RETURN TO CHANNEL

Search Captions & Ask AI

Scott Donaldson: The First Man To Solo Kayak From Aus To NZ!

October 15, 2025 / 01:56:40

This episode features Scott Donaldson, who discusses his historic solo kayak journey from Australia to New Zealand in 2018, covering topics such as preparation, risks, and personal experiences during the crossing.

Scott shares details about his 2,200 km journey, which took 61 days and was his third attempt. He reflects on the training and mental preparation required for such an endeavor, emphasizing the importance of understanding risk and safety.

He recounts the challenges faced during the crossing, including a six-day storm that forced him to remain in a cramped cabin, and the emotional toll of receiving news about his mother-in-law's passing while at sea.

Scott also discusses the technical aspects of kayaking, including boat design and navigation challenges, and how he adapted his training to prepare for the unique conditions of the Tasman Sea.

Finally, he reflects on the impact of this journey on his life, his relationship with his family, and his desire to inspire resilience in his son, Zach.

TL;DR

Scott Donaldson recounts his historic solo kayak journey from Australia to New Zealand, discussing preparation, challenges, and personal reflections on resilience.

Video

00:00:06

Scott Donaldson, welcome to my podcast.

00:00:08

>> Thank you. Great to be here,

00:00:09

>> man. It's It's great to have you here.

00:00:11

Like, um, for anyone that's watching

00:00:12

this, they'll they'll see you. You're

00:00:14

just like an an an unassuming looking

00:00:16

Kiwi dude and an Adidash shirt. And

00:00:19

people that meet you in day-to-day life

00:00:21

may not know this, but um, you you've

00:00:23

done some crazy stuff.

00:00:25

>> Yeah. Yeah. Based on on normal people's

00:00:28

perspectives. Yeah. done done some out

00:00:30

of the box stuff.

00:00:31

>> Yeah. So, in 2018, you made history when

00:00:33

you became the first person to kayak

00:00:35

solo from Australia to New Zealand, uh,

00:00:38

which is 2,200 km or should be.

00:00:41

>> Um, took you 62 days and this was your

00:00:45

third attempt at doing it.

00:00:47

>> Yeah, 61 days, 10 hours, but uh,

00:00:50

>> sorry for ramping up.

00:00:53

Um, yeah, it's it's historical, but if

00:00:58

you do know my previous history in life,

00:01:00

then it's not kind of that outside the

00:01:02

box. So, people say, "How long did you

00:01:05

train for this for?" Well, lifetime

00:01:07

really. Yeah.

00:01:08

>> Yeah. Previous history, what do you

00:01:10

mean? What what led you to do this?

00:01:13

>> Uh, philosophically, I was a coach of

00:01:18

many people for many things uh over a

00:01:21

lot of years. Uh and and I coached some

00:01:23

people to do outside the box stuff like

00:01:25

uh double iron man. Um I coached the

00:01:29

oldest woman to swim the [ __ ] straight,

00:01:31

you know, things that were just outside

00:01:33

the box and I wanted to just ramp it up.

00:01:38

So, one night when I was pedaling with

00:01:40

my flatty on um Lacroa

00:01:44

and we were out there and it was dark

00:01:45

and it was a good 30 knot wind and a one

00:01:48

m chop and we were just having fun and

00:01:51

it just occurred to me that I wanted to

00:01:53

up the game and say right I know these

00:01:55

principles work because we've been

00:01:56

teaching them and I just wanted to say

00:01:59

right how do we how do we up the game

00:02:01

here and that was uh that's what jumped

00:02:04

into my appeal box. Yeah.

00:02:10

Some people would probably say it's like

00:02:11

a death wash.

00:02:12

>> Yeah. Yeah.

00:02:14

>> Yeah. Have you heard that?

00:02:15

>> Uh yeah, I have. I mean, given the

00:02:18

history of the Tasmin, obviously um one

00:02:20

paddler has has passed doing that.

00:02:24

That wasn't

00:02:26

it it wasn't too relative in terms of

00:02:28

risk because risk is uh a long

00:02:31

conversation actually. Risk is an

00:02:33

opinion. Um

00:02:37

Well, it is especially these days. Uh

00:02:40

there there's a lot of ways to look at

00:02:42

that. Uh one way to look at that will be

00:02:44

if you've got the skill level to to do

00:02:47

it, then it's relevant. Because if I

00:02:50

jumped into a F1 car and said, "Okay,

00:02:53

you know, I'm a good driver. I drive

00:02:55

every day. I can do this. No way. The

00:02:58

risk profile is ridiculous." I' I'd end

00:03:01

up in the fence, especially if I tried

00:03:02

to go fast. Um whereas, you know, Mr.

00:03:05

Lawson, if he's doing it, it's just

00:03:07

another day at work.

00:03:08

>> Mhm.

00:03:08

>> He's got the skill set for it and that's

00:03:11

what he does. So, for him to go two or

00:03:13

300k an hour, that's that's normal. Um,

00:03:16

and it's it applies in some ways to to

00:03:20

what I did. I'm happy out there. I'm

00:03:22

comfortable out there. I've got the

00:03:24

skill set out there and I'm making

00:03:25

decisions that I'm comfortable with. the

00:03:28

worst case in terms of media and how you

00:03:31

look at it. Most people have absolutely

00:03:34

no idea what it's like to be in the

00:03:36

tasine and nor should they nor do they

00:03:38

have the skill set. It's like, okay, if

00:03:41

you can't swim, then don't go and get in

00:03:44

the beach at Piha. Don't do it. You

00:03:47

haven't got the skill set. But if

00:03:49

you're, you know, if you're Danny Loa,

00:03:52

go ahead.

00:03:53

>> You know, you've got the skills.

00:03:54

>> Yeah. But there's that saying that the

00:03:56

ocean doesn't know you're an expert.

00:03:58

>> Correct. Correct. And there's, you know,

00:04:00

it's

00:04:00

>> variables.

00:04:01

>> It's an environment and it's an

00:04:03

environment. You have to respect the

00:04:04

ocean's rules. It's it's not uh it's not

00:04:07

health and safety. It's the ocean's

00:04:09

rules. And if you get them wrong, you

00:04:10

get consequences.

00:04:12

>> Um, and sometimes they're delivered. I

00:04:14

mean, you could jump in that kayak and

00:04:17

start traveling across the Tasman given

00:04:19

enough food, etc., etc., and you've got

00:04:22

a probably a 20% maybe a 30% chance of

00:04:26

of making it.

00:04:27

>> Um,

00:04:28

>> that's not great odds.

00:04:30

>> No, it's not. But that's that's given

00:04:33

you've got no C skills and no practice,

00:04:35

you've still got a chance of making it.

00:04:37

You know what I mean?

00:04:38

um as opposed at the other end of the

00:04:40

spectrum uh I've got a lot of chance

00:04:42

making it because of the decisions I

00:04:44

make. So for us um Nigel Lecott who was

00:04:47

my base manager we're um we're of the

00:04:50

same opinion when it regarding health

00:04:52

and safety. That's why we called it um

00:04:55

on the first trip. Uh basically the call

00:04:59

was in his his uh

00:05:04

purview for for the whole trip. If he

00:05:07

wanted to call it, he called it. He

00:05:08

always had the last say on that. And

00:05:11

that's because safety is a calculation.

00:05:13

Safety's got nothing to do with how you

00:05:15

feel. And a lot of people get emotional.

00:05:18

Even even if you comment on

00:05:21

the fact that it's it's a death wish.

00:05:23

That's because there's there's that's

00:05:25

probably comes from a place of emotion.

00:05:26

It doesn't come from a place of

00:05:27

experience. And emotions have no place

00:05:31

when it comes to you know all health and

00:05:33

safety is based on calculations. That's

00:05:36

where it comes from. It's history. Okay,

00:05:38

this has happened. This has happened.

00:05:39

Then that's what we do. It's all a

00:05:40

calculation.

00:05:42

>> So, um, you your wife Sarah, so this

00:05:44

2018 attempt where you did it and made

00:05:46

history, um, at the time you're married

00:05:48

and you've got your son, Zach, who's

00:05:50

eight at the time?

00:05:51

>> Yep.

00:05:53

>> So, what does she think in terms of the

00:05:55

chance of you making it? Like 90%

00:05:57

chance, 95% chance?

00:05:59

>> Uh, no. She's confident. and and 2018 is

00:06:03

is uh a culmination of a of a long trip,

00:06:08

you know. Um 2014 was the steep learning

00:06:11

curve because it's never been done

00:06:12

before. Um and and in retrospect, I

00:06:17

think we did everything right. There was

00:06:18

there was nothing I could have done

00:06:21

planning wise to predict what was going

00:06:23

to happen other than you know things are

00:06:25

going to happen that you haven't

00:06:26

predicted.

00:06:27

>> That's the nature of the environment.

00:06:29

>> Expect the unexpected.

00:06:30

>> Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And be flexible.

00:06:32

>> My god, there Yeah, there's so much to

00:06:34

talk about. Um, yeah. So, so 2013, that

00:06:36

was your first attempt.

00:06:38

>> Uh, yeah, they say I've attempted it

00:06:40

three times. Um,

00:06:42

>> you seem dark about this.

00:06:44

>> It's a media thing. I've attempted it

00:06:47

twice.

00:06:47

>> If you're training for a marathon and

00:06:51

you put your shoes on, you run out the

00:06:53

driveway and go, "Shit, I broke a lace."

00:06:57

Go back in. Do you put that in your

00:06:58

training training diary? No,

00:07:01

>> exactly. So, I got out there a day and

00:07:03

my satphone got wet in a bag that I

00:07:06

didn't think was going to get wet. I

00:07:07

bought it in order not to get wet. Um,

00:07:10

and it just got wet. So, the satphone,

00:07:11

which is your number one device, I did

00:07:13

have backup. I had two redundancies,

00:07:15

three redundancies of or one one option

00:07:19

and two redundancies of everything was

00:07:22

the the rule of thumb for the trip.

00:07:24

>> But it was too early to to lose that

00:07:27

kind of fundamental equipment. So, okay.

00:07:29

Turning around, going back.

00:07:31

>> Why don't you just go again the next day

00:07:33

or the next week?

00:07:34

>> Uh, weather.

00:07:35

>> Oh, okay.

00:07:35

>> Yeah. Yeah. It's it's it's complex,

00:07:37

>> right? Okay. So, it's a real precise

00:07:40

window that you're looking at.

00:07:41

>> Yeah. Okay. Probably probably should

00:07:43

start by explaining what the Tasman is.

00:07:45

It's it's actually harder than it

00:07:47

sounds. Uh way harder. Uh the Tasman is

00:07:49

a pretty special piece of water. They've

00:07:52

been crossing larger bodies of water for

00:07:54

years, like the Atlantic, for example,

00:07:56

that was pedled a long, long time ago.

00:07:58

There's a reason for that. It exists

00:08:00

with trade winds. So, you jump in a

00:08:02

tractor, tire tube, way you go. You'll

00:08:04

get there eventually. Um, the Tasman's

00:08:08

not like that. It's because you've got a

00:08:10

u

00:08:12

you've got a

00:08:14

a driving weather force across the top

00:08:16

of the Tasman and across the bottom of

00:08:18

the Tasman going in opposite directions

00:08:20

that way. And in the Tasine, you got a

00:08:22

whole lot of circles. So, you know, you

00:08:24

think river, there's a whole lot of

00:08:25

edies. Um, this isn't even a R river.

00:08:28

It's a whole lot of eddies. The biggest,

00:08:30

strongest Eddie, which can be up to six

00:08:32

knots, is the East Australian current.

00:08:34

You know, Nemo was actually, it was

00:08:36

real. There is an East Australian

00:08:38

current there, and it's quite strong,

00:08:39

and it runs down the side of Aussie, but

00:08:41

it's not like it's a river running down

00:08:42

the side of Aussie. It's a whole lot of

00:08:44

really big wagon wheels that if you

00:08:47

know, if you're in six knots, you can't

00:08:49

pedal to that. My speed's three roughly

00:08:53

um on a daily basis. So, if I'm in a six

00:08:55

knot current, I'm not I'm not I'm going

00:08:57

to go three knots backwards if I'm

00:08:58

pedaling into it.

00:08:59

>> And then that also affects your angles,

00:09:01

your vectors. Um you think, oh, okay, if

00:09:04

I'm running at 90° to this current, I

00:09:06

can go this speed. That's not actually

00:09:08

the case. You know, you have to offset

00:09:09

by 5 or 10 degrees to actually pick up

00:09:11

speed. It's um that's the first thing

00:09:14

you do when you're building a boat, but

00:09:15

I guess we'll get back to that in a sec.

00:09:17

Um, so the tasine is a bunch of circles

00:09:20

which makes that body of water tricky

00:09:22

which is why it hasn't been done till

00:09:24

now.

00:09:25

>> You know, otherwise it would

00:09:26

distance-wise 2,200 that's that's not so

00:09:29

much. Um, and the the Atlantic's much

00:09:32

much longer, but it it's a far easier

00:09:34

paddle. Even from uh this guy did um

00:09:37

mainland US to Hawaii, that's a lot

00:09:39

longer as well. But again, it's a it's a

00:09:43

weather driven paddle. You're going to

00:09:44

get there eventually.

00:09:45

>> Mhm. Um, so I I would having not done

00:09:49

that pedal, but I would view it as

00:09:50

easier conditions wise and um and

00:09:53

power-wise. So the power calculation

00:09:56

when you go into the TASM, that's that's

00:09:57

kind of step one. That's the tricky

00:09:59

part. Uh, okay. First of all, how long

00:10:02

it's going to take? Don't know. Um, and

00:10:05

so how much food do I take? Don't know.

00:10:08

Because how big am I going to build the

00:10:11

boat? Don't know. I can build a bus, but

00:10:14

a bus is not going to get into six knots

00:10:16

very effectively.

00:10:17

>> So, that's the first thing you got to do

00:10:18

is figure out, okay, this is my vessel.

00:10:21

Um, what does it do in a straight line

00:10:24

into a headwind? What does it do into 10

00:10:25

knots? What does it do into 20 knots?

00:10:27

Okay, right, Neil, let's offset that by

00:10:29

45 degrees. And you end up with a wagon

00:10:31

wheel of the boat's ability. That's what

00:10:34

sailors do in their calculations.

00:10:35

They've got, right? How much sail area

00:10:37

have I got up? How fast am I going to

00:10:38

go? Etc., etc. So, you've got to do

00:10:41

those same calculations. It's amazing

00:10:43

how many people get into this and don't

00:10:45

start there. It's like, okay, what does

00:10:48

what does your boat do? Uh, I don't

00:10:50

know. Um, it's it's maths. It's just And

00:10:52

you've got to do it to start with. Okay,

00:10:55

now I've got a basic idea of how much

00:10:58

speed I've got and what conditions I can

00:11:00

combat when. Now, let's put those

00:11:02

conditions into windy.com and say,

00:11:04

"Right, okay. How how can I progress

00:11:06

here?" um your weather's only going to

00:11:09

be predictable for three days guaranteed

00:11:12

and you know the forecasts go out longer

00:11:15

than that but they're really not

00:11:16

accurate. So uh you need to know what

00:11:20

you're going to come up against which is

00:11:21

a whole lot of circles. You're going to

00:11:23

go backwards. It's nothing you can avoid

00:11:26

out there because you cannot predict

00:11:28

what's coming and you can't do anything

00:11:30

about it. So there's sailing across the

00:11:32

tasine is different to paddling because

00:11:34

it's sailing. Okay, there's a big

00:11:35

weather system coming. Maybe I can

00:11:37

offset that by, you know, 100 mile.

00:11:40

>> You can't do that in the kayak. So

00:11:42

that's the first challenge to the Tasine

00:11:44

is how big is my boat? How fast is it

00:11:46

going to go? And then how much food and

00:11:50

gear am I going to need to put in it? So

00:11:52

what size boat do we build?

00:11:56

>> Yeah. And and it's tiny. Um I've got a

00:11:59

photo of it here. Um, this is the double

00:12:02

Dutch. Like it's a it's a kayak. It's

00:12:04

it's a it's a spec specially built

00:12:07

kayak, but it's just a kayak like Lisa

00:12:09

Carrington has at the Olympics.

00:12:10

>> The the Yeah. Well, yeah, it's it's a

00:12:12

double kayak, but yes.

00:12:14

>> Yeah. The hull is actually double kayak

00:12:16

length,

00:12:17

>> 6.5.

00:12:18

>> So, you can sleep in it, but it's um not

00:12:20

particularly roomy. We'll we'll get into

00:12:21

that too soon, but um Sure.

00:12:23

>> Yeah. So, so, uh, 2013 was that false

00:12:26

start.

00:12:28

Like going back from that. Yeah. Yeah.

00:12:30

When, when, how long was it from first

00:12:32

having the idea of say of um, kayaking

00:12:36

from Australia to New Zealand?

00:12:37

>> Four years.

00:12:37

>> Four years.

00:12:38

>> That Olympic cycle. Yeah.

00:12:39

>> Right.

00:12:42

>> Yeah.

00:12:43

>> Four years of like like like deep

00:12:46

thought and

00:12:47

>> Oh, absolutely.

00:12:48

what I've just explained was like the

00:12:50

starting point and you know we could

00:12:51

just talk about that for the next two or

00:12:53

three hours cuz there is a lot of detail

00:12:55

to be had there you know what do we

00:12:56

build the boat out of how robust does it

00:12:59

really need to be you know based on on

00:13:02

history clearly it's come apart for a

00:13:04

few people um how do I want to approach

00:13:06

this the same as this so you know go

00:13:08

talk to people who's done what talk to

00:13:10

sailors you know get as much information

00:13:12

as you can understanding that they're

00:13:14

still not doing what you're trying to

00:13:15

achieve

00:13:17

>> but No one had done this before though.

00:13:19

>> No, exactly.

00:13:20

>> So, yeah, that that would be my big

00:13:22

thing. Like, how how could you be

00:13:24

completely confident that the boat's not

00:13:25

going to you be hit by a freak wave and

00:13:27

snap in half?

00:13:28

>> Yeah. Um, yeah,

00:13:32

you you need to be you need to be. And

00:13:35

again, it's amazing how many guys don't.

00:13:36

I mean, there's a guy tried this in

00:13:39

between my attempts and he uh he built

00:13:44

his own boat

00:13:46

and uh lasted not 48 hours and he was

00:13:50

pulled out of the water and he didn't

00:13:51

know why his boat sunk.

00:13:53

>> Now, to me, that's a lack of

00:13:55

preparation. Um I could have tried to

00:13:56

build my boat in the garage as well and

00:13:58

a lot of guys do this because it's way

00:14:00

cheaper. It's vastly cheaper. Um but I

00:14:04

I'm like, "Okay, well, that's exactly

00:14:06

the consideration you need to start

00:14:08

with. I need a boat that I can rely on

00:14:11

and is safe and is not going to sink."

