Jonesy, FP, Cas, and Jessica Watson on the right. Woohoo!
I had the pleasure of going to the Sydney Boat Show official breakfast this morning, to formally open up the show. This was a fun event with a gaggle of adventurers (Jessica Watson, Cas & Jonesy, Don McIntyre, David de Rothschild etc) and importantly, a decent feed including my favourite, sausages – haha!
Sitting amongst these incredible people made me feel like a bit of an imposter, but they were all warm and friendly and obviously have a great time! Then to finish it all up, we all took part in a World Record Attempt to raise awareness or maritime safety. Press release below! Cheers – FP
Lifejacket record puts spotlight on safety
World Record Attempt - 415 simultaneous lifejacket inflations!
The boating industry today (30 July 2010) helped NSW Maritime set a provisional world record of 415 lifejackets inflated at once in the one location as part of the Sydney International Boat Show, putting the spotlight on safety.
At around 9.35am, Ports and Waterways Minister Paul McLeay and teenage round-the-world sailor Jessica Watson led the countdown for industry guests attending the Sydney International Boat Show official opening function.
The event, part of the Wear It! lifejacket awareness campaign, had the support of the National Safe Boating Council of North America which introduced the Ready Set Inflate! project this year.
In North America on 20 May, the international record for lifejackets inflated in one location was set by 86 people in Columbus, Ohio.
Today’s effort in Sydney resulted in 415 inflatable lifejackets being activated to set a new record which is being submitted to the National Safe Boating Council for ratification.
The event highlighted important safety messages about lifejackets as compulsory safety equipment on vessels, and the need to be familiar with how to use them before there’s an emergency. It also put the spotlight on the new rules being introduced on 1 November 2010 which will require children under 12 years and boaters in heightened risk situations to wear lifejackets.
Tags: David de Rothschild, Don McIntyre, James Castrission, Jessica Watson, Justin Jones, Sydney Boat Show, World Record
FP - Large and In Charge (Image: Sydney Morning Herald)
When I was asked to speak about kayaking at the Sydney International Boat Show, I wasn’t quite expecting the media attention that came with it. A conversation with a journalist does not necessarily translate into newspaper inches, so I wasn’t expecting much of a mention in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Boatshow edition, particularly in light of other speakers including “Crossing the Ditch” paddlers Justin & Jonesy and world sailor Jessica Watson. So it was quite a surprise when I started getting messages from friends about a feature piece in the saturday paper. Of course, the story is only available in the print edition, so here it is transcribed below (scanned version here). Cheers – FP
LARGE AND IN CHARGE
Sean Smith’s Fat Paddler blog is an inspiration to readers around the world.
Melinda Ham, Sydney Morning Herald
It’s possible that kayaking saved Sean Smith’s life.
Once a reasonably fit young man who regularly played rugby, the Sydney man’s world was thrown in turmoil in 2005 when he was involved in a horrific and near-fatal car crash.
The dreadful accident impaled his body and left him not only with severe internal injuries but a cracked skull and a shattered pelvis.
While he survived the wreck, his fitness took a severe battering and in the aftermath he began a decline into poor health.
“In the three or four years afterwards, I couldn’t run and I got pretty fat,” says Smith.
“I was probably drinking too much and smoking too much and early last year I got the first warning signs like chest pains and I realised I really needed to do something before it was too late.”
Luckily, salvation came in the form of a kayak and a paddle.
In March 2009, a friend told Smith he was entering the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic, a 111-kilometre night kayak paddle along Sydney’s historic river to raise funds for medical research.
Then and there, Smith made a pact with himself to give up smoking and train during the next seven months to paddle the race.
Although Smith’s first paddling experience in Middle Harbour was very embarrassing, it wasn’t bad enough to deter him.
He remembers he spent about half an hour paddling and about three hours in the water trying to heave himself back on to his kayak. “A couple of other kayakers towed me back,” he says. “And it was just my luck that one of them was a doctor who did lap-band surgery for the morbidly obese. As I lay on my kayak like a beached whale, he lectured me on losing weight all the way to shore.”
FP on Executive Style, Sydney Morning Herald. What style??
