Mangalore, Jan 29: A 45-year-old Australian Sandy Robson is on an expedition from Germany to Australia in a kayak, and has so far paddled over a distance of 1,000 kilometres on the Western coast of India, covering an average of 40 km each day.
Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, the Perth-based kayaker said that she was retracing the seven-year long, 50,000 km journey of German kayaker Oscar Speck in 1932.
“I plan to retrace as much of the Speck journey as possible in series of expeditions over a period of five years. I left from Ulm in Germany in May 2011, and have been exploring coastlines along my journey. I touched the Gujarat coast in December, and have been paddling south along the Indian coastline since then,” she said.
Sandy paddles during the day, returning shore each night to rest for the day. She will further continue her expedition along the Western coast of India, and plans to go around the Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India, paddle around the coast of Sri Lanka and continue along the coast of Tamil Nadu and further north along the Indian coastline, before taking a break during monsoons.
Speaking to Coastaldigest.com, she said that the biggest hurdle she faced on her expedition was not sunburn, crocodiles or choppy waters, but the barrier of language and communication. “I really wish I could pick up the languages in India as it is tough to communicate with the people here,” she said.
Since Sandy does not have enough sponsors, she works as a sea kayak guide and instructor in between stages for 6 months in Fiji and Perth to fund her expedition. Quest Adventures in Mumbai is currently supporting her expedition in India, and loaned her a Blackberry phone for expedition tracking, logistical help and other gear.
She records her journey and experiences on an online blog sandy-robson.com. In her blog, she mentions that she paddled over 6000 km of the Australian coastline on a sea-kayaking expedition in 2007.
Sandy says that she isn't aiming for a world-record for her stretch, but if she did make it to Australia, she would be the first woman to have paddled the long distance by sea. “I think its inspiring for others to see a woman pursuing a journey such as this,” she said.
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