Robert Youens, an intrepid 71 year old cancer survivor, is in the next to last leg of a daunting journey of 6.000 miles. A journey that took him through the Starved Rock Lock and Dam at Utica Monday.
After being declared in remission from stage 2 thyroid cancer, Youens decided to take on the “Great Loop”, a 6,000 mile trek beginning in Pensacola, Florida, traversing the intracoastal waterways up the Atlantic Coast, through the Great Lakes, down the Illinois River and the Mississippi to the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. Youens is making this trip in a 16 foot Jon boat. He left Pensacola July 19 in an attempt to break the record for the Great Loop in a Jon boat of 19 days, 19 hours.
When asked what inspires him, he stated that he’s choosing to live the rest of his life as if he were sliding into home plate. He also stated that that he was grateful to complete the Great Lakes leg after dealing with large waves and bad weather…