After that, Smith decided to get serious about kayaking. Using his background as a digital marketer for the global tourism industry, he set up his own blog to chart his journey from fatness to fitness over the next few months. He also wanted to raise donations for the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic.
Since then, fatpaddler.com has spawned substantial viral success and a worldwide following. “People started writing to me and saying, ‘Hey, I’m fat too,’ or ‘I’m old or disabled’. They asked me how and where they should start paddling or what boat should they buy,” Smith says.
All the while, Smith continued to paddle Sydney’s waterways and after each paddle he’d post photos and observations on his blog, peppering them with his self-critical humour and unbridled enthusiasm.
“The best thing is all the interesting people I’ve met,” Smith says.
“It’s a global thing, like the Californian lady I met with one leg and then this mysterious but interesting guy from some international law enforcement agency who came over here to Australia to pick someone up but had time to meet me for a paddle.”
While training for the race, Smith also used travel opportunities with his work to kayak in some amazing places. In August, on the west coast of the US, he paddled with sea lions and sea otters at Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz. In Chicago, he admired the illuminated skyline reflecting in the water as he paddled down the city’s river at night.
But the highlight was a trip to Alaska. He flew north to Anchorage, took a train and then a sea taxi into the wilderness of Kenai Fiords National Park.
There he met a local guide who led him on a five-day kayak-camping trip to Bear Glacier, where they slept with an electric bear fence to protect them and kayaked among 10,000-year-old blue icebergs.
“I wanted to find the bluest iceberg possible,” Smith says. “They were so unimaginably huge. We also went right in the middle of a pod of beluga whales. It was the most magical place.”
With 700 kilometres of paddle training under his belt, in October last year Smith completed the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. He described the feat on his blog as “a gruelling night of sleep deprivation and pain”.
He wrote that while he watched luminescent algae dance around his bow wake, he thought a lot about his wife, Bec, and young daughters, Ella and Grace, and even had some very dark thoughts about quitting, pulling over to the shore and crying.
“Paddling has changed my life,” Smith says.
“I am now fit, still heavy. My blood pressure is normal. My doctor loves it. It gets me outside and it reduces my stress level. I use it as an opportunity to meditate. When I miss a week for some reason, I really miss it a lot.”
And training for the Hawkesbury Classic was only the beginning of his odyssey.
Now, more than a year since he started the blog and paddling, Smith’s passion for kayaking and for motivating other people to get into the sport are stronger than ever. He also promotes charity paddles whenever he can.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie in paddling,” he says. “If you pass someone you always wave and often stop and say hello.
“And also it’s made me feel closer to the environment, without being a tree-hugger hippie or anything. After a period of heavy rain you see all the rubbish and the oil slicks in the harbour – it’s nasty. It can really upset you for a bit.”
Sean Smith, aka the Fat Paddler, will be talking at the Better Boating Lounge at the Sydney International Boat Show.
FP in the Sydney Morning Herald, Boat Show Edition.
Tags: Large and in charge, SYdney International Boat Show, Sydney Morning Herald
"The Coat Hanger".... aka the Sydney Harbour Bridge
I don’t often paddle in the heart of the city of Sydney because of excessive boat, ship and ferry traffic, but every now and then I do just to see our magnificent city from the Harbour. My completely biased view is that Sydney is the most beautiful city in the world, and exploring her waters is always a pleasure.
The Famous Tim Kennings and I met up at Blues Point and set off into the darkness at 6am, enjoying the view of the city lights reflecting off the water before sunrise lightened the sky. For the rest of the morning we explored her shores, stopped for coffee in Chowder Bay, surfed wind chop and ferry wake, paddled & surfed under the Luna Park boardwalk and generally had a blast as the wind and chop built up over the morning.
Needless to say I’ll let the photos tell the story. Cheers – FP
TFTK in the early morning amber light at sunrise, the Sydney Opera House in background.
Exploring the Harbour's northern shoreline
The world's most beautiful harbour.... well, I think so!
Even harbour's get swell and waves. Good fun to play in!
The iconic Sydney Opera House. As seen from the water!
Kirribilli House, the official Sydney residence of Australia's Prime Minister
Paddling under Luna Park. Timbo surfed through this lane!
