# Adventure is overrated



## trainspotter (18 July 2009)

I was thinking about calling this thread "One of the dumbest things I have done in my life" 

I was asked by a very good friend to deliver a 41 foot Beneteau racing yacht from Singapore to Perth. Sounds ideal I thought. Coupla nights in Singapore then sail the lovely blue South China Sea and off to Indonesia through the Java sea and do some sight seeing on the way. How lovely. WRONG !!

The South China Sea is brown and full of sea snakes. The wind blew on the nose of this poor little yacht at 63 knots across the deck at 3am, 200 nautical miles from the closest land. This continued for 18 hours. What was supposed to take 6 to 7 days of light fluffy breezes and taking in the sights turned into a watery nightmare of being double harnessed and locked onto the turnbuckle counting your life in 15 minute segments for 11 days. Oh yeah ... no smoking or drinking on board allowed. Not that you could even if you wanted to. Living life at a 45 degree angle inside a brown washing machine was an experience I do not want again. Only made the trip to Bali before fatigue set in. Jumped ship and flew back later to deliver yacht to Perth. Sheeesh !!

New motto ... No motor ... No go. Picture is of the only bit of calm weather I had between Singas and Batam.


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## Sean K (18 July 2009)

Nice hat. 

There's adventure, and there's adventure. 

I do some planning and risk mitigation in my adventures.


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## trainspotter (18 July 2009)

Yeah mate, me too. No accounting for the weather. Lack of tracking information on board did not help situation.


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## Sean K (18 July 2009)

Well, sounds like an adventure to me nonetheless.

Going around the world one day?

It's on my list.


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## trainspotter (18 July 2009)

Ummmm ... NO ! My advice would be to do a Sydney to Hobart first. Then see how you go. To put it into context. Singapore to Bali is like doing THREE Sydney to Hobarts AGAINST the wind. Superyacht next time.


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## Krusty the Klown (18 July 2009)

trainspotter said:


> The South China Sea is brown and full of sea snakes. The wind blew on the nose of this poor little yacht at 63 knots across the deck at 3am, 200 nautical miles from the closest land. This continued for 18 hours.




Sounds character building!!!!!

Personally I don't get on boats unless they have a bar and a casino!!!!


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## trainspotter (18 July 2009)

Thanks Krusty !! Now you tell me the rules about boats !!


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## Bafana (19 July 2009)

Sounds like you had fun mate. At least you'll have a story to tell if nothing else.

Lived in Sillypore for 5.5yrs and picked up sailing whilst I was there. Sailing in and around Singapore/Riau Islands is not to bad (except for squalls). Always had an urge to sail from Sillypore to Aussie but hesitated cause of pirate action. Would still like to give it a go but afraid my skills are lacking (one step up from ballast).

Damn. No smoking or drinking? I would have been putting in every day - Taking the trip over a leisurely 2 months  

Thanks for the story.

BTW brown, full of snakes and full of rubbish may be a more apt description. The Indonesian's don't seem to be able to stop throwing crap into the water.


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## trainspotter (19 July 2009)

Cheers Bafana. Yeah , I shortened the story due to word constraint issues. Some of the crap in the water included but not limited to: semi submerged sea containers that go BUMP in the night, great logs of bamboo, fishing buoys and massive amounts of random garbage. A lot of the ships that move cargo, drive at night with no navigational markers (port and starboard lights) due to pirate activity. Quite amusing at 3am when a 400 foot ship leaps out of the blackness and bears down on a 41 foot yacht !! Don't get me started about the pirates !!


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## Bafana (20 July 2009)

Did you get to meet and greet any?


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## stevenc (20 July 2009)

Quite a few years ago I had some friends who when they were a young family travelled around Papua, Indonesia and most of Australia for a couple years in a yacht. Had some very interesting stories to tell, dangerous hell yeah but had beat  my boring stories about my day to day life on land and at work.  From what I remember the most they were scared of apart from containers and pirates  were the whales that used to swim with them at night and the risk of collision.


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## trainspotter (20 July 2009)

Bafana said:


> Did you get to meet and greet any?




