PADDLE320 FINAL DAY 6/12/09

Paddling for Bowel Cancer Research.

www.paddle320.com

After a week of extreme conditions ranging from glorious north easterly conditions to shocking large southerly swells the final day came to paddle the last leg of Paddle320 from Thirroul to Shellharbour. Both Pete and Doug were excited about the last leg after already completing 314km over 6 days and knew that the last 31 kilometers would pass quickly as they headed down the coast.

Today conditions were near perfect starting with light north easterly conditions that grew steadily as the boys headed south down the coast. As usual the Paddle320 support team handed out fliers to the local community at Thirroul as patrollers and nippers started to arrive at the beach. Again Pete and Doug were amazed at the personal experiences people were able to share from being tragically affected by Bowel cancer at some stage in their lives.

It really didn’t take long and within a few hours the boys were heading around Windang Island on the home straight to Shellharbour. Upon reaching Shellharbour the SLSC IRB meet the boys behind the break and escorted them towards the land where they were meet by a large number of SLSC club members, nippers and the local community including those present for an i98 FM Summer Beach Party. Also present was Charlie Frew, Director of Bowel Cancer Australia, Steven Bock, Team Leader of Everest 2010 and Shellharbour President Dene Herbert.

After welcoming the boys into the beach Pete and Doug spoke with a number of local media representatives including reporters from Win TV, i98 FM and the Illawarra Mercury. This media coverage assisting in the boys quest to further promote Bowel Cancer. This provided the opportunity to remind people that it is vital to get themselves screened for Bowel Cancer to prevent the disease. Further the importance of discussing with your family the family medical history as those with Bowel Cancer in their family medical history are far more likely to catch the disease and need to be extra vigilant.

After all the fan fare was over including meeting the finalists of the i90 FM Shellharbour Bikini Contest it was time for some small reflection on what has been an amazing week.

Pete and Doug have had a number of adventures along the way including sharks, blisters, sprains and strains, broken rudders, dolphins, 25 knot 5-6 metre southerlies and a large 12 km diversion off shore during a 90km exhausting day. When speaking though to Pete and Doug they are the first to admit that paddling is the easy thing and they place all their success onto the fabulous support team, sponsors and those who donated to Paddle320 (www.paddle320.com) without these contributions the notion of Paddle320 would never have become reality.

Final summary of the week:

Day 1 – Saturday 28^th November, 2009 – Boomerang Beach to Anna Bay 78km

Day 2 – Sunday 29^th November, 2009 – Anna Bay to Nobby’s Beach 36km

Day 3 – Monday 30th December, 2009 – Day off due to massive surf.

Day 4 – Tuesday 1st December, 2009 – Day off due to massive surf

Day 5 – Wednesday 2nd December, 2009 Long Reef Fisherman’s to Swansea – 90km

Day 6 – Thursday 3rd December, 2009 Swansea to Nobby’s Beach & Long Reef to Cronulla 71km

Day 7 – Friday 4th December, 2009 Cronulla to Thirroul – 39km

Day 8 – Saturday 5th December, 2009 Day of Bowel Cancer Promotion

Day 9 – Sunday 6^th December, 2009 – Thirroul to Shellharbour – 31km

Total 345km

LAST MINUTE DONATIONS.

PROCEEDS TO:

BOWEL CANCER AUSTRALIA.

(No money is going to Pete or Doug who have funded this entire paddle themselves so that 100% of the money raised goes directly to Bowel Cancer!

Yes some are concerned the link has Everest 2010. To further explain the goal is for each climber to raise awareness and funds with the total goal being $250,000 for Bowel Cancer. Each climber is financing their own expedition but using the profile of the climb to put something back into the community raise funds for this worthy cause.

Paddling 345km over a week has been great fun but Pete and Doug would really appreciate additional financial support for BOWEL CANCER AUSTRALIA.

Go to www.paddle320.com and donate using credit card (receipt emailed directly to you or

Everest 2010 – Paddle320 (reference)
BSB 062099 | AC 10632119
Please send us an email (president_longreefslsc@hotmail.com to let us know you’ve made your contribution through the electronic transfer option so they can thank you and provide a receipt.

Remember 1 in 12 people will get Bowel Cancer before aged 85 so think of the donation as possible insurance!! Pete and I thank you in advance for your support. They know you were all waiting to see if they would finish but trust us when we say they will.

Paddle320 one day to go.

Pete and Doug can successfully report that it has despite the weather been a very successful week and they are only a short distance away from our ultimate destination of Shellharbour.

The weather throughout the week has been shocking. Every day they have had large surf up to 4-5 metres at times with constant strong winds including 5 days of southerly conditions at 20 knots with gusts up to 25-30 knots.

