Don Rasky

Don is a kayaking enthusiast that paddles several hundred to a thousand coastal or channel miles each year. He routinely assists channel swimmers training for English and San Pedro Channel swims. In 2008 he had the privilege of being one of several kayakers on the first successful marathon swim/channel crossing from Santa Rosa Island to Goleta (Coal Oil Point) California for Marc Lewis. For the balance of 2008, Don intends to paddle the San Diego County coastline and over the next several years hopefully all the way to the Canadian border.

Don Rasky's Blog

Don's Story

While I would not attempt to compare myself or my mini adventures to the truly amazing accomplishments of some others on SolLife, you could safely call me an average Joe who decided to turn off the TV and to turn on to as much life as I could both grasp and share. In doing this I learned something of the value in using quality solar products such as are provided by SolLight. I am grateful everyday I use your products that there are still people who choose to make quality gear at a price people can afford. I'm a fortunate and blessed man but by no means a man of leisure so my adventures are somewhat modest. I help and share that adventure where and when I am able including the logging of at least 200 miles of kayaking for swimmers training for personal growth, for charity, for races, and for the crossings of channels such as the San Pedro, Santa Barbara, and the English Channel.

Of the ten years I have been blessed to kayak mostly in Southern California and some in the Great Lake Michigan, I have had the privilege to learn from some truly great spirits about the nature of adventure. I was fortunate once to learn the basic art of kayaking from Ed Gillet who kayaked from Monterey to Maui. From marathon swimmers such as Marc Lewis who completed the first known crossing from Santa Rosa Island to the California coast as a solo swim and from Claudia Rose and David Clark, everything I now treasure about paddling with confidence in the deep sea and in diverse coastal conditions I owe to these great spirits of the water and of life.

My goals for the present are to complete a coastal paddle of the San Diego County coast with eventual progress up the California Coast, and ultimately all the way to the Canadian border - God permitting. Thanks to the many fine spirits and exciting adventures of people I have met along the way and from truly inspiring travels like those listed in SolLife, I am now inspired to seek out new adventures of my own.

For those interested in learning something about marathon swimmers and their adventures or about kayaking in Southern California, I can provide the following links:

Swimming solo into the record books

Swimming for his life

Catalina Channel Swimming Federation

Family Kayak Adventure Center

La Jolla Cove Swim Club