Anyone watching it now on the ABC? For the WA people it will be on at 8.30pm tonight.

I don't really understand why he wanted to paddle from Tasmania to the south island of NZ. Why not paddle from somewhere like Coffs Harbour to the north island where the weather is not as extreme?

Pretty amazing stuff.
Big Kahunas, or empty vacuum?????

Did you know he was also a Kiter and surfer?

I knew him briefly - great fellow - If anyone could have done it it was Andy.
But - he did make a big mistake heading off underprepared.
Those two youngsters in their goatboat put a lot of pressure on him - and, unfortunately his attitude changed to include an element of "stuff them, I'll show 'em"

He used the same sort of stick to drive himself on the water that he used on hard alpine climbs, and christ was he tough - but when the succession of gear things started to go wrong, and other things began to compound:
+ Groggyness from lack of sleep
+ Marginal hypothermia
+ blood poisoning from infected saltwater rashes etc
+ plain mental exhaustion from being in that hyper-vigilant state for 30 days
...... it became an endgame he was playing

Incredible he made it that far.

The pod thing was in fact the downfall of the trip....
The pod or "casper" they called it because of the face on it, was infact the covering that moved forward to cover him and the hatch, so he could slide down inside the kayak and sleep.
You were right it was held on by clips and 1or 2 of these broke. The kayak rolled over filling both the pod and kayak with water. Hence the conclusion to his death by exposure to the cold.
A great doco... But should we try and stop the spirit of adventure? I hope not....
I think we all have to thank Captain Cook for discovering Australia and in some ways his trip would have been equally as daunting in its time.

Gizmo said...

But should we try and stop the spirit of adventure? I hope not....
I think we all have to thank Captain Cook for discovering Australia and in some ways his trip would have been equally as daunting in its time.

Although Cook didn't actually "discover" Australia, I agree entirely with your sentiments. If it wasn't for this spirit, the world would still be thought flat. However, the globe was discovered by brave men sailing the best vessels available at the time - paddling a kayak across the ditch was not necessarily a voyage of worldly discovery, it was a voyage of pushing ones personal boundaries, and discovering where their limits lay. A worthwhile pursuit if that is what you want to do.
I didn't watch the show - my wife pointed out it was on and was surprised when I said I didn't want to watch it. I've kayaked Port Douglas to the top a couple of times, and to me this is what I love about sea kayaking - exploring remote places that rarely get seen, just like Cook. I wasn't particularly interested in this guy's personal challenge from a kayaking point of view - sure it was a brave effort, and he nearly made it, but to me that's not what sea kayaks are for.

getfunky said...

Couldn't keep watching it as i was growing increasingly frustrated at the shear bloody mindedness of the guy... Setting yourself goals is one thing. Trying to fly off a cliff with two feathers in hand and total self belief is another!

Sooo sad to see the footage of his son and wife waiving goodbye. How could you do that? Ego - stoopid bloofy minded ego (well I fink anyway).

Ultimately it is such a futile excercise and wate of life to simply be the 1st to do something that can be done any day of the week by plane/boat etc.

Yeh I thought the same .....

It was amazing he got that far... and rode it out for so long... it is a pretty hard doco to forget.... sort of up there with 'touching the void'

A shame that 6 hours of footage was destroyed by salt water...and a bigger shame about what he left behind.....

Hard to believe that some sort of greeting party wouldn't have headed out to meet him after having rode out that storm..... easy to say in hindsight...

It seemed that he really wanted to be the first to do it... almost like he needed to do it ....maybe to give him the credibility he wanted to become a public speaker or something ... just guessing ...

But it seemed like the most stupid idea .... to have that much desire to to something as difficult and dangerous as that.... delusional thinking - probably should have seen a physcologist and he might still be around as a happy father?