Paddling South: Winnipeg to New Orleans by Canoe

ISBN 13: 978-1-897126-23-3
136 pages, paperback
Fall 2007

Non-Fiction

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about this book

In the Fall of 1969, Rick Ranson and John Van Landeghem, both barely out of high school, took on the might of the Red and Mississippi Rivers to paddle a canoe from Winnipeg, Manitoba, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Combining high drama with hilarity, Ranson tells how the duo ducked bullets in St. Louis, avoided a whirlpool, worked on a Mississippi tow boat, sailed a yacht through a barge-congested Cairo, IL, and spent a few days in the Fargo City Jail, all while meeting an eclectic array of unforgettable characters. Paddling South tells the incredible tale of how they survived the three month trip on the often treacherous rivers, beset by snow storms, hurricanes, monstrous waves, and unseen dams.

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reviews

"His story is incredibly intriguing and entertaining, filled with plenty of entertaining character. A solid and hilarious story about two friends right out of high school, "Paddling South" is one of the most entertaining memoirs one could find."  —Midwest Book Review

awards

Shortlisted for the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction at the Manitoba Book Awards