redwinekayaks

The answer is yes, just! It is amazing how much you can fit in these kayaks – it is also very good that they still float once we are in them. They are noticeably heavier and a lot lower in the water, a lot more stable with more weight. Despite the weight they still paddle beautifully. Seven nights left in a comfortable in a comfortable bed. DT

The preparation for this trip has been outstanding fun, trying to source the right equipment and correct advise has proved to be a journey of discovery in its own rite. Tracking down and talking to experts in their respective fields and testing my/our thoughts and ideas against their experience and knowledge has been really enjoyable. You simply cannot get the information you need from the internet – we have seen some great UTube videos of people doing sea kayak trips which have been interesting, somewhat reassuring and in some cases downright scary but you are only a spectator online.

The lessons gained from talking one on one with Craig McSween from Adventure Outlet (our kayaking guru) have been invaluable. Sheldon off the tv show The Bing Bang Theory has a doppelganger in the Johny Appleseed store in Brisbane, we purchased our GPS tracker from him – he really is the splitting image of Sheldon even down to the intelligent, dismissive and well educated advise he gave about how to use the GPS tracker, I thought I had stepped onto the set of the show, he was a real character.

I sent and email to Sharkshield on a Sunday morning asking if their shark shield worked on Crocodiles – half an hour later the Managing Director emailed me back with a clear “No – great on Sharks,but not Croc’s” he wished us well, he did this on a Sunday morning. We met Tony at Whitworths Marine in Southport (a shop with everything you could want or need for going to sea ), Tony is a fellow sea kayaker with amazing insights and stories to tell – he was awesome, some of the things he has done makes our trip look like a paddle in a bath tub.

The Manager at the Kathmandu store in Springwood was a wealth of knowledge and gave fantastic advise around the clothing we should wear – he has a close family member who paddles sea kayaks and was genuinely interested in making sure we had exactly the right things we needed. Rodney from Bentleys Camera House in Pacific Fair was great, he is a passionate photographer and gave the best advise and support, he gave me a great deal on a replacement part for my waterproof video camera…

There have been so many people who through sharing their knowledge, experience and opinions have helped us get together everything we need for this trip, I have mentioned only a few of the incredible people who have helped us to date. Over the coming weeks I will introduce you to the equipment we have with us – it has been great fun getting everything together, it feels like we have enough gadgets to mount an Apollo space mission. 

My advise to anyone looking to do a trip like this is to get off the internet and seek the experts. Share your ideas and listen to their advise, it comes free! Then support your local suppliers by buying your equipment off them. In this age of internet purchasing it has been fantastic to find so many expert suppliers still trading, still smiling, who are prepared to share their knowledge so freely. Our thanks to you all, our first red wine toast on the trip will be to you. Only 11 sleeps left in a comfortable bed. DT.      

 

 

I really want to thank the students and parents who constantly give both Dean, Greg and I support… Just take a look at this perfect picture and message from Taj… MS

Over the trip we will have a Spot Gen3 GPS tracker sending updates of our location every ten minutes. You can see where we are the whole way through the trip, at the moment this 46 year old technophobe is trying to work out how to set it up – this link attached should work. I’m crossing my fingers. D.T

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ud3q6Q1gIPXHfoLekiB3JOX4y2H1Mn1m

Hmmm – still working on it: will let you know when it is up and running… 

yay it works – press on the link above and it will show you our location – this was our Sunday paddle testing the tracker. D.T

 

Give me one good reason why you cannot join us for the first seven days of our paddle? Our great mate Greg Donaldson could not provide a good reason. Greg is very much the third musketeer of the red wine kayak team, he has joined us on many prior adventures, if he could have gotten two months off work he would have been with us for the complete trip. Greg has a history of developing painful blisters on his feet when trekking long distances – we are wondering where he might develop blisters when sitting in a kayak for seven days paddling approximately 350kms… I think by the look on his face he might just be wondering about this as well…DT.

These guys remind me so much of the Roadrunner cartoon character, they are amazing birds that you can walk right up to. They stand completely still hoping their camouflage keeps them hidden and safe from predators. Their camouflage is so good that you can have one right at your big toe before you see them. Zoom in and see if you can see how big their eyes are… Australia has so many amazing creatures and plants, I am looking forward to introducing you to lots more as we head north. DT

 

The search for the kayak for the trip took several months with a lot of options to choose from. There are so many amazing kayaks that it was very hard to choose. The one main factor that we could not get away from is that I am 6 foot 3 and weigh in at 115kgs (I suspect I will be somewhat lighter after the trip). Many of the boats we looked at had a maximum weight carrying capacity of 130 – 150kgs. The Epic has a carrying capacity of 180kg which for me is perfect as we are taking a huge amount of gear and equipment with us – each boat will have 42litres of water, plus lots of gadgets and equipment. 

Marty of course at his slim and fit 80kgs had a few more options when it came to boat choice. In addition to their weight carrying capacity the surf ski style construction makes them very quick through the water which we considered an important factor on such a long trip. The deciding moment for me was the test paddle we had with Craig McSween from Adventure Outlet (www.adventureoutlet.com). I am an ex-whitewater paddler with paddling skills very much attuned to slalom and river running kayaks, jumping into a five and a half metre long speed machine was exhilarating, it was love at first paddle.

The style of the boats does make them a little less stable than other types of sea kayaks but the more time we spend in them the more comfortable we have become. They are a lot more stable when loaded with equipment – so, I at 30kgs heavier than Marty have had a distinct advantage from day one, one of the few times in life when having a few more kgs than you should is a good thing. The photo shows the day we picked up two sparking new kayaks in October 2015 – a very exciting day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We bought the kayaks at the end of last year. They are sit-in styles (Epic 18x Sport) and can carry 180 kgs of kayaker and equipment in watertight compartments. We have been training twice a week for many months on both the open ocean and the broad water behind South and North Stradbroke Islands. We have already seen so many exciting sights like Sea Eagles and Brahminy Kites, both magnificent huge birds of prey. We kayaked with loggerhead turtles, dolphins and even dugongs.

It has become a weekly routine to share these birds and creatures of the sea with my class every Monday morning and I look forward to continuing this throughout our adventure.

My class are Year One at St Vincent’s Catholic Primary School… 1 Yellow. They are all awesome students who love learning about the world around them.But I know that many students from my school and schools in New Zealand and America will be following this trip too.

We will be sharing this with Deans family and friends also… especially his amazing children Kate (19 years) Riley (11 years) and Jake (7 years)