According to an article in the latest issue of Adventure Kayak, Keirron Tastagh and Jeff Norville have set a record for paddling around Vancouver Island.
They set off from Orca's Island in Washington State and paddled the 1,200 km around Vancouver Island counterclockwise in just under 20 days. They were hoping to do it in two weeks, but they still managed to beat the old record by a week.
According to the article, "a lack of planning got them hung out to dry in the strong and squirrelly currents on Vancouver Island's east coast. And the challenges of paddling on the west coast of the island included hairy nighttime surf landings, one of which damaged the skeg box and caused their boat to paddle in circles." They managed to jury-rig a take-apart paddle as an "outrigger skeg."
Boy it was a big year for people travelling around the island by kayak. There's another great story of a solo dude, Joe O'blenis doing the island clockwise. The first time out, he left his boat too close to the tideline with the hatches off. He has to return and make a second attempt. Sounds along the lines of base jumping to me. Fun to watch and read about, but dude needs a second wheelbarrow for his nuts.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.geocities.com/outrageous_outdoors/VancouverIslandUpdates.html
Makes my efforts to circumnavigate the Saanich Peninsula really lame by contrast. But hey, if you count multiple times we've done day trips, we've done most of it. The tricky parts are Harling Point by Trial Island, and Swartz Bay. Still figuring those places out.
ReplyDelete