We had an incident where a dugout canoe with an outrigger attached had 5 or 6 guys in it chased us for about 12 miles and they sure did not look like fisherman!! They had what looked like an engine out of a car attached to a longshaft prop hanging over the side of this contraption. I was on watch and noticed these dudes belting towards us. All the other boats in the area had sails and shade setups. This one did not. Still punching into the lovely wind, doing about 6 knots and about 60 nautical miles from land at the time. Hard tack to the port, release all the sail and instant 41 foot Beneteau racing yacht can clip along at 15 knots no problem at all. Going away from destination now at 3 times the speed it takes to get there! After about an hour of this the "pirates" decide to look for easier prey. Tack to starboard, but put nose closer to the wind and head further out into the South China Sea. Away from the land, apparently because there are pirates !!

P.S. Did not see one single solitary whale in the SCS. Lots of sea snakes. No dolphins, no bird life. ZERO. Sea snakes of every different type but. Maybe they are not edible?


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## trainspotter (20 July 2009)

The other hazard were barges being towed behind these tinly little tug boats. The barges were about 200 foot long and about 100 foot wide. No lights on the barge. Only 3 vertical white lights (vessel under tow) on the top of the tug. The lights only shone forward, so unless you were travelling straight at them at night you had buckleys until you were almost on top of them. The other "cute" thing was the length of rope between tug and barge. They were obvioulsy using the old navy saying "In length there is strength". Fortunately most of the BIG stuff we saw was during the daylight hours. Oil rigs, submarines, Navy destroyers, really big container ships. I say fortunately because they were probably still there at night, it was just that we could not see them. Very lucky the things that went BUMP in the night did not cause too much damage.


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## trainspotter (9 September 2009)

Well, well, well, Jessica Watson crashes into a freighter just off the coast of North Stradbroke Island. 

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,1,26047960-5006301,00.html

Apparently she was not on watch when the incident occurred as it was 2.30am. Now I am no sailor but I know that you don't go off watch until you are safely out of the shipping lanes ! And she wants to sail around the world?? Good luck with that !


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## stocksontheblock (9 September 2009)

trainspotter said:


> Well, well, well, Jessica Watson crashes into a freighter just off the coast of North Stradbroke Island.
> 
> http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,1,26047960-5006301,00.html
> 
> Apparently she was not on watch when the incident occurred as it was 2.30am. Now I am no sailor but I know that you don't go off watch until you are safely out of the shipping lanes ! And she wants to sail around the world?? Good luck with that !




I know I shouldn't, yet christ thats a funny one ... so, whats that, 70 miles? And around the world is 10's of thousands ... good luck!!!


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## stocksontheblock (9 September 2009)

trainspotter said:


> I was thinking about calling this thread "One of the dumbest things I have done in my life"
> 
> I was asked by a very good friend to deliver a 41 foot Beneteau racing yacht from Singapore to Perth. Sounds ideal I thought. Coupla nights in Singapore then sail the lovely blue South China Sea and off to Indonesia through the Java sea and do some sight seeing on the way. How lovely. WRONG !!
> 
> ...




Well TS your the man I have been looking for.

Just spent a week in the Whitsundays, managed to get a boat and charter it - thats me watching them and enjoying the ride. Only for a day's sailing mind you, yet loved it. Now I want to do it for longer.

So how much do you charge to take people out sailing for a few days? I'll get the boat, and you do the work - seems like your are the man


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## James Austin (9 September 2009)

watched this girl head off last night (on the news), couldnt help but think she would never be seen again.

at 16, few have the emotional maturity to cope with the stresses, the isolation, the 30m waves, the tiredness, the pirates etc.

i wouldnt be letting my 16 yr old do this





trainspotter said:


> Well, well, well, Jessica Watson crashes into a freighter just off the coast of North Stradbroke Island.
> 
> http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,1,26047960-5006301,00.html
> 
> Apparently she was not on watch when the incident occurred as it was 2.30am. Now I am no sailor but I know that you don't go off watch until you are safely out of the shipping lanes ! And she wants to sail around the world?? Good luck with that !