Here is a quick summary of the week thus far:

Day 1 – Saturday 28^th November, 2009 – 78km

They paddled from Boomerang Beach to Anna Bay. A total of 78km in great north easterly conditions about 12-14 knots. It was about 35 degrees, sunny and a beautiful paddle. Pete was lucky enough to see a 2 metre shark not to mention numerous flying fish jumping over their bows. If it stayed like this for the entire week they would have been very happy men.

Day 2 – Sunday 29^th November, 2009 – 36km

Unfortunately Sunday saw a change in the weather conditions which was predicted. For them it came up earlier than anticipated and they were forced to battle horrible south westerly conditions. They firstly stopped for a photo with Ruby the camel off Stockon Beach before a photo with the U10 Birlibi SLSC Nippers. They then painfully managed to paddle south towards Nobby’s Beach….A total of 36km that took 5 ½ hours with their speed dropping to around 5km/h hour at times and the slow pace and constant paddling starting to put a few blisters on Pete’s hands.

Day 3 – Monday 1^st December, 2009

Due to predicted strong southerly conditions they made the hard decision to return to Sydney and sit out the storm as padding was going to be near impossible.

Day 4 – Tuesday 2^nd December, 2009

This saw insane conditions in the surf with 25 knot winds and a growing swell. All they could do was sit and watch. It was at that point they realised that if they wanted to finish the paddle in the week they would have to make up some kilometres and paddle some of the legs north with the swell, however with the size of the conditions and the lack of a support boat that was always going to be a massive risk and required careful consideration to safety.

Pete seen here on the top of Long Reef headland leaning into the strong 25 knot southerly.

Day 5 – Wednesday 3^rd December, 2009 – 90km

Doug and Pete rose early at 6am and decided upon a massive challenge of Long Reef Fishermans to Nobby’s Beach to meet up with where they left off on Sunday 29/11/09. They started out full of confidence despite the conditions. As they continued to paddle conditions changed from south west to south and got stronger and stronger with gusts close to 30 knots. The surf got larger and larger and they guys admitted to it being a liittle scary with 5-6 metre swell. They were so worried about cutting across the swell they actually past an oil tanker on the eastern side and upon review of their GPS Garmin 405 from GPSOZ saw they were around 10-12km off shore. After about 6 odd hours in the boat and 66 km they pulled into Norah Heads to have a break and some lunch from their fabulous support team Jim and Le (Pete’s mum and dad). To be honest both of them were shattered and lay on the beach for about an hour trying to get their strength to go back out into the swell. Somehow they did but they realized that Swansea was the only realistic goal another 24 km up the coast. They managed to pull into Swansea around 6.30pm and were simply stuffed after doing 90km for the day in a washing machine. Still 24 km short of Nobby’s Beach of goal.

Day 6 – Thursday 4^th December, 2009 – 71km

Mmmm another big way was ahead the goal being 71 km. Coming off 90 km the day before they were both unsure of how things would go. Again due to conditions they made a safety decision and paddled north early from Swansea to Nobby’s Beach. A short sprint they said of 23 kilometers! They then loaded the car and drove back to Fisherman’s Beach, Long Reef to make good of the change in wind conditions and planned to paddle Fisherman’s Beach to Cronulla another 48km.

They meet Alex and Sean from Narrabeen SLSC who paddled down to Shelly Beach, Manly on a double ski. Conditions were close to perfect with a growing north easterly wind and nice sunny conditions on the Northern Beaches. All was going well before disaster struck... Doug snapped his rudder completely off on a large run half way through the shaft. (The carbon fiber shaft snapped straight through. Crazy stuff) This was about 6 km from Shelly Beach where Alex was jumping off the double. Nothing like a challenge in a 15 knot wind with no rudder. Determined to continue Doug showed off his surfing skills paddling down some great runs even without a rudder and still managed to continue his mission of not falling off throughout the week. After a quick rudder change thanks to the fabulous support team and Pro Kayaks they were back on the way. Sean jumped onto his ocean racer and Alex returned to Narrabeen for an afternoon sleep after his first ever 10km paddle. Love your work Alex.

Conditions from Shelly Beach to Cronulla were near perfect with brilliant North Easterly Conditions which got stronger as they paddled on up to around 15 knots.. Shame they were getting a bit tired to take full advantage... But Doug can tell you that having a rudder makes a big difference!

It was a bit further to Cronulla than they all expected or wanted and the tired shoulders started to set in. They made it to Cronulla though before dark and finished off one very adventurous afternoon of paddling having a bit feed of Mexican to recharge the batteries.

