Dana Starkell grew up in Winnipeg, Canada, a city known for bitter cold winters and warm summers. From the time he was a young boy, Dana’s life was filled with adventure. His father, Don Starkell had a long history of canoe racing and was always looking to involve his two sons Dana and Jeff in some form of annual expedition.
At age 10, Dana climbed to the top of Mount Rundle with his dad and brother. During their decent from the top, Dana lost his footing in the shale rock, and began to catapult down the narrow incline that stretched thousands of feet above the tree-line. Fortunately Dana’s dad had foreseen this possibility and had given him the good advice to throw out his arms and legs to prevent rolling like a ball. It worked — and saved his life. Dana slid to a stop less than 10 feet from the ledge of a ravine that dropped a few thousand feet to the bottom.
Nearly every summer, the trio would take long canoe trips. Primarily around the lakes of southern Ontario, and a few times in the remote lakes of northern Manitoba. The longest lasted just under a month and was planed specifically to test the food carrying capability of their canoe, physical endurance, and their capacity to be self-sufficient for a month.
A year after completing high school, Dana undertook the now famous two-year canoe trip his father had been planing since Dana was 9 years old. Altogether, they paddled through 13 countries from Winnipeg, to Belem, Brazil and captured the Guinness world record for the longest canoe trip in history. In the course of the journey, Dana cured his asthma and honed his skills as a classical guitarist.
More recently, Dana completed two separate canoe adventures with his dad. The first was from Princeton, Iowa, to Key West, Florida. The second, in 2003 was from New York city harbor to Key Largo, Florida. The later trip was a significant challenge due to constant inspections by coastal officials following the 911 attacks.
Dana now lives in the Quad Cities, Iowa with his wife and son and is in the initial planning stages for a new canoe adventure with his dad.