The award recognises the team’s efforts in establishing a marine debris baseline for the remote islands of the eastern Strait, and its fundraising for Surfrider Foundation, which raised over $15,000 to go towards various marine debris  and beach awareness campaigns.

Well done Brendon, Richard, Sandy, Mick, Couttsy, Emma and Jarad, and thanks to Butch and Chris from our support boat, Montique, who helped us tow all the rubbish back to the mainland for proper disposal.

With the 2012 expedition now confirmed for late February, we look forward to once again getting our hands dirty and cleaning up this amazing little patch of Australia.

This will be the second commercial crossing of its kind. The inaugural CABS expedition was successfully completed earlier this year on Fenn XTs, making it the first-ever crossing of the notorious Bass Strait by ocean racing ski. (See previous posts for all the action from the first trip.)

The expedition will once again be led by Jarad Kohlar, an accomplished international multisport and adventure athlete, who has crossed the Strait three times – once via the treacherous Western Crossing.

“Bass Strait is the paddling equivalent of Mount Everest and is fast becoming a right of passage for ocean paddlers,” says Jarad. “Until now, it has solely been the domain of sea kayakers, but ocean skis are tailor-made for the wind and swell you get out on the Strait, and provide a much more enjoyable, adrenalin-pumping experience.”

The Fenn XT

Covering some 330km, the expedition will depart Port Welshpool in late February 2012, and island-hop along the Eastern Crossing, finishing at Little Musselroe Bay in northeast Tasmania. Although there’s a total of just six paddling days, participants must have a window of three weeks in which to complete the crossing, to allow for poor weather and rest days.

“Bass Strait hasn’t earned its fearsome reputation for nothing,” explains Jarad. “Conditions can turn deadly very quickly, so we need to be very conservative about which conditions we will paddle in. Plus, it really is worthwhile spending a day or two just exploring the islands – they are some of the most remote and pristine in the world.”

Superb Deal Island

The expedition will follow a comprehensive risk-management plan that involves all the essentials, such as EPIRBS, flares, and sat phones, as well as an escort/retrieval boat for back-up.

“The escort boat will also be carrying all our food, clothing and camping equipment, so we’ll be doing this expedition in relative style,” says Jarad. “Hot gourmet meals, freshly caught seafood and local beer and wine are all an integral part of the experience.”

Paddlers will also enjoy one-on-one coaching along the way, with Jarad providing advice on stroke technique and downwind paddling. This will come in very handy during the final leg from Cape Barren Island to the Tasmanian mainland, across the challenging Banks Strait.

“This year, the Banks Strait crossing provided some of the most enjoyable downwind paddling I’ve experienced, with a trailing 20-knot wind and 2-metre swell,” says Jarad.

The CABS expedition is open to seven paddlers of intermediate to advanced skill. The two least experienced paddlers have the option of paddling in a double Fenn XT with Jarad or another instructor.

“You will need to be able to paddle between five and eight hours a day in open-ocean conditions, but you don’t necessarily need to be the world’s strongest or most experienced paddler,” says Jarad. “For example, this year I paddled in the double Fenn XT with my partner, Emma, who’d only been paddling for a year. Apart from the usual blisters and a bit of tendonitis, she absolutely loved the experience.”

Jarad will be taking expressions of interest until July 1st. To find out more, please email jarad@peakadventure.com.au to receive a full information pack.

So all paddling and water enthusiasts are warmly invited to join us on the evening of Thursday, March 31, at 7pm, for a night of show and tell about the inaugural Clean Across Bass Strait adventure. For those of you hoping to be part of next year’s expedition, this night is a must, as we’ll be talking about what it takes to complete the arduous, but exhilarating, journey. Plus there’ll be heaps of prizes and gear up for grabs, a paddle clinic with 2011 Doctor winner, Tim Jacobs, framed photos for sale, and a delicious buffet dinner. All proceeds will go to Surfrider Foundation.

To find out more and book your tickets, click here.

Sweet relief.

The final tricky leg across the feared Banks Strait began on Monday morning, with the team paddling out from Thunder and Lightning Bay on Cape Barren Island at around 6.45am. With a 15-knot tail wind, the weather gods were once again smiling down on us, and it was more a case of “Surf Across Banks Strait” as we relished the opportunity for some serious downwind action.

Jarad and Emma burning up Banks Strait.

In fact, it was the speediest leg of the entire trip, with the crew completing the 40-kilometre crossing in just over four hours.  Admittedly, about 10 kilometres out from Little Mussleroe Bay, Banks’s notoriously strong currents did stir up some heart-starting chop, but on the whole, the team was very lucky and spared its wrath.