00:14:13

Um, so, you know, people have had that

00:14:16

idea before, you know, Titanic.

00:14:18

>> Um, so I went to, you know, who's the

00:14:22

best in the country that I can get to do

00:14:24

this or or who's who's got the skills

00:14:26

and is up there. You know, I I could

00:14:28

have put a bit of, you know, carbon or

00:14:30

or glass on over a mold and and had a

00:14:33

crack at it and I think I would have

00:14:35

done a reasonable job, but reasonable is

00:14:36

not good enough. You want the best.

00:14:38

>> So, you know, I went to Barracuda Kayaks

00:14:40

and talked to Gordon who's got a lot of

00:14:43

uh well, he built the Tasman, sorry, the

00:14:46

Atlantic boats, the rowing boats

00:14:47

initially um when they first had to do

00:14:50

those. So, he's he's clearly got the

00:14:53

skills in terms of production. Uh, and

00:14:56

he's also got a kayaking history. So,

00:14:59

it's like, okay, well, this guy's as

00:15:00

close as I can get to as good as I can

00:15:02

get. Um, so let's start there and let's

00:15:04

start working with that.

00:15:06

>> Yeah. And and you've still got the boat

00:15:07

Double Dutch. It's in your garage at

00:15:09

home.

00:15:09

>> Yeah. Yeah. Second second iteration.

00:15:11

Yes.

00:15:12

>> Still in good nick.

00:15:13

>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. I' I' I'd put it through

00:15:16

a hell of a lot of testing, but I'd use

00:15:18

it again.

00:15:19

>> Um, it's it's a few years on now. Um, so

00:15:22

>> yeah. How how do you feel when you see

00:15:23

it now?

00:15:25

Uh,

00:15:25

>> is it like h happy memories or

00:15:27

>> Oh, 100%. Like there's there's not one

00:15:29

minute of this that I didn't love to

00:15:31

bits if you said here's all the money in

00:15:34

the world,

00:15:35

you know, go and do it again. Sure.

00:15:39

>> I I got to call [ __ ] happy place.

00:15:41

>> There's We're going to get into this,

00:15:43

but um there was a point in this uh

00:15:45

successful crossing where

00:15:46

>> you spent six days locked up in that

00:15:49

tiny little cabin, which is like a

00:15:50

coffin. Yep. Um maybe it's um is that

00:15:54

type three fund like you look back now

00:15:55

with the benefit of years of high sudden

00:15:57

you think oh that was actually all right

00:15:58

at the time that must have been

00:15:59

miserable.

00:16:00

>> It was only miserable because of the

00:16:02

circumstances. I I'll get to that.

00:16:04

>> Oh because you're being blown backwards.

00:16:06

>> No no no. So um that's kind of a longer

00:16:10

story. So in the first attempt

00:16:12

>> Yeah. I'm literally,

00:16:15

this is a longer story I guess, but the

00:16:18

short story is I was literally going

00:16:20

backwards in the middle of the tasine

00:16:23

and Sarah's mom was ill and had been ill

00:16:26

for a long time. Um, she was quite close

00:16:29

with the mom and um

00:16:32

I was at Lord How and I was talking to

00:16:35

her again about, you know, how is she,

00:16:37

where's she at and it wasn't looking

00:16:38

great and like we' we'd blow the budget.

00:16:41

It's just like I can't afford to fly to

00:16:42

New Zealand. I said just go, you know,

00:16:44

we'll we'll sort it out later. Um, so we

00:16:47

had that discussion and I'm like, I'll

00:16:50

I'll can this. I'll come home now. And

00:16:52

she's like, no, no, she's still she's

00:16:55

still ticking along. She's in the

00:16:57

hospital, but she's still ticking along.

00:16:59

No, you go. Um, little did I know, one

00:17:02

day later, she passed.

00:17:04

But she told me a few days after that

00:17:08

and that happened to be

00:17:10

uh I can't remember how long it was

00:17:12

going backwards. I think it was three

00:17:13

days going backwards and it just I found

00:17:16

that out and then I spent three days

00:17:18

going backwards. Now that that took some

00:17:21

yeah that took some pounding and that

00:17:23

was just because of the emotional

00:17:24

situation. I mean the backwards part you

00:17:28

expectations you know they're the mother

00:17:30

of all you know you've got to you've got

00:17:33

to be an expert at dismissing

00:17:35

expectations when you're not dictating

00:17:38

anything

00:17:39

>> you know

00:17:41

>> yeah I can't imagine the feeling of help

00:17:43

helplessness at that point

00:17:44

>> that that was fundamentally it you're

00:17:47

just completely helpless I mean that's

00:17:50

the only time I was upset and it wasn't

00:17:52

for safety reasons or I That's what I

00:17:55

signed up for. The the big stuff is fun

00:17:57

and and you know, as as you've sort of

00:18:00

suggested, I've got a bit of a history

00:18:01

in sadistic type stuff. So, you know,

00:18:04

I'm I'm type three fun all the way.

00:18:06

>> Yeah.

00:18:07

>> So, what are you feeling at that point?

00:18:08

This the feeling of helplessness. Um are

00:18:10

you feeling like guilty that you know

00:18:12

you're you're out in the middle of the

00:18:14

ocean bobbing around when you should be

00:18:15

at home with the

00:18:17

>> Well, I've I've put together a a very

00:18:19

extensive psychological toolbox for

00:18:21

this. So, that's that's what I I didn't

00:18:23

A lot of people don't understand that

00:18:25

there is effective tools for all of this

00:18:28

except when you put that kind of weight

00:18:30

on it.

00:18:31

>> Um, but I've still got to survive. So,

00:18:33

you can't you just can't lose the plot

00:18:36

out there. Soon as you lose the plot,

00:18:38

that's when your risk profile goes up.

00:18:40

So, that was one of my main directives

00:18:42

from the start. Yeah. So, I had to

00:18:44

decide where am I going to go? So,

00:18:45

Justin and James had had a pretty

00:18:47

successful trip. So I thought, okay,

00:18:49

they're the guys in terms of tracking

00:18:51

that I want to replicate. Seems like a

00:18:55

nice balance.

00:18:56

>> See, so you leave from Coffs Harour and

00:18:58

you're not sure where you're going to

00:18:59

land. Just somewhere on the uh west

00:19:02

coast.

00:19:02

>> Yeah,

00:19:02

>> like could be Raglin. Ended up being

00:19:04

Tatanaki. Y

00:19:06

>> um but yeah, anywhere in that sort of

00:19:07

vicinity.

00:19:08

>> Yeah, it's it's a bit of an ugly coast

00:19:09

to try to land on. Um, I mean, New

00:19:13

Plymouth is always the the aim, the

00:19:15

goal. It's closest and and the water

00:19:18

currents tend to take you there. So, the

00:19:19

currents by Australia really strong, you

00:19:22

know, up to six knots. Um, as you go

00:19:24

across the Tasine,

00:19:26

the wagon wheels get smaller, the

00:19:28

currents get way more fickle. So, by the

00:19:31

time you get to New Zealand, there's

00:19:32

really nothing over two knots. Still

00:19:35

significant, but way more fickle in the

00:19:38

middle. And that's why you're going to

00:19:40

go backwards because they're just not

00:19:41

predictable. There's not enough data to

00:19:42

predict.

00:19:43

>> Yeah.

00:19:44

>> What they're doing.

00:19:45

>> So, um, 2014, uh, so we'll call this

00:19:48

your first attempt cuz the one in 2013,

00:19:50

you've, um, you're catching on.

00:19:51

>> You've clarified that.

00:19:54

>> You're dirty about that. I can tell.

00:19:56

>> Well, it is like you wouldn't put that

00:19:58

out the driveway in in your training

00:20:00

diary. So,

00:20:02

>> full start. I can I can tell it pisses

00:20:03

you off and rightfully so. So, um, 2014,

00:20:06

you're almost finished. You you're how

00:20:07

close to land? Uh I don't know. 70 80.

00:20:10

>> Yeah. What what happened? That's

00:20:12

devastating.

00:20:13

>> Um Yeah. Yeah. So the the first one was

00:20:17

an adventure. The second one was a race.

00:20:19

>> Um

00:20:20

>> the first one isn't the one we're

00:20:21

talking about where you almost finished.

00:20:22

>> Yeah. Yeah. That was an adventure

00:20:24

because you don't know anything. You

00:20:25

don't know a thing. You really don't.

00:20:27

Even though you've done all your as much

00:20:29

planning as you can. So like rule of

00:20:32

thumb, three things. If I've I've got

00:20:34

three pedals, right? Um, you know,

00:20:36

you've got two contingencies on

00:20:39

everything, on your communications, on

00:20:41

your paddles, on everything. So, that

00:20:43

was

00:20:43

>> Where are the Sorry, sorry to interrupt.

00:20:45

I'm just looking at the photo. Where are

00:20:46

the uh where are the other two paddles

00:20:47

>> inside the top? They're strapped to the

00:20:50

top,

00:20:50

>> right?

00:20:51

>> There's There's pictures on the internet

00:20:52

of me inside the cabin that

00:20:55

>> that'll show you that probably.

00:20:57

>> Okay.

00:20:58

>> Um,

00:20:59

so what happened on the first ones? The

00:21:01

first one was an adventure and that was

00:21:04

if that was the first trip in that

00:21:06

photo. There was a bit of intrepidation

00:21:08

there because it's like what's going to

00:21:10

happen? All I'd done is pedal out the

00:21:11

driveway and back and that was a bit

00:21:13

stressful in that uh on the way back the

00:21:17

current's going so fast down the coast.

00:21:20

I'm trying to make it into Port McQuary

00:21:23

in the dark. never been there

00:21:26

off GPS and I know it's a reasonably

00:21:28

notorious entry to the um to the marina

00:21:33

there. So, and I've never seen and I

00:21:36

know the coastline's rocky. So when you

00:21:38

can't see anything and you're

00:21:39

approaching a a country that you haven't

00:21:42

seen and so I had to on the way back in

00:21:44

I had to paddle my ass off for I don't

00:21:46

know at least 12 hours just to stop

00:21:49

getting swept down to okay now you've

00:21:51

got to pedal to Sydney.

00:21:54

>> Um so I did that and then I came in and

00:21:57

it was an outgoing current on the on the

00:22:00

inlet. So I'm sitting there and there's

00:22:03

it's it's quite a decent uh hall through

00:22:06

there. I'm paddling into about three

00:22:09

knots and my boat only goes three knots.

00:22:11

So, I'm doing I'm It took me I think an

00:22:14

hour and a half to get 200 mters

00:22:18

to get in there and then get out of the

00:22:19

current. So, I was paddling my ass off

00:22:22

just to get it right because if you get

00:22:23

it wrong, you're in the rocks.

00:22:26

>> Your boat's getting, you know,

00:22:27

everything you put your life into is

00:22:28

getting damaged or um so that was that

00:22:31

was kind of fun. And uh so the second

00:22:34

trip

00:22:35

uh obviously I changed the dry bag that

00:22:38

that was supposed to contain the

00:22:39

satphone. So um you know I'd made a

00:22:43

couple of changes but I didn't have that

00:22:44

much experience. So but that was an

00:22:46

adventure I was really looking forward

00:22:47

to because it was exactly like no one's

00:22:50

done this.

00:22:51

>> That just excited the hell out of me

00:22:52

because I was prepared.

00:22:54

>> Uh and in retrospect I was more I was

00:22:57

actually prepared more prepared than

00:22:59

most of the guys I see doing this.

00:23:02

um you know because I did have good

00:23:04

knowledge on what my boat could do, what

00:23:06

could and you know so I I was happy to

00:23:09

go out there and and and get into those

00:23:11

conditions. Um

00:23:13

>> exciting.

00:23:14

>> But after after almost finishing and and

00:23:16

not completing it. Um yeah, how's your

00:23:19

mental health after that?

00:23:21

>> Great. It was the right call. Um you

00:23:25

know,

00:23:25

>> you were so close though.

00:23:27

>> Yeah. In a lot of ways, I I would think

00:23:30

this is from someone that's never done

00:23:31

anything like this in their life. Um

00:23:33

it'd be better to bail after 10 days,

00:23:36

you know, rather than get that far, so

00:23:38

close to the finish.

00:23:39

>> Well, yes and no. Um like I was I was

00:23:42

super stoked with the first trip

00:23:44

because, you know, these things are

00:23:45

about the journey and all that and yes,

00:23:47

they are. I mean, I want to win, but um

00:23:50

they are about the journey and

00:23:52

particularly in something like that, it

00:23:54

was all about the journey and I

00:23:55

literally got everything. So, I got off

00:23:57

the boat going, "No, I'm done." Um,

00:24:00

because I I got absolutely everything

00:24:03

from the trip except the finish. And

00:24:06

that the finish wasn't really the point

00:24:07

to be honest. Uh, I I genuinely did did

00:24:11

uh have the experience. Um, and and that

00:24:15

was again, I enjoyed every single

00:24:17

minute. I mean, that was the things that

00:24:19

went wrong. That's kind of the dealing

00:24:21

with it's the cool part, you know,

00:24:23

handling yourself under pressure and

00:24:24

just life's wonderfully simple out

00:24:26

there. You know, it's just so pure.

00:24:28

Something goes wrong, the decisions to

00:24:30

me are very straightforward and very

00:24:31

easy. Um that's that's because it's

00:24:34

experience-based. Um so what what

00:24:36

happened in the first trip?

00:24:39

It it went pretty well. Uh and then

00:24:43

uh the yeah, on the first trip it was

00:24:46

battery. So, uh, I wasn't planning to

00:24:48

call into Lord How, but it was there as

00:24:50

a redundancy. And then one of the

00:24:54

$6,000 batteries that I bought, lithium,

00:24:58

um, dropped a cell. And one of the hard

00:25:01

calculations, again, maths, is this boat

00:25:04

is not big enough to have enough solar

00:25:06

to provide you with enough power for the

00:25:08

trip. So it was always like I went to um

00:25:12

um the Brisbane University and their

00:25:15

solar car team and um you know I went

00:25:19

through all the solar options with those

00:25:21

guys and they were pretty much

00:25:22

worldleaning

00:25:24

and you're always going to have a

00:25:26

decaying um summary on your your solar.

00:25:31

So it was only going to last so long.

00:25:33

And um when I dropped a I dropped it was

00:25:37

a newish battery and it was supposed to

00:25:40

be you know the best

00:25:42

>> and dropped a cell. It's just I didn't

00:25:44

know it dropped a cell. I just knew it

00:25:46

wasn't working properly because I didn't

00:25:47

have the um

00:25:51

uh the options to figure it out. But um

00:25:53

so okay safety let's make the call.

00:25:57

Let's go into Lord How. So I went into

00:25:59

Lord How um and then got that had to get

00:26:02

another battery from Aussie. So that

00:26:04

took a few days. Um then got back on the

00:26:06

road um which delayed us a bit but it

00:26:08

also allowed me to restock the food

00:26:11

supply. So left that with uh

00:26:16

you know with a B in the bonnet and said

00:26:18

let's go. I'm I'm into this. And um yeah

00:26:21

it was really good. And then I was

00:26:23

making great progress. Yes I got slapped

00:26:25

back a bit but you have to expect that.

00:26:27

Uh, and and it was it was pretty cool

00:26:30

and all my safety options were working

00:26:32

really well, you know, eg when do you

00:26:34

get out and start paddling and when do

00:26:35

you not. Um, and then I got up one

00:26:39

morning and my rudders hanging off by

00:26:41

one pin. So there's three stainless

00:26:43

pins. The bottom pin and the top pin had

00:26:46

been ripped off. I'm like, how does that

00:26:48

happen? So they were

00:26:51

six mill six mill pins. So pretty solid.

00:26:54

But the rudder was designed to break if

00:26:58

I hit something solid. So if you go, you

00:27:00

know, everyone's like, "Oh, you'll hit a

00:27:01

container." I never s saw a floating

00:27:02

container. Then you're highly unlikely

00:27:04

to. But um if you run into something

00:27:07

solid for some reason,

00:27:09

you don't want the rudder to pull the

00:27:11

ass off your boat.

00:27:12

>> So you design it so it doesn't pull the

00:27:14

ass off your boat. So I've got these

00:27:16

three pins that are technically if you

00:27:17

hit something hard, it should break. And

00:27:20

then you replace the pins and replace it

00:27:22

with your spare rudder. and you know,

00:27:24

three spears of everything.

00:27:26

>> Um, and I got up and this it had just

00:27:28

been rotated off. So, it was it was a

00:27:32

big fish that flapped its gummies around

00:27:35

and rotated it. So, probably a shark cuz

00:27:38

they explore, but I didn't feel it,

00:27:41

which is unusual. Uh, which also means

00:27:43

it was kind of soft. So, it was it was

00:27:45

just rotated off. So, uh, I'm in

00:27:48

declining weather. So, I've got about a

00:27:50

three three and a half meter swell. Um,

00:27:53

I've got one pin flapping around like

00:27:56

this with the rudder system on it. I've

00:27:59

got to get in. I don't have a choice. I

00:28:01

have to get in. I can't wait. It's going

00:28:02

to get worse. And if that pin pulls the

00:28:05

ass out of the boat, you know, I'm

00:28:07

getting water in there. I'm not going to

00:28:09

sink completely cuz it's

00:28:10

compartmentalized. But, you know, it's

00:28:12

I'm going to sink partially. So, in I

00:28:15

got uh and this is getting quite far

00:28:19

south. So, one of my main concerns is

00:28:21

hypothermia. Um which I've had a little

00:28:24

bit of practice at dealing with. So, you

00:28:26

know, I'm straight in there. I'm like,

00:28:27

right, I need a plan on how to get. So,

00:28:29

I get in there, I do an assessment.

00:28:32

Um then I get back in the boat, start

00:28:34

thinking, what tools do I need? You

00:28:36

know, and this is all straightforward

00:28:38

when you're sitting here doing this. But

00:28:39

when you're in a 3 m swell and you're in

00:28:43

I don't know what it was probably

00:28:45

14 13 degree water uh and you're

00:28:49

carrying no body fat and you've got to

00:28:51

figure out a plan on how to fix this

00:28:54

rudder. So I've got spare pins and I get

00:28:56

around the back and the pins have

00:28:57

actually sheared off. So I can't just

00:29:01

pull it out and put a pin new pin in.

