Kayak trip for climate action includes a few long haul flights
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
An Australian grandfather has announced plans to Kayak from Canberra, Australia’s landlocked capital city, to Paris, to deliver a message about climate change to the upcoming COP21 Paris climate conference.
According to the Canberra Times;
“He intends to drag and paddle his wheeled kayak halfway around the world to deliver a message on behalf of all Australians who want action on climate change. The message: we are in this fight against global warming.”
Naturally, in the time honoured tradition of climate activism, activist Steve Posselt plans to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by our modern fossil fuel powered economy to achieve his goal. Not only does his kayak appear to be a modern plastic construction, lightweight and safe, rather than the kind of fire burned dugout effort you would expect from a truly committed eco-warrior, but Steve’s route to Paris includes a couple of long haul airline flights.
“From Canberra he drags his kayak to Port Kembla and then paddles up to Sydney. He will fly to the Gulf of Mexico, then paddle through North America to Canada. From there he will fly to Britain and will paddle through England and across the English Channel to Paris. There he will deliver his message at the United Nations Climate Summit in November 2015.”
Nevertheless, you have to admire Steve Posselt’s audacious hypocrisy, given that he is employing all this fossil fuel sourced goodness to achieve his goal;
“It is not a big deal to go to a zero carbon economy. It’s about political will.”
You first mate.
So he plans to create a personal carbon footprint much bigger than most people will in that period to call for a ‘carbon zero world ‘
Still if it all goes wrong he can always see if he can get a lift on St Gores and his fellow travellers privates jets which they tend to use to attend such conferences .
Gotta love them… I walked to Glasgow, Scotland from New York City, NY.
Only had one “long haul” between JFK and GLA.
I tend to walk everywhere. Yesterday I walked about 260km*, including a leg to my garage, then from the parking lot at the destination. *Brief car journey included.
what a willie wanka
How is he getting home, or will he apply to stay as an asylum seeker?
I am looking at that plane wheel on the front of his Kayak, maybe he has something up his sleeve, solar powered engines will unfurl . I’m thinking chitty chitty bang bang.
He’ll probably paddle to the North Pole on his way back, we haven’t had any idiots do that for a while!
Oh, Gosh, Yes! I forgot about that heap…should have added the Catlin mob to my little list…
Poor timing. The DW is in April not October and doesn’t take eight days, even allowing for the extra leg from Bath and Caen Flight. Sounds more like a Kennet and Avon pub crawl in green wellies. Will Nick Stokes be providing the sandwiches?
Just for the record, the guy may be otherwise a dufus, but wanting to kayak across a “busy shipping channel” doesn’t make him one. I’ve paddled in and around the NYC waterways for eight years, including multiple crossings of two major shipping channels (Ambrose Channel and the Kill Van Kull). If you know what you’re doing, have the right equipment (maritime radio, lights, etc), and are familiar with the rules of the sea in your area, there’s no problem.
The pilots don’t *like* it (they call us idiots and worse on the bridge-to-bridge channel when they think we’re not listening) but there’s no major issue if you give them the right of way, communicate your intentions, and know how to paddle. Kayaks are small and agile, if not fast, and can almost always stay out of trouble.
Also, a support vessel (as someone above suggested) would be worse than useless in such a scenario. I’ve paddled with a support boat (not for me, for a long-distance swimmer we’re both supporting) and it’s really difficult to coordinate moves–such as staying out of the way of an oncoming cargo vessel–with a speedboat tailing you.
Your best friends are your tools and knowledge of the region.
Also, England may be more bureacracy-laden than the US, but here at least (NYC) there are no regulations that preclude you from paddling in a shipping region. I’m sure they’d love to pass some, but fortunately for us, there are several groups of “they” (Coast Guard, NYC police, Harbor patrol, etc) and nobody can agree on who would be in charge of such a thing. :-).
I think you hit the nail on the head with “If you know what you’re doing…”
Exactly!
NYC shipping channels – compared to the English Channel?
Ahh, no comparison:
How far off of the NYC coast did you travel?
— Five miles (8 km)?
— Ten miles (16 km)?
How about twenty miles (33 km) which is the shortest distance straight across the channel at Dover.
What kind of bow waves have you crested? Tankers and large freighters moving at speed through heavy seas and currents throw up some impressive bow waves.
I doubt whether the pilots and ship captains care whether or not you’re listening to radio traffic and communications. They’d likely be more abrupt and direct if they talked to you specifically. Those guys would have to do a bunch of paperwork if your craft was accidentally keelhauled followed by getting chopped by the propeller.
Instead they’ll somehow never see you and if you get keelhauled accidentally, they’d never notice and the paperwork would wait till next they came to port.
Wasn’t it in the NYC shipping channel where a flounder fisherman’s skiff got caught on the front of a freighter? It took quite some doing to get the ship’s attention and get them to stop so the reshaped skiff could be pulled off the front. As I remember the story, the fisherman survived with a few injuries; and likely never fished in the NYC shipping channels again.
