German kayaker sets off to circumnavigate Admiralty Island

“It’s a perfect day to start a trip like this,” Jörg Knorr, a solo travel journalist from northern Germany, said on a sunny Sunday.

Knorr was finishing packing his kayak that morning for a trip he’d dreamed of for more than 10 years. Like many who visit, Alaska has been on his bucket list. But instead of cruising, he is paddling south to circumnavigate Admiralty Island. His trip is expected to take a month, and he may detour to Glacier Bay or Hoonah.

“The most impressive thing will be to see the landscape here and that is something I read about at home,” he said. “It gives me a kind of time where you think only about what you do this day, maybe the next day too, but nothing else. There’s no office, there’s no computer. You can enjoy the landscape, especially if you’re traveling by your own.”

Finding what he needed for the trip was a journey in itself. First, Knorr made a connection through the kayaking club he belongs to in Flensburg, Germany. Detlef Büttner, the brother of a club member, lives in Juneau and welcomed Knorr to the capital city.

The next step was finding a boat for his trip. At home, Knorr tried to buy a used kayak on Craigslist. But to his dismay, it had already been purchased by Ed Page, the founding executive director of the Marine Exchange of Alaska. After learning about his trip, Page loaned Knorr an even better-suited boat for his adventure, a high-volume kayak. It allowed Knorr more space to pack. He also jumped on the opportunity to join Knorr for the first 10 days of his trip, and the two new friends launched from his home in Fritz Cove.

“Everything looks perfect now,” Knorr said. “It shows me one time more that if you want to do anything like this, you will find a way for that. It’s nice to have somebody who knows the area here. That would be really helpful. And he’s familiar with kayaking, too.”

Before departing Sunday, Knorr said he hopes to see whales and bears. Just a few minutes after launching, he saw a humpback whale bubble feeding nearby.

He has experience paddling in remote places, such as Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Newfoundland, and the Lofoten Islands. He has also paddled in Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, and Sweden. He’s traveled the entirety of the German Baltic Sea coast and the German North Sea coast, and he’s explored many other places. His longest trip was 2,000 kilometers from Flensburg to Finland. He has paddled for 30 years and usually travels alone or with his son.

“So much earlier, it was not possible because I grew up in East Germany,” he said. “Before the wall came down, it was not possible to paddle something like that with a kayak on the coastline. If you wanted to go to anywhere else, you flew. In the GDR times, that means it was not allowed — paddling on the coastline. Maybe that is a reason, too, that I do something like this more than other people.”

At the end of the year, Knorr will travel to give a presentation about his trips, featuring his photos from Alaska.

“Every time when I’m speaking about this, I’m thinking back, and it gave me a good feeling and it’s like doing the journey once more,” he said.

It took a journey to find his passion, too. Knorr has been a travel journalist since 2009 — his first job was as a mechanical engineer in a shipyard for 28 years. At first, journalism was a side gig, but he quit his job as an engineer in 2016. He is now retired and freelances his articles for various travel and kayaking magazines. Knorr also published a book in 2018, titled “You Are the Adventure.” He said it means you do not have to climb the highest mountain or paddle in the most remote area — “in every person, there’s a kind of adventurer.”

Knorr is already contemplating where he will go next. People have suggested the Mediterranean, but he likes the cold better. On Mother’s Day, Knorr looked out at the glistening ocean waves. He said he will return to Flensburg just in time for his mom’s 90th birthday.

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.