00:29:04

Uh, and then I need the tools to to get

00:29:06

the other pin out, which is bending and

00:29:09

throwing around. So, I've got to get the

00:29:10

rudder strings off first. So, I've got,

00:29:12

you know, three or four tools. So,

00:29:14

you're in a three and a half meter

00:29:15

swell. You're in the boat with some

00:29:16

tools, and then you've got to be out of

00:29:17

the boat with some tools. So, normally

00:29:19

I'm going to put a string around my

00:29:20

wrist and make sure I can't drop the

00:29:23

tools. I don't have time. I have to get

00:29:26

this bolt out before it really does some

00:29:30

damage. So, you know, um I've I've got

00:29:33

this tool and I've got a backup, but

00:29:35

it's a really primitive option. So, you

00:29:38

know, I'm out there in a three and a

00:29:40

half me swell boats going like this

00:29:42

trying to get the the um the rudder off

00:29:46

and uh succeeded. Uh and then I also,

00:29:49

you know, I've got the watch on. I'm

00:29:51

measuring exactly how long it is before

00:29:53

I'm start starting to get symptoms of

00:29:56

hypothermia. So my first trip was about

00:29:58

22 minutes in the water and I'm like,

00:30:00

"Okay, no, I can't be that long." And

00:30:02

then you you're cold, so you've got to

00:30:04

go and recover, but you've actually got

00:30:05

to get straight back in to fix the the

00:30:07

immediate problem straight away. So

00:30:10

calculate it. Probably got about 18

00:30:12

minutes. I certainly haven't got 22

00:30:14

minutes in me. So let's get back in and

00:30:16

and get that rudder off. So got that

00:30:17

rudder off and then the whole process

00:30:19

started. Right. Okay. The danger's gone.

00:30:22

Um now I've now I've got a check in the

00:30:25

back compartment. And I've got to do all

00:30:27

this before dark and then I've got to

00:30:30

radio it in and say, "Right, get the

00:30:32

experts on it and and let's let's see if

00:30:35

we can uh get some mental power on this.

00:30:38

See if we can fix it."

00:30:40

>> So the experts on um Yeah. So they can

00:30:42

talk you through it.

00:30:44

>> Yeah. What What ideas have you got for

00:30:45

the solutions for this? So I give it to

00:30:47

Nigel and then the the academic process

00:30:49

starts and I mean Nigel's about the best

00:30:54

guy that you can have on this. I mean he

00:30:57

was he he was police SARS

00:31:01

um and he's he's very military in his

00:31:04

thinking.

00:31:05

>> Um he was armed offenders uh leader in

00:31:08

in for many years. So he's he's used to

00:31:12

dealing with life and death situations

00:31:13

and I think that's important

00:31:15

>> for for that role.

00:31:16

>> Yeah. You you you talk about this stuff

00:31:18

like very um like matterofactly and

00:31:20

almost you know kind of blasze but it's

00:31:23

like um you know 22 minutes in the water

00:31:25

then you go and warm up like you there's

00:31:27

no hot shower or anything like there's

00:31:29

um and you say call in experts like no

00:31:31

one's no one's coming out in the

00:31:33

speedboat to get you. You know you were

00:31:35

so alone and isolated.

00:31:37

>> Yeah 100%. And but that's what that's

00:31:39

what you signed up for. If if you're not

00:31:41

prepared for that, then it's amazing how

00:31:43

many people do sign up for it and are

00:31:45

not prepared for that. It's it it blows

00:31:47

my mind. But

00:31:48

>> well, if you're doing it if you're doing

00:31:49

it for um the cloud of the glory, like

00:31:51

there's plenty of easier ways to do

00:31:52

that, right?

00:31:53

>> Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely.

00:31:55

>> So So after um yeah 2014 where you're

00:31:58

almost finished and you don't um Yeah.

00:32:01

What's what's the thought process or the

00:32:03

discussion that goes on before you

00:32:05

decide to do it again in 2018?

00:32:06

>> Yeah. Oh, so there's actually a lot more

00:32:08

to the rest of this story. Sorry.

00:32:09

>> Um, so I'm without a rudder. Bottom line

00:32:11

is I'm without a rudder

00:32:13

>> and there's no solution. We can't put a

00:32:15

rudder on the back. Um, because I've got

00:32:17

nowhere to anchor it to. Um, so it's

00:32:21

like got no rudder. And and so okay,

00:32:24

sleep on it. Uh, got enough food. I'm

00:32:26

healthy. I'm safe. I'm fine. Um, so you

00:32:30

know, Nigel starts exploring the options

00:32:32

of of getting a pickup. Any craft in the

00:32:34

area? you know, how long is it going to

00:32:36

take? Um,

00:32:38

and then I'm in the cabin. And in the

00:32:42

cabin is physically harder than out

00:32:44

paddling. Like, you know, first couple

00:32:47

hours is fine, but if you're in I would

00:32:49

rather be paddling for 10 hours than in

00:32:50

the cabin for 10 hours. It's not a

00:32:52

comfortable place to be. Um,

00:32:55

>> looks like a coffin.

00:32:56

>> Yeah. And every time you're in there,

00:32:59

it's generally because the weather's

00:33:00

[ __ ] Because the weather's not [ __ ]

00:33:01

you're out pedaling. So if you're in

00:33:03

there, it's like being in a washing

00:33:04

machine. So you there was a lot of

00:33:08

habits and routines that you got into.

00:33:09

It's all about the detail. So if I'm

00:33:12

lying in there and I'm lying on a you

00:33:14

know little sleep mat, foam sleep mat

00:33:17

thing and if you're in a anything really

00:33:21

in a decent chop, the boat's going like

00:33:23

this all the time. So, if you're lying

00:33:24

there for three hours and you're going

00:33:27

like that and it's sitting your elbow's

00:33:30

sitting on rubber, you're going to get

00:33:32

an abrasion there within three hours on

00:33:34

your elbow.

00:33:35

>> So, you have to readjust your position.

00:33:38

Um, so on the first trip, I had a a

00:33:40

shark skin top. Uh, I just cut the arms

00:33:43

off and I put the shark skin arms on

00:33:46

because it was too hot in the you don't

00:33:48

want to have a top on because it's

00:33:49

actually quite warm inside. Uh, and but

00:33:51

it was too hot. But I just cut them off.

00:33:53

So, I had to do that. But even if you do

00:33:55

that, you know, there's going to be

00:33:56

something in your shoulder that rubs.

00:33:58

And as soon as you get an abrasion,

00:34:00

you can't fix it because you're wet just

00:34:03

about all the time.

00:34:05

>> So, yeah, it's I didn't want to be in

00:34:07

the cabin. So, I got out of the cabin

00:34:08

for a little bit exercise cuz I needed

00:34:10

to just stretch out. And I'm like, I've

00:34:12

got no rudder. So, I started edging the

00:34:14

boat, which is where you lean your hips

00:34:16

and you put a couple of stronger paddles

00:34:18

in on this side. and I end up making

00:34:22

about

00:34:24

7 or 8K.

00:34:26

And then I went back in, slept on it

00:34:28

again cuz there's no rush. There's no

00:34:29

hurry. Everything's safe. And so we

00:34:31

were, you know, that was our protocol

00:34:33

really. We just there is no hurry. And

00:34:35

I'm healthy. I'm good. I actually just

00:34:37

made some progress. And I said to Nigel,

00:34:39

I'm I'm going to have a crack at it

00:34:40

tomorrow. And I made about 12ks the next

00:34:44

day.

00:34:45

And I said, just put a hold on that. and

00:34:49

uh let's give it a crack. So I'm

00:34:51

paddling around in Tasine with no

00:34:52

rudder, which is ridiculous.

00:34:55

And so I ended up teaching myself how to

00:34:58

pedal again, which and that's probably

00:35:00

one of the most exciting things

00:35:03

personally uh from from my point of view

00:35:06

that that I learned to do. I learned how

00:35:07

to pedal again. So I made progress more

00:35:10

and more each day. And then you know

00:35:11

when the wind's blowing from 15, it

00:35:13

hardly ever blows 15. It's usually more.

00:35:16

when it's blowing 15 knots from your

00:35:17

right, you're edging all day and really

00:35:21

leaning on one arm

00:35:23

um to just try and keep straight. And

00:35:25

then it gets to the point because as

00:35:26

soon as you've got something in that

00:35:28

quarter ahead of you, you've got nothing

00:35:31

that you can do about it. You have to be

00:35:32

on the on the anchor. So, you can't

00:35:34

really pedal on those days. So, it was

00:35:36

just an adjustment of the mass equation

00:35:37

that I had originally on your vectors.

00:35:40

And I can do this. Look, I've still got

00:35:43

food. Let's go. I'm just going to keep

00:35:44

paddling and I'll see if I can get

00:35:46

closer because I'm kind of very close in

00:35:48

the middle. And so Nigel starts working

00:35:50

on a whole lot of other contingencies.

00:35:52

And I uh just kept paddling and kept

00:35:54

paddling and then I got to the point

00:35:56

where I was one day and these are the

00:35:59

days you dream about. There's 30 knots

00:36:01

behind me on a 5 m swell. And so I'm

00:36:04

sitting there and I mean when the white

00:36:05

water comes across you put your arms up

00:36:07

to hold the paddle out of it and the

00:36:09

white water is so heavy it just presses

00:36:11

you into the kayak. And um I started

00:36:14

surfing these waves and that's that's

00:36:18

kind of fun at the best of times. Um but

00:36:20

I had no rudder and it's so really easy

00:36:23

to broach and I figured you're operating

00:36:27

off your eyes and so I had to change my

00:36:28

sensory input. So I started closing my

00:36:30

eyes a lot and just using my ears. So,

00:36:32

it's cold. So, I just put my beanie up

00:36:34

and I started feeling the wind on my

00:36:36

ears. And as soon as I felt the wind on

00:36:37

my ear, I leaned and compensated. And

00:36:41

that meant I could surf. If I waited

00:36:44

till my eyes saw what I needed to do, I

00:36:46

I'd broke. I couldn't do it. So, I ended

00:36:48

up being able to surf 5 m waves with no

00:36:51

rudder with, you know, a 400 kg boat.

00:36:54

And um I've never had so much fun in my

00:36:57

life. It was so good. And I never got it

00:36:59

wrong.

00:36:59

>> How long did that last for? How do I

00:37:02

last? What the wind?

00:37:03

>> Yeah. No, just just riding these waves

00:37:05

in the middle of the tasine.

00:37:06

>> Oh, it only lasts a day or two at the

00:37:09

most because the tailwind because of the

00:37:11

circular

00:37:12

>> you only ever like you dream for those

00:37:14

days, but honestly I felt robbed both

00:37:16

times because it would have been less

00:37:18

than way less than 10%

00:37:21

>> of the time. You know, those are the

00:37:22

ones you live for. I had one at the end

00:37:24

of the the last trip

00:37:25

>> and I made, you know, I made great

00:37:27

progress

00:37:29

really close to the mountain. That was a

00:37:31

whole lot of fun. But I had a rudder.

00:37:33

But yeah, learning a new skill in the

00:37:35

middle of the tasine, just adapting your

00:37:37

whole

00:37:39

>> way of doing things uh was was exciting.

00:37:42

That was that was really great for me.

00:37:46

>> Yeah. Uh and then so yeah, anyway, I I

00:37:49

was late because I wasn't making as much

00:37:50

progress as I should. Um so I was going

00:37:54

to run out of food. I was always going

00:37:56

to run. So Nigel ended up contacting uh

00:38:01

John Fenel

00:38:03

who's a rescue pilot of fairly

00:38:07

fairly uh well known in New Zealand and

00:38:10

they started dropping drums into Lake

00:38:12

Talpo from a great height.

00:38:15

So they figured it out and they they

00:38:17

figured out how far can we fly out and

00:38:19

so they flew out and did a food drop.

00:38:22

Um, the first food drop was as far as I

00:38:24

could fly basically. Uh, and I think

00:38:27

they dropped two barrels. The first one

00:38:29

did explode, so I lost that one, but um,

00:38:32

I was able to get it. But, you know, I'm

00:38:33

sitting there in 25 knots of wind, which

00:38:35

is not a lot for the Tasine, but I've

00:38:37

got no rudder and I've got to paddle

00:38:39

around in circles to get to this this

00:38:41

little parachute thing. Uh, and then

00:38:44

then it's like Christmas. You're getting

00:38:45

into this barrel and there's just all

00:38:47

kinds of food and it's great. And you

00:38:49

know, like there's um Nigel Nigel's,

00:38:53

this is the level of detail that we go

00:38:55

to. So Nigel realized there's going to

00:38:57

be pressure on impact. So um he buys a

00:39:01

peanut slab,

00:39:03

he pin pricks the wrapper, deflates it,

00:39:08

and then tapes it because the pressure

00:39:10

of the impact would explode the wrapper

00:39:13

and explode all the food. So he he

00:39:14

literally had done that. He he'd thought

00:39:17

about it and because of the practice he

00:39:19

he'd pin prick the wrapper, got all the

00:39:21

air out of it and then put a bit of

00:39:22

electrical tape on it.

00:39:23

>> Wow.

00:39:24

>> What he hadn't thought about was that my

00:39:25

skin was so soft that when I went to

00:39:27

peel the electrical tape, it would cut

00:39:29

me,

00:39:32

>> right?

00:39:32

>> Yeah. Like it could literally go through

00:39:34

my fingernails,

00:39:36

>> so yeah, the the level

00:39:38

>> Did you have a knife or a blade or

00:39:39

whatever? I did. I did. And I So, I had

00:39:41

to open the peanut slab, but like, you

00:39:43

know, I'm I'm starving literally and

00:39:46

these peanut slabs and stuff turn up and

00:39:48

I'm like, and I want to get into this

00:39:50

peanut slab. I don't want, you know, I

00:39:52

don't want to wait. So, then I I figured

00:39:55

out I had to get my, you know, knife out

00:39:57

and and actually open it up with a

00:39:59

knife.

00:40:00

>> So, yeah, the the level of detail on

00:40:02

skin integrity is probably the hardest

00:40:03

thing on this whole trip.

00:40:05

So yeah, I I got in there and then I got

00:40:08

to 70ks off and then I was running out

00:40:12

of power. I was running out of

00:40:14

everything and I ended up in a six-day

00:40:19

blocking storm um which the media got a

00:40:22

hold of. It was taking roofs off in

00:40:23

Oakuckland and but it was it was just

00:40:26

kind of normal to me. But I couldn't

00:40:28

make progress. So, I was just on anchor

00:40:30

for six days in a blocking storm. And

00:40:33

then it got to the point it's like, hey,

00:40:35

I can't produce any more power. Um, I'm

00:40:38

I'm getting low on food, but I probably

00:40:40

can survive another couple days, but I'm

00:40:42

getting low on power. If someone comes

00:40:44

out here, they're not going to see me.

00:40:45

I'm done. Um, and I was only 70ks off.

00:40:49

And there are there are big big craft

00:40:51

out there. Um, and if I go somewhere,

00:40:55

I'm go I can't recharge my satphone for

00:40:57

tomorrow. I can't talk to you. I'm out

00:41:00

of power. The only thing I can let you

00:41:02

know about is the E-B.

00:41:04

>> Uh which is what you pull when you're in

00:41:06

a in a panic.

00:41:08

>> So that's a calculation. No, that's too

00:41:10

far. We can do something about it. We

00:41:13

did something about it. And I never had

00:41:15

any issue with any of that decision.

00:41:16

That would to me that was just

00:41:18

straightforward. I'd do it again 100

00:41:20

times out of 100.

00:41:21

>> Like common sense.

00:41:22

>> No calculation. Safety is a calculation.

00:41:25

It's like, okay, you know, if if there's

00:41:27

a problem that you haven't foreseen,

00:41:30

like Lord How, you know, I didn't have

00:41:32

to stop at Lord How at all. I could have

00:41:34

just kept going because I can manually

00:41:36

pump water. I could have survived. Um,

00:41:39

but I, you know, I wanted to do it

00:41:41

non-stop, but that's a rule you've

00:41:43

placed on yourself. And that's something

00:41:45

I learned from Andrew. Don't place rules

00:41:46

on yourself.

00:41:47

>> Safety is calculated based on what you

00:41:49

need to do and what is available. So, at

00:41:52

the end, the risk profile went up. The

00:41:54

danger was high. I was going to run out

00:41:56

of comms, which is the biggest danger. I

00:41:59

couldn't tell them whether I'm in the

00:42:01

water or not. Um, so all I could do is

00:42:04

pull my earb. And it's like, okay, no,

00:42:06

we can do something about that. So, we

00:42:07

will.

00:42:08

>> It's a calculation. It's It's got

00:42:10

nothing to do with how you feel or where

00:42:12

you are or what you're trying to

00:42:13

achieve.

00:42:14

>> It's just a calculation.

00:42:17

>> Yeah. By the way, Lord, how that you've

00:42:19

mentioned a few times. So that's um it's

00:42:20

an island in Australia waters. I think

00:42:22

if you fly there from Sydney it's like a

00:42:23

couple of hours flight, right?

00:42:25

>> Yeah. It's um 600ks off off Port McQuary

00:42:28

>> probably. So um

00:42:31

yeah, how like how are we not how are we

00:42:33

not depressed after 2014

00:42:35

after going through all that and making

00:42:37

it so close?

00:42:38

>> I I got the journey. The journey was

00:42:40

fantastic, you know. Well, you know, if

00:42:43

you go if you go for a marathon and then

00:42:45

absolutely blow a hammy at at um 41ks,

00:42:50

>> you did all that training, you know, you

00:42:52

you got from here and you got up to

00:42:53

there. Sure, you'd probably have another

00:42:55

crack at a marathon. It's more

00:42:56

accessible.

00:42:57

>> Uh this is less accessible, but um

00:43:00

>> but you don't get the finishing medal.

00:43:02

>> No, you don't get the finishing medal,

00:43:03

but it was never about that. And there

00:43:05

was never going to be one.

00:43:06

>> It's not that kind of project, you know.

00:43:08

Um, but again, I wouldn't change that

00:43:11

safety part of the part of the journey

00:43:14

was putting together a safety protocol

00:43:16

that was effective.

00:43:18

>> Um, and it was effective and um, and you

00:43:20

know, we're both pretty proud of how we

00:43:22

operate like that. Um, and that's what

00:43:25

does make it safe. That's why Sarah has

00:43:27

confidence in what we're doing is

00:43:29

because,

00:43:30

>> you know, we treat it like a military

00:43:31

operation and that's that's the best way

00:43:34

to go about it. Um,

00:43:35

>> yes. So, so after 2014, it's another

00:43:37

four years before you have the the

00:43:39

successful attempt.

00:43:40

>> Um,

00:43:42

>> you you've explained the safety stuff

00:43:43

really well. Um, was it hard getting

00:43:46

Sarah over the line to do it again

00:43:47

though, just in terms of like the um

00:43:49

>> I don't know. You're putting your lives

00:43:50

on hold in a way, aren't you? Like

00:43:52

financially as a couple or a family, you

00:43:54

can't progress forward.

00:43:55

>> And that's that's probably the main main

00:43:57

thing. So, that's when we said because

00:43:59

we thought we'll do this. we we'll take

00:44:01

the box and then we we might it's a good

00:44:03

time to go overseas and just have a bit

00:44:05

of a you know live overseas for a bit.