And that was pretty much the theme of the final few days – calm, near-glassy conditions making for very straightforward paddling. But that’s not to say it was easy paddling. As we reported previously, the 80-kilometre, 10-hour leg from Deal Island to Allports Beach on Flinders Island was epic, and certainly tested the limits of our endurance. To then back that up with another seven-and-a-half-hour paddle to Cape Barren Island, first thing the next morning, called for incredible mental toughness, perseverance, and a lot of bad singing. (As we discovered, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is a sure-fire antidote to tendonitis and blisters.)  Of course, the dramatic scenery of Flinders Island, with the majestic Mt Strezlecki rising up from the deep blue, provided some pretty good visual distraction, too.

Paddling down the Flinders Island coast.

But no amount of singing and scenery could make up for the amazingly generous support we received from the people we met along our journey. First and foremost, we’d like to thank the crew of our support boat, Montique – Butch, Chris and co have been instrumental in the success of this trip. Not only have they provided us with a vital safety net on this potentially deadly endeavour, but they’ve also patiently obliged our every request, ferried our food and supplies back-and-forth to our campsites, plied us with freshly caught seafood (saving us from endless nights of of spag bol), welcomed us into their homes, and even graciously put up with our bad jokes. If anyone reading this is down Flinders Island way, and looking for a unique fishing experience on a spectacular and undiscovered coastline, we highly recommend Butch Barnewall’s fishing charters.

Our heroes: Chris and Butch

Catch of the day - who said camping was roughing it?

Others we’d like to thank include Alan and his family for letting us set up camp on Hogan Island for three days; Deal Island caretakers, Tim and Lynne, for warmly welcoming us with home-baked brownies; Veronica from Port Welshpool Caravan Park for lending us her car and cooking us the most delicious roast chicken dinner of all time; the fellow sea-kayakers we met along the way for sharing their war stories; Richard Rossiter for flying down and being our official photographer for two days; Simon from Freycinet Adventures for transporting all our kayaks and gear to Davenport; the Spirit of Tasmania for accommodating our 47 items of luggage with a smile; and the various media that took interest in our journey and helped us spread the message about marine debris on behalf of Surfrider Foundation.

Later this week, we will be posting a final report on the results of our Bass Strait marine debris survey, so please stay tuned to find out more. In the coming weeks we will also be hosting a dinner to share our stories from the trip, show photos, discuss the findings of our marine debris survey, and talk about the next trip in 2013 – again, stay tuned here for more information.

For now, it’s time to sink down a glass of Moet, bask in our glory – and rejoice in the fact we don’t have to get up at 4.30am tomorrow to pull on damp, smelly clothes and go paddling!

Clean Across Bass Strait was completed on Monday February 28, 2011. It was a world first crossing of Bass Strait by surf-ski. It was also a cleanup project as part of the Surfrider Foundation Australia National Marine Debris Initiative and Rise Above Plastics campaign.

The group of paddlers island-hopped and cleaned the beaches as they went, counting each piece to add to the National Marine Debris database.

Surfrider Foundation are so thankful for your support and good will.

Achieved:
- Successfully paddled over 300km across Bass Strait in a world first on surf-ski
- Island hopped and cleaned the beaches collecting data for our NMDI and
- Successfully raised over $13,000 for us in donations.

THANK YOU CLEAN ACROSS BASS STRAIT!

Surfrider Foundation is a not for profit organisation dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of Australia’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through CARE: Conservation, Activism, Research and Education. To make a tax-deductible donation and help the paddlers reach their 20,000 goal, Donate Here

Thank you Clean Across Bass Strait Paddlers and congratulations on your epic journey!

Emma's hand. Not a patch on Sandy's, though.

All you need to know is that we’re all alive and well – albeit exhausted – and our wonderful escort boat captain Butch and his wife Judy are doing a marvelous job of looking after us, being so generous as to give us showers, take us to the pub, put us up for the night in their home and cook us up a bacon and egg breakfast as we speak. Sweet mercy.

That’s all for now. Soon we’ll head off to the south of Flinders to position ourselves for the tricky final leg across Banks Strait. Stay tuned for more tales later today.

And what an enviable job they have. With stunning views across jade green seas to wake up to every morning, and pristine Tasmanian wilderness as their backyard, it’s little wonder there’s a two-year waiting list for the caretaker gig.

Our Deal Island campsite - it's a tough life.

Having enjoyed such a cruisy day of paddling, the team had enough energy left in the tank to explore the island’s lighthouse and take a dip in those crystal clear waters.

Deal Island lighthouse.