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## trainspotter (9 September 2009)

stocksontheblock said:


> Well TS your the man I have been looking for.
> 
> Just spent a week in the Whitsundays, managed to get a boat and charter it - thats me watching them and enjoying the ride. Only for a day's sailing mind you, yet loved it. Now I want to do it for longer.
> 
> So how much do you charge to take people out sailing for a few days? I'll get the boat, and you do the work - seems like your are the man




LMAO stocks. Sailing is romantic if you live in Alice Springs. Like my post says ... NO MOTOR NO GO. In other words, sailing is not for me. I prefer 60 footers with BIG diesels in them that cruise at 15 knots without spilling my champagne. Could handle a trip to the Whitsundays again though. If it was on a 36 foot blackwatch (Gamefishing boat) I would consider it.

http://www.blackwatch.com.au/index.htm


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## stocksontheblock (9 September 2009)

trainspotter said:


> LMAO stocks. Sailing is romantic if you live in Alice Springs. Like my post says ... NO MOTOR NO GO. In other words, sailing is not for me. I prefer 60 footers with BIG diesels in them that cruise at 15 knots without spilling my champagne. Could handle a trip to the Whitsundays again though. If it was on a 36 foot blackwatch (Gamefishing boat) I would consider it.
> 
> http://www.blackwatch.com.au/index.htm




I know, I think the romanticism of sailing the Islands, sipping champagne, eating caviar and soaking up the sun and views might be a little worse than I want, or think it to be. Ohhh, why does life have to be so cruel? 

I did however spend 10 days at Newell Beach - 15 mins north of Port Douglas (for those who don’t know) at Xmas and managed to charter a nice 'luxury' cruiser for the day.

Wow ... now that was style. 

I wouldn’t mind the idea of floating around one of them in the Whitsundays. I did see and inspect a very nice boat at Hamilton Island to do that on ... you can see it at www.alani.com.au (no, I don’t have any vested interest in this boat, just showing what I like).

Does this one take your interest TS? Mind you, might need 50 friends to chip in for the cost of this one.


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## Mr J (9 September 2009)

Why the smile then Trainspotter? Awesome stuff, I like the way you seem to approach life.


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## trainspotter (9 September 2009)

Mr J said:


> Why the smile then Trainspotter? Awesome stuff, I like the way you seem to approach life.




I think I am smiling cause I was bloody lucky to escape the ordeal in one piece. Poor little solo 16 year old girl does not stand a chance if she can't even make it out of Moreton Bay !! LOL. Thanks Mr J ... I try and maintain a standard of living !! Piccys of me inside the cabin and in the Java Sea having a swim looking back at the yacht. This lull in the weather lasted for 2 hours and then it was back on the nose at 23 knots.


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## alwaysLearning (9 September 2009)

trainspotter said:


> I think I am smiling cause I was bloody lucky to escape the ordeal in one piece. Poor little solo 16 year old girl does not stand a chance if she can't even make it out of Moreton Bay !! LOL. Thanks Mr J ... I try and maintain a standard of living !! Piccys of me inside the cabin and in the Java Sea having a swim looking back at the yacht. This lull in the weather lasted for 2 hours and then it was back on the nose at 23 knots.




I hope that she decides to abort her goal for awhile until she gets more experience. Maybe she should do some shorter stints first with some supervision and then work her way up to sailing around the world. (no harm or shame in doing that)

Sure it may not end up being a world record from the point of view of age but hey...as you said before, it's one heck of a task to sail long distances between countries let alone all around the world. 30metre waves don't sound too kind to me either.

I looked up sea snakes and yikes... Also don't like the idea of crocs and sharks etc etc lol...maybe lochness monster is out there too somewhere


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## trainspotter (10 September 2009)

I watched an interview with this lovely little creature. She should stay at home. No doubt in my mind. The ocean is not a place for little girls with no experience of either life, loneliness or actual yacht/human capabilities. This is a fatal attraction waiting to happen. Bon Voyage !


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## overit (10 September 2009)

Not to steal your thunder trainspotter but this crazy little japanese man deserves a mention in the adventure thread. Top effort! Amazing what one can achieve.







> Man travels through 37 countries on just £1
> 
> A man has cycled over 29,000 miles (45,000 km) through 37 countries after setting out from his home in Japan eight years ago with the equivalent of just £1.
> 
> ...