Perhaps the French will prosecute the bozo when/if he lands in France as France outlaws many of these type of crossings.
The basic truth is likely quite elusive to us at this point in time. It is far more likely that when faced with anything greater than force 2 winds , this eco-nut will again fly directly to Paris. At force 3 and greater the waves would break over the kayak; twenty miles of rough seas are not a treat in small boats.
I wonder if he’s spent a lot of time in ocean swells before? Could be rough if he gets seasick on endless oceanic up tilt down tilt movement. heh!
Canberra only exists by grace of the Australian taxpayer. How apt his journey should start there.
It is a gigantic tax sucking hole.
A few recent examples of Canberra hilarity:
-A female public servant demanded workers compensation after she was injured having sex whilst on a business trip
-Another female public service employee demanded longer coffee breaks so she could walk to a cafe five minutes further away to buy soy lattes, rather than regular milk
-A male public sector employee took a voluntary redundancy after someone gave him a plastic reindeer which did little plastic poohs for a Secret Santa gift. Apparently there was a message on one of the poohs about the quality of his economic modelling work.
-The local government spent $300,000 commissioning a hot air balloon called the “sky whale”, which looked like a dozen suspended tits joined together.
Last time I visited Canberra I got lost – so many new housing estates full of taxpayer funded public workers I lost my way.
I guess Posselt is desperate for something to do. Maybe he can hold his breath to compensate for the carbon footprint of carting his plastic Kayak all over the world.
The article brings up the often missed point of fossil fuels; it produces the by-product plastic, the raw material which has had an immense impact to our modern way of life.
For Posselt and others, ignorance is bliss. Happy paddling, but sorry no free air miles for kayaking.
Transglobal photo-op.
bingo. nothing more, nothing less.
Why doesn’t he paddle down the Molongolo river to the Murrumbidgee, follow that to the sea, paddle clockwise around Australia, up through Indonesia, along the Asian coast to the Bering Strait, across the ice free Arctic and down to Britain. Save all that kerosene used by those nasty airliners.
I suggest he turns to the left in Indonesia instead, and follows the Asian coast into the Red Sea and through the Suez canal and the Mediterranean. A shorter route with much nicer weather, though perhaps with rather more pirates.
No, he really should make use of the Northern Passage to prove his point. After all, all the ice is melted by now, isn’t it?
How many more inconvenient facts will be brought to the attention of alarmists by this coming November? The climate alarm crowd requires ever more funds to maintain their constituency each year.
I think the most telling statement from his video was him referring to Climate Change as “the industry”.
Nothing to stop him doing it at all, speedboats, yachts even windsurfers make the crossing regularly all summer long. Its a case of knowing the rules, knowing where you are and having some concern for your own and other peoples safety. To that end informing the coastguard of what you are doing is sensible but not mandatory. Playing ‘chicken’ with large fast vessels constrained by their weight and draught in a relatively narrow, busy shipping channel is stupid in the extreme.
If he knows the rules
if he knows the route,
if the conditions are calm with good vis
If he knows which channel he is in precisely and understands the buoyage
If he knows that most vessels wont see him or be able to avoid him
If he is very fit and healthy with good vision
if his equipment is all in good order
Then I cannot see that he will have any problems!! Good luck to him. If however any ship has to alter course or slow down because of him – up will go his carbon footprint again. Daft. Whats he saying – ‘dont take the train to |Paris, take a Kayak and save the planet’ – barmy.
Why not Kayak up the west side of the Pacific – probably wouldnt ever have to be out of sight of land. Kayak through the Beaufort in Late July August (with a wheeled Kayak should make the NW passage one way or the other). Kayak down the West coast of Greenland in September. then take a boat to Scotland /Ireland (preferably sailing) and make his way to Paris from there. Now that would be impressive. Any long haul flights involved makes a mockery of the statement he is making. Is he making any sort of statement at all – is he even getting far enough to pose for the cameras on the Barrier Reef!! Kayaking through the US to Canada – whats that all about. As for here in England what does kayaking down a load of canals and crossing one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world have to do with the Green movement – ships are the most efficient mode of cargo transport. Definitely a personal trip – far too self indulgent to have any ‘green’ credentials at all
This must be the second most stupid stunt I have heard with regard to publicising AGW (the ship of fools was the first). I would not go in our seas in a 30 foot yacht at this time of the year let alone a kayak, doesn’t he realise he is too old for a Darwin Award?
He’s probably booked his kayak on his flights as hand-luggage!!
Wait … weren’t the ‘ship of fools’ out of Australia about this time of year last year? IT IS AGW ! (Australia Goofy Wonkers) Sorry, couldn’t help it … Must be overheated Aussies escaping backwards swirling toilets.
They’ve all “Gone Troppo”. It must be that time of the year here DownUnder.
So, not only does he get to have a nice holiday, he’ll get his big ego stroked at every opportunity by the swivel-eyed greens. Hypocrite extraordinaire.