Day 6 – Thursday 4^th December, 2009 – 39km

The goal today was to actually get out of bed….After two massive days of 90km and 71km all Pete and Doug wanted to do was have a sleep in. But Triple MMM 104.9 FM Grill Team rang us at 6am for a live radio interview so they were up and awake so time to paddle. The goal Thirroul to Cronulla again going north due to shocking messy surf and strong winds. The boys said to be honest this was one of the harder days. Somebody up there really wanted to make them work for this paddle320. As if the distance wasn't far enough with constant rough and large surf. Not to mention the 20 knot southerly! Finally they hit dry land. Sean Townsend paddled with Pete and Doug again today and he now has an appreciation of how full on the last few days have been. Let’s just say that for the last 20 km there were lots of fish around with the extra bait Sean provided....

Check out Pete’s hands… They are falling off... Hey I think it is funny. Glad I am not the one who is sea sick....

LAST DAY AHEAD

Sunday 6^th December, 2009

After paddling 314km in the week Pete and Doug are having Saturday off back in Sydney. The general plan is to paddle their last day from Thirroul to Shellharbour (31km) with an expected north easterly as they are sick of the shocking southerly swell and wind.

For those interested in attending they have had to co-ordinate there arrival with i98 radio, Illawarra Mercury, and Win TV and therefore MUST be on Shellharbour beach at midday. Charlie Frew one of the Directors of Bowel Cancer Australia who has followed the paddle throughout will be on the beach to welcome the boys in.

i98 FM also have a large beach party planned and bikini competition between 10am and 2pm so it should make for a great day. Anybody interested in paddling the final leg should meet Doug and Pete at Thirroul SLSC at 8am

LAST MINUTE DONATIONS, PROCEEDS TO BOWEL CANCER AUSTRALIA.

(No money is going to Pete or Doug who have funded this entire paddle themselves so that 100% of the money raised goes directly to Bowel Cancer!

Paddling 320km over a week has been great fun but Pete and Doug would really appreciate some support for BOWEL CANCER AUSTRALIA. They have recently gone through the donations received thus far and to be honest they are a little disappointing. It would be great to be able to hand Bowel Cancer a solid cheque for their efforts. Donations can still be made:

Go to www.paddle320.com and donate using credit card (receipt emailed directly to you or

Everest 2010 – Paddle320 (reference)
BSB 062099 | AC 10632119
Please send us an email (president_longreefslsc@hotmail.com to let us know you’ve made your contribution through the electronic transfer option so they can thank you and provide a receipt.

Remember 1 in 12 people will get Bowel Cancer before aged 85 so think of the donation as possible insurance!! Pete and I thank you in advance for your support. They know you were all waiting to see if they would finish but trust us when we say they will.

CREDIT CARD DETAILS ACCEPTED:

www.paddle320.com

See right – General course taken on Wednesday 2^nd December, 2009. Pete and Doug took a scenic route…. Lets just say they were a little wide at times over 10km off shore. Hey this just adds to the adventure.

SPONSORS

Thanks to our fabulous sponsors who have supported our trip in some way either through cash donations to Bowel Cancer or equipment required for the paddle.

FINANCIAL SPONSORS

• Australian Sports Nutrition - www.australiansportsnutrition.com.au
• LH Hooker, Collaroy (Matthew Lemon) - www.ljhooker.com.au/collaroy
• Winning Appliances, - www.winningappliances.com.au
• MEGA
• Lifestyle Financial Services - www.lifestyleonline.com.au
• Servcorp Pty Ltd - www.servcorp.com.au
• Long Reef SLSC - www.longreef.com
• Narrabeen SLSC - www.narrabeach.org.au
• Guy Leech Fitness - www.guyleech.com

SUPPORTING SPONSORS / ORGANISATIONS:

• EPIC Kayaks Australia
• GPS OZ – Mona Vale - www.gpsoz.com.au
• Pro Kayaks – Narrabeen - www.prokayaks.com.au
• Channel 7 – Sydney Weekender
• Surf Ski info- www.surfski.info
• Paddle NSW - paddlensw.org.au
• Julie’s Embroidery - www.julies.info
• Stuart Brown Signs - www.sbsigns.com.au.
• Triple Mmm Radio
• Manly Daily
• Great Lakes Advocate
• Triple mmm Radio
• I98 FM, Wollongong
• 96.9 star FM, Shepparton.
• Illawarra Mercury,
• Win TV

Bowel Cancer Australia

Well Paddle320 has almost come to an end. Just one day of paddling remaining.

Anybody wishing to join us for the last day paddle Thirroul to Shellharbour (31km) tomorrow (Sunday 6/12/09) is more than welcome. We are meeting at Thirroul around 8am.

Check out the attached for details and information.