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## trainspotter (10 September 2009)

overit said:


> Not to steal your thunder trainspotter but this crazy little japanese man deserves a mention in the adventure thread. Top effort! Amazing what one can achieve.




Not stealing anything from me overit! He is amazing for sure ! All glory to achievements like this ! True grit and a bloody legend of the realm. The difference is that if he gets tired or sick, he can pull over and STOP riding his bike. The ocean will NOT allow you to have a day off to recuperate because you are tired or sick or just don't wanna do it no more. Relentless in it's approach.  Mr. Keiichi Iwasaki deserves a bloody medal in my book ! HERO !!!


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## alwaysLearning (10 September 2009)

overit said:


> Not to steal your thunder trainspotter but this crazy little japanese man deserves a mention in the adventure thread. Top effort! Amazing what one can achieve.




Wow, thanks for posting that. Truly incredible. That guy is just amazing...wow.

Hope he makes it back to Japan in good health. It's pretty damn dangerous climbing up a mountain like Mt Everest and doing all the things he has done.

Another amazing person was the guy who climbed mt Everest, and he was blind. (literally). And he made it.


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## tasmanian (11 September 2009)

alwaysLearning said:


> Wow, thanks for posting that. Truly incredible. That guy is just amazing...wow.
> 
> Hope he makes it back to Japan in good health. It's pretty damn dangerous climbing up a mountain like Mt Everest and doing all the things he has done.
> 
> Another amazing person was the guy who climbed mt Everest, and he was blind. (literally). And he made it.




  I recently watched that movie about the blind guy who climbed mount everest(cant remember his name)really worth watching.

  The Japanese guy has got a good attitude to life.Got sick of his job so jumped on his bike 8yrs ago and hes still going.

  He could just as easily have been still working at his dads air con shop.Sure he might have a house and car but money doesnt buy time and the sort of things hes experienced.

  Only live once get out and live it before its gone.

   Now where did I leave my bike?


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## overit (11 September 2009)

This was my favourite quote from the article. 



> He has been robbed by pirates and arrested in India, almost died when he was attacked by a rabid dog in Tibet and nearly married in Nepal.




I guess a few guys would compare being married right up there with the dangers of pirates, rabid dogs and getting arrested!


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## Calliope (11 September 2009)

overit said:


> This was my favourite quote from the article.
> 
> 
> 
> I guess a few guys would compare being married right up there with the dangers of pirates, rabid dogs and getting arrested!




Maybe it was for the best.



> By coincidence, he met a childhood friend traveling in Nepal. Convinced it was fate, the two decided to get married. While Keiichi’s parents were supportive (and have been through the entirety of the trip), hers, alas, were not. He has not heard from her since she returned to Japan.






> For now he’s happy to be living a life that few could even dream of. Asked if he missed anything, he responded in the negative. Smiling, he corrected himself: “Wait, there’s one thing – sushi.”


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## overit (5 October 2009)

No my cup of tea but quite an incredible effort.






> Aussie climber tip-toes to the top
> 
> Canberra mountaineer Andrew Lock has described being forced to spend a night out in the elements, without a tent or sleeping bag, in freezing conditions near the top of a Himalayan giant.
> 
> ...


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## Garpal Gumnut (5 October 2009)

trainspotter said:


> New motto ... No motor ... No go. Picture is of the only bit of calm weather I had between Singas and Batam.




Good on you mate, at least you had a go. No smoking or drinking? 

Was it a rule or just impossible?

gg


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## overit (6 October 2009)

This is BRILLIANT!!! Extremely well done and not to mention a great adventure to boot!








> Christoph Rehage's hairy video an internet hit
> 
> A TOURIST who videoed the growth of his beard while travelling for a year has become an internet sensation.
> 
> ...






> Additional info:
> - I never finished my original goal of walking to Germany. Instead, I walked for a year and roughly 4500km, passed the desert of Gobi, and then decided to stop walking for now.
> - All of the distance from Beijing to ÃœrÃ¼mqi has been completed solely on foot, straight good old walking. There are instances where you can see me in the video sitting on a plane or riding a boat, but those are during breaks I had to take from walking, either to sort out bureaucracy issues or to take care of some personal things.
> - I had been planning this trip for over a year before I even started, and getting as far as I got was an experience for which I am very grateful.
> ...


