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[00:00:00.00] A starry sky at dusk.

[00:00:01.50] Text, L L Bean presents

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[00:00:02.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:00:03.50] Campers in tents shine a flashlight on a map.

[00:00:10.38] Text, A No Umbrella Media film

(SPEECH)

[00:00:14.50] Trying to figure out where we're bad and where we're going.

[00:00:16.36] How many miles, Mike?

[00:00:17.44] 21.

[00:00:18.28] 21.

[00:00:19.12] 21.

[00:00:19.44] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:00:23.57] Mike Perry

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[00:00:25.00] We've gone 3,080 miles up to this point, 120 to go. So be about 3,200 miles.

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[00:00:30.28] Ben Pearson

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[00:00:31.42] We average about 3 and 1/2 miles an hour. And it's 60 strokes a minute. And we've covered a little over 3,200 miles, so it was 3,256,000 pedal strokes to get where we're going.

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[00:00:45.28] Charlie Woodworth

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[00:00:46.45] The route is a circumnavigation of New England via the Canadian Maritimes. I don't think it is anyone's intention to be the first to do it. It was just, hey, this is a fun adventure. Let's just keep it going.

[00:00:59.47] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:00:59.77] Tom Armstrong

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[00:01:01.54] We literally did this a week a year across 32 years.

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[00:01:06.91] They paddle kayaks.

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[00:01:08.32] I think we were all in our mid 20s, early 20s when we started doing these trips. We've all, in many respects, grown up together.

[00:01:16.30] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:01:18.12] Title, One Week at a Time

[00:01:19.95] They kayak in sun dappled water with a city skyline behind them.

[00:01:23.55] Freeport, Maine

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[00:01:25.00] One thing a little convoluted about this whole adventure is that we were going to New York City, but we went that way to get to New York City. And unfortunately, New York's that way. So 3,200 miles literally that direction and up around to end up down there 300 miles from here. So it's really cool to think that when we started here, we ended up in New York City but we went the wrong direction over 32 years.

[00:01:47.70] [LAUGHTER]

[00:01:49.80] And that's a typical Mike Perry trip.

[00:01:51.11] [LAUGHTER]

[00:01:51.36] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:01:55.26] A man secures a gauge to the top of a kayak with straps.

[00:01:58.84] He wraps a pad around a paddle before climbing into the kayak.

[00:02:03.05] From underwater, the kayak glides over the surface.

[00:02:06.64] A 1983 photo shows them on a shore in Castine Maine

(SPEECH)

[00:02:09.88] Well so the four of us all grew up as outdoorsmen but came from different lenses, if you will.

[00:02:16.54] We had started out as skiers and mountaineers and whitewater a little bit, but the ocean was new to all of us.

[00:02:24.04] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:02:24.04] Photos show them in kayaks in 1983.

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[00:02:29.21] Tom had a boat and asked me if I would be interested in paddling. We paddled a shoreline that I grew up on. I saw more of that coastline in three-hour afternoon than I'd seen in a childhood.

[00:02:43.07] Individually, we've done most of the Maine coastline. But then, you thought, well, we've done all the Maine Coast now. It would be fun to see the New England coastline.

[00:02:51.10] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:02:51.70] Photos show a lighthouse, kayaks and tents on a rocky beach, then baking clams on the beach.

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[00:02:57.71] It's like, golly, we don't want this to end. So when the winter time, looking at the maps like this, thinking, well, it'd be really cool to explore Minas Basin and the Bay of Fundy, highest tides on the Earth.

[00:03:10.67] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:03:10.67] Text, Bay of Fundy 2118 miles to go.

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[00:03:14.29] Had to be Mike's idea because he loves to circumnavigate things. He figured out a route where we could go Coast of Maine, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Gaspé up the Saint Lawrence.

[00:03:27.06] We can go down the Saint Lawrence River. And I wonder if you can get from Montreal to Lake Champlain, so we looked into it and there's a canal system.

[00:03:34.17] Down Lake Champlain, it or another canal system that goes to the Hudson River and then the Hudson River back down to the Statue of Liberty.

