Strokes that Matter | The Crossing of Bass Strait in Surf Skis

Backgound

In April 2017 a group of 12 paddlers from Newport and North Cronulla Surf Clubs paddled on surf skis from mainland Australia to Tasmania across the infamous Bass Strait – a journey of over 300 km’s through one of the world’s harshest ocean crossings. The group included some of Australia’s best ocean paddlers, a Nutri-Grain Ironman, 8 multiple Australian Gold Medal winning surf lifesavers, and a couple of old blokes.

The Group paddled for a cause very close to their heart… water safety and drowning prevention, in the hope to raise awareness to stop the needless loss of life. Through a fund established with the Newport Surf Club called “Strokes That Matter” – they raised $30 K+ to establish and implement a number of programs to specifically target drowning prevention and surf awareness. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to executing programs established within the existing and proven framework of Surf Life Saving Australia.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Starting with the trailer crew of Tom Atkinson, Jonah Beard and Sandy Beard; the paddling group assembled in Port Albert (3 hours west of Melbourne ) from all directions – with Max Brooks, Jayke Rees, Luke & Jake Moses direct from Aussies and Mitch Trim , Chad Alston, Luke Jones and Paul Moses direct from work.

The trailer crew packed the support catamaran the “Nooramunga” with sufficient supplies to last the planned 6 days… including 300 litres of water, food and snacks for 6 days lovingly and expertly pre-cooked and prepared by Martina Boyce, 150 bananas, protein and electrolyte supplements, medical and safety supplies, swags for sleeping at beaches along the way – and an appropriate amount of VB!

There was nervous anticipation about the weather forecast which looked promising for the next 4 days through to Saturday … but very ugly for Sunday. However, we were very heartened by the $15 k plus of donations which had been made and a small number of Instagram followers which had been attracted to our newly created account.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 – Day 1 – Port Albert to Hogan Island – 70 km

Waking at approx 5 am for breakfast and final packing of the boat we aimed to get on the water before 6.30 am and start the journey under a fantastic sunrise, dead calm conditions and a full high tide. After a final safety briefing we got on the water… markedly colder than Sydney… with everyone decked out from head to toe in thermal paddling gear generously supplied at discount prices by Vaikobi.

We had secured a tracking device to give live satellite updates to a website to allow anyone to view our progress – which we knew would give comfort to family and friends (but also apparently proved a big time consumer as people constantly checked our progress or hoped we didn’t vanish from the screen)!

The first 7 plus km were along the river out of Port Albert and it took us approx 45 minutes to make it out of the dead flat waters onto the surprisingly equally dead flat conditions of Bass Strait. From there we paddled for approximately the next 20 km with the mountains of Wilson’s Promontory on our far right hand (western side). Although we had zero assistance from the wind we made great progress averaging over 10 km/h in the flat water until the land disappeared completely from sight. Jayke Rees was excited to make it past the 20km mark as it represented the furthest distance he had previously paddled – whilst for Cody Marr and Jonah Beard it represented the cumulative amount of ski paddling kilometres they had trained in the past 9 months.

After another 20 km, Hogan Island appeared in the distance and spirits started to lift that we would be able to make our first checkpoint without any drama. Along the way, we stopped at 10 or 20-kilometre milestones to refill drinks containers or to have snacks thrown to us from the boat. We saw a number of albatrosses, seals and penguins along the way – and were happy not to encounter any Great White Sharks which we had been informed via an abalone Facebook site were very active around Hogan Island. We landed at approx 2.30 after 7.5 hours paddling and 70 km of paddling without assistance. We were stunned by the beauty of the little bay we were camping in for the night, the quaintness of the safety hut on the island and some of the wildlife, in particular, the prolific Cape Barren Geese.

After setting up swags and making a dinner of meatballs and VB it was an appropriate time to celebrate with some fireworks which some of the group had brought along and for Luke Jones to perform a wind dance to beckon up some North or North West winds to help us on our journey!

Thursday, April 6 – Day 2 – Hogan – Erith Island – 40 km

We struggled to get our act together with reloading the boat today and didn’t get on the water before 7.30. This was partly because we had the knowledge that we did not have enough daylight to paddle more than 40 kms due to the distance between the next two islands – so it would be our easiest day.

To our surprise and delight, Jonesy’s wind dance had worked and we were greeted by a very pleasant 10-knot northerly wind which gave us great assistance and good runners for the first 30 km which brought massive delight to everyone. As we closed in on Deal and Erith Island the tide changed and our assistance quickly evaporated into a hard slog – the last 6 km seemingly taking forever! We made our way in between the stunning islands and were shocked to see magnificent turquoise waters and white sand for our second campsite which could have been out of a postcard from the Mediterranean. The boys were genuinely excited and it was soon thermals off and sluggos on to lap up some mid 20s sunshine… it was literally heaven. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the magic island planning possible ways to get the trip finished before the impending weather change on Sunday and generally dreaming about food!