00:44:07

We were thinking maybe Europe. Um

00:44:11

but then it was probably six months

00:44:13

passed and and there was like

00:44:14

financially there's no way we want to do

00:44:16

this again. This is just crazy. Um, and

00:44:20

then uh I came across a couple of people

00:44:23

who were interested in chipping in and

00:44:25

they were like, "Oh, why don't you do

00:44:27

and I'm like, actually, I really do want

00:44:29

to do it." You know, it's like playing

00:44:31

the game of golf, you know? Oh, I can do

00:44:33

it better than that. But I had all this

00:44:35

information. I had this massive body of

00:44:37

information and I'm like, I really want

00:44:40

to do it now. So, it's like doing your

00:44:41

first Iron Man. You don't know what

00:44:43

you're in for, but once you've done one,

00:44:45

it's like, oh yeah, I can do way better

00:44:46

than that. M

00:44:48

>> um you know your just your

00:44:51

um comprehension of what the capacity is

00:44:54

for you to go better and this is kind of

00:44:56

more exciting than Iron Man because the

00:44:58

amount of detail in it was was like I

00:45:00

say even the safety plan wasn't boring.

00:45:01

It was it was I think reasonably world

00:45:05

leading and exciting to do and exciting

00:45:08

to put together and get it right. And

00:45:09

I'm like, okay. So, for example, uh we

00:45:12

now don't have three P we have three

00:45:14

pins in the back of the boat, but we

00:45:15

also have three new holes drilled, you

00:45:18

know. So, if it snaps off again, you've

00:45:21

got other holes you can use. Um so, just

00:45:24

those those learnings uh I wanted to put

00:45:27

them in and uh we so we had a little bit

00:45:29

little bit of momentum. Don't get me

00:45:31

wrong, it's not like someone said, "Oh,

00:45:33

you can

00:45:33

>> it was certainly going to be a" and so

00:45:35

we thought, "Right, let's kill the

00:45:37

birds. let's go and spend our oe time in

00:45:39

Aussie which was great moved to coughs

00:45:43

um

00:45:44

not necessarily cuz we were planning to

00:45:46

start from coughs for the paddle we

00:45:48

moved to coughs because I looked at a

00:45:49

map and said right okay we love the salt

00:45:52

water because we come from Rooua which

00:45:54

is paradise but there's no salt water so

00:45:56

we've got salt water we got the waves we

00:45:58

got what we want but I need the

00:45:59

mountains as well because I want to be

00:46:01

able to ride my bike so where do the

00:46:03

mountains get close to the water coughs

00:46:05

so um you know you and go for a swim and

00:46:08

jump on your mountain bike and go

00:46:09

straight up the hills. It's like that's

00:46:10

my idea of paradise. Um so that's kind

00:46:14

of kind of why we went there and um and

00:46:18

also met some lovely people that were

00:46:20

keen and helpful and um you know made

00:46:22

some great friends. So we had a paddle

00:46:25

aside, we had an amazing time in coughs,

00:46:27

which was what we went there for.

00:46:29

>> And you know, the young fell got to

00:46:31

experience some,

00:46:32

>> you know, but a slightly different

00:46:34

culture.

00:46:35

>> Um, and but you know, in terms of the

00:46:38

boat and the the paddle, it was all it

00:46:40

was all there and and a lot handier.

00:46:43

>> Yeah.

00:46:44

>> So yeah. So when you take off in 2018

00:46:46

from Coughs, so um your wife Sarah is

00:46:48

there, your son Zach who's like eight at

00:46:50

the time.

00:46:51

>> Yep. Um

00:46:53

yeah, eight's a good age. Like um they

00:46:55

you kids can understand what's going on.

00:46:57

So how do you guys communicate it to him

00:46:59

what you're doing? Like dad's just going

00:47:01

for a paddle. He'll see you in a couple

00:47:02

of months or

00:47:03

>> Yeah. Well, he kind of grew up with that

00:47:04

because you know, dad's just going for a

00:47:06

ride. See you 5 hours later, you know.

00:47:09

Um so it wasn't really much out of uh

00:47:13

out of the realms. And

00:47:15

he's

00:47:17

I mean he's a product of the lifestyle

00:47:19

as well in that we went to coughs. So

00:47:21

I've got a I don't know three four year

00:47:23

old when we go to coughs and he's here's

00:47:27

your water safety thing. So I walk out

00:47:29

to the beach holding his hand and

00:47:32

there's a you know half meter swell

00:47:34

coming in and I let let his hand go and

00:47:36

I let him get wiped out. You're standing

00:47:38

there to pick him up when you need to

00:47:39

but you let him get hit by the wave. So

00:47:42

cuz he's going to be spending his life

00:47:43

in the wave, you know, he's got to

00:47:45

develop that respect for it. And so you

00:47:47

just let him get bold and and they've

00:47:50

got to I know I have taught his natural

00:47:52

affinity to you know be able to hold his

00:47:54

breath and he he'd learned to swim

00:47:56

through me. So, um, you know, just

00:47:59

here's the wave, belt. Boof. And, you

00:48:02

know, at at age eight, we were we were I

00:48:05

was body surfing 3 m swells with him on

00:48:08

my back, you know, and I had 100%

00:48:10

confidence he could get wiped out by a 3

00:48:12

m wave and pop up and be happy on the

00:48:15

other side. So, yeah, it was absolutely

00:48:18

nothing out of the ordinary for him, you

00:48:19

know. He's like, "Oh, it's the sea.

00:48:20

That's that's it's what we do."

00:48:23

So, he was he was um communicated the

00:48:25

message that there was absolutely no

00:48:27

doubt that dad was going to make it at

00:48:28

the other end.

00:48:30

>> Yeah, it's it's a big thing and there's

00:48:32

some risk, but you can't talk to an

00:48:33

8-year-old about risk.

00:48:34

>> You can't even talk to a 15-year-old

00:48:36

about risk. If

00:48:37

>> if you if the 2018 attempt wasn't

00:48:40

successful, would you have gone again?

00:48:42

>> Uh, highly unlikely.

00:48:44

>> Yeah, they would.

00:48:44

>> Just just financially.

00:48:46

>> Simple as that. Like, I really did enjoy

00:48:50

every minute. I enjoyed the big stuff.

00:48:52

That's what I signed up for. Um, and you

00:48:55

know, the the the polarization of of the

00:48:59

activity out there, like very few,

00:49:02

probably two nights, maybe three in both

00:49:06

trips. You couldn't tell um the water

00:49:10

from the sky. It was just that flat and

00:49:13

that, you know, there were stars

00:49:15

everywhere. And then you start paddling

00:49:17

and there's phosphoresence in the water.

00:49:19

is just stunning. And then 48 hours

00:49:22

later, you're in a 5 m swell with a

00:49:25

6-second interval that's beating the

00:49:27

absolute crap out of you. It's just it's

00:49:30

just beautifully polar.

00:49:33

>> You were talking about this um this um

00:49:34

crunchy stuff with a real sort of glint

00:49:36

in your eye, eh?

00:49:37

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

00:49:38

>> You love it. Okay. Um Yeah. So, so what

00:49:42

about the training before you get even

00:49:43

even in the water? Because you're

00:49:44

paddling for say up to 16 hours a day,

00:49:47

right?

00:49:47

>> Yep. So what does training look like

00:49:49

both physically and mentally?

00:49:52

>> Oh well that's a really good question

00:49:54

because I you know especially when it

00:49:56

comes to endurance we we quite often

00:49:58

train our psychology

00:50:00

every time you take a step running or

00:50:02

you take a take a pedal biking you are

00:50:06

training your mind it's part of the same

00:50:08

package and you should train whatever

00:50:10

you're trying to train for. So mentally

00:50:14

um there's the safety side and that's

00:50:16

academic.

00:50:17

Um but physically I've got a you know

00:50:21

I've got a background and stuff. Um

00:50:24

and it's a it's a varied background.

00:50:26

It's it's not a or some people might

00:50:29

call it an elite background, but it's

00:50:32

kind of what I've did wrong that taught

00:50:33

me more than what I did right. For

00:50:35

example, I I was busy coaching one

00:50:38

summer and I said, "Right, I'm going to

00:50:40

do coast to coast." So I did coast to

00:50:42

coast. My biggest week of training was

00:50:45

five hours.

00:50:46

>> So

00:50:48

um

00:50:49

>> that's shocking by the way. That is

00:50:51

terrible.

00:50:51

>> That is that's yeah that that is a

00:50:53

shocking. So you're going into I don't

00:50:54

know 14 hour race of 5 hour week under

00:50:57

your belt. So I was just working and and

00:50:59

I went into that and I said right I'm

00:51:01

well I had no other default setting. I'm

00:51:04

a racer. I'm just and that challenge

00:51:07

appealed to me as much as trying to

00:51:10

train properly and win the race. And so

00:51:12

I'm like, "Right, here's me. Here's my

00:51:14

body. What can I get out of my body

00:51:17

today to get 100% performance?

00:51:21

Something's going to go wrong. I'm going

00:51:23

to pull something, strain something. I'm

00:51:25

going to have to adjust. You know, I'm

00:51:27

going to have to tape my ankles because

00:51:29

they're not as trained and as strong as

00:51:31

they should be." and you know, so that's

00:51:34

just the way I I rolled and I you know,

00:51:35

I still got I don't know, top 20. So I

00:51:39

was just I was just I was just wired

00:51:42

like that. I didn't need the others to

00:51:44

make me go fast. I could have gone and

00:51:46

done it on a different day and gone just

00:51:48

as hard. That's just how I was wired.

00:51:51

And I was just as happy with doing that

00:51:53

as I was with training properly and

00:51:55

trying to go top five, you know. Um

00:51:59

and and that's what taught me a lot of

00:52:02

things, you know, how to change muscle

00:52:05

groups and and look after one muscle

00:52:07

group and then because that happens

00:52:09

every day when you're on the smash for

00:52:11

16 hours, sort of five or six days in a

00:52:13

row, something's you're all you're

00:52:15

straining things every day. And so

00:52:17

you've got to figure out what pressure

00:52:19

you can apply and what the limit is and

00:52:22

what's pain and what's injury. And

00:52:24

you've got to have a very good clear

00:52:27

understanding of what what that is.

00:52:30

>> Um yeah,

00:52:32

>> you you must have been match fit though,

00:52:33

like I um as in did you do some 16-hour

00:52:37

days or you you did some overnights on

00:52:40

the on the boat?

00:52:41

>> Yep. So with if you're trading for Iron

00:52:44

Man, your physical pattern is the

00:52:48

primary objective of your plan. So, you

00:52:50

know, I've got to get up to a certain

00:52:52

amount of hours at a certain amount of

00:52:54

intensity, and that's the primary

00:52:57

objective of your training schedule. So,

00:52:59

my primary objective was

00:53:02

it was probably third on the scale. So,

00:53:05

if I went out for a 24-hour paddle,

00:53:08

um my main objective would be, okay,

00:53:12

I've got a one one and a half meter

00:53:14

swell today. Can I get inside the cabin?

00:53:17

Can I sit on my legs and knees and heels

00:53:22

for three hours while I take the water

00:53:24

maker apart and put it back together?

00:53:26

That's more important than the 24 hours

00:53:28

of paddling. So all of my training was

00:53:32

course specific. So it's not nec Yes, I

00:53:35

paddled for 24 hours, but I spent 3

00:53:37

hours inside the cabin. That's

00:53:38

physically harder because I don't know,

00:53:40

especially at this age. Have you tried

00:53:41

to sit on your ankles lately? How long

00:53:43

have you sit on your ankles for? So, I

00:53:45

literally had to train myself to do

00:53:48

that. So, every time I'm watching TV,

00:53:50

I'm sitting on my ankles and stretching

00:53:52

them out so I can get them to the point.

00:53:54

I mean, that boat's not very wide. I

00:53:57

could literally turn around. So,

00:54:00

training is worst case. Get it wrong,

00:54:01

get it wrong, get it wrong, bust

00:54:03

everything, repair it, and go again. So,

00:54:06

training's objective was not the

00:54:08

physical 24 hours because like I say, I

00:54:10

can kind of handle that. Um, I've just

00:54:13

got to know when to back off and when

00:54:14

when not to. Uh, yes, I have to have a

00:54:17

training volume. So,

00:54:18

>> but I suppose when you when you're out

00:54:20

in the water for that long, you're going

00:54:21

to get you're going to get match fit as

00:54:22

you go.

00:54:23

>> Yeah. But most the the majority of my

00:54:25

training was in a K1 on a river dead

00:54:27

flat.

00:54:28

>> And it basically was dictated by the

00:54:30

weather. Every time it started getting

00:54:32

shitty, that's when I went out on the on

00:54:34

the sea. So, okay, you know, learning

00:54:36

how to do things like replace your water

00:54:38

maker while you're in a swell. Um, pull

00:54:41

it apart, do it. Um, you know, getting

00:54:43

in and out of the boat. So, what's what

00:54:46

how do how do we test this boat for real

00:54:48

structure? You go out in the surf. Okay,

00:54:51

it's a 3 m swell today, right? Go out in

00:54:53

the surf line where it's breaking.

00:54:55

Anchor there. Get in the boat. Then

00:54:57

figure out when it's safe to get in,

00:54:58

when it's safe to get out, and how much

00:55:00

of a pounding you can actually handle

00:55:02

doing that. So then you know exactly

00:55:04

when you should be going out of the boat

00:55:05

and when you shouldn't be. It's not go

00:55:07

out and find out when you're on the

00:55:08

Tasman. It's, you know, uh what's his

00:55:11

name? Chris the sailor, the round the

00:55:13

world sailor. Old school. Hey, I mean

00:55:16

that was his motto for Dixon.

00:55:17

>> Dixon. That's it.

00:55:18

>> Uh that was his motto. You know, go out,

00:55:20

break the boat, sail it hard, and then

00:55:23

fix it better. Go and break it again.

00:55:26

Fix it. And then you're then you're

00:55:28

ready to go. I I love that so much

00:55:30

because we you know you hear the saying

00:55:32

um failure is a stepping stone to

00:55:34

success but this is an example of that

00:55:36

in like real life terms high risk terms

00:55:39

as well.

00:55:39

>> Yeah. Exactly. And then like if you've

00:55:40

gone out there and you know exactly what

00:55:42

your threshold is for getting in and out

00:55:44

of the boat. You don't know. You don't

00:55:46

know how fast you can corner on a bike

00:55:47

until you've actually come off. then you

00:55:49

know

00:55:51

then you know what your limit is and you

00:55:53

know exactly where it is and you know

00:55:54

whether you're in within 10% of it or

00:55:57

20% of it when you're cornering. So it's

00:55:59

it's exactly like that with within the

00:56:01

boat. You've got to find ways and if

00:56:04

you've got 3 weeks of fairly flat water,

00:56:06

you can't do it.

00:56:08

>> You got to wait.

00:56:09

>> So So when you're out there on the

00:56:11

Tasine, um average 24-hour cycle, what

00:56:13

did that look like? Was there such a

00:56:15

thing as an average 24-hour cycle?

00:56:17

So, there's a whole lot of things that

00:56:19

come into a 24-hour cycle. So,

00:56:21

basically, if you can paddle, you do

00:56:22

paddle uh at least 16 hours a day. That

00:56:25

was the objective. Um, but in order to

00:56:27

do that, you've got to have a few

00:56:29

things. First one, safety. Is it safe to

00:56:32

get into the boat or out of the boat? I

00:56:33

say, okay, I've got I've got a 3 m swell

00:56:36

at

00:56:37

15 seconds, which is quite a long

00:56:40

interval. So, there's only there's a

00:56:41

little bit of white water around that's

00:56:43

increasing over the next 24 hours. I

00:56:45

know that it's specifically it's

00:56:47

increasing overnight.

00:56:50

Um,

00:56:51

so am I going to get into the boat or am

00:56:54

I going to the dangerous part I

00:56:56

identified the dangerous part which is

00:56:58

getting from the cockpit to the uh cabin

00:57:01

and vice versa because

00:57:03

>> you can't be attached.

00:57:05

>> Okay. So you're untethered for that

00:57:07

short moment.

00:57:07

>> For the short moment you're untethered.

00:57:09

So that is the least safe process of the

00:57:11

of the whole thing. So you have to get

00:57:13

that right. It's not a It's not like

00:57:16

Oops, got it wrong today.

00:57:18

>> Yeah. Yeah. But when when you get

00:57:19

fatigued, it's so easy to make mistakes.

00:57:21

E, and slip up.

00:57:22

>> And that's just it. And that's a mental

00:57:23

state of mind. I mean, you train your

00:57:25

brain to be able to do that. So, like I

00:57:27

used to run my swimmers to the top of a

00:57:29

hill, swimmers to the top of a hill, get

00:57:30

their heart rate, check it, and say,

00:57:32

"Right, oh, here's a here's an algebraic

00:57:35

equation. Who's who's going to win?" You

00:57:37

know, it's it's just something you

00:57:39

practice under pressure. It's something

00:57:40

you practice under pressure if you you

00:57:41

go in the military at the SAS end. It's

00:57:44

it's a trainable concept. Every concept

00:57:47

is trainable, especially when it's the

00:57:49

gray matter. So, you know, uh

00:57:53

uh claustrophobia. Most people jump in

00:57:56

my boat don't last a minute in there

00:57:58

just sitting there. Um

00:58:02

let alone in a washing machine. So, and

00:58:05

I got comfortable with that pretty

00:58:07

quickly. I mean, I'm not particularly

00:58:08

claustrophobic, but I wasn't also

00:58:10

particularly comfortable. So, uh, I went

00:58:13

out there and,

00:58:15

uh, two things I did. First thing I did

00:58:18

when I started sleeping, I was getting

00:58:19

used to being seasick as well. So, I

00:58:21

stuck my head up the pointy end of the

00:58:23

boat. So, you got you got the air and

00:58:25

it's also the part of the boat that

00:58:27

moves the most. So, I was just working

00:58:29

on getting used to being seasick. So,

00:58:32

uh, anchored the boat and slept slept

00:58:34

there. And then um also the

00:58:36

claustrophobia part. So I now need if my

00:58:39

head's up here. Think about that boat.

00:58:42

If my head's at the pointy end, how do I

00:58:44

turn around?

00:58:47

Boat's about this wide. So I have to get

00:58:49

flexible enough to be able to pull my

00:58:51

knees and legs up to rotate round to get

00:58:54

my head back up the other end inside the

00:58:56

boat. Uh worst case, if it's on its

00:58:59

side, it's never going to be upside down

00:59:00

because of the nature of the build. All

00:59:02

right. What's the worst case now? What

00:59:04

if the doors open? So that's what I did.

