British adventurer Ben Kilner ‘on a mission to inspire’ a generation ‘to make, restore & explore,’ is known for hitting the waters in his self-made, inspiring pedal boats. He navigated the length of the River Thames on his homebuilt canoe in 2022, and for this year, he has gone one up. He pedaled his upgraded version of his amphibious vehicle – part boat part trike – across the width of Scotland and rode it back on land to the point where he started.
The canoe Kilner made for the first water expedition comprised a pedal-propulsion system in the rear that mimicked a duck’s feet to effectively allow the boat to maneuver the waters. The new amphibious creation, called the Wee Han, retains this duck-foot pedal approach but brings it further up to the middle – one on either side – from the rear and attaches bike aesthetics to the canoe to make it one successful way to explore the land and water.
Designer: Ben Kilner
Wee Han which made the incredible journey possible is made of a wooden frame with a nylon skin canoe holding it firm. It features a 24-speed drivetrain and transitions seamlessly from paddling on the water to cycling with bike wheels for land travel. For the latter, it features a tricycle platform made from parts of a go-cart and BMX.
Kilner duck-paddled the Wee Han from Fort William on the west coast of Scotland to the east coast through the 97 km long Great Glen Canoe Trail. On the way back, he peddled his amphibious canoe 126 km back to Fort William on land, completing 222 km of travel on water and land in one crafted vehicle. The entire trip – one way on water and the other side on land – took Kilner about 10 days. He camped the entire time and had himself and his supplies on board include food he prepared on the way.
Besides being an eventful journey filled with hiccups, breakdowns and treacherous times both on water and land, this was a fundraising effort from Kilner. The cross-Scotland trip was meant to raise aid for A Leg to Stand up: a not-for-profit organization working toward providing prosthetic limbs to children with mobility issues in developing countries. The impact of Kilner was such throughout that he was able to raise upward of $4,800 in charity through his sponsors.
