BBC 2 : Solitary Endeavour on the Sounthern Ocean

[FM]

9.00 pm ..just begun....An ill-fated attempt to kayak across the Tasman sea from Australia to New Zealand ..looks quite interesting.

Edited by FM on Sunday 22 February 21:12

[Geoffers]

Nice one cheers!

[audidoody]

Brave bloke - but sadly did not seem to think it through. The most important safety drill for a kayaker is to master the eskimo roll. A bit difficult when the kayak is top heavy with equipment.

I can understand a single bloke trying a journey like this. But a family man with a young kid? And no support vessel? I don't get it.

[nonplussed]

audidoody said:

I can understand a single bloke trying a journey like this. But a family man with a young kid? And no support vessel? I don't get it.

My thoughts exactly. Watching it now, and it's heartbreaking to see the kid looking forward to seeing his Daddy. Some risks are just not worth taking when you've got a family.

[deevlash]

Im watching it, I cant understand why he did it after having a family, why not before? Surely with the risks involved it was just selfish?

[schmalex]

I absolutely understand that he wanted, even had, to do it, but to do it as a husband and father is one of the most selfish things I have seen.

The Tasman is a vicious place in a 15m racing yacht, let alone a 4m kayak with no support vessel.

Admirable, but ultimatley very selfish imo.

[Dunk76]

Well that was glum viewing, was it not?

I simply cannot fathom why he went about it in such a seemingly, almost deliberately, amateur fashion?

No support vessel, some ill-concieved bubble with no apparent release mechanism, and what appears to be a completely misappreciation of what happens when to you, both physically and mentally, if you're stuck in something no bigger than a coffin, for a month, on one of the most viscious seas in the world.

As a father, I thought it was incredibly selfish thing to go about in that way with a young son. I'd have thought the first attempt where he got hypothermia on the first night was a big enough warning!

Edited by Dunk76 on Sunday 22 February 22:05

[hot metal]

Looked very very depressing so turned it off to read the Be Very Affraid thread,