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## trainspotter (6 October 2009)

Garpal Gumnut said:


> Good on you mate, at least you had a go. No smoking or drinking?
> 
> Was it a rule or just impossible?
> 
> gg




BOTH. Even if you could disobey the rules of the yacht there was nowhere to get out of the weather to enjoy the indulgence of nicoteine and alcohol.

I see the little girl is having another go at solo around the word in her pink yacht. Place your bets she will need to be rescued less than half way and retire hurt ! Or sunk.


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## overit (6 October 2009)

This is one of the videos that inspired Christoph Rehage. I quite like this one too for some strange reason! 

14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. Where the hell is matt?


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## Julia (6 October 2009)

trainspotter said:


> BOTH. Even if you could disobey the rules of the yacht there was nowhere to get out of the weather to enjoy the indulgence of nicoteine and alcohol.
> 
> I see the little girl is having another go at solo around the word in her pink yacht. Place your bets she will need to be rescued less than half way and retire hurt ! Or sunk.



I see Richard Branson has said he will fund her rescue if that has to happen.
That's fine.  As long as our tax dollars don't have to be spent on sending a rescue crew out after her when she has her next accident.


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## overit (9 October 2009)

Riaan Manser - Solo Adventurer 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!: At 15h20 local time on Wednesday 8 July 2009 Riaan Manser crossed the finish line in Tamatave, 5000km and eleven months after setting off to become the first person to circumnavigate Masdagascar by kayak, alone and unaided.


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## overit (9 October 2009)

This is one crazy dude! 

Part 1a: Cape Town to Cairo
Riaan Manser on his way to becoming the first person to circumnavigate the African continent on a bicycle. The entire journey took two years and two months to complete, travelling 37,000kms through 34 countries. 


Part 1b:


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## overit (9 October 2009)

Great Video series! Tough crazy dude!

Riaan Manser 'Around Africa on my bicycle' 

Part 2a: Cairo to Cape Town


Part 2b: Cairo to Cape Town


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## overit (17 October 2009)

Long ride home from Adelaide to Aberdeen

Scotsman Eric Smart sounds extremely happy for someone who's just cycled 23,000 kilometres.

In fact he's so happy about it, that after a short break he'll be mounting up again and pedaling for another 12,000km.

Eric began this epic adventure 17 months ago in his home town of Aberdeen, Scotland, with no plans but to end up in Adelaide.

"My plan was to have as little plan as possible," he said.

"I gave myself two years, but found myself here in Adelaide after 17 months. I've got seven left, so I now intend to cycle across New Zealand, San Francisco to New York, through Ireland and back to Aberdeen."

By the time he's finished, Eric will have racked up a mean 30,000km through 19 countries over two years.
*
And the reason for all this pedal power? For 20 years, Eric suffered Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), a debilitating condition which can cause severe tiredness and fatigue, painful muscles and joints, and poor memory and concentration.*

"The trip is to celebrate my recovery from poor health. I love travel, cycling and I'm a people person, so it was just to celebrate those things and bring awareness to ME."

Eric's plan is to raise $24,000 and he's not far off - his latest count is about $15,000.

His story is inspiring and heartwarming, but Eric says he found both those things and more in the people he's met during his travels.

"I'm never really alone. The warmth, love and compassion in every country I've gone through has been incredible," he said.

"I've been travelling for 17 months, through 16 countries and people have been just amazing. Nothing stolen, no moments of trepidation, no acts of violence against me - and I sleep in the streets.

"I sleep in bus shelters, under bushes - occasionally I sleep in backpackers to shave and wash my clothes, or I get invited into people's homes - it's just been incredible.

"I just cycle, sleep, and eat whenever. Every country I've cycled through at night, arrived at major cities in the middle of the night. I meet a broader range of people and have a greater mix of experience doing it this way."

Bumps along the way

But it hasn't been a totally smooth ride. Several injuries and near misses along the way have been what Eric describes as "character building".

