tophatyachts.com

Gday,

Saw the documentary "Solo" the other day, about Andrew McAuley who paddled across the tasman on a sea kayak, he was within sight of NZ, but his kayak was found without him, after authoritys received a distress call, its a very sad, haunting program that i cant stop thinking about.

Its a shame the "support" crew didnt escort him in from say 100nm off NZ, as they said it was the most worrying part of the voyage.

If you didnt see it on the ABC a few weeks ago, you can still see it at http://www.abc.net.au & watch it via the iView(better quality) or http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/ ... tive/solo/ (streaming video) catch-up page, for the next 5 days, its well worth watching!.

The footage he took while on the journey is amazing, its quite an in-depth look into the mentality of extreme adventurers, he would of been a great father, husband, person with an interesting story to tell had he made it there alive.

anyone got links to any other extreme adventures worth looking at?

shaun

Hi Shaun,

I agree that it was an amazing documentary. I thought conditions were tough and too wet on my tophat at times, but I now realise how lucky we tophatters are. It seems strange that he didn't activate his epirb but I suppose at that stage he wasn't in his right mind.

My father spent 30 years in the RAN and always said that the southern Tasman could be as rough and dangerous as any ocean in the world. He hated being called out to risk his life saving people he thought were foolhardy for going to sea in unseaworthy craft or who were poorly prepared. But I guess you cannot stop people wanting push their limits and that of their craft. I wonder what Capt. James Cook would have made of it?

Cheers,
Mark

These feats need to be attempted, it's no different to early explorers going off to find a way across Australia, or to try and land on the moon. However, I don't see how you could say he would have been a good father, he chose to leave his son behind, knowing that he would perhaps perish on the journey. Feats of extreme endurance should in my opinion be left to those with no immediate responsibility to wives and children.

That being said, whilst he was fairly well supplied and prepared to go, there was one fatal flaw in his craft. His sleeping "casper" cover was the downfall. It was fine when he was sleeping, but when it wasn't in use it prevented him from rolling the craft back upright. Surely the ability to "eskimo roll" after a knockdown is paramount? His energy was continually being sapped by having to get out, roll the boat then get back in without it rolling again.....

It's a sad case, and so many simple things could have been done to prevent his death, and make the journey a success.

Just one bloke's un-educated opinion.

Michael

Now if he had had a sealing ring for 'casper' behind him so it became a sealed bouyancy aid, we would not be having these posts!

Ahh, been there done the high adventure trips etc but not since getting hooked many years ago!

Phillip
SEAKA

Good points Michael,
Its very obvious from the footage that he knew this was a very dangerous journey.
as an extreme procrastinator, (inherited from my father) i greatly admire people who follow their dreams, even with a high risk attached, but having said that, my dad is still around so im glad he didnt have as riskier aspirations as Andrew McAuley.
Most people change their perspective on such adventures when they get a family, i guess he didnt.

As i was watching the doco i was very surprised when i saw that he was going to do it in a basically 'off the shelf' sea kayak, if "casper" was the culprit, its very sad that an engineering oversight caused the downfall, as ive no doubt the man would of made it across.

cheers
shaun

I had tears in my eyes watching that documentary,He had a dream and he went for it.Sometimes you get a calling and you just have to do it,no matter what the risk.


Not sure if you guys have heard of this bloke "Serge Testa" but he has sailed around the world in a 12ft home made yacht.
It just go's to show, you dont need a big yacht and a heap of cash to chase your dreams,You just need the drive!!

here is his website http://www.acrohc.com

Serge's adventure sounds like it's straight out of "Boys' Own"!

On a search for some decent photos, I came up with this site. http://www.microcruising.com/famoussmallboats.htm and as you can see, there are plenty of real adventurers crossing oceans in things way smaller than Top Hats.

Michael

Hi there, Serge's story is quite amazing, he wrote a book about constructing the yacht and the voyage that is well worth the read...

Chris
"Joylee"

Gday
Heard of the adventurer Jon Muir?....I hadn't until i saw one of his documentarys today, "Alone Across Australia" .
What a trip! You can watch it on ABC's iView at www.abc.net.au ,for the next 25 days

cheers
Shaun