PS. Anybody wishing to support and make a donation to Bowel Cancer Australia. Its not to late. Donations have been rather disappointing thus far so we would appreciate any support we can get even $3.20 for 1c per kilometre. It all helps.

Go to:

www.paddle320.com.

Paddle320 Update

We got sick of waiting around for the shocking weather to improve so thought what the hell. We tried to make up time in 20 knot southerly and 4 metre swell. The goal was Long Reef (Fisherman’s) to Nobby’s Beach (Newcastle) After 8 hours in the skis in massive surf we managed 90km to Swansea Belmont. We were running out of light and both Pete and I were stuffed and did not have the energy to keep the balance going in insane surf! Dont worry we did not want to be come statistics and took required safety equipment. Unlike the 2 other men who were rescued by helicoputer only half an hour later off Manly. The surf was certainly not for beginners.....

That meant after 90km we got up early and hit the water to paddle again north fromSwansea to Nobbys. (ah we were only 23 km short….)

We have now screamed back to Sydney and are back on track…..

We will this afternoon paddle from Long Reef Fishermans to Cronulla. Thus far we have paddled 227 km. Our bodies are holding up well.

Some of the highlights in the massive swell were being joined by 5 or 6 doflins, passing on oil tanker on the eastern side…. My GPS Garmin 405 says that we were between 8 and 10 km off shore…. (Insane) and hey actually being able to stand up on the land after so long at sea....

But it is for a great cause and Bowel Cancer and all their patients were know are grateful.

Anyway must run or paddle,

Have a look at some of these photos.

Cheers Doug and Pete

Paddle320

GENERAL PLAN DUE TO DANGEROUS SURF AND SEVERE WIND CONDITIONS.

Tuesday sit and watch the storm

Wednesday fitness training session with Manly Warringah Sea Eagles First Grade team. Des Hasler the coach has a few things in mind to kill us.

Wednesday afternoon drive back to Nobbys beach.

Thursday morning paddle as far as we possibly can south with massive down winder.. We will keep paddling till we drop or the wind turns south again..

Saturday 28th November, 2009 we did 78km first day Boomerang Beach to Anna Bay. (about 7 hours) some great down wind sections. Then Anna Bay to Nobby's on Sunday 29th November, 2009 we did 36 km taking us 5.5 hours straight into a horrible strong south westerly.

Due to dangerous wind and surf warnings we put 114km in 2 days and have returned to Sydney to wait out the storm and dangerous surf. We are a day ahead of schedule but will fall behind and put some big pressure on to get back on track. We will make up the distance on Thursday am with paddle from Nobby's Beach to Long Reef Beach around 95 km in a day...

Pete saw a 2 metre shark along the way near Anna Bay which came about a metre away from Pete's ski. Great experience. We also meet Ruby the camel at Oakfield Ranch next to Birlibi SLSC. Photo attached with Pete and I talking to the Birlibi SLSC nippers on Sunday morning.

We have also been talking to locals about Bowel Cancer along the way and putting fliers on vehicles to raise funds and awareness. Donations can still be taken at www.paddle320.com

Thus far it has been an amazing experience. The local communities are great and so supportive. The coast line is unbelievable and so beautiful. We are disapointed about the dangerous surf but we can't put rescuers in potential danger so have taken 2 days off. This will mean some massive days ahead but we are determined to make the journey south and still arrive at Shellharbour by the weekend.

Paddle320

Paddle320

Visiting nomads by camel in the Sahara desert; climbing to 8201m in Tibet for a good view of Everest; learning Swahili under the influence of altitude on Africa’s Kilimanjaro; and trying to video the active volcano Krakatoa in Java without falling in! ... Sooo, what is Pete’s next challenge…?

Think Paddle!

A 320km ocean paddle that is, down the east coast of NSW. Paddling his surf life saving racing ski, he’ll start from Boomerang Beach near Forster, and finish in his home town of Shellharbour on the south coast – a week long of solid paddling. He’ll encounter strong winds, waves, dehydration and fatigue, and in all possibility – sharks!

And all for a good cause. Bowel cancer is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer. It claims 320 lives a month in this country. It’s on the increase, particularly amongst younger people. But it can be cured if detected early. Pete hopes to raise awareness and reduce the impact bowel cancer is having on Aussie communities.

A kilometre for every life claimed by this insidious disease. Paddle 320.

The paddle also forms part of Pete’s intense multi-discipline training schedule for the biggest challenge of his life - an attempt on Mt Everest. A dream of his for years, he’ll make his attempt with adventurers and mates Steve Bock and Darren Robertson from the South Side in Nepal. The team hopes their attempt might also raise awareness of bowel cancer, which claimed the life of Steve’s father last year.