As for our routine beach cleanup, well Tim has basically told us not to bother because there’s very little to find.  Indeed, a quick scan of the main beach where we are camping revealed just two fishing knives – nasty items to leave lying around in the sand, but if that’s the extent of the rubbish here, then that’s good news for this incredibly diverse marine reserve.

Jarad with fishing knives - Lord of the Flies, anyone?

Which is more than we can say for Hogan Island. As we reported a couple of days ago, our cleanup of Hogan revealed close to 100 plastic drink bottles – a pretty poor result for such a small and remote piece of land. Interestingly, most of the bottles could be traced to Southeast Asian sources, causing us to speculate that they’ve probably been dumped from cargo ships passing through the Strait. (The very same ships that unnervingly beared down on us during our crossing to Hogan). Perhaps there needs to be better education and policing of the foreign ships that pass through our waters…

More like bad aqua.

Well, the sun is fading now, the beers are being cracked, and the wonderful Tim and Lynne will be joining us soon with home-baked brownies  and the mother of all crayfishes, so it’s time to scoot. Tomorrow is the big one – and epic 70-kilometre paddle to Flinders Island. We’re quietly confident the seas will be kind, but feel free to wish us luck, all the same.

Our resident Cape Barren Goose.

The first leg of our crossing was, as Mick so eloquently put it, a baptism of fire. With a head wind pushing 30 knots and some rough and confused water between Port Welshpool and Wilson’s Prom, the whole team was sharply reminded that, yes, this is Bass Strait, and, no, you can’t afford to be complacent.

Seven-and-a-half hours and 45 kilometres later, we paddled into the calm, aqua waters of Sealer’s Cove and all breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, it was a stunning journey along the Prom’s coastline – dolphins, penguins, banjo sharks and albatross were among the locals spotted – but when the head wind had our average speed down to fewer than four kilometres an hour, it seemed like a journey that would never end.

Unfortunately, with dusk already upon us, we didn’t have much time to explore Sealer’s Cove. It was a quick scramble to set up tents and cook dinner, before hitting the sleeping bag ahead of an even longer, and potentially more perilous crossing to Hogan Island.

Our campsite on Hogan - not bad, huh?

The next morning, the glassy conditions at Sealer’s had us thinking we were in for a cruisy 55 kilometres.  Wrong again. While the wind was down on the previous day, at around 18 knots, its southwesterly direction combined with two- to three-metre swell, pushed many of us to our limits. Brendon was the first casualty, succumbing to sea-sickness and managing a mighty technicolour yawn down the front of his lifejacket before conceding defeat and hopping on our escort boat, Montique. The moral of that story? Take your Quells before you get on the water – once seasickness sets in, it’s basically game over.

Then there were the inevitable capsizes that come with rogue side-on waves – fortunately everyone was able to hop back on and keep battling, which is true testament to the team’s fitness and bravery. Only Couttsy, and Jarad and Emma in the double XT, managed to stay upright for the entire seven-plus hours, although Emma, who’s in the back of the double with Jarad, reckons she can’t take much credit for that.

The upshot of all this drama is, we made it, we’re alive and we’re all relishing the adventure, despite the seasickness, blisters and dodgy wrists from all that bracing for dear life. At about 5am this morning, we very sensibly decided to stay put on Hogan for a second night, to give our aches and pains time to mend, and wait for the more clement weather that we’re promised will arrive later in the week. (Although, if we hear the word “abate” one more time, we might throttle someone).

And Hogan ain’t such a bad spot to be marooned for a while. Sure, it’s a bare and rugged little island, inhabited only by penguins, cows, Cape Barren Geese and some very self-assured rats who have delighted in our arrival, but it’s a fascinating place too, with incredible views across the Strait. We even had the pleasure of meeting the island’s tenant today, who came across by boat to check on his 40 head of cattle. Alan, whose family has held the lease here for 50-odd years, has been very welcoming of us, and appreciative of the fact we’re also here to help clean up his beaches. Speaking of which, we conducted a massive cleanup of the island today, practically circumnavigating it by foot to see what we could find. Fishing paraphernalia accounted for most of the items found, along with a few incongruous pieces, like a plastic bread crate – how the hell that ended up here we’ll never know. Sadly, that dreadful scourge, the plastic drinking bottle, also reared its ugly head a few times  – it’s depressing that, even out here, at such a remote location, personal rubbish of this nature is having an impact.

Team Bass Strait with Hogan Island caretaker Alan, and his mates Richard and Alfie.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Just now we’re cooking spuds on a campfire, sinking some beers, while a naked Brendon Grail frolicks with a stingray. This must be paradise.

So, until our next post from Deal Island, which we hope to reach either midday tomorrow , or Friday, it’s  greetings from Hogan.