00:59:06

I I got uh my head up the pointy end. I

00:59:09

got Sarah in there and it's one of the

00:59:11

reasons what I got Sarah was to, you

00:59:13

know, make her a little more

00:59:14

comfortable. And I said, "Right, I push

00:59:16

the boat down and flood the boat while I

00:59:19

my head's up the other end and I've got

00:59:21

to get out." So, you know, worst case

00:59:24

scenario, think of it, practice it, do

00:59:27

it, and then way we go. So, I'd done all

00:59:30

of that as well.

00:59:31

That little cabin that must have stunk

00:59:34

>> apparently. So apparently I got cuz

00:59:37

that's the first thing Zach said when he

00:59:39

got I got off the boat. It was on TV.

00:59:41

You stink dad.

00:59:43

>> Um I'm like

00:59:46

>> quite acclimatized.

00:59:47

>> Um what was it what was the most

00:59:49

frightening moment in that 2018

00:59:51

crossing? What was there any like it

00:59:53

seems like you were very very matter of

00:59:55

fact and compartmentalized but

00:59:58

>> I mean again the whole process if you're

01:00:01

frightened

01:00:02

go back do some more homework you

01:00:05

haven't been there if you're frightened

01:00:06

you haven't been there you haven't done

01:00:08

your homework you haven't been in rough

01:00:09

enough conditions you know go get some

01:00:12

practice and then turn up so you're not

01:00:14

frightened so um you know u Liam Lawson

01:00:18

doesn't drive frightened there's

01:00:20

probably a period where he's going into

01:00:21

a war going, "Oh shit." But he also

01:00:23

knows he's got the safety gear around

01:00:25

him to to probably take the hit.

01:00:28

>> Um, and it's exactly the same. If you're

01:00:30

frightened, again, right from the the

01:00:33

McCauley thing, it's not how you should

01:00:36

be out there.

01:00:37

>> And if you're frightened, you're liable

01:00:38

to make a poor decision. So, I really

01:00:41

tried to make sure that didn't happen.

01:00:42

>> So, there there was nothing that

01:00:44

happened in in that 61 days.

01:00:48

Wow.

01:00:49

>> Yeah.

01:00:49

>> Wow. That is uh

01:00:50

>> well it's the same for sharks. Um you

01:00:52

know people are like oh shark shark that

01:00:55

is such a psychological

01:00:58

and normal person thing to do. What

01:01:00

what's the danger from sharks? It's

01:01:01

where they live. So um training a um

01:01:05

cookst straight swimmer. Don't like

01:01:07

sharks. Fear of sharks. Fine. All right.

01:01:09

Let's go to Kelly Tons or let's let's go

01:01:12

and get in with them. All right. then

01:01:14

let's get in the open water with them

01:01:16

and then you know find a way go find a

01:01:18

shark and you know make friends. Um

01:01:22

you know get used to being in the

01:01:24

environment. If you're not used to being

01:01:25

environment and you're going to freak

01:01:26

out then don't try and swim the cook

01:01:28

straight

01:01:29

>> you know. So it's it's all trainable

01:01:31

stuff. It's it's gray matter.

01:01:33

>> Um another guy uh managed to do it in

01:01:36

2023. Richard Barnes. Um do you know

01:01:38

him? Did he speak to you? Did he contact

01:01:40

you? What when you get a phone call like

01:01:43

that? What do you What do you say?

01:01:46

>> What do I say? Um,

01:01:49

well, I try and go through a lot of the

01:01:52

stuff we just went through. Um, you

01:01:54

know,

01:01:55

>> but there's Yeah,

01:01:59

just for example, his boat was too big

01:02:01

in that he did not have much control

01:02:05

over his vectors. His boat was just too

01:02:08

big and his power was not enough for the

01:02:11

vessel that he had. I mean, he ended up

01:02:15

several hundred ks south of New Zealand

01:02:18

about to travel past, which is how the

01:02:20

wind works down there. And he got two

01:02:24

weeks, nearly two weeks straight of a

01:02:27

suddly that blew him back to New

01:02:29

Zealand. In my books, that's incredibly

01:02:33

lucky because that weather doesn't

01:02:35

happen that often down there. And the

01:02:38

weather he got on the his crossing was

01:02:41

really quite good for the Tasman. It was

01:02:43

it was almost ideal.

01:02:45

>> Um but he wasn't able to control his

01:02:46

vectors because he had the wrong boat

01:02:48

versus the wrong power

01:02:50

>> number. But he did he did talk to me.

01:02:52

What he took on board, I'm not sure. Um

01:02:56

I actually had a hand in getting him off

01:02:58

the water in a previous trip.

01:03:02

>> Um

01:03:04

yeah, the less said about that the

01:03:06

better. Yeah. Yeah. Does it frustrate

01:03:08

you when people do it and they're not as

01:03:10

um adequately prepared as what you were?

01:03:13

>> Well, I I I don't blame them for not not

01:03:16

being prepared as as I was. And you

01:03:19

know, I try not to apply my, you know,

01:03:22

my standards to anybody else. I'm no

01:03:26

uh I'm no authority in in some sense. Um

01:03:30

but the basics, the the stuff that I can

01:03:32

explain to you that you can understand

01:03:33

straight away, that frustrates me.

01:03:36

>> Yeah. what you're saying it makes makes

01:03:37

perfect sense.

01:03:38

>> Yeah.

01:03:39

>> Makes I still wouldn't want to do it.

01:03:40

>> No. And nor should you.

01:03:42

>> But it makes a lot of sense. And there's

01:03:43

a lot of stuff that you've said that you

01:03:44

can apply to um just about anything

01:03:47

really.

01:03:47

>> Absolutely. Well, like I say, this all

01:03:49

came from my coaching people to do

01:03:50

stuff.

01:03:51

>> Yeah.

01:03:51

>> You know, so um I had swim squads for

01:03:54

for many years and and it's

01:03:57

>> there's not not a lot more honest than a

01:03:59

black line in the pool.

01:04:01

>> Yeah.

01:04:01

>> You know, and you've got you got all of

01:04:03

the same concepts. you don't have, you

01:04:05

know, you don't have the gear arguably,

01:04:07

but uh yeah, it's it's all fairly

01:04:11

manageable stuff. All the information is

01:04:13

out there. Um but you it's it's up to

01:04:16

you to organize it and prioritize it.

01:04:19

>> There was a period for you out there

01:04:20

where um the storm was so bad that you

01:04:22

were locked in that um little cabin,

01:04:24

which we've described as like a coffin

01:04:26

for six days. Um

01:04:29

>> Yeah. How was your mental health then?

01:04:33

>> Okay. Uh, not good. Good and not good.

01:04:38

Cuz you know how on the first trip

01:04:40

Sarah's mom died?

01:04:43

>> Um, Sarah wasn't that close to her dad.

01:04:45

They'd split up. But still, you know,

01:04:48

they got on a right.

01:04:49

>> And your dad's dead, right?

01:04:51

>> Yeah.

01:04:52

>> Regardless of the

01:04:53

>> Yeah.

01:04:53

>> closess.

01:04:54

>> Can you guess what happened while I was

01:04:56

going backwards in the middle of the

01:04:57

tasine?

01:05:00

>> You can.

01:05:01

>> Yeah,

01:05:02

>> you can. Yeah.

01:05:05

>> So, you've got um you got a satellite

01:05:07

phone.

01:05:08

>> Yeah.

01:05:09

>> Why Why does she Why does she tell you?

01:05:12

>> Um

01:05:12

>> did she consider not?

01:05:13

>> That's the kind of relation she did

01:05:14

consider not. And she actually didn't

01:05:16

for a while. She knows I can cope with

01:05:18

it. And she als That's the kind of

01:05:20

relationship we have. You know, I'd

01:05:21

rather she did.

01:05:22

>> I I don't want her to look after me. I

01:05:25

just want us to be open,

01:05:26

>> honest. And that's

01:05:29

>> Yeah. Not even that. Just Just keep it

01:05:31

direct. keep it simple. Um, you know,

01:05:34

let me deal with my I mean, uh, I was

01:05:37

upset about the mom cuz I knew she had

01:05:41

that kind of relationship and and I

01:05:43

wasn't there emotionally for her. Dad

01:05:45

was less of an emotional problem. But,

01:05:48

you know, just she's got to organize a

01:05:51

dad's funeral.

01:05:53

Well, I'm not there, you know. Um,

01:05:58

that's helpless.

01:05:59

>> That is utterly helpless.

01:06:01

So I,

01:06:04

you know, I'm so good at my job out

01:06:06

there. She knows that's not going to

01:06:08

make me unsafe.

01:06:10

And to be honest, that's a big call cuz,

01:06:13

you know, you, like I say, you've got to

01:06:15

be. But having said that, people have

01:06:17

survived in being emotionally unstable.

01:06:18

But

01:06:20

you're you're increasing your risk

01:06:22

factor a bit there.

01:06:25

>> Yes. So yeah. So what's going through

01:06:28

your head? Like what's your thought

01:06:29

process at that time? So you're six

01:06:30

days.

01:06:31

>> Yeah.

01:06:31

>> In this tiny tiny little cabin.

01:06:33

>> Yeah. Well,

01:06:34

>> nothing you can do. Just total help

01:06:36

helplessness.

01:06:38

>> Actually, I've had some experience here,

01:06:43

>> you know.

01:06:43

>> Yeah.

01:06:45

>> Uh oh. All right. So, that's a a hard

01:06:50

thing to take.

01:06:52

One of my logistical fauxars was down

01:06:56

the bottom of my list in terms of

01:06:58

importance was music. Because people

01:06:59

say, "What did you do?" You know, "Did

01:07:00

you listen to music?" I'm like, "I'm

01:07:02

never bored there. You're always doing

01:07:05

something. You're always making

01:07:06

calculations,

01:07:08

uh, regoing over your safety. You're

01:07:10

constantly calculating vectors in wind."

01:07:12

So, I'm never chilling. There's no point

01:07:15

where you're chilling. So, down the

01:07:17

bottom of the list is the iPod. Um,

01:07:20

chucked it in. Yeah. Oh, [ __ ] I've got

01:07:21

my B iPod. What's on there? A little bit

01:07:23

of Italian language. Okay. And um

01:07:28

and on there is uh oh god it'll come to

01:07:32

me in a minute.

01:07:34

Even essence

01:07:36

>> oh yeah emo an emo band from the early

01:07:39

2000s.

01:07:40

>> Suicidal emo band.

01:07:42

This is the only music I've and and you

01:07:47

you know I'm lying there going nah nah.

01:07:51

I'm just like

01:07:53

you know what? Why not throw another

01:07:54

challenge in? I'm gonna listen.

01:07:59

What have I got?

01:08:00

>> Just to make it more unbearable.

01:08:02

>> There was a couple of days days there

01:08:03

just on repeat eancence. I'm like,

01:08:06

"Yeah, I can go."

01:08:08

>> Yeah. Cuz you're in there day and night

01:08:10

for for six days. Um I mean the the

01:08:13

dream would be to sleep through it and

01:08:15

just wake up when the storm's finished.

01:08:16

It's not it's not a reality. But it is I

01:08:19

mean you get very good at meditating

01:08:21

>> very good because you you've got to

01:08:23

otherwise you come out of the cabin just

01:08:26

absolutely naked

01:08:28

>> just rooted you just

01:08:30

>> um it's

01:08:32

oh you know and you asked about the blue

01:08:35

plate before um

01:08:37

>> oh yeah this is uh this is before we

01:08:40

started recording but you were yeah

01:08:41

you're defecating on a blue plate

01:08:43

>> yes yeah it was just a dessert bowl just

01:08:46

a blue plastic dessert

01:08:48

a because of the size. So there's an art

01:08:51

form I'll never probably use in anywhere

01:08:53

else else in life. But uh I mean when

01:08:57

you're inside the cabin trying to do

01:08:59

that, man, that's a skill. That is a

01:09:01

really dynamic skill.

01:09:03

>> So you just have to like hoist your hips

01:09:05

>> off the mat and

01:09:07

>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, in the same way you um

01:09:10

adapt to the the motion of the ocean, uh

01:09:13

you know, when you're standing, I'm not

01:09:15

obviously standing, but you get a very

01:09:17

very good feel even when you can't see

01:09:18

the waves, you can feel um what's

01:09:21

happening and what's coming and what's

01:09:23

what's going on. And so, you have to

01:09:26

>> choose the moment.

01:09:27

>> Choose the moment and be dynamic with

01:09:30

your arms and legs while you're doing

01:09:32

it. And you've got to get it right

01:09:33

because getting it wrong is not an

01:09:36

option. And and and when you're when

01:09:37

you're doing um these these bell

01:09:39

movements and you're locked in the cabin

01:09:40

for six days, are you able to get rid of

01:09:42

it or do you have to like zip lock put

01:09:44

in a Ziploc bag or something or what are

01:09:46

you doing?

01:09:47

>> No, no, you can get rid of it.

01:09:48

>> Oh yeah. Okay.

01:09:49

>> Um but you know, no toilet paper.

01:09:51

>> Yeah.

01:09:52

>> You got to rinse and rinse and and wash.

01:09:55

Um, yeah. I mean, I've got all

01:10:00

keeping things relatively antibacterial

01:10:03

is one of the biggest challenges of of

01:10:06

the whole thing. But yeah, there's

01:10:07

there's all sorts of bits and pieces,

01:10:08

but yeah, basically, uh, it's all it's

01:10:11

all free to air

01:10:13

>> and and in that tiny little cabin, um,

01:10:16

you mentioned the iPod just before. Any

01:10:17

other home comforts? Like, is there is

01:10:19

there like a like a handwritten note

01:10:20

from your son on the wall or any any

01:10:23

photos or anything?

01:10:25

Uh, no, no,

01:10:28

>> no. Um, they we had a a bit of a food

01:10:32

party where we were vacuum packing some

01:10:34

of the some of the food packages we put

01:10:36

together. So we put together basically

01:10:39

uh yeah it was it was freeze-dried fruit

01:10:42

back country and uh we I had four meals

01:10:46

a day at least four but sometimes five

01:10:48

meals a day of uh rolled oats and those

01:10:51

were

01:10:53

split into

01:10:55

protein type mixes with you know a whole

01:10:58

bunch of seeds and all sorts of

01:11:00

different types of stuff in it and then

01:11:01

carbohydrate type mixes and then um and

01:11:06

And that was also split with insure as

01:11:08

well. And so I had these bags where I

01:11:11

could just open them, pour some water

01:11:13

in, leave it for half an hour, and then

01:11:15

just spoon it out. Cuz what you don't

01:11:17

think about is there's hardly ever

01:11:19

tailwind.

01:11:20

>> If you're paddling into even 10 knots,

01:11:22

and you stop paddling for 10 strokes,

01:11:26

you're going that way. It now takes you

01:11:28

20 strokes to get back around and get

01:11:31

pointed forward again. So when you eat,

01:11:33

you can't just sit there and chow down a

01:11:35

whole pack. It's most of the time it's

01:11:37

couple of spoonfuls, keep paddling,

01:11:39

couple of spoonfuls, keep paddling.

01:11:41

Otherwise, you're going to get your

01:11:42

energy is just going to go backwards

01:11:43

because you get pointed the other way.

01:11:45

>> And to to reorientate the boat again is

01:11:47

going to be too hard. Let alone if

01:11:49

there's an offset side wind, that's even

01:11:50

harder.

01:11:52

>> My god, you really have to keep

01:11:53

grinding, eh?

01:11:54

>> Yeah.

01:11:54

>> So So what's it like after six days in

01:11:56

that in that locked in that cabin where

01:11:58

there's a storm outside to find out just

01:11:59

how far you've been pushed back?

01:12:02

>> Um, well that's the thing. First couple

01:12:03

of days you've got the GPS, got the GPS,

01:12:06

got the GPS, turn it off. Turn it off.

01:12:09

>> Just too depressing.

01:12:10

>> Yeah.

01:12:11

>> Yeah. Yeah. You can't have that negative

01:12:13

input otherwise because if you do get

01:12:15

depressed, for example, if you, you

01:12:17

know, in food, this is again brain

01:12:19

training. Um, you know, what about food?

01:12:22

What do you like? It's got nothing to do

01:12:23

with whatever you got to train your

01:12:24

brain to ignore taste and just eat when

01:12:28

you got to eat because sometimes, you

01:12:29

know, feeling seasick, you got to eat.

01:12:31

So, um, you know, adjusting how you look

01:12:35

at food is is really important

01:12:36

psychologically because if you get a

01:12:38

craving out there, that craving can

01:12:40

start overalling everything to the point

01:12:42

where you're making poor decisions. It's

01:12:44

like, oh, I've got this craving for a

01:12:45

pie. Oh, I don't want to eat my my

01:12:48

musli. You know what I mean? Uh, which

01:12:51

is just standard kids stuff dayto-day

01:12:52

means nothing. But out there it really

01:12:54

can have an accumulative effect

01:12:56

>> and and be you know reasonably

01:12:59

consequent con consequential.

01:13:01

>> So

01:13:02

>> did you how did you develop that skill

01:13:04

to like when negative thoughts thoughts

01:13:06

are creeping in to just you know block

01:13:08

them out and get back on

01:13:09

>> well a lot of that's from um coaching

01:13:13

people to do things and and my own you

01:13:15

know athletic career. I mean you've got

01:13:17

to stay positive right? any performance

01:13:19

is about um

01:13:22

you know the basic mental tools of

01:13:25

performance which is if you've got that

01:13:26

negative thought in there then that

01:13:29

actually affects your power.

01:13:31

>> Um if it's 100 meters if you're doing a

01:13:34

100 meter sprint race on the track, you

01:13:37

know, you get one thing wrong and you're

01:13:40

not going as fast as as you want to go.

01:13:42

you know, um even if it's just two steps

01:13:45

that aren't as powerful as they should

01:13:47

be, that turns out to be half second at

01:13:49

the end of the race or or splits

01:13:51

depending on who you are and how fast

01:13:52

you're going.

01:13:53

>> Um same with Iron Man. Oh, you know, oh,

01:13:56

I'm tired. As soon as you think you're

01:13:59

tired, you are.

01:14:00

>> End of story.

01:14:01

>> Uh as soon as you think you're tired,

01:14:02

you've lost. You've lost maximum

01:14:04

performance level.

01:14:05

>> You can't do it. So, as soon as that

01:14:07

thought enters your head, you're in

01:14:08

trouble. So, it's it's basic sports

01:14:10

psychology. But like I said, I wanted to

01:14:12

take it right. So there's a massive

01:14:14

toolbox on, you know, uh, everybody

01:14:16

knows what a little bit of uh,

01:14:18

meditation does for you, but like I say,

01:14:20

when you've got to do it under pressure

01:14:22

for six days

01:14:23

>> in order to survive and make sure that

01:14:25

your body's in the best condition, so

01:14:27

when you get out, you can actually

01:14:28

paddle, let alone your mind. Um, yeah,

01:14:31

you're going backwards fast. And you've

01:14:32

got to, so the one thing I learned in

01:14:35

the first trip was I'm going to go

01:14:36

backwards. I need to modify my

01:14:38

expectations.

