Support Deer Isle Gumption with a $10, 25 or $100 donation, and i will give you a store credit for half of that amount. (NOTE: You must order under your account to get a store credit, not as a guest. Next time you order, it will show up at checkout--ready to use.)
Here's the story. . . .We are honoring gumption by supporting our neighbor, Henry Penfold, in his upcoming circumnavigation of Baffin Island (Canada's biggest island). This wild-seeking, adventure-bagging kid graduates from Bowdoin College in May, 2026 then sets out, with his friend Caleb to hike, ski and paddle around Baffin Island (Canada's largest) in the ensuing five months. About 2,300 miles! Each leg shown on the map represents hundreds of miles and weeks of of very remote travel. They "practiced" by trekking the Greenland coast last summer, as pictured here.
Henry has been exhibiting this kind of gumption all his life. As a boy, he slept in the back yard all year long. (Remember, we are in Maine....). As risk-flaunting boys, he and his brothers rode their bikes all over the island, preferring the woods or winter sea ice to trails or roads. As an incoming Bowdoin freshman, Henry chose not to arrive in the family station wagon, but to row a skiff from Pickering Cove (across from his house), down the coast to Bowdoin's Coastal Studies Center, arriving just in time for the welcome lobster bake. The solo trip took about 4 days, covering 25 miles a day, camping at night on whatever island was at hand.
Nervous Nellie's is helping to sponsor Henry's trip and I hope you are inspired to support this kind of island-grown gumption, too. The world needs more young people who are willing to go to the edges, challenge themselves and show us all what full bore gumption can do. I can't wait to see what this fellow is doing in 10 or 20 years, and I'm sure I will be glad to have nourished his wild spirit.
In addition to a store credit, Gumption supporters will receive periodic updates from the trip. Serious armchair travel opportunity!
