Great downwinder guys hats off to you, glad you survived!
One point I'd like to throw in here is that solely relying on Google earth for this sort of adventure should not be advised.
I always check out other maps (1:25000 and marine charts) before attempting a bigger downwinder.
Reefs, heights of headlands, rocky beaches, no beaches are not always accurately represented or even visible on Google, well especially down here anyway.
Great adventure. It was amazing how many people at work asked me if I knew who the missing kiters was.
Most people were just concerned with your safety.
It sounds like a great experience and you were well prepared. A Sat phone or similar would be good.
It sounds like you carried a bit of weight with you. Did you tow something or was it in back packs? And did you have extra flotation to compensate for that?
I can only add, maybe a 4wd on the beach to carry the esky would add that extra bit of comfort, and a change of kites for the wind change. looked like an epic downwinder. black point would have been a highlight if the wind held out.
We were carrying everything in 30L backpacks. We used a waterproof bag inside which will hold air so the entire backpack is quite bouyant. Some items that don't need to be dry are kept outside the w/p bad like the baked beans and water containers.
It is a problem if the pack is in the water too long as the space outside the waterproof bag fills with water and when you try to stand up the 15Kg pack weighs more like 25Kg. We cut holes in the bottom of the pack to allow this extra water to drain out.
I learnt this technique from canyoning in the Blue Mountains when I lived in Sydney.
