Heres the link to the Sunrise piece this morning... http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/play/-/7094507/surfing-the-straitq/
OMG
Just realised did this exactly one month after the big day!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Fri 9th April - Bass Strait Celebration
Mike put on a great party at the SHQ Shed to celebrate my successful Bass Strait crossing on Friday night. He cooked the BBQ himself and drinks and photos and footage flowed all night. It was a great opportunity to thank all those who played important roles in making the crossing a success. It was cool to get the wind forecaster and boat captain and photographer and shq guys and so many kiteboarders and friends and family all in the same place.
Thanks to Mike for his touching speech and to everyone who came and made me feel so special!
Definaley a night I wont forget.
Only downside was so much to drink and the toilets so far away... started to worry about people running into each other doing bush pees behind the shed.
Thanks to Mike for his touching speech and to everyone who came and made me feel so special!
Definaley a night I wont forget.
Only downside was so much to drink and the toilets so far away... started to worry about people running into each other doing bush pees behind the shed.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Scary things that happened with the Bass Strait crossing
After waiting for over a month for Bob my fabulous wind forecaster and Stu the fabulous boat captain to agree on day I could successfully kite board across Bass Strait, we finally got a flight to Tassie on Saturday 20th March. We had a three day window to do the crossing. Day one in Stanley was the 1st option. I woke on Sunday to a raging storm shaking the windows of Hanlon House.
Can't very well start in a storm. Hope we don't have this the next day too.
Later down at the wharf the boats that radioed in gave terrible reports for the next few days. Waves over 4 meters. Strong winds for Monday and gale force for Tuesday.
We had to pick Monday.
I have never kited in 4 m waves, or 2 meter for that matter.
Reports were they got bigger in the middle too, but no-one really knows.
Crap.
Dean and I set up the kite make sure it was all working well and set the camera up on it. The wind on Stanley beach was offshore and super gusty. Blocked by the Nut on one side and the cliffs on the other it went from 5 knots to 25. I was scared it would pick up and throw me against the nut. As it was I was getting pulled all over the place. You can see me swearing on Pauls video account. Dean was keen for me to practise more so I could be prepared for the next day. He was worried I wouldn't be able to get out in that wind. I was too scared to get hurt the day before and abandoned the practise session.
The night before our Captain didn't want to commit til final weather report in the morning.
I hate the unknown.
So I prepared as if it was a certaintly.
All gear ready and laid out the night before.
I had prepared so much food for the morning and the crossing, but was so nervous I couldnt eat at all. Couldn't even drink the coffee I made. I was worried I wouldn't have the strength to complete the crossing with no food in me.
As Dean predicted I did have trouble getting off the beach. It took several tries which would have been embarrasing in front of the Channel 9 camera man, if I hadn't been too worried to care.
Once I got clear of the land the wind kicked in to what I now know was 27 knots. I fully depowered the kite and was terrified that if it was this strong at 6.30am right near land what was I in store for out in the middle and would I be able to hold on.
Next scary part was being knocked over by waves, but I got the hang of that.
Then watching the boat was scary. I saw views of Calypso 11 that Im sure no one else has. I saw nearly all of the bottom of it going down a wave. And I saw it tip several times well on its side. For a while I wondered what the right thing to do would be if it capsized. This was one of those things we hadn't discussed. If I stopped I would be just one more person needing to be rescued, but then I couldn't leave all those who had come to help me? Lucky the situation didnt eventuate!
It was probably more funny than scary that I started to imagine that I saw islands. I thought big waves in the distance with white caps on top where islands. For quite a while I was sad when the wave broke and my imaginary island disappeared. In my defence it is an awfully long time not to see any land.
The next scary thing and my worst fear going in to this was the wind running out. About 2 hours before finishing with land well in site the wind dropped to I think about 10 knots. I swang the kite like crazy to make sure it didn't drop out of the sky.
Then I prayed for more wind. Not being religious I was amazingly delighted to get a gust. I estimate I had around 15 knots for the rest of the trip which was enough.
I did leave the boat to go to land against their direction as I feared it would drop and I had looked at land for so long now and it would have been devestating not to make it after getting so far....
