An Explorer's Journey Into Substack

2023 Okoboji Writers’ Retreat attendees have a moment at the morning rally under the big tent at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.

Cheers to everyone, and Hello to friends, this is David. Life is so interesting and interconnected isn’t it? I first heard of the inaugural Okoboji Writers’ Retreat (OWR) in the summer of 2021. I next read up on the interesting woman named, Julie Gammack, who was launching this ambitious endeavor. I really wanted to go. Unfortunately, life intervened, and there was no OWR for me in 2021. I heard great reviews about the retreat and knew a number of people who attended, so I signed up for the 2022 event to be held at the beautiful Iowa Lakeside Laboratory campus on West Lake Okoboji.

I was so excited about attending the autumn retreat but then my phone rang on Labor Day. It was a Sat phone call from the Northwest Territories and the expedition leader of the National Geographic sailing team attempting the Arctic’s Northwest Passage. I was a consultant for the sailing voyage, but was not planning on sailing. Mark Synnott, a professional climber (now turned sailor) and New York Times bestselling author simply asked, “dude, we’re in trouble up here in the ice; what would it take to get you up here to help us sail the boat safely out of the Arctic?’

The 2022 National Geographic Northwest Passage expedition was the featured story and cover of the August 2023 Magazine.

Needless to say, off I went to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada. Another missed opportunity at the OWR, but the bonus was my mother, Judy, went instead. What a brilliant move that was, as Judy met everyone there and became friends with the fabulous Julie Gammack.

Soon after, I met Julie, and her wonderful husband, Richard (also a sailor). Great folks who I felt I’d known my whole life. I once again signed up, this time for the 2023 OWR. I cannot tell you how exciting, inspiring and fun the retreat was on the Lakeside Lab campus. Incredible and moving experience.

Fast forward to January of 2025. The reason for these new connections in my life are very clear to me now. The Okoboji Writers’ Retreat really brought me back home to my roots, to my beloved Lake Okoboji where it all began for me. The OWR is held at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory where I have learned so much about water quality and conservation over my entire adult life. It’s also where I still meet with the board of the Okoboji Protective Association, educate, lecture and continue to learn about our fragile environment. Essentially, Julie and her Okoboji Writers’ Retreat brought me full circle. She brought me home, and introduced me to a whole new world of creative, thoughtful people.

I wish to thank Julie Gammack (and all the writers) for inspiring me at the 2023 Okoboji Writers’ Retreat to jump back into writing. I’m honored to be joining Substack and the Iowa Writers Collaborative at this time to explore this new, exciting chapter in life.

Author Beth Hoffman (left) and Julie Gammack liven up the early morning crowd at the 2023 Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.

*A short comment on my Substack. All my stories will be free and available to all. If you wish to support and subscribe to my work, I am announcing that all proceeds will be going directly to Friends of Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in support of their work and for hosting the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.

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I’m forty years into my career as an explorer, real-life physical exploration of this great “Blue Marble” we humans call Earth. I’ve done everything from a year on the saddle of a bicycle, riding 10,000-miles solo around the USA and Canada, to sailing on a 400-day scientific expedition circumnavigating the North and South American Continents. Developing my multi-media career in this outdoor niche has been one of life’s great challenges, especially while living in Northwest Iowa!

Throughout my stories and photographs on Substack you will see common themes such as photography, journaling, adventures, conservation and sailing. My long-time home is in the Okoboji lakes area of rural Northwest Iowa. My mother taught me how to sail on the beautiful, blue, glacial waters of West Lake Okoboji. More importantly she also taught me to love, and protect, the water. Okoboji is where I honed my skills as a sailor, photojournalist and environmentalist. I took mom’s lessons, and my skillset, to the extremes and became the first American sailor in history to complete the Arctic’s Northwest Passage in both directions.

My mother was a great sailor and taught me to sail and race at a very young age. I developed a dream to sail around the world and explore the seas and oceans.

David Thoreson at the helm of the sailing vessel Cloud Nine on one of his many polar sailing expeditions.

During my expeditions, I’ve become an eye-witness to planetary climate change, especially in the Arctic. I’ve documented a forty percent loss of ice to our northern polar ice cap in just thirty short years. What I have now learned from working with climate scientists is this; what happens in the Arctic, does not stay in the Arctic. Iowa is now directly in the bullseye of a changing climate. I’ll be writing, storytelling, podcasting and sharing the craziest of adventures all in the hopes of inspiring you to be passionate about conservation and preserving this beautiful planet for future generations.

Thank you for reading and following me on my Substack journey.

The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative

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