Two weeks to go...

With just two weeks before Keirron and George leave the Isle of Man on their adventure, training has reached its peak, and adjustments and fine details are being applied to the logistical web.

George Shaw broke the 'Round the Isle of Man Record' in a standard sea kayak, completing the 115km (70.3 Nautical Miles) in 13 hours 34 mins! A major goal on his personal training program, George was delighted with the result.
http://adventurousexperiencesblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/george-shaw-smashes-kayak-record.html

Tom Pogson sent a brief glimpse of George's kayak, arrived and safely stowed at Alaska Kayak School

Mine will be there now as well, so the main ingredients are coming together nicely, we're expecting to confirm the final pieces of sponsored kit in the next few days. 

Inspiration

Having researched in depth, I have managed to touch bases with members of each of the Early Bering Sea Expeditions, and got a host of advice and inspiration from them. I'm very grateful for your time, Derek, Jon and Rob and we'll certainly take your good wishes with us. Amazing explorations which took place prior to our modern specialised kit... "Woolie jumpers and welly boots, made their own neoprene cuffs for their jackets... had hurricane force winds..." Derek Hutchinson. He admired "..the native Aleut's, the best kayaker's in the world, who would paddle 1000's miles without getting out of their kayaks."

"Life expectancy of 10 - 15 mins in the water, local fisherman call it 'liquid ice'..."

I've also been in touch with Justine Curgenven, getting ideas and info from her expedition along the Kamchatka Peninsula, in 2003. 

Links to inspirational people and journeys around the Bering Sea. 

As the busier season is under way here on the Isle of Man, wildlife is flourishing, and our students are reaching their progressive goals and preparing for their own expeditions, its an exciting place to be!

http://adventurousexperiencesblog.blogspot.com/

Keep in touch : )

Keirron

news from Alaska

Just got this email from Kodiak Island today;

..."We here in Kodiak and mostly the rest of Alaska has had a winter from hell, ( guy who invented the terminology Global warming ) should be shot.  I am looking out my window now at a solid 4ft of snow and it is still quite cold , this morning it is minus 15 centigrade. This snow it going to take a long time to go, we have broken all records...
...A lot of the Bering Sea froze over this winter and it took an ice breaker and a tanker a lot of time to get fuel to Nome.   This is still very much winter here at the moment, no sign of a thaw as yet..." 

Better get another thermal packed! : )

K

Project Sea Otter

Frances just rang from the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage to update our tasks for

Project Sea Otter

Northern Sea Otters are listed as threatened in the Aleutians arc, suspected leading cause of decline is now predation by Killer Whales.  We will be assisting the US Fish and Wildlife Service, recording presence or absence of Sea Otters in bays, and noting Killer Whales position and taking photo’s for identification, for marine biologists live projects.

This will be a very rewarding and exciting project as we journey along the Aleutian volcanic 'Ring of Fire'

More details on the main website pages.

Sponsored kit starts arriving in Alaska

Tom Pogson emailed to say he's taken delivery of a package from Jetboil, a crate from Mountain House foods, and our 'SKUK Explorer' sea kayaks have shipped via Seattle, and will be in Alaska on Friday...

We are getting very excited!!

Aleutian's Team

Keirron and George have been training together since July 2009 (preceded by many years of formulating the plan and the team). We are in the final exciting stages of mental and physical preparation.

See the website page for full details of the expedition.

Despite our best efforts to bring Phil Clegg on the actual expedition, he remains part of our support team, a vital source of experience and information.

We bought our travel tickets before Christmas, and now firming up sponsor agreements and logistical details.

A long time in the making this will be the experience of a lifetime!

Keirron

Open Crossing - Isle of Man to Scotland

 Getting ready at the Point of Ayre, before daybreak.

 checking kit and cracking glow sticks

 We set off on a bearing of about 45 degrees, allowing for the strenthening Westerlie going stream.

 George was well supplied with 'treasure' in the form of a mighty box of energy giving food

 The crossing took us 4 hours (to the minute), landing at the harbour on the Isle of Whithorn.

 Heading home again, after a break for food, the colours and sea were absolutely stunning!

Keirron, George and Sam - back at the Point of Ayre. The return paddle took 4 and a half hours, and we were pushing a fair amount of tide. The day was the 31st August 2010, and this was our Aleutians Expedition Team!

It seems a good time to complete open crossings, as looking back to my first open crossing, Holyhead home to the Isle of Man (60 miles), set off on 30th August 2001. My next solo open crossing at night (again paddling home from Holyhead) also set off on the 30th August 2005...

06th April 2007 - helping an aspiring paddler 'to achieve a dream'

We paddled to Scotland, bought some shortbread and paddled home again.