[00:03:41.46] Very deliberate a week at a time, because we were young families. Like I said, and no one had that flexibility with work. You wouldn't want to take a month off, and well, sorry, dear, that's two years worth of vacation.

[00:03:53.90] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:03:54.30] They pose for a thumbs up photo.

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[00:03:56.68] I'm sure I speak for the rest of the guys too. But when you've got a young family, you miss them. And even if it's only a week you're out there, you're thinking of them.

[00:04:05.44] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:04:05.44] A campsite video plays.

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[00:04:08.01] 30 miles today. 31.

[00:04:10.47] 31 miles?

[00:04:11.40] 31 miles round up. But it's been weather like this. Following breeze. Pretty nice. So we're swatting, a little butter.

[00:04:18.99] Cut, cut, cut, Charlie, supposed to make this sound like it's a hard trip. That was unbelievable out there. There were waves this high. It was dangerous out there. This is not for just anybody to do. Well, I got to tell you, when we get home, our wives should feel sorry for us.

[00:04:33.98] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:04:33.98] The four of them outfit their kayaks on the shore.

[00:04:37.16] A map lays unfolded on a seat with calipers next to it.

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[00:04:41.08] There are a lot of people who go on these outdoor trips, and they're looking for a story. They're looking for some drama. We're not in to be heroes. We're not in to conquer the elements. We're there to visit a stretch of coast and spend time together.

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[00:04:58.70] They paddle next to a rocky shore.

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[00:05:01.01] We've had moments where it's just like, what are we doing out here? I mean, this is crazy. We're wet. We're cold. We're hungry. The bugs are biting. The campsite sucks. There's nothing enjoyable about this moment.

[00:05:18.29] These guys wimped out, didn't want a paddle today. Cause they're getting old or something.

[00:05:25.28] If we can't find anything good out of the situation we're in, we find the good amongst each other.

[00:05:32.08] Oh, look at this. This is beautiful.

[00:05:35.22] Beautiful Coast.

[00:05:38.47] Now that looks like the Maine Coast, doesn't it?

[00:05:40.84] Sure does.

[00:05:41.32] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:05:44.36] Do you want to go around the ledge or inside?

[00:05:47.59] We're going to split them.

[00:05:48.49] Split them? OK.

[00:05:49.87] There's some stuff in there, but just don't hit it. My sage advice.

[00:05:54.41] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:05:56.23] They paddle at sunset as waves crash on rocks.

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[00:05:59.55] We're guys, so we don't like start out with that or anything. But we definitely have our little moments where we come by and you go, how's this going? And little chat. And you know you're going to get somebody that is going to listen and be empathetic and not necessarily tell you what to do but just listen and go, all right, yeah.

[00:06:19.35] And they can't paddle away.

[00:06:21.36] Fast enough.

[00:06:22.05] [LAUGHTER]

[00:06:22.52] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:06:23.94] From above, they continue toward a sandy shore.

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[00:06:29.60] I have you swell bucket.

[00:06:31.24] Wow.

[00:06:31.59] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:06:31.59] One of them stirs a red sauce over a fire.

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[00:06:35.12] I think it gives us all a perspective on the rest of our lives. You got to be flexible when you're on an outdoor trip because that's how life is, changes, and you got to flex with it, and sometimes you got to just grind it out.

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[00:06:48.56] Trees dot the shoreline.

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[00:06:50.12] This is humbling. It makes you feel so small as a person that we're not in control of this. And I think human beings need to realize that they're not in control. It's just extremely humbling to be outdoors.

[00:07:01.97] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:07:03.36] The tips of their kayaks bob up and down while they paddle with the shoreline behind them.

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[00:07:09.45] What's the longest crossing we've done? Was it Shore Bay?

[00:07:13.50] I think it was.

[00:07:14.43] 18.

[00:07:14.85] Was that 18?

[00:07:15.30] Yeah.

[00:07:16.35] Remember, we did it because we had a tailwind we figured we could save an hour, because we had the small craft warnings all morning.

[00:07:22.29] You're right. It did start out with a tailwind, but we got halfway across, it was dead calm.

[00:07:26.02] Yeah.

[00:07:26.33] Yeah.

[00:07:26.97] Did we have a whale?