He suffered a broken collar bone in Italy, was hospitalised twice in Pakistan with food poisoning, had his fingers crushed when a motorbike ran over them in Indonesia, and went over the handle bars in Azerbaijan.

He also had to deal with "bitterly cold" weather in Turkey, which plunged to minus 38 degrees Celsius at night, and the hills, heat and humidity in Sumatra.

Clearly, the adventurous spirit is in Eric's nature, and he has a special affection for Australia, which is why he originally wanted to finish here.

"I was in Adelaide over 20 years ago while I was hitchhiking and walking around Australia," he said.

"I've worked in Adelaide and it was the furthest place away I could think of with the alliteration of A. Plus I've always wanted to come back to Australia."

Eric says he's always enjoyed riding a bike, but has never been "super keen" like you'd imagine one would be to embark on such a journey.
*
"Prior to leaving, I went out and cycled for 80km to see how I'd get on and I was fine, so that's the furthest I'd ever cycled prior to leaving."
*
And this no frills approach has been the theme of Eric's ride. No flashy gadgets or getup, just good old fashioned bike riding

"The trip's been very basic. I don't have a GPS or a mobile phone or laptop and I've only used two maps the whole trip," he said.

"The people that I meet direct and shape the experience and these are the things I wanted to try. I just wanted the trip to be about using my intuition and doing the things I believe in, instead of having a structured plan.

"I'm very fortunate to be doing this... I don't mean to be flippant about it, but I am just a tourist on a bike and I'm blown away by the amount of interest that's been shown.

"Complete strangers have invited me into their homes, many people have stopped and handed me a bottle of water or some food, or helped with directions. They've gone out of their way and completely gone the extra mile to help. That's been the biggest impression of my trip."


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## overit (18 October 2009)

Off she goes! Good luck to her. 

........................

*Jessica Watson sets sail on record attempt*

October 18, 2009 09:05am

TEENAGE adventurer Jessica Watson has finally set sail on her quest to make history.

Well-wishers thronged The Spit in Sydney's Middle Harbour as the 16-year-old cast off around 9am (AEDT) in her yacht Ella's Pink Lady.

The Queensland teenager wants to become the youngest person to sail single-handedly around the world.

More to come


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## scanspeak (18 October 2009)

Sadly, I think her chances of survival are slim.


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## overit (21 October 2009)

This chick is well on her way to completing a solo around australia kayak trip. Just the bottom part left! Quite incredible really. Her blog.









> Round Australia paddler
> 
> 21/10/2009 4:00:00 AM
> 
> ...




She has quite an incredible back ground also. About Freya.



> She  has finished already some other sporting careerers:  10 years of competitive gymnastics, 5 years of competitive body building and 10 years of skydiving with 1500 jumps. She was the first German female tandem pilot with 500 passenger jumps, and part of many huge record formations. Her most exotic place to skydive was over the North Pole, getting washed out of a Russian Iljushin jet plane with 300 km, a tandem passenger strapped to her chest.
> 
> Besides her sporting careers, Freya built up successfully a chain of 7 franchise ice cream cafÃ©s, a salad bistro and a x-mas shop.






> In 2007, Freya Hoffmeister circumnavigated Iceland in a record 33 days. Three month later, she set out to become the first woman to round the South Island of New Zealand, solo and unsupported. Seventy days later, the 43-year-old sea kayaker from Husum, Germany completed another record-setting trip that Paul Caffyn called “The most significant solo kayak trip undertaken by a woman in the southern hemisphere”.


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## BradK (21 October 2009)

Adventure is not overrated, 

Just got back from a trip to Ethiopia with my best mate, where our mission was to track down his adopted son's biological family. Armed with only a name and a hospital, we managed to track them down. 

So many twists and turns and emotions. I think it is something we will remember for many years to come and will throw up funny memories of the small things.... like the names we dubbed each of the characters along the way - 'fee finder' a local builder who asked for a little bit of birr everytime he got us some information... 'dead weight' ... the lady at the bar we used to debrief at every night whose only job was to write down the orders on a piece of paper before someone else punched them into the computer. 

We ended up finding the family after simply knocking on doors and asking people if they knew the name. 

One of our most amazing adventures ever! 

