Boating New Zealand – April 2018

116 Boating New Zealand

D

onaldson, 47, attempted the crossing in 2014 and

came agonisingly close to completing it after 84

days at sea. After paddling half the Tasman with

an unrepairable rudder and sitting in a once-in-

40-year storm – while looking at Mount Taranaki

80km away – he aborted the attempt.

Tis time, Donaldson will again depart Cofs Harbour on

the New South Wales coast and aim for the Taranaki coast

2,200 kilometres east – although he will probably paddle

around 3,000 kilometres.

“Tis time around it’s about fnishing the job,” he says. “It’s

about the challenge. No one has done it solo by kayak before.”

A former multisport athlete (triathlon, cross country, adventure

racing), Donaldson has represented New Zealand in several

disciplines, including triathlon in the Commonwealth Games.

For 12 years, he owned a coaching business that centred

on swimming from learners to elite. “I’ve coached people to do

various crazy things such as the Cook Strait swim and ultra-

distance running and cycling. It’s time to put those coaching

theories to an extreme test.

“Tis kayak attempt was fairly obvious to me as I’ve got

the skill set to do it. Tere have been 15 attempts in the past,

which have all fnished in various forms of failure. It’s a bit like

training for an ironman – once you go over the eight hours of

exertion you’re into serious endurance range, so the only thing I

have to do is make sure my body doesn’t break down.”

Tere is also a charitable aspect to his mission: as an

asthmatic, Donaldson has linked with Asthma New Zealand to

raise awareness of the condition.

“I have had asthma since childhood – and now my own

son has it as well. I am living proof of what you can achieve.

Actually, the sea air, without pollen, is pretty good. I will have

no issues out there!”

Once he sets of, Donaldson’s biggest hurdle will be Mother

Nature. “Te tricky part of the Tasman is the weather. You

generally get two days of good progress followed by two to four

days of the Tasman trying to push you back.”

If weather conditions are favourable, Donaldson aims to

paddle for about 16 hours a day.

“You just waste energy if you’re paddling into wind of more

than 20 knots. So the aim is to deploy the sea anchor, slow down

the rate of drift and hopefully hook into a favourable current.”

With design improvements made to his boat from the

original craft, Donaldson’s new vessel has a length of 6.3m and

is 0.76m wide. It’s half the weight and has a bigger cabin for

extra comfort and shelter, with more room to store food, water

and provisions for the crossing.

During the attempt, Donaldson will initially burn roughly

11,000 calories per day, but his body will become far more

efcient at around 6,000 calories. He will get his nutrition via a

mixture of protein shakes and Radix dehydrated food. Drinking

water is from a small desalinator – a device that makes clean

drinking water from seawater. BNZ

BOATBRIEF

When weatherman Bob McDavitt

gives the word sometime in April, Kiwi

adventurer Scott Donaldson will set

of on a second attempt to become the

first person to successfully kayak from

Australia to New Zealand.

Another

Tasman

attempt

Follow

Scott’s

progress

http://www.tasmankayak.com/