Inspiration to do something stupid

You don't just wake up one day and decide to do something like row down the Murray, the seed is planted somewhere and germinates over time.

I don't spend a lot of time reading, much of what I do read is bought for me by my wife, it's generally biographical and often with a cycling theme of some other form of adventure.

The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow


As mentioned previously, this book was the primary influence for such a voyage.
And to answer the question I asked myself, where could you do that sort of thing in Australia?, the Murray River is the first place that came to mind.
Whilst I owned a Mirror Dinghy at the time, with a narrow river, trees overhanging and many bends in every direction sailing down the Murray isn't a realistic option.
Many people have kayaked and canoed and in the past many would have rowed prior to the uptake of kayaks but in recent times, there are very few who have rowed its length.

Ian and Beverley Dodd

In March 2002 my uncle Ian and his wife Beverley set off in kayaks with the plan to travel down the Murray.
Both would have been in their early 60's at the time so it showed me there was no limit to the possibilities. They eventually gave up on the Kayaks due to shoulder issues and purchased a tinny to complete their voyage. 

Ben Kozel


A neighbour lent me two books written by Ben Kozel. Amazing adventures and an excellent read, I read them out of order which didn't matter. Ben Kozel was joined on both trips by Colin Angus who's a bit of an adventure junkie but also the developer of a row boat that really caught my interest. More about this in the Boat of choice blog.







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