Its always good to reflect upon these crossings, especially when undertaking the 'Volcanic Arc of Fire' one of the names given to the Aleutian chain, as the open ocean has a way of making you feel very small indeed...

*************

Last year Sam made the decision to run operations on the Isle of Man whilst we embark on the Aleutians Expedition.

the next Horrendous Experience...

We're well into the planning stage of the next committing expedition by sea kayak - off to the Aleutians in 2012!

We'll be using this Blog again more frequently as the time for setting off draws near, and preparations reach a delightful frenzy... and also when possible, whilst on the expedition itself :)

Outline details are at;

http://www.adventurousexperiences.com/about-us/aleutians-2012-expedition.aspx

All the best
Keirron

19 and a half Days... could have been worse!

Well we're done, and what an awesome trip, a truely Adventurous Experience, and at times, some may say a horrendous experience!

Got back to the San Juans late last night, stopping to take numerous pics of the beautiful sunset, flat conditions, accompaned by the sounds of pods of harbour porpoise, around us as we completed the last 20 miles... acrobatic seals and so much bioluminesence.

After setting off in similar conditions, it was great to see our luck continued right up the finish... with a lengthy paddle against the tide! (Wouldn't have it any other way.)

More pics up in the next day or so, in the meantime - a few explanations of how the last few days worth of paddling got extended. There was a post about the skeg, but here is the issue! After our only day off the water at Cape Scott, and shorter 14hr days following after, we were feeling fully fit and got up to our target of 50 nautical miles per day for the 3 days till Tofino. It was next morning we noticed damage and a hole in the front of the kayak, and repaired it as best we may. Whatever caused this, also impacted the directional stability of the Mighty Triton, (which I would certainly not trade for any other double on the market!) Long days and plenty of exposure to sun and conditions had made us less sharp, and the following evening when moving the kayak with the skeg not fully up, we smashed it into a rock, and broke the mounting inside.

Next morning the kayak would only go in circles despite all manner of attempts. This was to be the first of 4 days when we would waste many potential paddling hours creating an auxilary skeg / rudder to give us some control in the particulary large conditions we were experiencing. This felt like dragging a drogue and certainly lessened our cheerfulness at times...

However, as the title goes, it could have been much worse!
At every turn of events, there would be an equally stunning positive experience to balence the adversity, blisters, jelly fish burns, physical challenge or horrendous experience.
When on one of our many paddles which extended to nightfall, a violent wind sudenly blew up, threatening to take us offshore, we fought to bring the boat into shore, and then into the shelter of the cliffs, pulses quicked a little, and then their was a Marmot sitting their, cleaning itself, and this brought everything back into perspective, life goes on regardless.
At Seymour Narrows, after being cheated of our Horrendous Experience with the whirlpools, 15 knots currents in our favour and general mayhem, we were floating slowly down current, and then next thing a pod of Pacific White-Sided Dolpins appeared, surfacing near the kayak, and continued with us all the way down the channel.
A hard day in bouncy conditions, grey and misty, then Grey Whales appear, feeding around the kayak, surfacing close by, very exciting!

The whole trip has been such a humbling experience.

Throughout the trip, luck has been right with, and I've no doubt its been due to all the well wishes of our friends at home and abroad. So many thanks guys for all your help, and for the many people who went our of their way to accomodate us, welcome us, and touch us with their kindness and generosity. We have been so fortunate to meet so many like minded peole who share our enthusiasm for the outdoors, environment around us and life in general!

Bob Kearney from CHTV caught up with us at Victoria, shot some footage and interviewed Jeff and myself, to be aired today. We talked about the experiences, setting a new record time round Vancouver Island by Kayak, and done in a tandem with a total stranger!

Jeff its been an absolute pleasure!
till next time...
Keirron

Not Yet!

I just had a call from Toby Brown who waited out for them last night (... from late afternoon to 3.30am before giving up!). As of 9am this morning they were still not back on Orcas. We can only assume that they decided to camp out somewhere on the trip over from Victoria. Weather and conditions are good right now. Hopefully we'll have good news soon. -- Jon

Penultimate Map

They may have landed back at Orcas Island by now. Given the weather and tides a late night arrival is about the earliest finish time we could expect. No word yet. In the mean time, here is a map showing their last location this afternoon. -- Jon

Finishing This Evening

Laurence just forwarded this text message he received from Jeff this afternoon.

"Arrived at Victoria at 2:30 pm. CH TV interview. Heading on to Orcas
Island with the remaining flood."