Friday, April 7 – Day 3 – Erith Island to Roydon Island (Flinders) – 73 km

The captain suggested a rest day to recover as he’d done in the past, but with the Sunday forecast we knew we had to push on, and push on quickly. If we were any chance of finishing we had to do back to back 70km days. As it was, Friday was our hardest day – we got our act together quickly today and were on the water soon after sunrise at 6.30 – having made breakfast, packed swags and other items into the tender in 3 separate loads.

We were again greeted by a very pleasant 15 knot plus NW wind directly behind us which made paddling conditions a pleasure and providing some great runners. On this leg, we were out of sight of land for the majority of the journey – which was an awesome experience – and we saw many seals albatrosses and penguins. We were making great time averaging more than 10 km/h on the runners and were in great spirits to keep pushing the journey for as long as we could to set us up as best possible for an early finish to allow us to beat the menacing weather system which was already starting to affect Victoria. As we approached Flinders Island a few of the group had differing views to the captain as to the shortest distance between some islands which held us up for long enough to mean that we wouldn’t be able to make it past Roydon Island just below the NW corner of Flinders Island. After 8 hours we were again greeted by a magnificent deserted beach with a fantastic little hut … but also clearly inhabited by a few tiger snakes judging from the fresh tracks … so we set up our swags just above the high tide line and cooked up a fantastic butter chicken curry! We had good phone coverage on this island and were delighted to see our Instagram followers had ballooned. Also, our donations had risen above $20k… and Luke Jones’s wind dance had gone viral… and more importantly Tom Atkinson got to wish his wife of fewer than 6 months happy birthday in absentia! We were truly excited and felt confident with a big day Saturday we could easily make up time and get to Tasmania on Sunday before the southerly front hit. We rang our families and booked our flights – and organised a hire bus to pick us up from the remote landing point 2.5 hours out of Launceston – we were confident we would be done by Sunday!

Saturday, April 8, 2017 – Day 4 – Roydon Island – Preservation Island – 73 km

We were greeted by the Captain at 6 am to be told forecast had changed and he didn’t think we would make it to the landing spot by Sunday and we would more than likely have to wait out the storm until Tuesday. We were stunned. As our forecasts were still telling us we would be fine, we convinced the Captain to agree to make a decision in 40 km time and see how we went. We got on the water by 6.30 am and were very pleased to see that Jonesy’s wind dance had now really delivered! We were greeted by 20 plus knot NW winds directly behind us with conditions for the first 20 km easily the best anyone had ever paddled in their life. The runners were ridiculous letting you ride for 500-metre sections with barely any strokes required. It was phenomenal. Conditions remained fantastic for the whole day … and even though now most people’s bodies were starting to show some signs of wear and tear. Everyone had a phenomenally strong day of paddling! The Captain conceded there was a chance we would make it and let us push on. We landed at another remarkable beach – preservation island – at approx 3 pm and setup up swags on the rocks as high tide looked like it would cover the beach. We also gathered whatever driftwood we could find – scarce – to make a fire as it was clearly colder than previous nights .. and a storm was looking like it was brewing in the distance. Not long after our last fireworks display and dinner … we were greeted by a massive lightning display and torrential rain. Everyone abandoned the campsite and headed for their swags … which unfortunately for some proved less than waterproof! Tom Atkinson, unfortunately, spent the night shivering under a tarp, perched on a rock … hoping that daylight would soon emerge!

Sunday, April 9, 2017 – Preservation Island – Little Musselroe Bay Tasmania – 33 km

Our final day started under rainy skies with threatening clouds and a Captain keen for us to get the crossing of the final treacherous waters completed before the storm working its way up the east coast of Tasmania hit us making a landing impossible

The Roaring Forties lived up to all expectations. We have all spent endless hours in the ocean but never had we been exposed to the mercy of the Roaring Forties. A fierce East to West sweep, swell from the West and gale force winds from the North… The first 20km was something all of us will never forget. We all knew at some stage the Southerly front would hit and if it arrived mid crossing it would have all been over.

As the wind farms of the Tasmanian coastline loomed into view the winds and tides strengthened and we gave our final push towards the finish line… albeit racing thunderous skies and increasingly very strong winds!

Protected by Tasmania, progress soon became a lot easier and Pascale Beard’s waving figure soon came into view at the finish line … we were done! After posing for some finishing photos we packed the boat for the final time and got on the bus to head to the nearest shop to recharge our bodies with burgers and beers.

It was a phenomenal effort by all – with every member discovering their ability to confront and overcome physical and mental challenges. What had a week ago seemed like a daunting improbability was now an impressive accomplishment. We were even more delighted to see that by the time we had landed we had hit our target of $30 k funds donated … by an astonishing 80 plus donors – we were humbled by the interest that a large number of people had taken in our journey and cause. Thank you to all at Newport and North Cronulla Surf Clubs and the entire Surf lifesaving community for getting behind us and supporting us – we would love to build on this base and see the monies we have raised be used for something that really makes a difference.