Kickstarter

My goal is to document Lake Superior through the use of field recordings, photography, writing, video, and music written during my 4-6 month long sail boat journey. I'll be using my sailboat and dingy to sneak into small coves, my climbing gear to get footage from treetops, an underwater camera, a weather balloon with a camera attached for that true birds eye view.  I'll be recording the sounds of storms, birds and moose, ice, industry, and interviewing people. I'll be keeping journal entries, and writing a book about my journey afterwards. I'll be writing and recording music in natural amphitheatres and unique places, recording songs during storms, and among wildlife. After the trip, each medium of documentation will be available separately, as a package, and all together during live presentations.

If your new to Kickstarter, you should know that if I don't make the $1,000 goal, I won't get any of the the funding, and the money you pledge is returned to you. Even if I don't get the funding I'm asking, I'm still going to undertake this project, but the whole thing will be a lot easier with your help.

It's an ambitious goal, I agree, but it has been on my mind for many years. I've slowly been working my way up to this project, in order to ensure it's success, and in order to best represent the massive subject of Lake Superior.

A few years ago I completed my project "Lake Sounds vol. I". After two years of planning and training, I went out for a week long expedition, by bicycle, on the frozen surface of Lake Superior. My goal was to record the sounds of the lakes shifting ice. It was freezing cold, it was beautiful, and the project was a success. During that trip, I started to consider new ways of documenting Lake Superior in it's entirety, in a new and interesting way; a way that might capture other peoples attention and imagination, and get them thinking about our Great Lakes a little more. 

So, after that trip I went out and found a sail boat for cheap. Myself and a friend put a ton of work into it, and when spring came around I moved on board full time. My boat "Voyageur" is twenty feet long with a little cabin, a tiny woodstove, a solar panel, and not much else. I've lived aboard ever since. I've been sailing every day in almost all conditions, taking many multi day to week long solo trips, learning to be sustainable, learning to repair my boat at sea, learning to capture great audio recordings, writing music aboard, and learning how to capture great video and photos, all in preparation for the journey ahead; all while keeping a day job, living on a shoestring budget, and all with the help and inspiration of my friends.

Funding for this project goes towards the production of:

-  A 2 cd set of field recordings

- An album of music written and recorded during the journey

- A book about the journey

- A short film combining the field recordings, music, writing, photo, with live narrations, and video from the journey.

- A live representation of the short film (regional), aka the use of a projector and live musicians.

Q: How could you do all this on $1,000?

A: I'm thrifty and creative, and a large portion of the funding is coming out of my own pocket.

Your help is greatly appreciated, and the fruits of your pledge will be viewed and appreciated by generations to come.

Thanks,

 Marlin Ledin (Small Boat Voyageur)

For backers from outside the U.S.A. please add $5 us to the amount you pledge, in order to cover the extra shipping costs towards your gift.

To understand more about the Great Lakes visit: http://www.greatlakesliteracy.net/