01:14:40

I'm looking at the from all the weather

01:14:42

I've looked at the most I'm probably

01:14:44

going to go I didn't make the call but

01:14:46

I'm maybe four days backwards.

01:14:48

It's like I'm going backwards for five

01:14:50

days. You're starting to lose the plot

01:14:52

in the fifth day. It's not cuz it's any

01:14:54

difference. It's because you had

01:14:55

expectations.

01:14:56

>> You have to be able to drop those

01:14:59

expectations.

01:15:00

>> One thing to say it, another thing to be

01:15:03

able to do it.

01:15:04

>> Yeah.

01:15:04

>> So you is and so I learned that from the

01:15:07

first trip. So when I went into the the

01:15:08

long six days at the in the second trip,

01:15:11

I'm like, "No, I haven't got

01:15:12

expectations. Take two weeks. Whatever

01:15:14

you got to take, you got to take and

01:15:16

then I'll just jump back on the horse."

01:15:17

You know, it's

01:15:19

>> uh you practiced, it's experienced.

01:15:21

>> You're tough as nails, aren't you?

01:15:24

>> Um

01:15:25

>> yeah, I don't look at it as tough, but

01:15:27

yes. Yeah, I agree in that. Um, you

01:15:29

know,

01:15:30

>> because I mean the the stuff that you're

01:15:31

saying it makes perfect sense, but it is

01:15:33

um easy to say it, but it's a lot harder

01:15:35

to actually implement it in real life

01:15:37

terms.

01:15:37

>> Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah. There's Yeah,

01:15:40

there's I'm I'm tough at that kind of

01:15:42

thing because I've had some practice,

01:15:43

had some experience. I mean, you put me

01:15:44

in a boxing ring, I'm not so tough.

01:15:48

>> You put You put a boxer in my boat,

01:15:50

they're not so tough.

01:15:51

>> Yeah. Well, I think it was Muhammad Ali

01:15:53

that or Mike Tyson that originally said,

01:15:55

"Everyone's got a plan until they get

01:15:56

punched in the face."

01:15:57

>> Exactly.

01:15:58

>> Yeah. Um what about fun things that you

01:16:00

saw out there like um were there any

01:16:02

like just crazy wild sunrises or

01:16:04

sunsets?

01:16:05

>> Oh yeah. Well, like I said the the stars

01:16:07

before that was the stars and the um

01:16:09

fluoresence was probably the the most

01:16:13

visually striking one that's imprinted

01:16:15

in my brain. Sunsets. Yeah. Oh, you see

01:16:17

them every every morning. You're up at

01:16:19

sunset. So or before sunset. So you get

01:16:22

to see you're living outside which is

01:16:24

just another way of life which is really

01:16:28

refreshing. I mean so one of the things

01:16:30

I tried to do was deprogram. So I

01:16:32

started withdrawing from a lot of

01:16:34

conversations um and just getting used

01:16:38

to my own company a bit more and just

01:16:41

psychologically you know uh appreciating

01:16:44

food less for a few weeks. Um and and

01:16:48

and then I'm going through going in at

01:16:51

the other end for the last couple of

01:16:53

days. I'm going through reprogramming my

01:16:55

brain. I'm starting to talk to myself on

01:16:57

purpose because you know I I knew there

01:17:01

was going to be a media storm after the

01:17:03

second one and the first one for um but

01:17:05

you've got to actually reprogram your

01:17:07

brain to start talking. You I've been

01:17:09

silent for two months. It is really hard

01:17:12

to talk after you've been silent for two

01:17:14

months, especially.

01:17:16

>> Yeah, it would be. It would sound weird

01:17:18

in your own head.

01:17:19

>> Oh, 100%. So, I I literally started

01:17:21

having conversations with myself because

01:17:23

I knew I was going to have to step

01:17:25

straight off the boat and talk to media

01:17:27

in a reasonably it's all you feel like

01:17:30

doing is getting off and going, "Huh,

01:17:31

that was good." But, um, you know,

01:17:33

you've got to be reasonably descriptive

01:17:35

about it. So from an uh there was a

01:17:38

whole plan from an emotional point of

01:17:40

view. It's like okay the experience and

01:17:42

the journey that's mine. No one's really

01:17:44

going to know what this is like. Even if

01:17:45

I explain to you what a 5 m wave like

01:17:48

you are not going to get it.

01:17:49

>> No.

01:17:50

>> Um and I that's my trip but I also know

01:17:54

now this has got nationwide coverage. So

01:17:57

I kind of it's like this is your trip.

01:18:00

So this is this is for you. And so I

01:18:03

stepped out of it from that point of

01:18:05

view and that's how I could sort of do

01:18:06

all that media straight away and just

01:18:08

changed that mindset straight into it

01:18:10

because it was hours and hours of media

01:18:12

>> and I was happy to and like I say it's

01:18:14

not my natural state

01:18:16

>> but I needed to be happy to do it

01:18:18

otherwise it wasn't going to deliver a

01:18:20

good experience

01:18:21

>> and it and it was it was a fantastic

01:18:23

experience but it wasn't mine anymore so

01:18:25

I started talking kind of on automatic I

01:18:27

guess I guess you'd get

01:18:29

>> cliches or

01:18:30

>> yeah I guess you get you get into that

01:18:32

talk mode. I guess you would do it as a

01:18:34

DJ. Um, you know, where the mouth is on,

01:18:37

the brain's working at the right speed

01:18:39

and, um, it becomes all fairly natural.

01:18:41

>> Yeah. Like muscle memory in a way.

01:18:43

>> Yeah, a little bit. Yeah.

01:18:44

>> Um, yeah. Yeah. We'll get to that um

01:18:46

that um epic moment shortly where you

01:18:49

finished, but um yeah, a couple of other

01:18:50

things like ever surprised by any

01:18:53

container ships or anything? Any you see

01:18:55

anyone else out there?

01:18:56

>> No. um on the first basically

01:19:00

200ks beside land. Yeah, heaps. And then

01:19:05

maybe 150 by New Zealand a little bit.

01:19:08

But um you know it's just it's a highway

01:19:10

outside Australia. So one of the tricks

01:19:13

to paddling the Tasman is you need to

01:19:16

get your first five days rate right

01:19:18

because you're going across the East

01:19:19

Australian current. is quite a few guys

01:19:22

have tried this kind of thing and it's

01:19:24

like you have to get across the East

01:19:26

Australian current and they're like oh

01:19:27

yeah oh yeah they haven't figured out

01:19:29

this their vectors 90 degrees to the

01:19:31

current and so that the only predictable

01:19:35

weather you have is when you leave so

01:19:37

that's why you have to wait for a window

01:19:39

to get across the current to get into

01:19:42

the right wagon wheel to flick you on to

01:19:45

because that's the strongest currents

01:19:46

where you have the least say in what's

01:19:48

going on. So, you've really got to cover

01:19:50

that first couple hundredk

01:19:52

as best you can, which is why you wait

01:19:54

for the right weather window. Pretty

01:19:57

straightforward, but like I say, a lot

01:19:58

of guys just don't get that right. So,

01:20:02

yeah, you've got to you've got to stay

01:20:05

awake for a start cuz container ships,

01:20:08

they you know, you're going to come

01:20:10

second.

01:20:11

>> They're not stopping for you.

01:20:12

>> You're going to come second. You get on

01:20:13

the radio. Yeah.

01:20:15

>> Most of them pretty talkative and pretty

01:20:17

good. Um, and you put a light up and

01:20:19

they can see you and and 90 90% of them

01:20:21

are fine. Some of them, you know,

01:20:24

Russian or something, don't want to talk

01:20:25

to you, can't talk to you, and it's

01:20:27

like, so you just have to be basically

01:20:30

you got to be awake for the first couple

01:20:31

days.

01:20:32

>> Uh, which is a good way to start the

01:20:34

trip anyway. You got to get at it.

01:20:36

>> And, um, once you get further on, so

01:20:40

pods of dolphins, massive pods of

01:20:43

dolphins, do

01:20:45

>> 45 minutes. Potter dolphin spinners.

01:20:47

They're called spinner dolphins. They

01:20:48

just literally spend half their time out

01:20:50

of the water. Just

01:20:52

fantastic. I mean, I've had some

01:20:54

experiences coastally, but in the open

01:20:57

water, it's very cool cuz they're I

01:20:58

guess they're kind of bored. There's not

01:20:59

much to see, but um they come, so they

01:21:02

actually come and have a look. Um yeah,

01:21:05

just amazing

01:21:07

uh stuff like that. But once you start

01:21:09

getting out that outside that 250k zone,

01:21:12

there's there's nothing. There is

01:21:14

absolutely nothing. Um, there was a

01:21:20

there was a right in the middle there

01:21:23

was a bunch of fishing boats of Asian

01:21:26

descent. I'm not sure that they were

01:21:28

supposed to be there or not, but they

01:21:31

weren't up to good. I just figured my uh

01:21:34

my pocket knife and getaway boat wasn't

01:21:36

fast enough. But anyway,

01:21:39

>> as like drugs or something or

01:21:40

>> Oh, no. They they they were flee. They

01:21:42

were net absolutely hauling nets in

01:21:46

>> right

01:21:47

>> everywhere and they wouldn't talk to me.

01:21:49

>> So um yeah I was like you [ __ ] So

01:21:52

anyway I paddled off um

01:21:55

>> not your circus not your monkeys.

01:21:56

>> Yeah. Yeah. So yeah nothing absolutely

01:22:01

nothing in the in the middle like you

01:22:03

know there there were nights where oh

01:22:05

I'm going to sleep for four hours. I'm

01:22:07

not even going to turn my light off on.

01:22:09

Sorry.

01:22:10

>> There's just nothing out here and

01:22:12

there's nothing, you know.

01:22:13

>> I knew where the the the ship um the

01:22:18

ships would cross, but um yeah. So, and

01:22:21

when you've got a horizon, you can see

01:22:23

three or four hours ahead if anyone's

01:22:25

got a light.

01:22:27

>> Um then nothing. Then yeah, I saw

01:22:31

Russo's dolphin. I didn't I thought it

01:22:33

was a whale. thought I knew my dolphins

01:22:34

pretty well, but a Russo's dolphin's

01:22:36

like almost as big as an orca orca.

01:22:39

>> It's a massive sort of narwhal gray

01:22:41

colored. So, I saw a few of those, which

01:22:43

was a cool experience. Um, there's

01:22:46

always two birds with you. There's

01:22:47

always an albatross in a turn.

01:22:51

And, you know, albatrosses when they sit

01:22:53

there, they're big. So, they're kind of

01:22:55

cool to have around, but you don't want

01:22:56

them pecking at your [ __ ] So,

01:23:00

um, there's always, yeah, an albatross

01:23:02

or a turn. very few days without them.

01:23:04

Um, but a lot of days with absolutely

01:23:07

nothing in the middle. Um, there's when

01:23:10

the uh when the flying fish come across,

01:23:12

oh, you know, it's can't believe I

01:23:15

wasn't hit in the face. They just come

01:23:17

across, they hit your boat, they and you

01:23:20

don't uh, one of the things with skin

01:23:22

integrity is you don't want any oil. So,

01:23:25

people say, "Did did you fish?" No, I

01:23:27

didn't fish. Because you don't want the

01:23:28

oil on your hands because your hands are

01:23:29

already So if you hold the paddle too

01:23:31

tight when your hands are that wet, you

01:23:33

can rip your skin. So if you got fish

01:23:35

oil on your hands, you're going to have

01:23:36

to hold the pedal too tight. And so you

01:23:39

don't want fish oil anywhere in the boat

01:23:41

apart from the uh um bacterial side of

01:23:44

it as well.

01:23:46

>> So

01:23:46

>> what about the biggest lessons about

01:23:48

yourself?

01:23:50

>> Oh, that's a hard one now. having

01:23:52

disappeared down the business hole and

01:23:54

done nothing for uh

01:23:57

a few few years. Um I you know I slipped

01:24:01

back into all the habits. So I I think

01:24:03

that's one of the reasons I can probably

01:24:04

teach quite well is uh I' I've got the

01:24:07

front end of the spectrum and the back

01:24:08

end of the spectrum in terms of doing it

01:24:10

right and doing it wrong. Um it feels

01:24:14

like a bit of an experience that's a

01:24:17

long way away from where I am now. M

01:24:19

>> uh what did I learn about myself?

01:24:22

I really validated a lot about what I

01:24:25

was teaching people and I was really

01:24:26

happy to that with that. I kind of

01:24:28

expected that. Um

01:24:32

I learned a bit I learned that I had a

01:24:34

higher capacity than I already had and I

01:24:36

already thought my capacity for

01:24:38

punishment was pretty high. Um but my

01:24:41

best athletic performance was out there

01:24:43

ever and I've done a few things. So, you

01:24:46

know, what I thought going was going

01:24:47

hard was not.

01:24:49

>> Um, so my best athletic performance was

01:24:52

Lord How the first time I'd paddled for

01:24:54

16 hours. Didn't know Lord How even

01:24:56

Well, I knew it existed, but I didn't

01:24:59

know anything about Lord How when we

01:25:01

decided to go to it. So, was it

01:25:02

surrounded by rocks? What kind of

01:25:03

currents are there? And I'm approaching

01:25:06

it in the day to night. So, I've been

01:25:08

paddling 14 hours. So, I did uh and then

01:25:12

I got there and the wind had turned and

01:25:15

I thought, "Oh, yep. Bit of a tailwind.

01:25:18

No problem. We'll roll right in there."

01:25:20

And it ended up being like a three and a

01:25:22

half knot current. So, I had to sprint

01:25:24

for eight hours after after a 14 16 hour

01:25:28

paddle. So, I had a 26-hour day and that

01:25:31

included an 8hour sprint. And the

01:25:34

current was so much that literally if I

01:25:36

had more than one spoonful of food,

01:25:40

I went there and it took me two minutes

01:25:42

to get back to pointing front. So I I

01:25:45

literally was sprinting for eight hours.

01:25:48

Um I've never gone that hard in anything

01:25:51

in my life. And um because you because

01:25:54

if you miss the island, you miss the

01:25:57

island, you know, and I was I was kind

01:25:59

of desperate to make it

01:26:01

>> um because we needed to get that battery

01:26:03

replaced. So yeah, that was that's my

01:26:05

best ever physical performance. No

01:26:06

medal, no finish line, no time, but it's

01:26:10

by far my uh best.

01:26:12

>> Well, I mean the funny thing is even

01:26:14

when you finished in 2018, like there's

01:26:16

no participation medal or finish medal

01:26:17

anyway, is there? No.

01:26:18

>> So that um I I remember this. So yeah,

01:26:21

2018 um there was some news stories

01:26:23

coming up that you were sort of in New

01:26:25

Zealand waters. Um I think um your

01:26:28

support boat had come out to to see you.

01:26:31

So we were sort of getting updates in

01:26:32

the media um that you were approaching

01:26:34

land. So did you you knew you were safe

01:26:37

at that point? You knew you'd made it?

01:26:40

>> No.

01:26:40

>> No.

01:26:41

>> Well, based on the last trip, never say

01:26:43

>> Yeah. Never, never, another

01:26:46

psychological, you know, athletic

01:26:49

>> um primary directive, never ever drop

01:26:53

your performance until you're across the

01:26:56

finish line.

01:26:56

>> Yes, the last trip taught me that

01:26:59

>> and but so is you know how many how many

01:27:01

times has that been proven in sport.

01:27:03

>> Um it's just it's just a and

01:27:07

I didn't really drop the ball in terms

01:27:09

of expectation, but you know, that one's

01:27:11

ingrained in me from way back. No, no,

01:27:13

you don't. You don't switch off until

01:27:15

you're actually on land. Even, you know,

01:27:19

you can be hit by a a tourist boater

01:27:23

>> in the last couple of KS, you know, on a

01:27:26

jet ski.

01:27:27

>> Yeah. Yeah.

01:27:28

>> So, no, no, I definitely didn't fall

01:27:31

into that trap. I was never going to.

01:27:33

>> Yeah.

01:27:33

>> So, you mentioned before you started to

01:27:35

train yourself to talk again um for the

01:27:38

anticipation of the finish line. What

01:27:39

were you saying? Did you think of a a

01:27:41

quote like a we knocked the bastard off

01:27:43

or

01:27:44

>> No. What was your line?

01:27:45

>> No. No. I wasn't thinking about what to

01:27:47

say to the media. I was just all my

01:27:49

thought processes about people. I just

01:27:51

started expressing. It's like, you know,

01:27:53

oh, it's going to be great to see Z say

01:27:56

again. You know, we're going to go and

01:27:57

do this. Stuff that your mind does. But

01:28:00

I actually just started verbalizing it

01:28:01

because the connection between your

01:28:03

mouth and the brain had

01:28:05

>> been severed essentially.

01:28:06

>> Yeah.

01:28:06

>> So, I just talked. I didn't I I'm

01:28:09

reasonably relaxed in front of a camera.

01:28:12

I guess I got feel like I've got nothing

01:28:13

to hide and I'm also kind of direct. Um

01:28:17

and from the first experience I I was

01:28:20

kind of relaxed as well. So I'm I don't

01:28:22

kind of lack information. Maybe I lack

01:28:24

expression sometimes, but I'm not I'm

01:28:26

not uncomfortable in front of a crowd or

01:28:28

a camera. So that's kind of handy. Um,

01:28:32

but the the first one was interesting

01:28:35

because I thought there was because you

01:28:37

know the media can really get on the

01:28:38

horse regarding safety and failure and

01:28:41

you know all of that kind of thing. I

01:28:42

thought they were going to get on the

01:28:43

horse after that first one.

01:28:45

>> Um, but uh they were it was amazing. So

01:28:48

I they flew me into the hospital. I was

01:28:51

fine but um they wanted to check me out.

01:28:54

Um and so I had a shave and and the

01:28:57

media sat there quietly waiting while I

01:29:00

was you know I kept them all waiting for

01:29:03

2 hours which is absolutely rare for the

01:29:05

media

01:29:06

>> and um yeah they were really respectful.

01:29:09

They were like well done. I was

01:29:11

expecting a bit of a barrage.

01:29:13

>> Um

01:29:13

>> oh yeah they tend to look for a negative

01:29:15

angle.

01:29:15

>> They do look for a negative angle and I

01:29:17

was kind of thinking oh yeah here we go.

01:29:20

Um,

01:29:21

and so it was probably that trip that I

01:29:23

was thinking of things to say,

01:29:25

>> right?

01:29:26

>> But, uh, not not not in the second trip.

