Far north-east coast trial run provides some important lessons

Policemans Point, with Eddystone Lighthouse in the distance.

Northern side of Eddystone Point, with Stumpys Bay around the distant corner.

On the morning of November 14 Chris meet up with three other paddlers – who would accompany him for the first few hours of his paddle – at the picturesque seaside village of Binalong Bay, on a perfect paddling day – the sun shining and almost no wind. It was to be the start of just over 100kms of paddling, spread over the following 30 hours or so.

The wind was to play a fairly significant factor in the trip, which consisted of around 13 hours of actual paddling time. While the photos you see above suggest that the weather was great for the trip, alas that was not to be so. Around midday on Saturday a southerly wind began to blow, the wind was accompanied by menacing clouds and by 1:00 pm, what had began as a paddle into a very gentle head wind had turned into a surfing session on a very choppy 1.5 - 2 metre following sea, with very cool 25-30 km/hr winds, wiping up the surface into a mass of white-caps. These conditions continued until final landfall at Stumpys Bay was made at around 5:15 pm.

Waking to an overcast morning and a wind that while it had dropped in speed, was still blowing in from the south east, pretty well the direction the days paddling would be heading. The trip up had been a bit rushed, which had meant that Chris's plan to carefully simulate the planned paddle / rest schedule had not been adhered to all that well.

So it was that he set of with an eye on the time and a determination to stick to a system of 1/2 hourly breaks (during which a goodly amount of fluid and some energy rich food was to be consumed), this proved to be an excellent test of the system that will in theory provide the team with the hydration and energy needed to keep going for the whole 26 days of the 'real thing'. On completing the second day, which had consisted of multiple at sea rests and three land based "bum breaks", Chris was surprisingly fresh and apart from some wind-burn, felt great.

We are proud to welcome McDonald's Tasmania as our 2010 Major Sponsor

McDonald's Tasmania is proud to be the major sponsor of the 1000kms4kids charity event, raising money for Cerebal Palsy Tasmania and Ronald McDonald House Hobart.

McDonald's Tasmania believes that as an integral part of daily life for thousands of Tasmanians, we have a responsibility to give as much back as we can to the communities in which we operate. Hundreds of educational, environmental, artistic and sporting programs - designed to assist a broad range of people across Tasmanian communities - get off the ground and operate each year because of McDonald's assistance.

1000kms4kids welcomes IGA (Tasmanian Independent Retailers) as our first platinum sponsor for 2010

It is great to see a great Tasmanian organization such as Tasmanian Independent Retailers getting on board with us in the inaugural year of what we are sure will become a fantastic annual event.

We are very grateful for the support given to date in helping us achieve our goal of raising $100,000 for our two charities.

IGA Supermarkets

IGA Supermarkets throughout Tasmania are extremely proud of their association with 1000kms4kids 2010 and its fundraising initiatives to provide much needed financial support and assistance to both Cerebral Palsy Tasmania and Ronald McDonald House in Hobart.

Both Cerebral Palsy Tasmania and Ronald McDonald House in Hobart provide much needed support and assistance to so many within our community and are truly worthy of the benefits that will follow as a result of this fundraising initiative, in many respect they are local Tasmanian Hero's.

IGA Supermarkets is privileged to be involved in this event that has so much community support and involvement.

About Tasmanian Independent Retailers

Tasmanian Independent Retailers is a co-operative and is owned by its members who trade under the very successful IGA brand in Tasmania. Tasmanian Independent Retailers provides support services such as marketing, ranging, pricing, advice and support for our retailers wishing to upgrade their stores. Tasmanian Independent Retailers directly supports around 100 IGA retail outlets and over 150 small independent retail outlets throughout Tasmania who collectively employ around 3600 Tasmanians. Both Tasmanian Independent Retailers and our IGA retailer network are extremely proud of the support and service they provide within our local communities and to the wider Tasmanian community.