That's it for scary during, but there was a little scary after.
After landing, I had to get back to the boat and struggled against the big break of Venus Bay with my partially strapless board. I got knocked off, the board went through the lines tangling the leg rope in the lines. The kite rolled in the waves and was dumped on the beach under a tonne of sand. I had to pull the lines so hard to get the sand off the once the kite launched I was dragged through the sand and lifted toward the cliff.
I had time to think it would be just like me to cross the dangerous Bass Strait successfully and then kill myself hitting the cliff.
Luckily stopped before hitting the cliff and made it back out to the support boat.
All Safe :)
Can't very well start in a storm. Hope we don't have this the next day too.
Later down at the wharf the boats that radioed in gave terrible reports for the next few days. Waves over 4 meters. Strong winds for Monday and gale force for Tuesday.
We had to pick Monday.
I have never kited in 4 m waves, or 2 meter for that matter.
Reports were they got bigger in the middle too, but no-one really knows.
Crap.
Dean and I set up the kite make sure it was all working well and set the camera up on it. The wind on Stanley beach was offshore and super gusty. Blocked by the Nut on one side and the cliffs on the other it went from 5 knots to 25. I was scared it would pick up and throw me against the nut. As it was I was getting pulled all over the place. You can see me swearing on Pauls video account. Dean was keen for me to practise more so I could be prepared for the next day. He was worried I wouldn't be able to get out in that wind. I was too scared to get hurt the day before and abandoned the practise session.
The night before our Captain didn't want to commit til final weather report in the morning.
I hate the unknown.
So I prepared as if it was a certaintly.
All gear ready and laid out the night before.
I had prepared so much food for the morning and the crossing, but was so nervous I couldnt eat at all. Couldn't even drink the coffee I made. I was worried I wouldn't have the strength to complete the crossing with no food in me.
As Dean predicted I did have trouble getting off the beach. It took several tries which would have been embarrasing in front of the Channel 9 camera man, if I hadn't been too worried to care.
Once I got clear of the land the wind kicked in to what I now know was 27 knots. I fully depowered the kite and was terrified that if it was this strong at 6.30am right near land what was I in store for out in the middle and would I be able to hold on.
Next scary part was being knocked over by waves, but I got the hang of that.
Then watching the boat was scary. I saw views of Calypso 11 that Im sure no one else has. I saw nearly all of the bottom of it going down a wave. And I saw it tip several times well on its side. For a while I wondered what the right thing to do would be if it capsized. This was one of those things we hadn't discussed. If I stopped I would be just one more person needing to be rescued, but then I couldn't leave all those who had come to help me? Lucky the situation didnt eventuate!
It was probably more funny than scary that I started to imagine that I saw islands. I thought big waves in the distance with white caps on top where islands. For quite a while I was sad when the wave broke and my imaginary island disappeared. In my defence it is an awfully long time not to see any land.
The next scary thing and my worst fear going in to this was the wind running out. About 2 hours before finishing with land well in site the wind dropped to I think about 10 knots. I swang the kite like crazy to make sure it didn't drop out of the sky.
Then I prayed for more wind. Not being religious I was amazingly delighted to get a gust. I estimate I had around 15 knots for the rest of the trip which was enough.
I did leave the boat to go to land against their direction as I feared it would drop and I had looked at land for so long now and it would have been devestating not to make it after getting so far....
That's it for scary during, but there was a little scary after.
After landing, I had to get back to the boat and struggled against the big break of Venus Bay with my partially strapless board. I got knocked off, the board went through the lines tangling the leg rope in the lines. The kite rolled in the waves and was dumped on the beach under a tonne of sand. I had to pull the lines so hard to get the sand off the once the kite launched I was dragged through the sand and lifted toward the cliff.
I had time to think it would be just like me to cross the dangerous Bass Strait successfully and then kill myself hitting the cliff.
Luckily stopped before hitting the cliff and made it back out to the support boat.
All Safe :)
What made Bass Strait scary
One of the worst parts of preparing to Kite board across Bass Strait was the unknown.
Everyone you come across had something to say. Very rarely positive.
