Bass Strait - The Prep

I’m not really a sea kayaker.

I’ve done it a little bit and I’ve done some white water kayaking but I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a sea kayaker. Despite this, I somehow got the idea in my head to kayak from the southern tip of Victoria to the north east tip of Tasmania. It’s about a 300km journey with a number of island hops from 40km to 65km. When I dreamt up this hair-brained scheme my skill level, fitness and navigational ability were all well below what the journey would demand but, if I could pull it off, what an adventure it would be!

My first task was finding a suitable paddling partner that was adventurous (and dumb) enough to embark on such a challenging journey. For years I would randomly ring people as they popped into my head as a potential candidate; most were interested but inevitably the answer would be no.

It was probably 5 years of reaching out again and again to no avail - until I rang Don.

Don was a former boss, my intermittent chiropractor and someone whom I would sporadically call to catch up with. After exchanging pleasantries, I can’t remember exactly what I said but it was probably something like “Do you want to do something dumb?” to which he answered “Yes”.

Task 1, done: I have a paddling partner.

Now there is just learning the kayaking skills, getting paddling-fit, finding and purchasing the kayak, learning some navigational skills, purchasing the safety gear, learning to read the weather conditions, mapping out the route and logistics and preparing for an 8 day sea kayak expedition. 

Over the years I have come up with various adventures and enlisted the support of friends and family. Sometimes people say yes in the moment and then go away and think about it and change their mind when reality sets in. Don, however, did not fall into this category. He called me about a month later with a list of potential kayaks and an invitation to complete a test paddle of one of the options. To say I was shocked at his diligence and preparedness would be an understatement. This is to say nothing of what I thought of him but my shock was based only on my previous experience of people initially being excited but not following through. Anyway we were off, as it were. The ball was rolling.

I won’t bore you with the details of our training, education and gear purchases but there was A LOT. It was months and months of training, seeking out professional instruction on skills and ocean going and buying lots of gear and safety equipment.

But adventures, real adventures, are never easy. They call on us to level up to meet the demands of the challenge and push through the pain and fear. This was certainly going to be an adventure - a REAL ADVENTURE.