Jeff Wueste and I raced in the 34-mile Texas River Marathon yesterday. It’s the official preliminary race for the 260-mile Texas Water Safari and the results determine your team’s [...]

  There is a lot more involved with canoe/kayak racing and expeditions than training up, getting the right gear and hitting the water. Many outside of our communities know little or nothing [...]

Training on the river Livenza near my home in Sacile, Italy is going well. This river reminds me a little bit of the San Marcos River in Texas minus the swift current, all the rapids, and the [...]

Many people are all too familiar with the situation whereupon a huge crush they’ve fostered for some extremely attractive hunkahunkaburninlove turns out to be about as lively and exciting [...]

I imagine I may be one of a thousand reviewers comparing Daniel Mason’s “The Winter Soldier” to E. Hemingway’s works, so I won’t linger on that aspect of the novel [...]

So, Andrew Jordan at Templar Knives in the Netherlands, donated some pretty incredible stainless steel planet killers for the expedition members to take through the Northwest Passage. I mean, [...]

Lots and lots of money is never a substitute for due diligence when it comes to exploration and adventure.

I’m friends with John Burnett and also contributed towards an upcoming on-air news story for which he interviewed me and others affected by the current divides in the US, specifically [...]

The action is non-stop and the depths of inhumanity are quite horrible around each corner, as a psychotic crewman wreaks havoc upon anyone crossing his path.

The manhunt froze the Texas capital city in terror even as law enforcement officers and hired detectives sought clues.

These are some of the books I've read about the Northwest Passage and previous attempts to kayak and row the routes.

The Arctic Cowboys, a crew of Texas-based paddlers who will attempt to kayak the Northwest Passage this summer, have added a fourth athlete to their team – 31-year-old Rebekah Feaster.

It’s been little over eight years since Jeff Wueste, Ian Rolls and I stumbled onto a white sand beach that shared the Atlantic Ocean and the Amazon River; amidst 30-foot rollers and heavy [...]

On a warm fall afternoon, West Hansen glides a sleek, narrow racing canoe beneath a row of towering cypress trees on the San Marcos River. He dips in a paddle, steers nimbly around a partially [...]

West Hansen wriggled into a dry suit Monday, squeezing his head and wrists through tight gaskets designed to keep out water, then snapped a neoprene spray skirt into place before climbing into [...]

The 3rd Coast Cowboys Epic Kayak Journey will launch this Wednesday, May 20th from Boca Chica at the Mexican border and paddle Epic 18x kayaks 370 miles along the entire Texas coastline to the [...]

West Hansen pulled his kayak up the boat ramp at Walter Umphrey State Park in Port Arthur at about 5 p.m. Monday, stepped around a dead fish and greeted the small crowd of family members gathered [...]

After sleeping near the ferry landing on Boliver Peninsula, the team got started around 7:30 am. They stopped roughly every 10 miles, taking a break from the strong headwinds they’ve experienced [...]

They are inching closer to Sabine Pass every day. Today, found the team facing 10-13 mph headwinds all the way along Galveston Island. It certainly made for slow going.

The team got a little bit of a late start this morning. Unfortunately, the mud got the better of the truck and Pam was stuck. They guys attempted to push her out but the mud won. She eventually [...]

It seems as if the team has gotten into a productive rhythm each day. They are getting on the water usually around 7:00 am paddling until about 6:00 pm. Oftenttimes, they grab lunch, on the go.

The team paddled a nice 41.6 miles today, almost getting to Matagorda. They made a quick stop in Port O’Connor and met up with Jason Jones and David Kaiser to reload on water. While leaving Port [...]

The team left Rockport this morning with calm winds and smooth waters…finally. Today, they paddled by the Aransas Pass Wildlife Refuge. It was described as beautiful, void of trash and lush. It [...]

After my previous blog regarding the overnight rain, the team took their time packing up camp to head into Rockport, Tx paddling 13.4 miles on smooth-as-glass water with zero wind. As they [...]