Brad


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## trainspotter (22 October 2009)

Well done you BradK. Sounds like you had an experience of a lifetime. (and I mean this sincerely) For your adventure did not take any nasty turns. The sea did not try and claim your life, an avalanche did not bury you in snow, an earthquake did not cause a house to fall on your head etc ad infinitum. When these kinds of things occur on what is "supposed" to be a relaxing jaunt through another country, ocean or whatever then adventure IMO is definitely overrated. When you cannot control the surrounds or the environment you are in (60 knot squall 200 miles offshore) it kinda dampens the spirit what ! 

Don't get me wrong ... when you travel into the great unknown it is a fantastic experience and when you come out the other side you are definitely a changed person, sometimes for the better. When it all goes according to plan that is. Not like the Andrew Short (skipper and owner of the yacht PricewaterhouseCoopers, formerly known as Shockwave) saga. This is when adventure can be overrated.


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## awg (22 October 2009)

trainspotter said:


> Not like the Andrew Short (skipper and owner of the yacht PricewaterhouseCoopers, formerly known as Shockwave) saga. This is when adventure can be overrated.




Yo Sailor boy..I have been wondering what went wrong there, not being a sailor myself, it seems to me an enormous ****-up by the skipper and navigator to get so close to a rocky outcrop in those conditions.

Like I said, I aint no sailor, but seems to me you would give the thing a wide birth, if you relied on GPS instead of visual siting and/or cut it too close, you would be commiting a cardinal sin.

Never been on a racing yacht, I got frightfully seasick on a cruise out to the Barrier reef


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## trainspotter (22 October 2009)

Yeah, it would seem that they got a little too close to the turning point (which happened to be the reef) and were picked up by a set of freak waves which in turn threw them onto the rocks in atrocious conditions. The keel hit the bottom of the ocean causing the boom to knock three of them off the deck into the water. Tragic. 

Not sure how they were navigating? GPS is normally at the chart table under the deck and maybe they were blown off course due to the conditions? I don't know. There seems to be a very big malfunction in the chain of command on the steering side of things if you knew of the water hazard especially if it was marked on the charts?

Never been seasick thankfully. I have watched people who have and it does not look like a good thing to me. Funny but !


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## overit (16 November 2009)

Update... powering along sweetly so far!



> Jessica Watson nears the equator in solo adventure
> 
> November 16, 2009 03:26pm
> 
> ...


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## overit (21 November 2009)

Just watched a good doco on Andrew McAuley and his attempt to solo kayak across the tasman which ended in tragic circumstances. Quite a harrowing story about man vs elements.  A well put together documentary under the circumstances. 

WATCH the documentary here - SOLO: Lost at Sea 








> In December 2006 Andrew’s first attempt to cross the Tasman Sea in a standard one-man kayak was aborted after two days due to trouble keeping warm inside the cockpit. Andrew’s second attempt began on 11 January 2007 and ended on 12 February when the search for his missing body was called off following the recovery of his partly flooded kayak on 10 February just 30 nautical miles short of his destination Milford Sound.
> 
> The sleeping arrangements at sea involved deploying a sea anchor, squeezing his body down into the kayak and sealing the hatch with a bulbous fibreglass capsule (dubbed “Casper”) fitted with an air-only ventilator which, with its self-righting capabilities, made it possible to ride out the most severe storm conditions that are inevitable in that part of the ocean. Unfortunately, when the capsule was pivoted to its stowing position behind the cockpit, it made it impossible to kayak roll due to being filled with water like a bucket. Therefore, whenever he capsized, he had to swim out of the kayak, push it upright and perform full self-rescue.
> 
> ...


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## overit (24 January 2010)

Jessica Watson still sailing along. Nothing like getting smashed by a big storm to test the weary mind, body and boat! HER BLOG.

Pre-storm photo.







> Jessica Watson battered by 12-hour storm
> 
> * January 24, 2010 10:24AM
> 
> ...


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## overit (2 August 2010)

Not much time to stop and smell the roses! 








> *British man sets new round-the-world cycle record*
> 
> A British man, Vin Cox, has set a new world record for the fastest cycle ride around the globe.
> *
> ...


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