- Is it dangerous?
- One definite danger of spending 2 months in kayak is that your arms end up bigger than your legs, which looks ridiculous. Other than that, you can’t predict the elements, nor describe the wonder of spending so much time on the ocean.
- Where will you sleep?
- I managed to convince an American friend that I’ll be taking a lilo with me and at night I inflate it, chuck it overboard and spend the night bobbing around. They’re very concerned about sharks and shipping channels. For the less gullible, I’ll be pulling in to beaches every night, sometimes remote and sometimes in coastal towns. Most nights I’ll be met by my land support crew.
- How far will you paddle in a day ?
- In perfect conditions, like with a nice stiff northerly breeze, following swell, and a pod of dolphins towing me, I could do 80k in a day. Other days where I’m fighting into headwinds and swells, I’ll be lucky to make 25k. I’ll paddle 8 – 10 hours a day (just like a normal job really) and try to average 40kms. The Bass Strait is another kettle of fish altogether.
- How do you cross the Strait?
- Its approximately 250 kilometers between the mainland and Tasmania. Luckily, there are a few islands along the way. The longest stretch between islands is 63km, a long day of paddling out in the open ocean. There are several other 50+km legs . The Strait is notorious for its wild weather, so I’ll wake up at 5am every morning to judge whether its safe to try for the next island. There’s a very good chance that I’ll be stuck out in the middle of the Strait waiting for wild seas to subside, so crossing the Strait could take anywhere from 5 to 12 days. Taking lots of extra bikkies!!.
- Has anyone ever kayaked across the Strait before?
- Yes they have…..
- Here’s a description of a very well planned trip that went perfectly…almost.. http://members.iinet.net.au/~lford1/bassdunn.htm
- This is also a good read – a guy who did it in an old kayak, solo, crossing both ways, and ended up paddling at night in hellish conditions. http://members.iinet.net.au/~lford1/maatstra.htm
Make sure you come back to this site after reading these amazing accounts
- Will the trip be hard?
- You’re welcome to find out for yourself. There will be several paddles where supporters of varied kayaking ability can join in, with weather-permitting protected-water paddles organised in each State. See the events page for the next event.