We (Simon Marks and Geoff Ham) are planning on kitesurfing along the WA coastline for the next two weeks, but instead of taking a car or having a support crew we have built an 'ocean sled' over the winter that we will tow behind us. Inside it will be a tent, sleeping gear, a watermaker, a few clothes, some food, as well as survival and extra kitesurfing equipment. It weighs around 45kg when full.
Our plan is to leave from Bunbury and kite as far as we can every day the wind blows, stop in at a beach wherever we are and camp; then do it all again the next day. At a minimum we are hoping to reach Kalbarri (~750km as the crow flies), and if the weather is in our favour we will try to go further, probably hitching past the Zuytdorps and on towards Exmouth.
Why are we doing this? Well apart from the obvious fun factor, we decided to do it for our favourite charity Redkite. Redkite provides essential support to children and young people with cancer and their families. They offer counselling and financial assistance to families throughout the cancer journey, from the moment of diagnosis until after treatment has finished.
If anybody is interested here is where you'll find information:
- Facebook page: 'Downwind without support' -> Please ?like? our page to stay updated and show your support.
- Spot messenger page: (We are taking a GPS tracker which should show our actual location on a map every 10 minutes when we are moving ? If anyone wants to join for a kite, feel free. Or even better, bury some cold beers at a random beach for us!)
maps.findmespot.com/Account/AuthCheck?redirectUrl=%2FTrack - Donations page (you knew it was coming...):
give.everydayhero.com/au/downwind-without-support Lastly we?d like to thank Airush Australia for letting us use their gear for the trip including the two big Lithiums (16m One and 18m Zero) and Sector -60.
Also a big shout-out to Chewy Mooey? for giving us a few kilo?s of gourmet jerky.
We obviously won't get much of a chance to update on the way but Nic Douglas from Sunset Media will be updating the Facebook page and hopefully a small website will be coming soon...