As the team was setting up for the evening, I informed them of impending storms brewing. Preparing for the 3rd Coast Epic Kayak journey, they were aware this could happen, probably would happen [...]

The team paddled 35.2 miles today. That puts them at 156.7 miles with 231.3 to go. This morning, Tim Curry decided to pack it up and head home. The team enjoyed him on the ride and most certainly [...]

The team got an earlier start this morning, as planned. As with all expeditions, it may take a couple of days to find your groove and this one is no different. The team plans to start early each [...]

The team ready to depart at Port Mansfield, Tx.

Camp at Baffin Bay and Bird Island

After a glitch or two the first couple of days, the team made a decision that helped move them farther up the coast today then in previous days. Leaving Port Mansfield through the cut vs paddling [...]

The team left this morning a few minutes before 9:00 am. The winds were strong, creating swells 4-5 feet. As with the rest of West and Jeff’s expeditions, systems are in place for safety, [...]

The team started at 1:00 pm from South Padre Island. The plan was to begin from Boca Chica State Park but, due to the road being closed, they were unable to get there. Apparently, there was an [...]

3rd Coast Cowboys Epic Kayak Journey paddlers round the jetties at the southern end of South Padre Island on their way north to Sabine Pass on the Louisiana border.

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 20, sometime after NOON, the 5 Texans will head out from Boca Chica State Park heading north along the coast of Texas to Sabine Pass. This float trip is about 370 miles by [...]

During the North American summer of 2021, West Hansen, Jeff Wueste and Jimmy Harvey (aka: The Arctic Cowboys) will kayak the entire 1900 miles of Northwest Passage, which lies from one end of the [...]

In 2012, Texan West Hansen led a paddling expedition down the Amazon River, following it from an icy trickle high in the Peruvian Andes to its wide and rushing terminus at the Atlantic Ocean in [...]

What defines the "source" of any river or stream has been the at the heart of many very infamous expedition controversies. Most renowned was the disagreement between Richard Burton and John [...]

West Hansen has paddled the entire Amazon River and all of the Volga River, but today he’s plowing through the surf at Padre Island National Seashore, and things look like they’re not going so well.

The book release party/signing/reading will be held in Austin, Texas, USA at the Zilker Park Clubhouse at 200 Arnulfo Alonso Way, Austin, TX 78704

Seven years after he paddled 4,225 miles down the Amazon River, where he encountered pink dolphins, swirling rapids and floating bales of marijuana, West Hansen is gearing up to lead the first [...]

The dangers along the Amazon River do not just come from the tough terrain, isolated landscapes, and fearsome wildlife. They come from the people in the area; pirates, drug barons, and gangs [...]

Peeled Faces On The Amazon: The Story of the Amazon Express In 2012, an international group of explorers, led by Texan, West Hansen, launched an expedition from the newly discovered most distant [...]

Bandits and drug traffickers are among the dangers lurking on a newly disovered stretch of the Amazon that may make it the world's longest river, an adventure recounted in the documentary "Peeled [...]

West Hansen leads the first ever attempt to paddle the entire Amazon River from a newly proposed source—but not without facing the wrath of Mother Nature and gun­-toting locals.

The origin of the world's largest river—by volume—has been surprisingly hard to pin down. Explorers and scientists have argued over where to locate the start of the Amazon River since at least [...]

Two men from Austin, Texas, West Hansen and Jeff Wueste, are paddling the Volga River, Europe’s longest river, from its source in the Valdai Hills of Russia to the Caspian Sea, a distance of 2300 [...]

Two men from Austin, Texas, West Hansen and Jeff Wueste, are paddling the Volga River, Europe’s longest river, from its source in the Valdai Hills of Russia to the Caspian Sea, a distance of 2300 [...]

You've seen the black and white stickers on the backs of cars—13.1, 26.2, 140.6. If you live in the world of endurance racing, you instantly recognize those distances, but did you know there's a [...]