Style. Poise. Grace. The Famous Tim Kennings in his North Shore Atlantic!
Tags: Kirribilli House, Sydney, sydney harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Tim Kennings
Get amongst the froth with The Hurricane Riders
There’s just something about tiderace footage that gets my adrenaline running. And no-one seems to love it more than those crazy Canadians! Here’s some more fun in the rush of tidal water, and keep an eye out for the wildlife in the waves! A big thanks to Peter from Kayakr for bringing these guys to my attention. Cheers – FP
Tags: Hurricane Chasers, tiderace
Grumm pondering his existence
With Grumm having a hard curfew of 11am for his paddling due to kiddie bday party commitments, we decided to go for a very early paddle in the nearby gorge of Berowra Waters. Fortunately we live on the same street, so met out the front of my place just before 5am with the Fatmobile already packed and ready to go.
FP's Fatmobile, packed and ready to set off in the darkness
After a short drive through the hills and into the gorge, we unloaded in the darkness at the Berowra Marina boatramp and pushed off into the early morning darkness, heading upstream away from civilisation and into the narrowing Berowra gorge. As the earliest light started to permeate the night sky, we found ourselves paddling into a thick low fog in complete silence, devoid of the noises of man.
Grumm sets off from the marina in darkness
First light. Glassy water, layers of fog, and complete silence.
The first sound of the morning was the long gutteral laughter of a newly-awakened kookaburra, obviously telling us off for disturbing the deserted gorge. We continued on however through the meandering waterway, with the only other signs of life being schools of fish erupting in front of our kayaks, skittering across the surface in front of our bows.
As the morning eventually welcomed daylight, we could have a better look at the hills around us. Being the midst of winter, the rain had created deep emerald shades of lush forest and moss-covered rocks along the shore, giving us an almost magical route through the steep hills of the gorge.
Such serenity, just 30 minutes drive from civilization
As we paddled the upper reaches of the gorge we spied the occassional hikers tent through the trees. We passed a Scouts campsite, and a community park, before finding ourselves in deeper waters punctuated by huge underwater boulders. This deep still pool gave rise to a rocky ending with a natural weir, with the stream bubbling through from the other side. We’d come to the end.
Moss-covered rocks mark the end of our paddle
The bubbling "rapids" that finally blocked out path
With that we paused for a muesli bar and some water, whilst taking in the beauty of the still pool and its rock-covered shore. Then we commenced the return paddle, taking in more of the gorge itself now that daylight had well and truly broken.
There are worse ways to spend the early morning
Suddenly, the trees above the water erupted and a Pterodactyl swooped down to scoop up Grumm, to carry him away to feed its chicks. Well, at least that’s what it looked like, as a huge eagle swooped in over Grumm’s boat before pulling up at the last minute to fly off down the gorge. The serenity of the paddle was briefly broken by the utterance of a couple of surprised expletives, before we both had a laugh and continued on our way.
Continuing down the glassy waters of Berowra Gorge.
With only a kilometre to go, we spied a large entrance within an area of mangroves, and debated going over to explore. I’d paddled here many times and figured there’d be nothing to see, but despite my scepticism I suggested we go and explore to round out our paddle. As we entered the mangrove, we found a channel threading its way through the trees, before opening up into a small rocky pool, surrounded by overhanging cliffs, mossy rocks and the steady running of water raining down the sides of the gorge into the pool. Studying the rocks closely, Grumm was able to thread his way into the deeper pool beyond the rocks, so I quickly followed suit. Once in there, there was only one thing for us to do. Paddle under the running water for an early morning shower!
Showering under the ice-cold rainwater stream
The way into the pool. Very Zen!
With us now both refreshed from the cold shower, we paddled the last kilometre back to the marina before rewarding ourselves with a well-earnt egg & bacon roll and coffee. Despite the paddle not involving surfing, rock gardening or chasing boat wake, the peaceful exploration of the gorge had been incredibly meditative for us both. Cheers – FP
Paddle finished by 10am. A stunning start to the day.
Tags: Berowra, Berowra Gorge, Berowra Waters, fog, Grumm
