Crossing

A little while ago I was introduced* to James Castrission and Justin Jones.

Two young Australian guys who had this wildly crazy idea.

But here, I'll let Larry Grey tell you about it:

Right - so you would think that if a kayaking expert told you that you were crazy to want to paddle from Australia to New Zealand, you might listen.

Maybe.

Not these guys.

Instead, James & Justin spent

3.5 years

preparing for what would end up being a

62 day

3800 kilometre

journey across the Ditch.....

What this teaser trailer doesn't tell you is that 20 days in to their journey they got trapped in a spiralling current that kept them in the same place for 13 days.

13 days, and they hadn't moved any closer to their destination - a crushing unexpected detour - not to mention daily mental punishment, constant physical demands, and the dangers of sharks, sea sickness and storms.

Yet somehow, heroically (maybe not the right word) James and Justin arrived on the shores of New Zealand where they were greeted by a multitude....

in the clip above, the interviewer asks about their custom built kayak

"How did Lot 41 cope?"

James' response captivates me. He says...

"...we knew when we left Australia that she was going to protect us and that we were the biggest weakness on board, and it was just a matter of our minds getting us through it at the end of the day."

to me, theirs is a story of faith.

*I didn't actually "meet" them, I saw the full length film at the Banff Mountain Film Festival