So it looks like they should be arriving back at Orcas Island early this evening. I would guess that they will come in at North Beach, which is where they launched. If anyone on Orcas reads this please let Toby Brown and Mike Dupas know so they can arrange the pick up. I have to rush off to teach right now so can't coordinate things until tonight (when it may be too late for a reception). Please take plenty of photos! Jeff Moag from Canoe & Kayak magazine needs some for an article he is doing on their trip. Thanks!

-- Jon

ps. I was beginning to think they had started a second lap in the hope of better weather and a faster time ;)

Still No News

Several people have contacted me wondering where the boys have got to, and whether they have finished yet. They haven't called in since Saturday, so there's no way to know exactly where they are. They were hoping to get to Victoria yesterday (Monday) and Orcas today (Tuesday), but I am assuming they are delayed by weather. Its been very windy the last couple of days in the Strait of Juan de Fuca so they may not have been able to get on the water as much as they had hoped. Also, they would have to pass Race Rocks, an area with strong tidal currents that is notorious for its rough seas. These factors would likely cause some delay. The forecast is quite good now though, so I'm expecting some contact soon. -- Jon

Map for Saturday's location

Here is the map to go with the last post. This is current as of Saturday night. They are probably much closer to Victoria by now, but we haven't heard from them yet this evening. -- Jon (just back from canoeing).

Sunday, May 27

I received word from Jeff and Keirron last night (Saturday). The phone connection was not the best. I did discern something about flying sea otters, a pod of backpackers, and some Gray Whales hiking on the West Coast Trail. Then again maybe not. I did however get some particulars: Jeff said they spent the night in Carmana Bay which is ~ 15 miles north of Port Renfrew. Port Renfrew is only 55 miles north of Victoria. Their plan is to knock out as much mileage as possible today and arrive in Victoria on Monday. They seemed to have damaged the skeg of their Triton somehow. Jeff said they spent some considerable time and effort creating an outrigger to replace it. When Jeff gets back I will be sure to mention it would be good to actually learn how to paddle a tandem correctly (without a skeg) at some point before he leaves for his next adventure ;) . I was going to post a weather update but Jeff and Keirron managed to get a NOAA forecast. For those of you who do not sleep with your weather radio, they are forecasted to recieve some force 7 Nw/ W winds this afternoon. However this should ease to Nw/W force 5/4 later in the day and for tomorrow. With luck they should have some manageable following seas for at least part of today and tomorrow. One obstacle they will have to contend with is Race Rocks. Corrected slack before flood tomorrow at Race Rocks occurs at ~ 11:00. It is only 20 nm to Victoria from there. Best of luck to my skegless friends! Cheers, Dan

Tofino

Howdy from Tofino! Arrived late last night, finished two medium pizzas and crashed the cheapest B&B in town. Luxury.

Today's weather forecast is quite good, with a little less wind than yesterday so we're anxious to hit the water. We'll be offloading that green glass fishing float today too, which should ease the boat control challenges we encountered yesterday... Photo pending.

Here are a few other photos from the Port Hardy to Tofino stretch. This bear was hunting purple spiny urchins along the rocky shore; as we drifted by downwind we watched him peel a couple off rocks, then hunker down and chow through them like they were hunks of bread. Some claws.

Thanks to Jon for the blog support, sat phone and late nights - Jon's off for a few days of whitewater canoeing (with Kirti, Kim and Karl - many thanks to Karl for lending me some critical gear, hope you don't miss it too much) and our friend Dan will make the last few blog entries.

Time to find the laundromat, lose some salt, then hit the water! See you in Victoria in a few days, hopefully back on Orcas by Monday.

Cheers,
Jeff

Nootka Island Already

Jeff and Keirron called in this evening at 10pm. They have had a couple of big days despite the SE winds today. Yesterday they rounded the Brooks Peninsula and even went out to Solander Island off the tip of the Peninsula to get some pictures. They reported that it was still pretty windy and rough even though the forecast was good. After a brief rest at the end of the Peninsula they pushed on to Kyuquot Sound where they camped for the night. Today they paddled south past Esperanza Inlet and Nootka Island. They are currently camping at the south end of Nootka Island. Tomorrow they will round Estevan Point, another crux point of the trip, and attempt to make it to Tofino by evening. They will be able to refuel in Tofino and perhaps even meet up with friends there. Their weather forecast for the next few days looks good - light winds, fog patches, seas around 1 meter - so hopefully they can cover some miles without too much resistance.

