Bass Strait in Sea Kayaks

Synopsis

End of February / beginning of March 2006 Claudia Schremmer, Kevin Brennan, Adrian Clayton, and Bruce Baldwin cross Bass Strait from Little Musselroe (Tasmania) to Port Welshpool (Victoria) in two Mirage 730 double sea kayaks. This website section has been established to track their progress, publish short summaries of their trip reports and text messages, and list some documentation that was drafted during preparation.

The route from Musselroe Bay to Port Welshpool

Claudia and Kevin form the first team in one boat, Adrian and Bruce paddle in the second boat. All of the four paddlers have extensive experience with expedition sea kayaking, and have been training up for this trip for months.

The boats were fit out as similarly as possible to allow for similar boat speed. They carry hand-made sails of the "Kevin & Claudia" design with reefings lines. The sails allow to sail up to 45 deg into the wind (but since the kayaks don't have keels, leaning into the wind is required to balance out the force of the wind on a close haul or a reach). The boats were packed to allow for complete independence on and off the water. The four adventurers carry tents and mats, emergency equipment, food for 15 days (with a resupply at Whitemark and at Killiecrankie) and water for three days (with resupply whereever there is fresh water on the islands). Extensive thought had gone into the food to ensure enough coverage of low GI and high protein food without repeating the menu too often.

Media Snapshots
Date Publisher File Language
23 March 2006 CSIRO Intranet IcedTea PDF (430 KB) English
29 March 2006 North Shore Times (Sydney) PDF (277 KB) English
29 March 2006 Great Lakes Advocate (Forster) PDF (90 KB) English
14 April 2006 Lippische Landeszeitung (Detmold) — Teaser PDF (694 KB) Deutsch - German
14 April 2006 Lippische Landeszeitung (Detmold) — Article PDF (1137 KB) Deutsch - German
15 July 2006 NSW Sea Kayak Club Magazine, Issue 63 PDF (1629 KB) English

Some Facts & Figures

  • The weight of the boat (Mirage 730 double sea kayak) is 41 kg;
  • The gear weighs 64 kg;
  • Kevin weighs 95 kg;
  • Plus Claudia's weight (undisclosed)
  • ... and paddling gear at 5 kg per person
  • ... adds up to a total weight of 274 kg (excluding water).
Trip Statistics
Day Locations Distance [km] Total [km] Distance on day [km] Time on water Speed [kmh]
Day 1 Little Musselroe Bay   0 31 4:30 6.89
Rebecca Bay (Clarke Island) 24 24
Spike Cove (Clarke Island) 7 31
Day 2 Spike Cove (Clarke Island)   31 14 2:30 5.6
Horseshoe Bay (Preservation Island) 10 41
Lascars Bay (Cape Barren Island) 4 45
Day 3 Lascars Bay (Cape Barren Island)   45 52 7:15 7.17
Boat Harbour - Cape Barren town 20 65
Trousers Point Beach (Flinders Island) 20 85
Whitemark (Flinders Island) 12 97
Day 4 Rest Day in Whitemark
Day 5 Whitemark (Flinders Island)   97 22 3:30 6.29
Long Point (Flinders Island) 5 102
Settlement Point (Flinders Island) 13 115
Port Davies / Emita (Flinders Island) 4 119
Day 6 Port Davies / Emita (Flinders Island)   119 31 4:00 7.75
Roydon Island 15 134
Cape Frankland (Flinders Island) 5 139
Killiecrankie (Flinders Island) 11 150
Day 7 Killiecrankie (Flinders Island)   150 64 8:00 8
Craggy Island 21 171
Wright Rock 17 188
East Cove (Deal Island) 26 214
Day 8 Rest Reat on Deal Island
Day 9 East Cove (Deal Island)   214 42 5:00 8.4
Hogan Island 42 256
Day 10 Hogan Island   256 49 6:10 7.96
Bare Back Cove (Wilsons Prom) 49 305
Day 11 Bare Back Cove (Wilsons Prom)   305 43 4:30 9.56
Three Mile Beach (Wilsons Prom) 21 326
Port Welshpool 22 348
  348 45:25 7.66

Trip Documentation and Preparation