Left: Amy and Dave’s sailboat named “Discovery” enjoying the tropical waters of the Exumas earlier this year. The Freemans set out last fall from the nearby Knife River and have sailed to the Bahamas while working on a new book about their North American Odyssey. Above: The Freemans set out last fall from the nearby Knife River and have sailed to the Bahamas while working on a new book about their North American Odyssey. Here, Amy Freeman works on kneading a few loaves of bread inside the sailboat, which will be baked using the power of the sun, and her laughter. Photos courtesy of Dave and Amy Freeman
Adding another unique way of living and moving to their repertoire, Dave and Amy Freeman have spent the last eight months puttering south on their sailboat named “Discovery.” Last August they left the Knife River Marina and by way of the Great Lakes sailed east to New York City. Now some 3,000 miles away, Dave and Amy are riding out pouring rain and 40-knot gusts on their sailboat in a tiny harbor in the Bahamas.
It wasn’t too long ago that the local Cook County duo garnished national attention after setting out on a yearlong adventure advocacy expedition to protect the Boundary Waters from proposed sulfide-ore copper mining in 2015- 2016. The project culminated in a book about their seasonal experiences living in canoe country called, “A Year in the Wilderness.”
For folks having a hard time keeping up with the intriguing couple, the Freemans are currently working on writing another book about an expedition they completed in 2013. Dave says the idea to sail and simultaneously write a book began in the Grand Marais harbor.
“We had lived on a 27-foot sailboat in the Grand Marais harbor for three summers and always wondered what it would be like to throw off the dock lines and head out to the ocean, so in August [2018] we did just that.”
“We are writing a book about a three-year, 11,700- mile journey by canoe, kayak, and dogsled which we completed in April of 2013 called the North American Odyssey. It was a life-changing journey on many levels. It really laid the foundation, which led to spending a year in the Boundary Waters and writing, ‘A Year in the Wilderness.’ As we prepared to write this [new] book we realized that we could write it from anywhere.”
The Freemans’ road to the Atlantic on a sailboat, which started in nearby Lake County last fall, crossed Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Following the big lakes, Amy and Dave motored down the Erie Canal and Hudson River to reach the ocean. While working their way down the East Coast, the Freemans slowly slipped into a community of seasonal wanderers heading south by boat for the winter.
“There is something special about having a tiny home with a view that changes often. I can’t remember when we showered last or had something cold to drink. And when the wind picks up our home rocks and creaks, but when we are tired of this place we will just haul in the anchor and move on.”
With life’s complexities distilled down to a sailboat, the Freemans are taking time to recharge, focus on their book project, and live day-to-day. Often this requires hauling fresh water, utilizing solar power, baking bread, and exploring the nearby coves and inlets by inflatable kayak. Their ultimate plan is to leave the Bahamas in April or May and sail north to Maine and then onward up the East Coast of Canada for the summer.
Although they probably won’t return to Cook County until late fall, Dave and Amy miss the portage trails, paddling on wilderness lakes, looking out over Lake Superior, and the whole bulk section of the co-op.
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