In less than 7 days, Justin DeForest will set out from Hampton Roads, VA to paddle the Intracoastal Waterway to Key West, FL. The route will be broken into 7 sections of about 200 miles each and his plan is to complete each section in approximately one week. The adventure has taken the name Intra-Coastal Expedition (ICE) 2009.

The 35-year-old paddler/adventurer is using the expedition to raise money and awareness for the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. He has dubbed the campaign the ‘Penny Paddle Pledge’. The Penny Paddle idea is simple; pledge a penny for each mile DeForest paddles. The estimated mileage for the trip is 1300 so your total contribution would be $13.00. 100% of all contributions will go to the Foundation.

”The Wildland Firefighter Foundation is an organization I respect and support, and this is my way of showing that,” Deforest said. “By kayaking down the Atlantic coastline I will be able to interact with local communities and spread the word about the foundation. There are very few places in the country not affected by wildfire, be it southern California or the coast of South Carolina.”

These firefighters work long, hard hours fighting forest fires around the country. We have seen recent evidence of this in the media with the fires in southern California. Unfortunately, firefighters are sometimes killed. The Foundation helps the families of deceased and injured firefighters.

While working in the field as an explosives detection diver, DeForest was exposed to a virus that caused an autoimmune deficiency in his body that doctors cannot explain. After contracting the disease, he suffered from fevers, rashes, and an inflammation and deterioration of his joints. The virus is essentially eating his joints and cartilage, and as a result, the medical condition drastically altered his life, forcing him to take daily injections in order to function normally.

We will continue to follow Justin on his adventure and post updates to his adventure along the route.