Hi folks my name is Tim Taylor, and it is my goal to complete the first solo circumnavigation of New Zealand by sea kayak. This is the first instalment from me so basically I thought I would let you all know who I am and what I’m about.
My background in kayaking started when I was 12. I was introduced into the sport by Rob Sperling, a teacher at Tauranga Boys’ College and from the moment I got into my first white-water boat I was hooked. I was fortunate to kayak throughout the country, and like most junior kayakers I was selected for the New Zealand Junior Development Squad where I represented NZ in Australia. I was also an avid white water paddler and it got to a stage where I would try almost anything as long as it was in a boat...
I can honestly say that I don’t know where the first idea of kayaking around New Zealand came from. It was something that I often thought about during some of the long slalom sessions. One day I mentioned this idea to a few friends and they all had a good laugh at me. It was casually remarked that it had been done before so it wasn’t worth doing. I promptly forgot about it.
After high school I completed a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University, graduating in 2008. I then worked in various jobs in the wine industry, travelled, and generally had a good time. During one of those good times, somewhere on beach in Greece, I brought up my old dream with a mate. Once again it was laughed at. However this time I could not get it out of my mind so on my return home in December 2009 I decided to do something about it. All it took was a quick trip down to see my mate Blair at Waimarino Adventure Park and I had my first sponsor.
Since that day in December everything has felt like my first time on white-water...there have been new skills to learn, fears to conquer and laughs to be had. Over the Christmas break I decided to commit myself to the idea 100% so I left my job, much to the displeasure of my boss. I figured that I’m going to attempt a 5500km kayak around the country in a time frame of less than 6 months, so I better not attempt this half-arsed. I have been training ever since.
So what’s been happening so far? Well January and February were the learning months. Having never spent much time in a sea kayak there was a lot that was new. I basically just paddled for extensive periods of time and picked it up as I went. For each kayak that I tried, I tested it on flat water, in the harbour, and out in the ocean. From this experimentation I learnt some of the necessary skills and I started to figure out what I liked and disliked in a kayak. I also got very fit very fast. However this was not to last as I simply burned out. Late in February I was averaging 40 kilometres a day, sometimes pushing 50, and generally thinking about how I was the man (typical misguided male thought). But then one day I got smashed, really smashed. This happened as I was coming in through the surf. At the time I still had no significant experience in my sea kayak in the surf so when a wave picked me up, all I could do was hold on. First my deck got imploded, then I got rolled, but through it all I managed to stay in the kayak. Scrambling to keep a hold of everything and stay upright in the now submerged kayak I didn’t notice a second wave as it crept up on me. This time I couldn’t hold it. Final count for the day was the loss of my GPS and my Oakley’s while looking like an amateur in front of everyone on the beach. This was a very expensive day, and a hard way to learn the lesson that I have to tie every piece of gear on when sea kayaking. Just to add insult to injury, the following day I got knocked out while guiding a raft on white water. So much for being ‘the man’, as it was clear that I letting little mistakes do some serious damage. It took me a couple of weeks to get over that one weekend.
March and April were the professional months. I sat down, had a good hard look at the way I had been approaching things, and decided I could do better. To start with I scaled back the training but made it more efficient. A simple example of this was I started to use the quote “make every stroke count”. I learnt that it was better to do 30kms at sea and having to work, rather than doing 35kms on a flat lake and coasting along. I also wasn’t getting as burnt each time I went for a paddle so I started to look forward to it more. I also spent a lot more time practicing in the surf and so far this has been paying off. As well as training I started work on obtaining sponsors. This involved a huge amount of paper work, emails and phone calls. I had to develop presentations to give to potential sponsors and work out a plan on how to approach them. I felt like a school boy again when I came to ringing up Mission, asking in a squeaky voice if I could send them through a proposal. It was even worse ringing them back haha. Thankfully I must have been doing the right things because by the start of May I was sitting in a Mission ECO BEZHIG, and wearing a full kit of Hydraulics gear. Sweet.
So what is May all about? This month it is all about getting out there, being seen, and testing my new gear and so far that plan is working out pretty well. In the next few updates ill start to fill you in on my expedition, as well as any adventures that I have along the way.
At this point I would like to thank the team at Mission and Hydraulics for their generous offer of sponsorship and for helping to sort out all the gears, the new kayak, and for welcoming me into the Mission and Hydraulics Teams. Lastly I would just like to extend an invite to all of the kayakers of NZ to come out for a paddle. Winter is a great time to learn some new skills, test yourself, and realise that the water is normally a lot warmer than everything else outdoors.
Paddle hard.
Tim.
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