Vail – Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt were kicking around a dream for the ultimate kayak road trip one day last year. The two professional paddlers who have kayaked the world’s biggest whitewater and logged dozens of first descents imagined a trek from Alaska to Chile.
Make it last a year, the dream went. Explore unpaddled rivers. Chase summer from north to south. Kayak every day.
It’s not an uncommon fantasy among kayakers. But Warren, 28, and Bradt, 19, have transformed every paddler’s pipe dream into reality.
The first step was to push their hedonistic paddle jones to the back of the line. In its stead, the two found an altruistic goal, something that would attract sponsors while doing some good in the world. The dream was made real with a 1960s-era Japanese firetruck, which, after several months of unique engineering, runs on vegetable oil and biodiesel.
“We have some big issues with what’s going on with energy in our world and we thought, ‘Why not show people how simple it is and how it’s possible to run different types of fuel through an engine?’ We think the future should include many types of fuel, and this is a way to show people there is a choice in how they spend their energy dollars,” said Warren, a whitewater pioneer from Montana.
“Plus, we get to do an endless summer kayak tour across two continents,” he said. “Did you know it’s possible to travel from Alaska to Chile and stay in the optimal paddling season the entire time?”
The pair found the Toyota fire engine in Canada. They worked with the Environmental Protection Agency to get it permitted in the U.S. as an alternative energy rig. The platform-topped truck spent months in Sandpoint, Idaho, where two engineers installed a vegetable oil-powered press that grinds seeds into fuel, tanks to hold oil and diesel fuel, a suite for living and all the accoutrements of the world’s sharpest shuttle wagon.
“It’s the coolest rig I’ve ever driven, for sure,” said the shaggy-topped Bradt, who started paddling a decade ago and ranks as one of the world’s best kayakers despite not being 20 yet. “You’re going slower, but it’s two times as much fun. And it sends a good message, you know, showing people how cool it is to step away from the mold and think in a different way.”
The duo has begun a 50-stop tour across the country. At each stop they meet with locals and students, preaching the value of alternative fuels and showing off their truck, which runs on both pure vegetable oil and a blend of oil and diesel, or biodiesel.
They have created the Biofuels Education Coalition, which promotes using locally grown crops to fuel any easily converted diesel engine. The idea is to inspire kids to see used cooking oil and seeds as renewable and sustainable energy alternatives to fossil fuel.
On June 16, they will end the U.S. tour in Seattle and drive up to Alaska to begin their 16,000-mile trip. After a year, they plan to ferry their ride over to Australia and New Zealand. Then southern Asia. Africa. Europe. The former Soviet Union. Warren and Bradt figure they can paddle the world in six jaunts over the next 10 years. If all goes well, they will power their trip with oil from their fish- and-chips and locally harvested crops.
Bradt and Warren are not the first paddlers to tap their success on water as a vehicle to promote something beyond themselves. Pro kayaker Brad Ludden used his paddling prowess to create First Descents, a kayak camp for kids fighting cancer.
“Someone once told me that success unshared is failure,” Ludden said during Warren’s and Bradt’s first stop in Vail on their U.S. promotional tour. “It’s nice to see someone step up and do more with their talents. These guys have a responsibility to use their success to cause some change. Using the sport for change, it needs to happen.”
Learn more — Check out www.oilandwaterproject.com for more information.
Staff writer Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