When I first brought up the idea to those who cared the most just said you aren't doing it and assumed that would be the end of it.
My best friend said Bass Strait's notoriously rough, one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. She then demanded I goggle it!
Her defination was remarkable close to what I read when I goggled it.....
"Bass Strait is particularly dangerous because of its limited depth, it is notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the 19th century. Strong currents between the Antarctic-driven southeast portions of the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea's Pacific Ocean waters provide a strait of powerful, wild storm waves. To illustrate its wild strength, Bass Strait is both twice as wide and twice as rough as the English Channel. The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds.
Many vessels, some quite large, have disappeared without trace, or left scant evidence of their passing. Despite myths and legends of piracy, wrecking and alleged supernatural phenomena akin to those of the Bermuda Triangle, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits."
This of course did not discourage me.
I spoke to Nick Malony who was in the photo windsurfing across Bass Strait that inspired me. He told me it took him nearly 22 hours and he spent 2 weeks in hospital afterwards. He had problems with his stomach from the harness and couldn't speak as his tongue was so swollen from all the salt water. He did give me some great advice from his experience however!
Then came advice from someone else who had attempted a crossing who gave a long list of why a kiteboarder could not succeed crossing Bass Strait, including things like areas you can not go through, Oil rigs, random cargo boxes, aboriginal areas, and of course big big sharks.
At the time I took this as just discouragement.
Then there was those who know more about boating, saying I wouldnt get a boat to keep up. I found that hard to believe, but then did discover it required quite a special boat for the job.
Then people told me horror stories about Sydney to Hobart races where people had died. I combated this with the fact that they had to go on one particular day and I coud pick my day.
Then I did a test run with the support boat. They were surprised at the size of my little kite that I blew up in the car park to prepare for a boat launch. Not a good sign. Then we went out in wind that blew up to 40 knots and I lost the board and the kite and threw up on the boat. Captain Stu asked if that was enough to change my mind. Out loud I said no, still keen... my mind maybe wavering just a little while I was still being sick!
Second test run on the boat.. sick again and got water in the waterproof GPS and water in the water proof radio, 2 things I really need that I had to find solutions to. On the third and final test run I took sea sickness tablets!
Then there was fears of huge waves the size of which I had never seen. I kite on flat water whenever possible and dont even own a surfboard.
Every one said I must practise lots more in big waves. Hampton's waves was all I could really manage between kid school pick ups and work committments. Long trips down the coast to practise in waves not really a possiblity.
Then there was wind that I thought might not last or get so strong I couldn't hold on.
I was told I had to kite through three different wind patterns and had to factor that in and try to use a size that would work in 10 - 40 knots wind.
I took my 10m out at Ricketts in 40+ knots to see if I could handle it and nearly ended up on the reef... thank goodness for the IDS.
Then there was the board... every single person I spoke to had a different idea of what I should use. Even when I made my decision no one agreed it was the right board for the job.
Then there was fitness... everyone asked how far had I had kited in one direction before. 3 hours was my best answer - 60km from Mt Martha to Port Melbourne. That was the longest I could do without going out to sea with a boat. I tried so hard to get fit in every way I could, even running which I am terrible at, ending up with Tonsilitis three times in January and Febuary.
Then of course is everyone favourite reason not go go out in Bass Strait... SHARKS.
Now I wasnt scared of sharks, at least not until the news filmed me kiting all the way from Hampton to St.Kilda on top of a 5.5m shark. Then I started to look around when I was out kiting, and found myself frekking out over bobbing sneakers or the mussell farm that looks like hundreds of fins from a distance out from Mentone.
So by the time I stood on the dark cold beach almost windfree beach at Stanley at 5.30 am on March 22nd, with a forecast of huge waves and strong wind I was way to nervous and scared to eat... and seriously considered running away. Those who have seen the Tassie Chanel 9 footage of the morning I left have commented on how terrified I look!
Then everyones favourite fear ... THE SHARKS. Now I wasnt afraid of sharks
Everyone you come across had something to say. Very rarely positive.
When I first brought up the idea to those who cared the most just said you aren't doing it and assumed that would be the end of it.
