It’s a bit of an understatement and more than a little cliché to say Andrew McAuley is a guy who pushes his personal limits. You can read that phrase everywhere these days. If anything Andrew reclaims the statement and gives it back it’s meaning.

Among his amazing adventures, Andrew made the first direct, non-stop crossing of the Bass strait between Tasmania and Australia in 2003. That was about 220km through an area known for strong rips and high winds, in just 35 hours. He’s made the Bass strait crossing 3 times in fact. Then in 2004 he made the first solo crossing of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. This was a 530km crossing that took him about 7 days. Imagine trying to catch a few “Z”s in a kayak on those waters! In one interview Andrew stated “It (trying to sleep) was like having someone throw a bucket of water on your face every 10 seconds”. Along the way he suffered salt sores, fevers and the blistering sun. Andrew received the 2005 Australian Geographic Adventurer of the year award in recognition of the Carpentaria crossing.

Early this year Andrew, Laurie Geoghegan & Stuart Trueman completed an expedition along the coast of Antarctica from Hope Bay south to the Artic Circle covering about 850km in 32 days. In addition to raising funds for advancements in the treatment of brain cancer through the Cure for Life Foundation, they dedicated the journey to the memory of John Rymill. Rymill, a largely uncelebrated Australian explorer, led the British Graham Land Expedition to Antarctica in 1934-37. The team had quite an adventure retracing Rymill’s travels. Says Andrew, “This is some of the most inhospitable coast in the world. We were regularly hammered with katabolic winds that reached storm force (50kts) at times, and had to deal with heavy brash ice in places.” Yet along the way they were able to visit that earlier expedition’s winter base in the Argentine Islands and were gifted with an amazing variety of sea life including a multitude of seabirds, Southern Right Whales, Humpbacks, Leopard Seals and of course penguins, to keep them company. Their stunning experiences will be featured as part of Justine Curgenven’s highly anticipated, “This is the Sea III” due out in March of 2007.

You’d think he’d be ready for a rest, but instead Andrew is about a month away from his next challenge. In late November he plans to make a solo crossing of the Tasman sea. A crossing of over 1600km! As if a mere 1600km crossing through famously rough seas is not enough, he plans to use a stock model Mirage kayak with as few tweaks as possible. This means no cabin or keel. (sleeping through buckets of water again. . .) He will even get by without one of those funky sails, which seems pretty popular ’round those parts!! The plan is to paddle from the east coast of Tasmania to Milford Sound, on the South Island of New Zealand. With good weather the voyage will take around 30 days to complete. The Tasman Crossing has only been attempted twice before by Paul Caffyn but has not yet been accomplished. I certainly send him my best wishes on the journey. Regular updates along with GPS tracking will be posted on his website so be sure to keep your eye on www.AndrewMcAuley.com.

Thank you to Andrew McAuley for his assistance and use of the photo & logo.