You have to remember the restrictions he is working under. All countries he will pass must be:
A. Safe, with good search-and-rescue and hospital facilities
B. Have an adequate supply of greenie journalists
C. Be stupid enough to permit this sort of idiocy
That essentially limits him to Australia, USA, The EU and (perhaps) Canada. Which is exactly the countries he will be going through.
If he gets into trouble while in the Canadian Arctic it might cost a bit to get him out. The govt doesn’t like having to rescue idiots and will send you a bill for the rescue cost. Typically they insist you have insurance to cover such an eventuality. Of course while he’s waiting for rescue he could get eaten by a polar bear….that would be a great way for a greenie to go, saving a member of a species endangered by climate change (the very thing he’s protesting).
That reminds me…who paid for the rescue of Turney’s Ship of Fools?
I’m going to do something interesting and challenging I’ve always wanted to do (that many people lack realistic time and financial security to do) and get it publicised by attaching it to a popular political issue.
“Eco-warrior”? He must be SO proud of himself. Saving the Earth like that.
They all are – so proud of themselves that is.
he’d fit right in with a ship stuck in ice in antarctica where the ice was supposed to have been gone….
Ya, the arrogance of those scientists….we aren’t wrong we are just stuck in our own experiment. wow, they really said that
Aye, though speaking of that…What ever happened to the guy who was going to live on an iceberg for a year?
you know I had forgotten about that, I wonder also.
I am too lazy to look into it though and a sense of wonderment does make the day more enjoyable 🙂
Just read his diary for Day Two. Only the second day into his trip and he seems knackered-out. I don’t think he’ll get to Paris, even with the planes to help him. Idiot:
“last night I was trying to get the spasms out of my back but my heels hurt. It’s difficult sleeping on your back with heels off the ground! Woke up a lot better and was away at 7.00am.
Not sure of elevations but seemed to keep climbing which put a lot of stress on the top of my leg. It sorted itself out at Lake George on the flat though. Blisters are getting worse, especially where the shoe fell to bits yesterday, pain is getting worse. I forgot how much this stuff hurt! The big disappointment is that I am falling to bits and have only covered 50k, less than a quarter of the distance to the coast.”
Yeah. No comment options at the website nor his facebook page. I wonder why?
He has got a contact email address on his website – I just might get in touch…
I imagine your e-mails will be…binned! Just look at the number of likes on his FB page.
Sounds like a whinger
From his “pre-trip jitters” post on the 7th:
“I feel sick, anxious, apprehensive and at the same time confident and keen to just get going. There have been some set-backs with extra work required and training is almost non-existent with just six walks up the Lismore hill so far. This has shown some bugs in the old kayak wheel setup but hey, a good engineer should be able to sort that out. This time I will try not to go like a bull at a gate from the start so I’m hoping the extra maturity will compensate for lack of fitness.”
and on the 14th, the day before he set out:
“On the way back from the Nannas I went to Lismore Square to get some frozen chips to go with the fresh Ballina snapper but forgot that the kayak was on the roof. Damage to the front was significant, but we bought a heat gun at Tuggerah and with the expertise of two absolutely superb engineers (that’s Warren and me in case you missed it) plus Klaas, it is now back into shape – well sort of. It will do the job anyway and it is hardly noticeable from the back.”
He destroyed his shoe on the first day by carting a heavy load in the heat with runners instead of wearing something more load-bearing. So he’s basically allowed himself no real physical conditioning, and he’s not properly field tested his equipment to make sure it’ll withstand the trip.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin.
“Adventure is just bad planning” — Roald Amundsen, polar explorer.
What kind of fool starts out on a 20,000 km trek with shoes that fall apart on day one?
if this man had done his epic swim in the name of AGW i might have been impressed, the doc is amazing , he chugs on alcohol whilst swimming –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Strel
but a man in a Kayak , who cares.
What else can you expect…. He is after all an an Aoorstran known around the world for there bureaucratic stupidity ( if you can read, you are not employable as a bureaucrat ! )
I will have to assume in the NA part he will paddle up the Mississippi. Hopefully he will notice all the barges and ships carrying the grain that basically feeds the rest of the world. Produced and transported of course with his arch-nemesis fossil fuels.
Well he’ll certainly notice the 5Kt downstream current in places. I foresee a lot of portaging. He’s gonna need better shoes!
Did is strike anyone else that, in effect, this guy is just shipping a kayak around the world? He could do the main travel sections without carting along the stupid boat and rent/buy kayaks at each major paddle point. Not just a ridiculous stunt, but so inefficient it’s mindboggling.
And his got to ship it back , its a ‘return’ journey .
Eric, I owe you an apology.
“It is not a big deal to go to a zero carbon economy. It’s about political will.”
(and money…and a jet)
Let’s face it, you’d have to be a major Maroon to say such a stupid thing, so I went to the linked story.
Damn, he said it and Mark Sawa is promoting him with this phony story.
Again, I apologize to you Eric for ever doubting the accuracy of this report.