My best friend said Bass Strait's notoriously rough, one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. She then demanded I goggle it!
Her defination was remarkable close to what I read when I goggled it.....
"Bass Strait is particularly dangerous because of its limited depth, it is notoriously rough, with many ships lost there during the 19th century. Strong currents between the Antarctic-driven southeast portions of the Indian Ocean and the Tasman Sea's Pacific Ocean waters provide a strait of powerful, wild storm waves. To illustrate its wild strength, Bass Strait is both twice as wide and twice as rough as the English Channel. The shipwrecks on the Tasmanian and Victorian coastlines number in the hundreds.
Many vessels, some quite large, have disappeared without trace, or left scant evidence of their passing. Despite myths and legends of piracy, wrecking and alleged supernatural phenomena akin to those of the Bermuda Triangle, such disappearances can be invariably ascribed to treacherous combinations of wind and sea conditions, and the numerous semi-submerged rocks and reefs within the Straits."
This of course did not discourage me.
I spoke to Nick Malony who was in the photo windsurfing across Bass Strait that inspired me. He told me it took him nearly 22 hours and he spent 2 weeks in hospital afterwards. He had problems with his stomach from the harness and couldn't speak as his tongue was so swollen from all the salt water. He did give me some great advice from his experience however!
Then came advice from someone else who had attempted a crossing who gave a long list of why a kiteboarder could not succeed crossing Bass Strait, including things like areas you can not go through, Oil rigs, random cargo boxes, aboriginal areas, and of course big big sharks.
At the time I took this as just discouragement.
Then there was those who know more about boating, saying I wouldnt get a boat to keep up. I found that hard to believe, but then did discover it required quite a special boat for the job.
Then people told me horror stories about Sydney to Hobart races where people had died. I combated this with the fact that they had to go on one particular day and I coud pick my day.
Then I did a test run with the support boat. They were surprised at the size of my little kite that I blew up in the car park to prepare for a boat launch. Not a good sign. Then we went out in wind that blew up to 40 knots and I lost the board and the kite and threw up on the boat. Captain Stu asked if that was enough to change my mind. Out loud I said no, still keen... my mind maybe wavering just a little while I was still being sick!
Second test run on the boat.. sick again and got water in the waterproof GPS and water in the water proof radio, 2 things I really need that I had to find solutions to. On the third and final test run I took sea sickness tablets!
Then there was fears of huge waves the size of which I had never seen. I kite on flat water whenever possible and dont even own a surfboard.
Every one said I must practise lots more in big waves. Hampton's waves was all I could really manage between kid school pick ups and work committments. Long trips down the coast to practise in waves not really a possiblity.
Then there was wind that I thought might not last or get so strong I couldn't hold on.
I was told I had to kite through three different wind patterns and had to factor that in and try to use a size that would work in 10 - 40 knots wind.
I took my 10m out at Ricketts in 40+ knots to see if I could handle it and nearly ended up on the reef... thank goodness for the IDS.
Then there was the board... every single person I spoke to had a different idea of what I should use. Even when I made my decision no one agreed it was the right board for the job.
Then there was fitness... everyone asked how far had I had kited in one direction before. 3 hours was my best answer - 60km from Mt Martha to Port Melbourne. That was the longest I could do without going out to sea with a boat. I tried so hard to get fit in every way I could, even running which I am terrible at, ending up with Tonsilitis three times in January and Febuary.
Then of course is everyone favourite reason not go go out in Bass Strait... SHARKS.
Now I wasnt scared of sharks, at least not until the news filmed me kiting all the way from Hampton to St.Kilda on top of a 5.5m shark. Then I started to look around when I was out kiting, and found myself frekking out over bobbing sneakers or the mussell farm that looks like hundreds of fins from a distance out from Mentone.
So by the time I stood on the dark cold beach almost windfree beach at Stanley at 5.30 am on March 22nd, with a forecast of huge waves and strong wind I was way to nervous and scared to eat... and seriously considered running away. Those who have seen the Tassie Chanel 9 footage of the morning I left have commented on how terrified I look!
Then everyones favourite fear ... THE SHARKS. Now I wasnt afraid of sharks
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