Gear list for the gear freaks

Quite a few people have asked me to about the gear we are taking and others (mostly non kayakers) have asked me "where will you sleep"? Then when I reply, "on the islands" their response is either "I didn't know there were islands" or "well that's okay then". Now let me point out at this stage that yes, there are Islands but a few of them are about 70 kilometers apart so by paddling at about 7 KM/hour, that's a minimum of 10 hours on the water without breaks or hick ups. If you're not familiar with the geography take a look here-Bass Strait.

As for the gear, this is my personal gear list but Craig and Brian will carry similar equipment though maybe not quite as much.

Silvio’s gear list for Bass Strait:

Kayak; Valley Nordkapp (must not forget!)
PFD with whistle, strobe and knife attached
2x Lendal 4 piece paddles (Kinetic Wing and Nordkapp with modified cranks)
Spray deck (Reed combination deck/vest)
15 metre tow line and 5 metre tow line
Foot and electric bilge pumps with magnetic reed switch
Netting attached to deck for storage

PLB – 406 GPS
VHF
Flare kit
Sea dye
Paddle float
Next G phone
GPS (Garmin Oregon 400c with charts)
Wind meter (Silva ADC)
Deck and chart compass
Princeton teck head lamp for night paddling with guardian light attached to back
Leatherman tool kit
First Aid Kit
Laminated charts
Waterproof camera (Pentax W60plus my original Pentax w60 as spare)
Pen and paper in chart case Cheap reading glasses

Water:
3x 6 litre MSR dromary bags – 1 in bottom of cockpit with drink hose
1.5 litres on PFD with Endura sports drink
1 liter Platypus soft drink bottle
Water purification tablets
330 mls vacuum flask under deck

Clothing paddling:
Reed fleece: beanie, long sleeve top, shorts, socks
Long thermals under Aquatherm pants
Reed Aquatherm: Skull cap, long sleeve top, long pants (pre bent), booties
Short sleeve Cag – Immersion Research
Paddling hat – Sunlids
Sunglasses x2
Fingerless gloves and neoprene fingered gloves
Crocs
Water shoe suitable for hiking or as back up paddling shoe

Clothing Camping:
Merino long Johns and long sleeve top (sleep ware)
Synthetic long johns and 3x long sleeve top (two light, one medium)
Light weight rain jacket with hood and pants (double as wind breaker)
Tech pants – long
Tech shorts
Micro fiber zip up vest
Micro fiber long sleeve jacket
Tech jocks x 2 (merino)
Wool sock x 2 – light weight for sleeping
Fuzzy head wear with neck cowl

Camping Equipment:
Medium power head lamp for camping and as back up
Tent – Hilleburg Nalo GT
Exped 7 down filled mat with chair converter
Down filled sleeping bag – suitable weight for conditions
Thermal sleeping bag liner
Inflatable pillow
Trangia pots with Kovea Moonwalker stove
3x gas bottle
Ground tarp x 2 (varying sizes made of siliconized nylon)
Land camera (CanonG9)
Toiletries bag.....

Kayak repair kit:
Epoxy, FG mat and brush stored in sealed mixing container
Duct tape, length of wire, zip ties, small amount of epoxy putty, spectra, shock cord, stainless steel screws/bolts, spare skeg cable.

Power:
20 x lithium AAs for GPS. 12x rechargeable AAAs for head lamps.
Spare phone battery
Spare camera battery (G9& WP)
Dry bag with spare pump battery with 12v charger attached for phone charging
Small multimetre

Food:
Teas – 20 mixed herbal teas
14 zip lock bags of porridge/nuts/dried fruit/chai latte mix (just add water).
14 portions of mixed fruit and nut for on water and/or breakfast
14 satchels of instant Couscous meals (anytime of day)
14 serves of fish (salmon/tuna/sardines in small cans/foil satchels)
28 ‘Zone’ power bars (on water)
14 high protein bars
14 day packs of sweets (nut M&Ms/licorice/fruit slice etc)
14 recovery protein bars
14 dehydrated camping meals
14 pre portioned (heat shrunk) Endura powder (on water sports drink)
General daily supplements- Multi vitamins, Magnesium and energy tonics
12 small blocks of chocolate (the nice sort for deserts)

Now I know what you must be thinking... will the kayak float with all that gear in it? The answer is.. I think so! The Nordkapp is supposed to handle 130 kgs before being classed as overloaded and remember, I'm going to eat a lot in the first few days!