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- How long will the expedition take?
- Approximately 45-65 days
- What is the distance between San Francisco and Honolulu?
- 2047 miles in a straight line, ‘as the crow flies.’ My route is 3,100+ miles long.
- There are other people with you, right?
- No, there are no shadow or support boats, just me.
- Why are you doing this?
- Personal challenge, pushing the limits of what humans are capable of, to inspire others, a strong educational component, and lite research
- Has this expedition ever been done before?
- Yes, once, in 1987. It’s never been attempted before or since.
- How will you get drinking water?
- Using manual desalinators –water makers - I can pump seawater through special filters to get potable water. It makes about 5 liters per hour.
- What will you do if there’s a storm?
- Ride it out. I'm even prepared for a potential hurricane.
- How will you go to the bathroom?
- I’ll hang over the side
- Will you be fishing?
- Yes, I love sushi! But I won’t count on fish for my daily food rations.
- How have you been training for this expedition?
- Kayaking, bicycling, swimming, and weights - I've been training for over a year and a half for this expedition.
- Are you using sea anchors?
- Yes, I have three.
- What happens when you sleep at night, won't you drift away?
- No, once I am off-shore my route can vary hundreds of miles.
- How will you sleep?
- I am using a tandem kayak and will stretch out inside between the two cockpits.
- How will you stay dry at night?
- I have two different covers: a hard cover that allows the kayak to roll and self-right, and a lighter weight nylon cover.
- How will you get power for your electronics?
- Using flexible solar panels strapped to the deck of my kayak. They recharge the batteries and electronic devices on my kayak.
- How long will you paddle every day?
- Roughly 8 hours, give or take. I’ll let my body, and at times, the weather, decide.
- What happens if you get sick?
- I can talk with my expedition doctors and I carry an extensive first aid kit.
- How will you move about your kayak?
- By deploying inflatable sponsons and pontoons for stability. In calm seas I can scoot about the kayak without aid.
- Will you have pontoons for stabilization?
- Yes
- Loneliness, isolation…. How will you deal with this?
- I generally don't get lonely, and I can call anyone at anytime, send/receive emails, and have lots of things to do when I'm not paddling, like wash clothes, conduct lite research functions, etc...
- How much food will you bring?
- Approx 2.5lbs of food a day for 80 days.
- How will you carry everything you need for 2+ months?
- Everything I need to survive - food, water makers, gear, spare parts etc, all fits in my tandem kayak.
- What will you do for entertainment?
- I have lots of music and hundreds of movies I can watch. I'll also compose and record music during the expedition.
- How will you cook your food or heat up water?
- Using an expedition JetBoil stove in a special mount I designed, I can safely cook and paddle at the same time.
- How many calories a day will you consume?
- Approximately 5,500 calories per day
- What dangers will you face?
- Giant waves, being run over by ships that will never see me, storms, hurricanes. Floating debris from the Japan Tsunami last year is probably my biggest danger.
- What about sharks?
- I'm not too worried about them. I have a special shark-repellant pattern painted on the bottom of my kayak to repel Great White shark attacks. The pattern mimics pilot fish and lion fish, both species that sharks avoid.
- How big are the sharks you might encounter?
- The Great White sharks are around 17-20 feet long and can weigh 2 tons.