Crossing Bass Strait's notoriously treacherous waters is trying enough for any paddler — but no one said anything about sharks jumping out of the water.
"We think we may have startled it," said Colin Bartley, 46, a seasoned open ocean competitor from Mandurah, south of Perth.
Watching a mako shark clear the water just metres from their boat has been one of many arresting moments for Mr Bartley and his team as they attempt to become the first to paddle from Victoria to Tasmania in outrigger canoes.
Besides encounters with local marine life, including herds of seal and giant albatross, Bass Strait has also thrown up a gauntlet of rolling swells, wind-chopped waves and storm fronts.
A team of 14 is paddling in two 14m fibreglass outriggers, each holding six paddlers with two paddlers in reserve. They are about half way in their 350km journey.
"We're watching the weather forecasts very closely," Mr Bartley, a graphic designer, told ninemsn from Deal Island by phone on Friday.
The team of 10 men and four women, including a support crew, are from all around Australia and became friends through canoe racing competition.
They first set out on Easter Saturday from Wilsons Promontory, the southern-most point on mainland Australia, and their plan is to hop from one island to the next, pitching tents on land each night before continuing their journey when the weather allows.
The idea of crossing Bass Strait in canoes began two years ago as a sort of team challenge but it took on extra meaning when one of their team members, canoe builder Peter Corbishley, was diagnosed with a rare and terminal form of skin cancer.
"Peter is determined to make the crossing with us — he wants to prove there is life after a diagnosis like that," Mr Bartley said.
The journey is also being made in honour of Chris Robinson, a canoe paddler and Greenpeace skipper who lost his own battle with cancer earlier this year.
If things go according to plan, the paddlers will arrive at Tasmania's northern tip next Friday.
By then they hope to have raised $50,000 for the Australian Cancer Research Foundation.
To make a donation, or to follow the team's progress on the water, visit their website here.
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