We are ready!

Mon 8 Oct 2007 - 14:27 (GMT +10)

Every step in this journey has been a full on adventure in its self. Our 160km jaunt from Port Stephens to Sydney was no exception. After our false start a couple of days prior (AIS Transponder wasn't pinging our position on the radars of Cargo ships), we left Port Stephens Thursday October 4 at 0640. We had the ebb tide carrying us out into a fresh 10-15kt South Easterly breeze. Our speed was good - we thought there must be a current carrying us away from land? Pleasantly, we were to find that the new rudder had added 1km/hr to our ground over speed. Wee Bang.

The trial was shorter than expected- 3 days/ 2 nights. Lot 41 was paddling strongly - she was impatient - averaging 50km/day. The 3rd stanza of the Man from Snowy River (Banjo Patterson) constantly resounded in my mind as we made our way down the coast:

"He was hard and tough and wiry- just the sort that won't say die
There was courage in his quick impatient tread;
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,
And the proud and loft carriage of his head"

It was as if Lot 41 wanted to take the reigns, turn left and keep going... all the way to NZ. Not long baby, not long now...

All systems on board were working efficiently and Justin and I were putting in solid 11 hr days in the pits paddling. One of the critical elements in crossing the Tasman is getting good quality kip each night to recharge the batteries to keep up the big days paddling. We have found we are sleeping well in the cabin. It's quite an operation going from paddling mode to cabin mode. We improved our efficiency each day.

Probably the largest obstacles I've personally had to overcome on this journey is my battle with motion sickness. I'm pleased to report that a combination of Western drugs, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture and meditation (hypno therapy) have resulted in a concoction that has allowed my body to adjust to the ocean.

Most of the way down we were about 30km off the coast. Dolphins, container ships and birds ensured that we didn't get too lonely.

On the final day of our trial we rendezvoused with the NSW Water Police to do some training exercises. We'd like to thank the guys for coming out and equipping us with the familiarity to be competent in all situations. After they left, we had some trying conditions to get back to the shelter of Pittwater. Paddling against 20+kt headwinds for 3 hrs then getting smashed by a Southerly (40kts+) when we were so close to the coast was a fitting end to another fun adventure.

We always get the question- aren't you guys going to get sick of each other? I guess, the below SMS I received from Jonesy when we got back to Sydney kinda answers that question:

"Hey mate, just wanted to say thanks for the great paddle. I thought you did super good and I'm glad I'm going to do the Tasman with you. You rock."

Every day we spend out on the ocean only strengthens our friendship. We've got a few wks of minor mods to do to Lot 41, then, we expect to be ready early November.

Happy Paddling

James Castrission