They have tasked me with trying to find out if a large green glass fishing float (basketball size) from Japan is valuable enough to warrant trying to get it back home. Does anyone out there know a rough value for something like this. As you can imagine, its a bit bulky and awkward to carry "on" a kayak. -- Jon

Pink Kayak Sighted at Cape Scott on Saturday

No word from the boys yet this evening, but I did receive this picture from Daniel and Shannon of Victoria who were on a backpacking trip out to Cape Scott last week and spotted the pink kayak. In their email they explain "That is Guise Bay in the background, looking southwest. Picture was taken on Saturday, around noon. The lighthouse keeper at Cape Scott said that the winds were blowing from the southwest at 35 knots. When we walked across the beach the rain was coming in sideways. The guys were set up in a little depression in the dunes, protected from the wind. We had seen them paddle in front of Nels Bight (with our binoculars) the previous evening, just before sunset. We said to each other "who is crazy enough to be paddling out here in this weather?" We were only able to know who it was from the "Vancouver Island Record Attempt" on the side of the kayak . . ."

I don't have confirmation, but I expect they had a long day today and rounded the Brooks Peninsula. The wind has died down and they should have had pretty good conditions - well, as good as you get around there. Tomorrow there is another low pressure system coming in and the weather looks unfavorable again. Specifically, the forecast is: "Gale warning issued.
Winds southwesterly 5 to 15 knots backing to southeast 15 to 25 overnight. Winds rising to southeast 25 to 30 Wednesday morning With southeast gales 35 developing near the headlands. Mainly cloudy with showers developing Wednesday morning. Seas near one metre building to one to 2 Wednesday morning. Outlook. Winds easing to light to moderate southeast then becoming light to moderate variable." After this system comes through they seem to have a good window of weather through to early next week, so they are expecting to be able to complete their circumnavigation by early next week. However, its still a bit early to make predictions as they are only half way around at this stage. -- Jon

Soaking Up The Sun At Lawn Point

The boys put on this morning, paddled across the mouth of Quatsino Sound and a little further down the coast. They saw a couple of grey whales, their first of the trip. By the time they had covered 10 miles the wind was so strong they were forced to land ... and thats saying something knowing Keirron! It was a NW wind, but 35+ knots and building a dangerous sea state. Because of the wind they have both switched to flat paddles instead of using their wing paddles. In the strong winds they were having trouble hanging on to the wing paddles which was causing fatigue and tendinitis. They were in camp at Lawn Point by 10am and have been able to enjoy a day of sunshine and spectacular views, despite the wind. They are really enjoying themselves! Apparently, Keirron has now sunburned the top of his legs to match his arms. On a short hike from camp they came across fresh wolf tracks and are hoping to spot some wolves before they leave. Perhaps someone should remind them they are on a record attempt (I keep encouraging them to just enjoy it ... maybe I'm a bad influence?).

The weather forecast is for the NW gales to ease off to 15 knots tonight, then light winds tomorrow before strong to gale force SE on Wednesday as another storm system comes in Wednesday and Thursday. So tomorrow is their window to get around the Brooks Peninsula. For those of you who are wondering why their milage has diminished so much these last few days, this is a very serious and demanding coastline subject to extreme weather and wind conditions. It is also a very remote location, and so its no place to take risks. In my opinion they have been doing extremely well to make any progress at all given the conditions. As they say "Mother Nature bats last". -- Jon

Moving South

Got a call from Keirron and Jeff this evening. Yesterday they spent nearly all day in the tent due to the weather. Today they paddled though. They are now at the mouth of Quatsino Sound. They managed to paddle down from Cape Scott today after the SE gales died out and before the NW gales built up. Looking at the lighthouse weather reports its already blowing NW 34 knots, so I think they got their miles in just in time. They said conditions were quite mellow when they were on the water.

If the winds die down by tomorrow morning they are going to push further south towards the Brooks Peninsula. They aim to camp on the north side ready for rounding it on Tuesday. However, the forecast is for winds northwest 30 to gales 40 knots easing to 20 to 30 Monday evening, so they may not get far. The Brooks Peninsula is the most challenging section of the entire trip. In fact it is widely regarded as one of the most severe spots for weather, sea state and extreme remoteness on the west coast of Canada. Luckily, the weather forecast on Tuesday looks better. They are in good spirits and are feeling well rested after the enforced layover day. -- Jon

Meet One Of The Locals

Pat Kervin just emailed me this picture he took today near Port Hardy. I hope the boys didn't meet any this big while they were sitting out the weather at Cape Scott! Last time I was at Cape Scott I actually did see a bear like this one. It walked right past my tent just before bedtime. I decided to move the tent to a different area!

Pat mentioned that you tend to see a lot of black bears by the highway this time of year. They come out to eat grass! Today he saw this large male, a female with two cubs, then another female with three cubs all in quick succession. Jeff and Keirron mentioned they had seen a lot of bears from their kayak these last few days too. -- Jon