Bring on the coverage!

We got our first piece of coverage on the paddle this week - a whole half page at the front of the Wentworth Courier, a well read Sydney weekly. I place stories on big companies for a living so it's weird to be pitching yourself in, but great to be doing it for a charitable cause. If you're interested in reading the article then click on the title above.

Also really exciting news - we now have a logo, thanks to Brad Madge and his design skills. We just need to get T-shirts and caps made up now for all our adoring groupies. Really, if anyone can help us get 20 T-shirts printed in size 8 DD, please let us know.

Training's going good. I've had a couple of pre-work sessions during the week with Guy Leech and his hard core group of gnarly locals. Last weekend I had a couple or more beers in Manly stuffed a tenner in a pokie and won $700 straight up. I couldn't believe it. So I woke up the next morning pegged it down to the wharf and spanked it all on a second hand sit-on-top kayak for morning paddle sessions. It's now sitting padlocked to the side of the house. It's a big ol lump of plastic to be carrying down to the water and I almost fell down the stairs with the think balanced on my head on Tuesday, but so worth it once in. I live on Fairy Bower in Manly so I just paddled down the beach and back up to Shelly. Great thing to do as the sun's coming up.

It's all about the training...

So its a Saturday night and i am at home updating my blog and like the title says it is all about the training! The realisation has just hit home over the past week that we are now commited to travelling down the East Coast in a tiny fibreglas boat in under 3 months as the money and interest has started to rol in.
I have set myself a no alcohol and fairly strict training regime to get myself ready for this (if that is at all possible...). I have even been trying out new things such as pilates as I have been told that this is great for your balance and core muscles which is what you primarily need to row. Now if anyone has ever seen an old Country n Western film where an out of towner enters the saloon and everyone stops what they are doing and stares at the stranger, well that is exactly how i felt walking into my first pilates class with all of the women! I do however have a new found respect for all of the girls that take these classes as it was bloody hard but did feel great afterwards.
As Rob has mentioned we went down to Jervis Bay for some kayak survivak training last week which was gret but ridiculously cold. We learnt how to capsize (I found out that i was more than proficient in this skill) and how to get yourself back once capsized, not as easy as one would think! Met some characters down there and sung soe karaoke 'Twist n Shout' getting a standing ovation and we were asked for encore, not to brag or gloat or anything! Big shout to Fluff and when i am next down i wil have to grab my hoodie that I left at your house.
Will keep you all posted soon on progress and stay tuned...
Scott.

Pics from Jervis Bay Kayaking

Lining up for plunger coffee and carrot cake.   There were dolphins playing in the water as we stood there. 

Scott toweled up trying to keep warm having been the first to get wet

Scott warming up with a little dance back at the house

You're back in the room

Whoohooo it's all kicking off again. We had a bit of a lull but we're back on track with firing out emails and picking up the phone. I'm starting training with Guy Leech on Tuesday, we're meeting the APCF ladies on Thursday, Scotty's done an exercise program which involves far too much protein powder and I've started trying to get us some media hype - plus this blog site now comes up on Google meaning it must have a few followers.

We did a 2 day kayak training course in Jervis Bay last weekend in the rain and the cold. It was good to get a feel for the kayaks and I suppose that getting cold and wet and capsizing and shivering for half the day is all a part of the game we've signed up for. I suppose. I was more imaging hot and calm Christmas days but we'd be lucky if that lasted for all 20 that we're planning to paddle. The carrot cake was good at Jervis.

Big thanks to Fluffy and the Shoalhaven lads and lasses that entertained us for the weekend. We'll be back for some more Yegas and a kareoke encore some time.

I'll put up some pictures soon although a lot of them have had to be deleted. R

Charity trip gaining speed again

It's been a while since we've posted anything. I've been back in the UK seeing family and Scott's been on a Bali surf trip so we haven't spoken in a bit. Now that we're both back in the country it's time to start ramping up the campaign. The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia has given us official approval now on using their logo and support so we're going to meet soon and work out next steps. Hopefully we'll be able to work together over the next few months to spread the word and start raising funds.

