Solo Kayak Expedition Around South Georgia Island Update

About a month back I posted a story about Hayley Shepard, who was planning on making a solo kayaking expedition around South Georgia Island, something had never been done before. Today we get an update on her progress, courtesy of ExWeb, and so far, things are not going quite as Hayley had planned.

The New Zealand woman and her support team set out on January 30th, as planned. Everyone was aboard the Northanger, which is the name of the ship that Hayley hired to act as her support vessel and emergency back-up, something that was required by the New Zealand government before she could set out.

For those that don't know, South Georgia is a very remote island located in the Southern Ocean, not far from Antarctica itself. The weather, as is typical throughout the region, is wild and unpredictable, and simply making the voyage across the Drake Passage to the island can be quite an adventure, even under the best of conditions. Apparently, these weren't even remotely close to the best of conditions as Hayley wrote on her blog that they experienced four days of incredibly bad storms, which tossed them all about and left Greg Landreth, the owner and skipper of the Northanger injured.

Due to the injuries to the captain, the ship diverted course and traveled to the Falklands Islands, arriving on the 7th of February. Landreth was immediately taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery on his hand, and while he is expected to make a full recovery, his injury leaves the ship down a crew member, which is now threatening the entire expedition.

Fast forward to today, and Hayley and the crew ares till in the Falklands, where they are plotting what to do next. She has posted an ad looking for someone to join the crew in hopes that she can resume her journey to South Georgia, which is where the real adventure was suppose to begin. But she has also not ruled out the possibility of kayaking around the Falklands, something that has never been done by a woman before.

For now, we'll just have to wait and see what becomes of the expedition. Hopefully, Hayley will get her shot at South Georgia, something she's been planning for some time. Keep in mind, she is also self-funding the expedition, and is doing so to raise awareness of the plight of the Albatross and other sea birds.