TiTs DEEP released the second episode of their new web series this week. “Webisode #2 ‘All Roads Lead To The PNW,’” is filled with great kayaking footage, including a tandem kayak drop of Celestial Falls in Oregon. It also features the off-water antics we’ve come to expect from TiTs DEEP—a movement to empower females in extreme adventure sports.

Breakfast beers, blanket forts and seemingly spontaneous dance moves are all in there for a reason, says Katrina Van Wijk, who was literally tits-deep in the water of the Green River last year when the movement’s name was coined. 

“I think it’s important to show that we are normal people that enjoy having fun,” she says. The goal of the web series is to encourage more women to push themselves in extreme sports and pairing the paddling footage with a look at day-to-day life “makes it more realistic for the viewer to be inspired,” says Van Wijk.

TiTs DEEP plans to feature women from a variety of extreme sports in upcoming episodes. A new video will be released each month, and along with whitewater kayaking, Van Wijk hopes to show mountain biking, skiing and rock climbing, and the lifestyle of each sport’s ladies.

To learn more, watch The Creation of TiTs DEEP and the first episode in the series, Webisode #1: Tetas Profundas.

These days, it’s not often that explorers change maps. Even less common that the vehicle of discovery is a canoe. But that’s just what happened in 2012, when Adam Shoalts discovered seven previously unknown waterfalls, accidently paddling over the edge of one in the process.

This past summer, he returned to the Again River, which straddles the border between Ontario and Quebec, with funding from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society to properly document his discoveries.

While maps of the Again River did exist prior, they were based on aerial images taken in the 1950’s and weren’t entirely accurate. Returning to document his discoveries meant measuring the height and exact location of each waterfall, information that Shoalts will then use to correct the existing topographical maps of the area.

Find out more about Shoalts and the Again River in the November issue of Paddling This Month, available for Apple and Android devices as well as your desktop on November 20th by clicking here.