01:29:29

Um, I knew it was going to be busy. The

01:29:31

the guys had already said there's a lot

01:29:33

of people here. So,

01:29:34

>> yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've watched that

01:29:36

online the last couple of days and it's

01:29:38

amazing. So, you arrive at Tanaki late

01:29:40

at late at night. Um, there's like th

01:29:43

literally thousands of people waiting.

01:29:44

There's fireworks going off. Um it's

01:29:48

like a real it's a it's a media scrum

01:29:49

around you like there's lots of lots of

01:29:51

cameras, lots of civilians with phones.

01:29:54

Um yeah. How was that? Is that

01:29:55

overwhelming?

01:29:56

>> Well, again, I prepared for it. Um so,

01:29:59

no, it wasn't overwhelming. I mean, it

01:30:00

was just great to see the guys and uh I

01:30:04

I was stoked, you know, I was wrapped.

01:30:07

It was really good. And I kind of felt

01:30:09

guilty because what I wanted to do was

01:30:11

talk to the people, but I ended up

01:30:13

talking to the media and then I did get

01:30:16

Zach off to hospital with his asthma.

01:30:17

So, um, you know, cuz they came out

01:30:21

there. It was cold, shitty weather. And

01:30:23

they had been there because they didn't

01:30:24

know when I was arriving really. Um,

01:30:26

they'd been there ages and and it was

01:30:29

just so, you know, I I so appreciated

01:30:32

that.

01:30:33

>> Um, and you know, I wasn't sure if I

01:30:36

could walk. I I thought I could because

01:30:38

I did squats every day in the boat to

01:30:40

make sure I could walk.

01:30:42

>> How? In the cockpit.

01:30:43

>> Yeah, I'll go back to that in a sec.

01:30:45

Okay. Um, so yeah, I I I was wrapped

01:30:50

with everybody being there and they were

01:30:52

all really enthusiastic about it because

01:30:55

there is kind of something in this trip

01:30:56

and it's been a while since New

01:30:58

Zealand's had a bit of a an adventure

01:31:00

>> thing to to get their head around and it

01:31:03

was just amazing and I really wanted to

01:31:05

give back to those, you know, people

01:31:07

that had put the time in to turn up.

01:31:10

>> Um, but I was kind of rushed off to the

01:31:11

media and and did that and everyone

01:31:13

stayed out civil. A lot of people stayed

01:31:15

outside. So, but I felt like I should

01:31:17

have talked to them more than the media.

01:31:20

>> Um, but then, you know, uh, we had to

01:31:23

get Zack off cuz he ran around and got

01:31:24

asthma. So,

01:31:27

>> still have the limelight off. Yeah.

01:31:28

>> Oh, yeah. So, so the squats.

01:31:31

>> Yeah.

01:31:32

>> So, just just so your your muscles don't

01:31:34

don't um wither away too much, leaving

01:31:37

you unable to walk. physically there's a

01:31:39

there's a whole again we can talk about

01:31:41

the the physiological and physical

01:31:43

aspects of this are massive. I mean I've

01:31:45

dismissed it a little bit because I've

01:31:46

got a history in being fit

01:31:49

>> but it's not necessarily about being

01:31:51

fit. The first priority in terms of your

01:31:53

fitness is actually muscle and tendon

01:31:56

and ligament integrity because if you

01:31:58

can't paddle then you got nothing. So

01:32:00

what's the most important thing for the

01:32:02

day? Being able to keep paddling. It's

01:32:04

not how hard can I perform. Although

01:32:06

that's where I was certainly on the

01:32:08

second trip. Um, so yeah, you're you sit

01:32:13

on your ass for two weeks in a kayak,

01:32:16

you won't be able to walk. I mean, some

01:32:18

people if they literally do 48 hours of

01:32:20

paddling, can't walk. I mean, you watch

01:32:22

the coast to coast, people struggle to

01:32:24

get out of their boats and walk after

01:32:26

that.

01:32:27

>> So, yeah, a couple of weeks on your ass

01:32:29

and and you're you're dead. So, like,

01:32:32

how do we get the seat to work in an

01:32:35

effective fashion because what's one of

01:32:37

the areas you really need to look at

01:32:39

skin integrity on your ass, right? So,

01:32:42

I've got a seat that first of all

01:32:44

rotates. So, what that does is when you

01:32:47

biomechanically push through a stroke,

01:32:49

it allows your whole body to work

01:32:51

through a stroke a bit more effectively.

01:32:53

Like in the Olympics, they they they use

01:32:55

rotating seats sometimes. Uh, and then

01:32:57

when you put your paddle in, uh, and you

01:33:01

you pull it back, how much friction is

01:33:03

going to be put into your backside? Uh,

01:33:06

and when you do get an abrasion on your

01:33:08

backside, is there anything you can do

01:33:10

about it? So, you're going to get

01:33:12

abrasions. Can you paddle through them?

01:33:14

Not for two months, not really.

01:33:16

>> Um, so I've got three layers of rubber,

01:33:19

soft, harder, harder. And when it when I

01:33:23

do get an abrasion, I just scoop out a

01:33:25

little bit of where my abrasion is. And

01:33:29

then Yeah. And then then you've got

01:33:31

frictional forces. What material have

01:33:34

you got in there? And what uh pulling

01:33:38

ability does it have to pull the salt

01:33:40

away from your backside. You know, all

01:33:41

all that research into materials and

01:33:44

friction and all of that did all of

01:33:46

that, too. So,

01:33:47

>> uh really scientific in terms of that

01:33:49

side of things. maybe less exciting, but

01:33:50

I you know, it's part of the part of the

01:33:52

game for me.

01:33:54

>> Yeah. And that first um hot shower,

01:33:56

what's that like?

01:33:58

>> Interesting

01:33:59

because it was in the club rooms at the

01:34:01

surf club and um

01:34:05

there were just people, it was like an

01:34:07

open shower and there were people

01:34:08

walking around and Sarah's like, "Can I

01:34:10

see your ass?" And it was just

01:34:14

>> she's such a creep.

01:34:17

>> She wasn't the only one in there. there

01:34:18

just people around and there you're

01:34:20

still talking kind of doing interviews

01:34:22

you know not on camera but

01:34:24

>> um yeah it was a very social shower um

01:34:27

so you know in in terms of uh privacy no

01:34:31

um but you it just didn't matter you

01:34:32

know

01:34:32

>> was your was what was your body like

01:34:34

your upper body must have been um ripped

01:34:37

>> yeah incredible

01:34:38

>> I was so healthy like I got nutrition

01:34:41

nailed nutrition is a beautiful thing

01:34:43

when you get it right

01:34:45

>> um that's that's a whole another

01:34:46

discussion Um, yeah. I honestly I I

01:34:50

wanted to go and run or ride up some

01:34:52

hills because I would have done it

01:34:54

faster than I've ever done in my life

01:34:55

because of my body fat was spot on. My

01:34:57

health was spot on. My fitness I could

01:34:59

go out and pedal 16 hours hard in a row

01:35:02

days on end.

01:35:04

>> Yeah, I was I was fit. I was healthy. I

01:35:06

was really good.

01:35:08

>> And what about adjusting back to normal

01:35:10

life, like sleep and stuff like that?

01:35:12

Did it happen immediately or?

01:35:15

>> No. No, it did. I mean, it wasn't normal

01:35:19

life because of the media and the, you

01:35:21

know, that lasted for weeks, not just a

01:35:24

couple of days. So, life was very

01:35:26

different. Um,

01:35:29

yeah, polar opposite. So, you know,

01:35:31

you're getting up, having a shower,

01:35:32

making sure you look you've had a shave,

01:35:34

you know, for a start, you're lying in a

01:35:36

bed that doesn't move. Uh my adaptation

01:35:39

there was really good because a lot of

01:35:41

people get off those and they're still

01:35:42

swaying for two or three days but I it

01:35:45

was pretty good because of my training.

01:35:48

>> Um adaptation. Yeah, it was yeah it was

01:35:52

just a whirlwind I guess and and you

01:35:54

just dealt with what was in front of you

01:35:55

which was kind of but good because life

01:35:57

was so simple out there

01:35:58

>> and then you're dealing with the media

01:36:00

which is also kind of it at least gives

01:36:04

you a job.

01:36:05

>> You know what I mean? um narrows things

01:36:07

down so you don't really have a lot of

01:36:08

time to reflect.

01:36:09

>> And did did the achievement bring you

01:36:11

the kind of personal satisfaction that

01:36:13

you imagined it would?

01:36:15

>> Yeah. Second time, yes, because I knew

01:36:17

exactly what I was in for. I mean, it

01:36:19

did the first time.

01:36:20

>> It gave me all the personal satisfaction

01:36:22

except the scratch

01:36:24

to scratch the itch of winning

01:36:26

>> and and you know, that's to me that's

01:36:28

doing Yeah.

01:36:30

>> Yeah.

01:36:30

>> Yeah. That's the point. You got to got

01:36:32

to at least have a crack at winning.

01:36:33

>> Yeah. And what about um adjusting back

01:36:35

to um civilian life after being on a

01:36:38

like a crazy huge adventure like that?

01:36:41

>> Yeah, different. Very, very different. I

01:36:43

mean, it's it took a bit of adjustment

01:36:45

because things, you know, they come and

01:36:49

you react to stuff you're not in control

01:36:50

of, which is kind of a little bit like

01:36:52

life, but it's

01:36:54

>> you're not in control of anything. your

01:36:56

boss is the weather and that's that's

01:36:59

wonderfully simple

01:37:00

>> and it's it's it's not negotiable.

01:37:03

It's very simple and and uh it's it's a

01:37:07

great life. Um

01:37:10

it's it's just adjusting back to life.

01:37:12

That's I'll I'll give you an idea from a

01:37:15

physical point of view. Uh before I

01:37:17

left, I was close to needing reading

01:37:19

glasses. Um I've done pretty well to

01:37:21

stay stay away. Uh, and I kind of, you

01:37:23

know, oh yeah, I can read that.

01:37:25

>> Um, when I got over, didn't need them.

01:37:29

Just didn't need them. That adjustment

01:37:31

had been made. The eyes were just, my

01:37:33

health was just fantastic and the eyes

01:37:35

were better. Like when you paddle it,

01:37:36

you're so because your senses have been

01:37:39

>> um not assaulted by anything screenwise

01:37:43

or otherwise and general life-wise.

01:37:45

you've been out there like I'm I'm

01:37:47

smelling different types of firewood

01:37:49

burning on the mountain when I'm

01:37:51

paddling in. I'm smelling the the the

01:37:55

ashfelt that's been laid the day before

01:37:56

and I'm 10ks away. You know, just your

01:38:00

senses are so heightened and because you

01:38:02

haven't had that screen input and that

01:38:04

dulling down of things like sitting in a

01:38:07

car having to wait, you know, none of

01:38:09

that. Um, everything like that was I

01:38:13

knew it was coming, but it it just it

01:38:15

was it took a bit of adjusting.

01:38:18

>> You couldn't recognize that your own

01:38:19

cabin stunk, though.

01:38:20

>> Couldn't recognize my own cabin stunk.

01:38:22

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think the boys from

01:38:27

um from customs.

01:38:30

Way to go. Way to go. See you.

01:38:32

>> We're good. You're just looking at it

01:38:34

from with binoculars from 30 m away.

01:38:36

>> Exactly.

01:38:37

>> No bananas in there. You're all right.

01:38:39

>> Yeah. Wow. What are your thoughts on

01:38:41

resilience? Are you born resilient or do

01:38:44

you build it?

01:38:45

>> Both.

01:38:46

>> Yeah, definitely both.

01:38:47

>> I mean, it's like um competitiveness,

01:38:51

you know, there's there's some people

01:38:52

that are just born

01:38:55

>> with that dog.

01:38:56

>> Um but it's also it's also trainable to

01:38:59

an extent.

01:39:01

>> So, yeah, it's it's like talent, you

01:39:03

know, there's there's talent. You can

01:39:05

train it. Definitely train talent. Um

01:39:07

but, you know, there's If you don't have

01:39:10

the innate talent,

01:39:13

you're not going to make an Olympic

01:39:14

final.

01:39:15

>> You got to have the innate talent there.

01:39:18

And that's, you know, there's different

01:39:20

ways to go about that in terms of

01:39:21

attitude and uh dog and resilience and

01:39:25

things like that.

01:39:26

>> You know, you've got you got people with

01:39:27

a lot of dog but no resilience.

01:39:30

>> That's not a good thing. That's that's

01:39:31

out of balance. Um whereas you've got

01:39:34

people with

01:39:35

>> huge resilience but not a lot of talent.

01:39:38

And those people tend to train

01:39:39

themselves more at resilience because

01:39:40

they do have to be resilient,

01:39:42

>> you know. And again, and that's that's

01:39:44

that's why I let Zach get bowled by the

01:39:46

surf.

01:39:48

>> That's that's exactly where it start,

01:39:50

you know, a get some respect, but b get

01:39:53

the resilience to to cop a mouthful of

01:39:55

water and get up and and cope with it.

01:39:57

And until you've done that, you're not

01:39:59

actually safe. Doesn't matter how good a

01:40:00

swimmer you are.

01:40:02

>> Yeah. I I think a lot of parents these

01:40:03

days, and I mean, everyone's entitled to

01:40:05

raise their kids the way they want, but

01:40:06

they want to they they have this

01:40:08

unrealistic expectation that their kids

01:40:10

should be happy all the time, and they

01:40:11

want to protect them from absolutely

01:40:12

everything.

01:40:13

>> Yum. And therefore, they're depriving

01:40:15

them the opportunity to build

01:40:16

resilience. Just a thought.

01:40:18

>> Yeah. Oh, it's the old school thing. Oh,

01:40:20

no. Don't climb that tree. It's

01:40:21

dangerous.

01:40:21

>> Yeah.

01:40:22

>> Climb a tree, fall out, and learn the

01:40:24

lesson for life.

01:40:25

>> Yeah.

01:40:26

>> Um

01:40:28

Yeah. Has life seemed boring since since

01:40:31

then or what's the biggest sort of

01:40:33

challenges or obstacles you've had

01:40:34

since?

01:40:35

>> Well, it's expectations, but the short

01:40:37

answer would be yes.

01:40:39

>> It's I mean it's

01:40:42

it's an appreciation for what I don't

01:40:44

have, which is the simplicity of life

01:40:46

out there.

01:40:47

>> And um that's yeah, I can I can go and

01:40:50

get it. I can go and jump in the boat

01:40:52

and go for a paddle for, you know, a

01:40:53

weekend, whatever. That's that's fine.

01:40:55

And I should do that more.

01:40:57

>> I really should. and and I probably

01:40:59

will. Um

01:41:03

yeah, I've just got to make sure I'm fit

01:41:04

enough not not to break myself when I do

01:41:07

it.

01:41:08

>> And when when people talk to you about

01:41:09

the journey, um what do you wish that

01:41:12

they'd ask you or you know what part of

01:41:14

the story is the part that gets most

01:41:16

often overlooked?

01:41:19

>> Uh overlooked

01:41:21

it's I kind of break it down into

01:41:23

sections, right? You've got psychology,

01:41:24

you've got technology like the, you

01:41:26

know, some people are into the the maths

01:41:28

equations of the vectors and the solar

01:41:32

and, you know, that kind of stuff.

01:41:34

You've got the health side of things,

01:41:36

skin integrity. Um, you know, bacterial

01:41:41

issues. Um, you know, what did you do

01:41:43

about antibiotics? What did you have to

01:41:46

do um medically? Like you have to be

01:41:48

able to put stitches in, all kinds of

01:41:50

stuff. U inject yourself, all of that

01:41:52

kind of stuff.

01:41:53

Um,

01:41:54

>> did you need to do that?

01:41:56

>> Um,

01:41:56

>> stitches.

01:41:57

>> I didn't need to do stitches. No,

01:41:59

>> you got it wrong if you did. But you

01:42:01

need to be able to do it.

01:42:02

>> I've actually done it previously on

01:42:04

myself. So

01:42:05

>> that's that that was not an issue. But

01:42:08

um

01:42:09

>> yeah, again, you just have to be really

01:42:11

careful. Like if you're out of getting

01:42:12

in and out of the boat, you just can't

01:42:14

scratch yourself on something.

01:42:16

>> Um yeah, so there's there's a category

01:42:20

for everyone and that's how I see it.

01:42:22

There's a there's a you know what's

01:42:24

really boring to someone which might be

01:42:25

the technology is

01:42:27

>> you know there's there's an area for

01:42:29

someone everywhere and that's like I

01:42:31

said when I came in I sort of gave the

01:42:33

trip over to the general public and it's

01:42:35

it's it's theirs now so it's whatever

01:42:38

they want to take out of it so I have no

01:42:40

expectations on what anyone wants. Um

01:42:43

the blue bowl will be one of the top

01:42:47

three questions out of any school group.

01:42:50

What though?

01:42:51

>> One of the first three questions out of

01:42:53

any school group will be the blue bowl.

01:42:56

>> That's a guarantee.

01:42:57

>> Do you do you take it as like a show and

01:42:59

tell for Oh god.

01:43:00

>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's always going

01:43:03

to happen. Um and and like I say, I I

01:43:06

could try and explain to you what it

01:43:08

feels like to sit on a 5 m wave, you

01:43:10

know? Uh but you're never really going

01:43:13

to know if if you've done a few things

01:43:15

similar like sailors are really

01:43:17

interested in this uh that because of

01:43:19

the you know the sea activity but

01:43:23

they're not going to know what it's like

01:43:24

to be at sea level when

01:43:26

>> when a 3 m swell comes across and caps

01:43:29

and dumps a couple of tons of water on

01:43:31

you. you know, around the world ocean

01:43:33

races, they will get closer to knowing,

01:43:35

but even then they've got gear they can

01:43:38

adjust for the conditions. Whereas in a

01:43:41

kayak, you just here it comes,

01:43:43

>> hold on.

01:43:45

>> How I mean, we've been talking about

01:43:46

this for almost two hours now. How And

01:43:48

I'm I'm I'm guessing this is quite rare

01:43:50

for you these days. How often do you

01:43:51

even think about it or talk about it?

01:43:53

>> Um, yeah, more and more rarely in the in

01:43:56

the last few years because I've I've had

01:43:57

a focus. Um, but I've sort of got my

01:44:00

head above water now. So, I'm, you know,

01:44:03

trying to get back on the horse

01:44:04

physically a little bit and um, you

01:44:06

know, just just get healthy really.

01:44:08

>> And, uh, that gives me the that that

01:44:10

includes physically, but it that

01:44:11

includes the head space as well.

01:44:13

>> Yeah.

01:44:13

>> So, no, I' I've spent quite a few years

01:44:15

not even talking about it and thinking I

01:44:18

really need to give the boat some

01:44:20

attention and do a few things to it and

01:44:23

yeah, so we've taken the cover off. So,

01:44:25

that's a start.

01:44:26

>> Are you getting itchy feet?