[00:07:27.51] Yeah. We had a humpback whale. Maybe it was dead calm where you were-- we were a long ways ahead of you. It was quite rough.

[00:07:32.04] [LAUGHTER]

[00:07:33.15] John was keeping me--

[00:07:34.04] Crazy. I think I see a speck.

[00:07:37.47] You guys had the tent set up, I think the stove going.

[00:07:41.16] Dinner was served upon arrival.

[00:07:42.84] Right. We were just waiting for the--

[00:07:44.67] But has never been that square in my life.

[00:07:46.63] Oh, god. Never wanted to get out of the boat so bad.

[00:07:50.09] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:07:54.30] Waves crash onto rocks, spraying white mist.

(SPEECH)

[00:07:57.43] As you go along through the curve of life, it shifts to the camaraderie of great friends. And then it evolves to-- I want to take care of these special places and support organizations that do this so well.

[00:08:14.58] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:08:16.41] From above, pine trees cover rocky inlets over water that stretches to the horizon.

[00:08:22.29] Then fall foliage stands along the shore with a rocky precipice behind it.

[00:08:26.87] Text, Hudson River, New York, 20 miles to go

(SPEECH)

[00:08:31.88] This whole thing is going to blow my mind when I realize that 32 years has gone by, because it's been a flash.

[00:08:37.64] And it's so exciting that this ends it in one of the greatest cities in the world.

[00:08:42.44] [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[00:08:42.44] The Manhattan skyline appears.

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[00:08:44.93] You can be going to paradise, but it's not paradise unless you're with quality people.

[00:08:49.81] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:08:51.53] They pose with their kayaks side by side, grinning with Manhattan behind them.

[00:08:55.74] A map shows the New York coastline.

[00:08:59.84] The four of them paddle steadily as the city gets closer.

[00:09:04.62] The Statue of Liberty appears in the distance.

(SPEECH)

[00:09:07.20] Well what do you say we close the loop here?

[00:09:09.57] Oh, my gosh. We can't have that. I mean, this thing has an end to it?

[00:09:13.56] [LAUGHTER]

[00:09:14.06] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:09:14.06] They pass a sailboat as they approach Ellis Island.

(SPEECH)

[00:09:17.53] All right. Paddles up.

[00:09:20.29] Woo!

[00:09:21.64] Good job, boys.

[00:09:22.66] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:09:22.66] They pose with paddles raised, the Statute of Liberty behind them.

(SPEECH)

[00:09:26.06] [CHANTING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:09:28.01] They pop the cork on a bottle of champagne.

[00:09:31.89] From above, the shoreline of Manhattan, then a remote coastline covered with trees.

(SPEECH)

[00:09:38.70] From the remote Wildes of the Canadian Maritimes to Manhattan, the contrast was very visible, very, very palatable. To be able to keep going and go to totally different places with these guys is exciting.

[00:09:55.97] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:09:59.59] From above, the four kayakers in deep blue water.

(SPEECH)

[00:10:03.26] People often ask, after the journey, what's next? Well, we'll pour over those maps this winter. We'll come up with something. The journey is not over, just the circumnavigation of New England.

[00:10:13.31] [MUSIC PLAYING]

(DESCRIPTION)

[00:10:14.21] He grins. The sun glistens on the water as the four of them paddle steadily along a rocky shore.

[00:10:20.05] Credits, Executive Producer, L L Bean

[00:10:25.01] Video Production by No Umbrella Media

[00:10:32.21] Starring, Michael Perry, Tom Armstrong, Ben Pearson, Charlie Woodworth

[00:10:37.91] Director of Photography Nick Bowie, Producer Nick Callanan, Co Producers Lincoln Benedict, Nick Bowie, Directed by Nick Bowie, Nick Callanan, Edited by Nick Bowie

[00:10:48.11] Thanks to the following support vessels, Launch 5 Patrolman Henry A Walburger, NY P D, Greg Porteus, Captain, Island Services, Jeff Audet, captain

[00:10:58.79] The kayakers would like to thank their families for their love and support. Also, the shuttle drivers, boatmen, and all the kind souls who helped on this 32-year journey.

[00:11:09.11] Logo, L L Bean

[00:11:11.66] Be an Outsider