It's amazing how when you make the first few steps on an idea with good intention, people respond so well and we've had a lot of people saying that they'd be willing and able to help. Bruce from Pittarak kayaks is going to give us his advice on the coastline, shark hangouts and any rips that'll set us on a course to New Zealand after the Ditch crossing boys. We also had some fantastic news from Ian at Meridian Kayaks who is actually in the process of making a double kayak that he says we can use for the trip! The guy's a legend and without his help we'd be attempting the journey in a bath tub. He's even putting a rush job on production of the prototype to make sure it gets completed in time. He's promised to include a beer fridge and waterproof ipod speakers in the design, so hopefully the coast guard will hear are merry singing each day and carols at Christmas.

There's a couple of things we're doing to try and make the trip slightly safer and a little more achievable considering that we're currently more at home in a client meeting than a kayak. Firstly I've booked us into a two day ocean kayaking course next weekend down at Jervis Bay Kayaks so that we can learn how to paddle in a straight line, not sink and get back in if we do capsize. The second is get into some mid week training. Guy Leech (Australia's Mr Fitness and celebrity Iron Man) is also a supporter of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and runs paddle training sessions round the corner in Manly, so we're going to start getting up earlier and getting onto the water before work. I used to do his PR so I'd hope he takes it easy on us.

More consistent updates to follow. We're still looking for company sponsors and equipment (clothing, EPIRBS, tough laptop) so if you or someone you know can help, please let us know and pass on this blog address. I'm going to try and make contact with the Manly Daily tomorrow.

Rob

Training

Today was our first day paddle training and it's made us realise how much work there is to do. We only covered around 8kms and we're supposed to be doing 35 a day for 20 days non stop. Oh god. It's not the same as river paddling as there's no river and no running water and if you don't paddle then you don't go anywhere. Weirdly that's come as a bit of a shock. It's good to have the reality check though as otherwise we'd end up on the water in Byron and it would all be over in a couple of hours having just got past the light house. There's some serious training to do and we're going to end up looking like the spartans from 300 and if we don't then I'm going to use makeup to get the 12 pack going for the photo call. I'm off to the UK on Monday for a couple of weeks so Scotty's on the case with chasing up sponsorship - we still haven't got a kayak as yet but the Australian Prostate Cancer Foundation has accepted our proposal so we can start sending out materials with their logo now. It's getting closer - we're both hugely busy with work and so late evenings and weekends are the only time we've go to make this happen. My mum still thinks we're mad and my girlfriend's decided to go home for Xmas and New Year rather than worry if we've been eaten my sharks each day. If anyone's thinking of doing a festive surf trip then let us know as we could do with some support on the land.
I had an idea today to do the whole thing dressed in suits, shirts, ties and bowler hats. It would look great as a launch photo and kind of gets that message out that anyone can have an adventure and raise some cash for a good course even if like us you've got intense day jobs and work in the city. 9to5 jobs (or 8to7 in our case) doesn't mean you have to be a rat. We're going to be racing whales instead.

Sunday morning

It's a beautiful Sunday morning - sunny, clear and there's waves in Manly...fantastic. I've already done some school work and I'm about to email a few people about the trip. Got to check my lotto tickets, get a coffee, go for a surf and then we're supposed to be doing a training session at Spit Bridge for a couple of hours. Scott's gone awol so I've charged up the ipod and am steeling myself for a bit of solitary paddling. It's stunning on a nice day, cruising past all the mosman boat houses and finding little beaches with waterfalls away from everything. I came back on Friday night after a few beers and started emailing some adventure blogs and kayak websites, so if you're reading this and received a badly spelt email, I apologise - the intention was good . Massive thanks to Ian at Meridian Kayaks www.meridiankayak.com.au who emailed back almost immediately. Ian I'll be calling you this afternoon. Thought I'd attach the below picture I took of nuns looking like penguins picnicing on Fairy Bower Beach during the recent World Youth Day celebration (Fairy Bower is so named because of the real local penguin population.) Happy Sunday.
R