01:44:29

>> Never say never. Never say that

01:44:31

>> what what you what do you want to do?

01:44:33

Blue sky thinking like what are you

01:44:35

>> Well, like I said, I' I'd go tomorrow if

01:44:37

someone came to me and said, "Here's all

01:44:39

the finance you need to do this." Um,

01:44:42

I'd go tomorrow and do the South Route

01:44:44

because I know I can. And I'm

01:44:47

comfortable in those conditions and, you

01:44:49

know, there's there's other there's

01:44:50

other bits and pieces. But on the other

01:44:52

side of the coin, I'm old,

01:44:54

>> you know, in terms of trying to bite

01:44:56

that big.

01:44:58

>> So, you're 56 now.

01:44:59

>> Yep. So you're how old when you did it?

01:45:02

>> Seven years ago. Oh yeah. 49.

01:45:04

>> Yeah. 48. Yeah.

01:45:05

>> Yeah. Even that's inspiring because a

01:45:07

lot of people depending on what what age

01:45:09

you are, a lot of people think that's

01:45:10

old to be doing.

01:45:11

>> Just to get the flexibility to operate

01:45:12

inside the boat at 48 was quite

01:45:15

>> quite an achievement in it itself in and

01:45:17

of itself. It's um you know getting

01:45:20

flexibility at 48 years old. That's

01:45:21

that's tricky. M

01:45:24

>> it's interesting to me that you'd say

01:45:25

you'd do it again in a in a heartbeat if

01:45:26

money was no option because it's like um

01:45:28

if if you're doing it again, you're

01:45:30

doing it like just for you. Like you've

01:45:31

you've got nothing to prove to anybody,

01:45:32

right?

01:45:33

>> It's my happy place. I like I I love it

01:45:36

out there. Yep. Definitely happy place.

01:45:39

Um,

01:45:41

>> did you find it weird during CO how

01:45:43

everyone was all triggered about being

01:45:44

at home and getting cabin fever and the

01:45:46

isolation and

01:45:49

>> Yeah, it's just that just shake your

01:45:51

head, nod. Yeah. Yeah. Good on you.

01:45:54

>> Okay. Future go future goals.

01:45:56

>> Future goals.

01:45:58

>> Yeah. No, none at the moment. Just just

01:46:00

get it back on the back on the horse

01:46:01

physically because I haven't felt

01:46:04

healthy.

01:46:05

um you know just just and I've started

01:46:08

that ball rolling like I had a whole lot

01:46:10

of sinus issues and stuff like that. So

01:46:13

I had the surgeon you know drill me a

01:46:15

couple of new holes a few months ago and

01:46:18

and now I'm breathing like a teenager. I

01:46:20

can go for a run and nose breathe which

01:46:22

is that's just exciting to me you know

01:46:27

it's just like oh that's exciting. So,

01:46:29

uh, yeah, just getting back on the

01:46:31

horse. Like I went for a I went for a

01:46:33

60k ride a couple of weeks ago, you

01:46:35

know, just just doing stuff like that.

01:46:38

Um, and and just being able to, you

01:46:41

know, I my young fella's 15. We're going

01:46:43

to we're going to go skiing

01:46:45

in two or three weeks. I I need to I

01:46:48

need to do some squats.

01:46:50

I'm just not going to be able to pound

01:46:52

the hill all day. I'm going to want to

01:46:53

go into the cafe. Well, I'm not going to

01:46:55

want to come in the cafe, but um

01:46:56

>> Oh, you think it's expensive to cross

01:46:58

the tasine in a kayak?

01:47:00

>> Try buying a bread roll at the cafe on

01:47:02

the mountain.

01:47:02

>> Exactly. But, you know, just just I want

01:47:05

to be able to handle that all day with a

01:47:06

young fell and and and and have fun, you

01:47:09

know.

01:47:09

>> Yeah.

01:47:10

>> Um and and say, "Right, mate, there's a

01:47:12

mountain. We need to go up it now

01:47:15

>> uh on the way down." Or, you know, just

01:47:17

just do stuff like that. Live live how

01:47:20

I've lived most of my life and and show

01:47:22

them that that's that's the way to do

01:47:23

it. If you see a mountain, go do it. But

01:47:25

don't, you know, go get the map first,

01:47:28

figure out your plan, get some

01:47:30

redundancy, then go do it. Don't just go

01:47:33

do it.

01:47:33

>> Yeah.

01:47:34

>> So, yeah.

01:47:35

>> It's really good to hear that there's um

01:47:37

stuff that you're excited by cuz Yeah.

01:47:39

Part of me wondered if you go go through

01:47:40

something like this, which you've been

01:47:41

through, which you can't it's not an

01:47:43

experience that you can really share

01:47:44

with anyone. I I wondered if there'd be

01:47:47

um it'd be hard to find that sort of

01:47:48

excitement threshold in anything in life

01:47:50

again.

01:47:52

Um, yeah. Yeah, it that's true. But, you

01:47:56

know, I could go bush for a week and and

01:47:58

get the

01:48:00

get the philosophical side again. Or I

01:48:02

could go go out on the sea. But there's

01:48:04

there's always bits and pieces, you

01:48:06

know, like running up to the top of a

01:48:08

mountain. When you've run to the top of

01:48:09

a mountain and you're standing on top,

01:48:12

that sensation is is really good. Um,

01:48:15

and that's kind of some of the sensation

01:48:17

you get out there. Yeah, it was a little

01:48:18

more, but you can find it in other ways.

01:48:20

M

01:48:20

>> yeah, for sure. Like I I'm amping to get

01:48:23

back to Europe. I want to go up those,

01:48:25

you know, I want to bike up 20ks worth

01:48:27

of mountain, you know, or or go running

01:48:29

up, you know, some some really big

01:48:31

mountains. Um but we've got them in the

01:48:33

South Island, so you know,

01:48:35

>> um you know, we're going to be doing

01:48:37

that in a few weeks.

01:48:39

>> Jeez, you you you're built different,

01:48:40

aren't you?

01:48:42

>> Yeah, I know. Is is um is Zach, your

01:48:46

son, proud of you? Does he sort of have

01:48:48

an appreciation for what you've done?

01:48:50

>> Uh, you'd have to ask him. Kind of a I

01:48:54

mean, he's he's t teenage boy,

01:48:57

>> whatever, that.

01:48:58

>> Yeah. Um, I I I think he is proud. It's

01:49:02

he's still he still hasn't read the

01:49:05

book. Um, I don't want him to read the

01:49:07

book until he feels like reading the

01:49:09

book.

01:49:09

>> Um, not that that's really going to

01:49:12

change a lot for him. Um, yeah. Yeah, he

01:49:16

certainly feels the pressure of not just

01:49:17

the pedal, but my past. So, you know, he

01:49:20

hates the fact I can get on a bike and

01:49:22

still beat him. I shouldn't I'm old. I

01:49:24

shouldn't be able to do that.

01:49:27

Um, so he's just like, "Oh, I should."

01:49:29

And he's he can swim faster than me now,

01:49:31

which is he's,

01:49:33

>> you know, is great. Those those are

01:49:35

really good milestones, you know, and um

01:49:37

>> it's great, but also a humbling day when

01:49:38

it happens.

01:49:40

>> Well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I did I

01:49:43

did nothing to stop it. I didn't get

01:49:44

back in the pool for 5 minutes to try

01:49:46

and stretch it out, although I would

01:49:48

probably have if I had time.

01:49:50

>> Um, but you know, he's going great. He's

01:49:53

starting to realize himself. And it it's

01:49:56

it's kind of good that I didn't have the

01:49:57

media profile and that that possibly

01:49:59

would have more overshadowed it, but

01:50:01

he's he's his own person. He's nothing

01:50:04

like me. Um, I mean, he's got a few

01:50:06

traits and whatnot, but um, yeah,

01:50:09

hopefully there's there's not a lot of

01:50:10

pressure there. be a good good question

01:50:12

for someone else to ask him.

01:50:14

>> Yeah, I'm I'm sure he's inspired because

01:50:16

to your you know, dad's just add. But

01:50:18

but he because he knows you as just a

01:50:20

human being, it just goes to show that

01:50:22

whatever he puts his mind to regardless

01:50:24

of how huge it is, it can be done.

01:50:27

>> Yeah, I think he's he's getting there on

01:50:28

that. And because I'm trying to have him

01:50:30

live like that, it's like, okay, what do

01:50:32

you want to do, you know, academically

01:50:34

or or whatever. Um, but in terms of him

01:50:38

being inspired, I I think it's more of a

01:50:40

case of cuz when he was, you know, when

01:50:42

he was six and we had a 20 m race across

01:50:46

the beach, I only let him win on

01:50:48

occasion.

01:50:50

And he's like,

01:50:52

he's like, "Oh, no, dad can just kick my

01:50:54

ass at everything, so I'm not going to

01:50:56

bother."

01:50:57

>> Um, but he's starting, you know, he's

01:50:59

starting to give me a bump on the way

01:51:00

past now, which is really cool. So,

01:51:02

maybe that's changed a bit. I don't know

01:51:04

whether it's inspiration.

01:51:05

>> You You got to keep them humble when

01:51:06

they're young, don't you? You just

01:51:08

remind them of who who's the top dog.

01:51:09

>> Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, learning to

01:51:13

lose is better than learning to win,

01:51:14

right?

01:51:15

>> Yeah.

01:51:15

>> Um, you know, so and and actually that

01:51:19

four, five, six age is the best age, I

01:51:21

believe, to learn that,

01:51:23

>> you know, get

01:51:25

>> get your get your ass kicked a couple of

01:51:27

times in in some way or another. It's a

01:51:29

good thing because you've got to get up

01:51:32

>> and you learn that it's not a good

01:51:33

feeling and that you should do something

01:51:34

about it if you don't want to experience

01:51:36

that as much.

01:51:36

>> Yeah. Yeah.

01:51:37

>> Are you proud of yourself?

01:51:40

>> Uh,

01:51:43

yes. I mean, are there things I could

01:51:44

have done better? Absolutely. Um, not

01:51:47

just from a campaign point of view, but

01:51:50

you know, I'm like everyone else with

01:51:51

relationships and problems and stress

01:51:54

and all of that. I mean, that's that's

01:51:56

one of the things that was beautiful out

01:51:57

there. didn't stress me. Not not in the

01:51:59

least.

01:52:00

>> Uh because it's all very very

01:52:02

predictable. But you know, once you're

01:52:04

back in real life, there are other

01:52:06

>> stresses in life. So,

01:52:09

>> uh from that side of things, I've I've

01:52:10

got just as much to to work on as

01:52:12

everybody else. I'm no no better or

01:52:14

worse. Um proud of it, absolutely. Um

01:52:18

but proud of it because you think it's

01:52:22

cool? Not really. I'm I'm proud of it

01:52:24

because it I did what I I set out to to

01:52:29

do journey-wise

01:52:31

>> and um you know I it was my experience.

01:52:34

I pushed myself. I I learned things and

01:52:37

that's that was just Yeah. Yeah.

01:52:39

Absolutely.

01:52:40

>> I I I just think it's cool because um

01:52:42

like physically and mentally it's just

01:52:44

something that I couldn't fathom doing

01:52:46

you myself. It just seems crazy to me.

01:52:49

>> Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that you

01:52:51

demystified it today and you know talked

01:52:53

about it so sort of methodically um

01:52:56

about how it wasn't Yeah. I wondered if

01:52:59

it was like when you took off if it was

01:53:00

like a 50-50 chance you're going to make

01:53:02

it or not but

01:53:02

>> Yeah. No, it's I mean it's absolutely

01:53:05

empirical. Everything is empirical. The

01:53:07

way we operate, how we did things

01:53:08

empirical and to the point where you

01:53:11

know it's like a runner. You get I put

01:53:13

everybody on a spectrum. It's like being

01:53:15

a sound mixer. Um, you get a runner.

01:53:18

You've got the runner who goes for a

01:53:19

two-hour run and gets back at 155 and

01:53:22

goes, "No, I've got to go for two

01:53:23

hours." And they run around in circles

01:53:25

in front of their driveway.

01:53:27

And then you get the runner that goes

01:53:28

out without a watch and goes, "Oh,

01:53:31

couple hours will be good today. Hour

01:53:33

and a half, I'm done."

01:53:34

>> Yeah. So, everyone's on a spectrum in

01:53:36

between there. And so, I say always when

01:53:40

you when you pick a coach, if you're

01:53:41

here on the spectrum, try and pick a

01:53:43

coach that's slightly different. So, if

01:53:45

you're on the more relaxed end, you need

01:53:47

to be taught how to be more empirical,

01:53:50

uh, more scientific. If you're on the if

01:53:52

you're on the rigid end, you need to be

01:53:56

taught how to, you know,

01:53:58

>> ride the bike in a beautiful way. Um,

01:54:01

get those sensations. So, uh, that's

01:54:05

that's a balance that I had to

01:54:06

constantly remind myself to do, you

01:54:08

know, stop, smell the roses, actually

01:54:12

look again at the sunset. soak it in. Um

01:54:16

really really enjoy every single part

01:54:18

and I tried to also do that with you

01:54:20

know even the media which was not my

01:54:22

thing. So your strongest ability in life

01:54:25

is your ability to change your attitude

01:54:27

to something.

01:54:28

>> You know if if you don't like maths at

01:54:30

school you're not going to do well.

01:54:31

You're not going to do as well as your

01:54:33

capacity enables you to do. So if you

01:54:35

have the ability to change your attitude

01:54:37

to that then yeah. So, in that respect,

01:54:41

you know, I'm uh I'm I'm I've got a lot

01:54:44

of work to do as same as everybody else,

01:54:46

but

01:54:47

>> I want to

01:54:50

I I want to get back on the horse in

01:54:52

terms of those sensations.

01:54:55

>> Um but yeah, I'm I'm not perfect at it

01:54:57

either, but I definitely was out there.

01:55:00

Yeah.

01:55:01

>> Yeah. You've done it. You've done

01:55:03

something amazing. It's incredible. Hey,

01:55:05

Scott Donaldson, thank you so much for

01:55:06

coming on the podcast today. Um, I've

01:55:09

really enjoyed it. You you you hate you

01:55:11

hate media stuff. How's this been for

01:55:12

you?

01:55:13

>> Has this been okay?

01:55:14

>> Oh, refreshing. It's been a long time.

01:55:16

So, it's been, you know, it's been nice

01:55:18

and and the the no format. Like, if I

01:55:20

was sitting there listening to this, I I

01:55:23

would probably think it's quite boring.

01:55:25

I don't I don't know. I don't know how I

01:55:27

sound, but um yeah, it's it's been kind

01:55:31

of fun to just remember it a bit.

01:55:32

>> Yeah. I know. I like this about long

01:55:34

form podcast. Like, someone can listen

01:55:35

to it and if they get bored, they can

01:55:37

it's like a book. You pick it up. If if

01:55:38

you're not enjoying it, put it down. If

01:55:40

you're enjoying it, you can pause it,

01:55:42

get back to it or or read it all slash

01:55:45

listen to it in one go.

01:55:46

>> Yeah. It was like when I wrote the

01:55:47

process of writing the book, which was

01:55:49

good process, but you know, they were

01:55:51

they were like the publishers, you've

01:55:53

got to put some of your history and I'm

01:55:56

I get bored when I read someone's

01:55:57

history. I want to get to the guts of

01:55:59

it. But I had to do the history bit, you

01:56:01

know. So, yeah, it's it's good. We

01:56:03

didn't go into too much history.

01:56:05

>> Yeah. Yeah. I I tried to Yeah. You wrote

01:56:06

a book called Relentless with um an old

01:56:08

mate of mine, Steve Kgallan.

01:56:10

>> Yes.

01:56:10

>> Um I tried to track it down um but I

01:56:12

couldn't couldn't track down a copy, but

01:56:14

um

01:56:14

>> Well, I'll get you one.

01:56:15

>> Yeah. Yeah. Well, your son's not going

01:56:17

to read it. Give me that.

01:56:18

>> Yeah, I will give you that copy. Yeah.

01:56:19

>> Hey, Scott, thank you so much for coming

01:56:21

on the podcast, mate.

01:56:22

>> Yeah. Great to be here. Appreciate it.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

80
Most inspiring
80
Best concept / idea
80
Biggest crowd reaction
75
Most heartbreaking

Episode Highlights

The Nature of Risk
Scott discusses the subjective nature of risk and how it relates to skill and experience.
“Risk is an opinion.”
@ 02m 31s
October 15, 2025
Emotional Challenges at Sea
During his journey, Scott faced emotional turmoil when he learned of his mother-in-law's passing while paddling backwards for days.
“That was fundamentally it; you’re just completely helpless.”
@ 17m 50s
October 15, 2025
The First Attempt
In 2014, the first attempt was an adventure filled with uncertainty and excitement.
“The first one was an adventure.”
@ 20m 13s
October 15, 2025
Facing Challenges
Despite setbacks, the journey taught valuable lessons about preparation and resilience.
“I learned how to pedal again.”
@ 35m 06s
October 15, 2025
The Christmas Food Drop
A rescue pilot drops food barrels into the Tasman Sea, leading to a chaotic retrieval.
“It’s like Christmas. You’re getting into this barrel and there’s just all kinds of food.”
@ 38m 44s
October 15, 2025
Training for the Challenge
Training involves not just physical endurance but also mental preparation and adaptability.
“Training’s objective was not the physical 24 hours because I can kind of handle that.”
@ 54m 06s
October 15, 2025
The Importance of Preparation
Proper preparation can prevent fear and poor decision-making in challenging situations.
“If you're frightened, you're liable to make a poor decision.”
@ 01h 00m 38s
October 15, 2025
The Power of Positive Thinking
Negative thoughts can derail performance; staying positive is key to success.
“You’ve got to stay positive right?”
@ 01h 13m 17s
October 15, 2025
Best Athletic Performance
Achieving peak performance often comes from pushing limits beyond what you thought possible.
“My best athletic performance was out there.”
@ 01h 24m 41s
October 15, 2025
Adjusting Back to Normal Life
After the adventure, adjusting back to normal life was a whirlwind of media and routine.
“Life was very different. Polar opposite.”
@ 01h 35m 26s
October 15, 2025
Future Goals and Excitement
Despite past adventures, the desire for new challenges remains strong.
“I’d go tomorrow if someone said, 'Here’s all the finance you need.'”
@ 01h 44m 39s
October 15, 2025
The Importance of Losing
Discussing the value of learning to lose, the speaker emphasizes its role in personal development.
“Learning to lose is better than learning to win, right?”
@ 01h 51m 14s
October 15, 2025

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

Risk Assessment02:31
Training Insights49:52
Mental Resilience1:06:36
Expectations Dropped1:14:59
Dolphin Encounters1:20:45
Media Rush1:31:10
Pride and Pressure1:49:09
Attitude Shift1:54:27

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown