Sea Kayaking in Australia
A very brief history
Serious sea kayaking began in Australia in the mid 1970s, firstly in Tasmania, then South Australia then spread to the other states.
Boats used in the early stages were either UK designs or based on UK thinking. Tasmanian Adrian Dean designed the very successful Greenlander in the late 1970s. It was in production for many years. The Tasmanians also pioneered the use of electric pumps and invented the 270° retraction rudder now used world wide. Boats in use today are a mixture of UK, Australian, European and North American designs.
The kayak was invented by the people of the Arctic, the Inuit and Aleut, who needed seaworthy craft to hunt seals and other sea creatures in their icy waters. Today, the sea kayak is still, size for size, the most seaworthy small craft, able to reach otherwise inaccessible parts of the coast and withstand surf and heavy seas.
Sea kayaking pages on this site
Some pages and papers I’ve written are listed at left
Australian sea kayaking sites
- New South Wales Sea Kayak Club
- Victorian Sea Kayak Club
- Queensland Sea Kayak Club
- Tasmanian Sea Canoeing Club
- SeaKayak Club of Western Australia
- Adelaide Canoe Club
- The local club. Despite the name, few members paddle canoes
- Laurie Ford
- Laurie is one of the pioneers of sea kayaking in Australia, responsible for innovations such as electric pumps, the 270° retracting rudder
- Jeff Jennings
- Another Tasmanian pioneer
Notable Australian expeditions to 1995
- Early 1970s Rose and Wright: from Sydney to Hobart
- 1979 Earle Bloomfield and John Brewster: circumnavigation of Tasmania
- 1982 Laurie Ford solo across Bass Strait (Sail assisted)
- 1982 Paul Caffyn: circumnavigation of the continent
- 1986 Earle Bloomfield, Larry Gray, Rob Casamento, and Graeme Joy northwards across Bass Strait (Note that the northward crossing is more difficult than the southward.)
- 1986 Earle Bloomfield, Graeme Joy, Larry Gray, and Georgio Pompeii along the East Greenland coast
- 1980s Terry Bolland and others: along the Kimberley Coast
- 1992 Eric Stiller (US) and Tony Brown (Aus): Sydney to Darwin, including 120 hour crossing of Gulf of Carpentaria
- 1995 John Wilde et al crossing of Bass Strait
The major South Australian expeditions to 2001
- December 1980-January 1981 Peter Carter, John Hicks, Mike Higginson and David Nicolson: circumnavigation of Kangaroo Island
(In the pic above, David Nicolson is seen off Kirkpatrick Point—not the average tourist’s view of Remarkable Rock.) - January 1981 Peter Carter, John Hicks and Ray Rowe (UK): crossing from Port Lincoln to Adelaide
- 1986 Malcolm Hamilton and Phil Read: circumnavigation of Kangaroo Island
- 1995 Malcolm Hamilton and David Williamson: Port Lincoln to Wirrina (south of Adelaide) via Kangaroo Island
- April 1998 Malcolm Hamilton, David Williamson, Phil Doddridge, Gordon Begg, Scott Polley, Tim Vogt: to South Neptune Island
- April 1999 Malcolm Hamilton, David Williamson, Phil Doddridge, Gordon Begg, Scott Polley, Tim Vogt: across Bass Straight
- January 2000: David Williamson solo to Pearson Island
- December 2000–January 2001: Tim Vogt, Mark Sweeney, Martin Minge: circumnavigation of Kangaroo Island
- January 2001: David Williamson, Malcolm Hamilton, Jim Townsend: across Bass Strait via King Island: completed solo by David Williamson
Malcolm Hamilton off the south coast of Wedge Island, on the return from Neptune Island. Pic by Phil Doddridge
Kangaroo Island circumnavigations
- December 1980–January 1981 Peter Carter, John Hicks, Mike Higginson and David Nicolson
- 1986 Malcolm Hamilton and Phil Read
- December 2000–January 2001: Tim Vogt, Mark Sweeney, Martin Minge
- 2007?: Jeff Jennings and team from Tasmania
- 2008?: Stuart Trueman, before his circumnavigation of the continent
- January 2022: James and Dayna Fishers
Martin Minge passes Remarkable Rock, on a downhill run, January 2001. Pic by Tim Voght
James and Dayna Fishers at Remarkable Rock, January 2022