Well, what a pleasant surprise to not only see that we’ve reached the goal, but actually surpassed it! I really had no idea this would work out so well. Using Kickstarter was an afterthought to the project, and I practically had to be talked into using it!

You pledging means so much to me! Since I started developing this idea a couple of years ago, I haven’t shared it with anyone but a few close friends. So that’s where all the encouragement was coming from. Now I can see that you also think it is a good idea, and that is one of the most important things so far. I had planned on doing this trip and making the documentary based solely on the want to do so. No sponsors, no grants, no news papers, no making a big stink out of it all. The idea is to document Lake Superior and it’s communities, wildlife, coves, cliffs, weather, and little things that you might not notice if you didn’t grow up near the lake, or spend a lot of time on it. I’m not setting out to document “one man’s arduous journey around the worlds largest body of freshwater, man versus sea, insert nautical jargon here”.

I am just the middleman, and a sailboat is my transport.

I‘m not trying to get into any film festivals, make a name for myself, or get good reviews. Those things don’t mean squat out on the water. This is for public TV stations, public radio stations, libraries, schools (Canadian too), people who have never been to the other side of the lake, armchair adventurers, long winters, people a world away, people without the time to get out there. It’s for the lakeside communities on all the Great Lakes. It’s for people to remember why they love Lake Superior, to discover new reasons, and to better understand why the Great Lakes are so important to us all. You are helping with this.

And with what I just wrote in mind, I guess the documenting of “Lake Superior and it’s Communities” starts here, now, with you. Amazing…

Now that the goal has been reached, with 54 days to go, we might as well keep going with it. More funding just means a better project: higher quality, and a more easily accessible end result (lower cost for the public). The $100+ backer reward is limited to ten, and there are only five left. I’ve also added a new backer reward limited to 4, for pledges of $500 or more. A beautiful handmade piece of art, a steel and copper Lake Superior mounted on a piece of cedar. It’s a joint effort between myself and local sailor/ metal artist Jesse Woodward, much like the piece that is mounted on the door of my boat (see update #1).

If you have any questions, ideas, or whatever, just send me a message.

I don’t know what else to say but Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Cheers,

Marlin Ledin