1600 km solo kayak expedition from Durban to Cape Town

Here is a great article written by a local journalist about Robert's trip...

http://www.scenicsouth.co.za/2013/02/noordhoeks-rob-hewetson-kayaks-from-durban-to-fish-hoek/

From 11:30, we were waiting on the beach... And waiting and waiting... And then someone spotted a kayakist... And within a few minutes Robert was with us on the beach, surrounded by family and friends!!!! Not to mention journalists and photographers!!! More photos to follow...

Robert left Hangklip this morning at 6 am and he arrived on Fish Hoek beach at about 12:00. The winds were strong and there was also a little bit of swell but the paddling went well. The dreaded crossing of False Bay was not as bad as feared, Robert might even consider doing it again...

We are all home now after a little celebration on the beach and very happy to be all together!

Robert still measures 1.86 m but he now weighs 76 kg... 7 kg lost somewhere, along with all the missing gear...

I will post some photos once I have them...

In the meantime again, thank you for all the support from everybody, people from all over the world, family and friends and also and mainly complete strangers who got involved in the adventure, the support has been incredible and we have been overwhelmed by it!!

43.3 km done today... Tomorrow Robert has to do 50 km to be home!!!!

He is in Hangklip tonight and sounded tired but excited at the same time.

Tomorrow he is planning to leave at about 6 am to arrive at around 2pm in Fish Hoek... I will be waiting there from about 1pm... You are welcome to join us!

62 km instead of the 84 planned to reach Onrus as Robert managed to cut through two small bays... so 94 km to go!!! and 1562 already done!!!!!!!!!!!

Robert has passed Pearly beach and Gansbaai (high great white activity areas) and has fortunately not seen anything. He says he just looks ahead and paddles... He has arrived in Onrus and was ordering a Windhoek as we were speaking...

He is tired tonight as the sea was rough and the winds were strong but good... He sounds very excited to be so close to home.

We have just checked the weather for Tuesday which is the estimated day of arrival and unfortunately it does not look so good with very high winds... So he might just have to arrive on Monday... I will post details tomorrow...

 In the meantime here is the weather forecast for the next few days at Cape Point... South-easterly winds...

As planned Robert has managed to reach Quoin Point, 50.2 km done!

The winds were very strong, the waves and the swell were huge... Another very hard day for Robert... But he has made it and every day he gets closer!

178 km to go!!!!

It looks like Robert could be arriving in Fish Hoek in the middle of next week...

Even if he had been warned against yesterday's strong winds, Robert still decided to go. He just wanted to get a little bit closer.

As he was getting out of the sheltered bay of Arniston, he met two guys on surfskis (he actually recognized them from Fish Hoek!) and they said that it was "wild" outside the bay... Still Robert went...

He left at about 10 am and arrived in Struisbaai close to 6pm... 8 hours or so to do 28 km... Robert was knackered and freezing cold... The weather had been nasty, strong winds and rain. And his kayak skirt has lots of holes in it so he ended up doing the trip sitting in 5 cm of water...

As he arrived in Struisbaai, he went straight for a little restraurant where he had a huge coffee to warm himself up... He said his hands were so cold he could not even open one of his sweets... 

Very tough day but at the same time very happy Robert has managed to go through that sea...

He said all he saw was waves and spray and waves and spray...

Today, Friday 11th Jan, Robert is aiming for Quoin Point... Which means that tonight officially, he will be in the Atlantic ocean, leaving the Indian ocean at Cape Aghulas, most southern tip of Africa...

Again strong winds are forecasted... South-Easterly and Easterly winds...

Sorry for the delay, I have had internet problems...

Robert arrived on Jan 8, day 45, at Arniston. He did not comment much about the kayaking itself... 30 km done, totalling 1399 km... 

He saw two hammerhead sharks, one turtle and another big jelly fish...

The winds starting to blow strongly against him, Robert only managed to do 3.5 km/hour during the last 3 hours of his paddling day... He was very tired as he arrived in Arniston but got cheered up by the warm welcome the local kids gave him. They were very impressed with him and treated him as a hero... They later on looked after his kayak so that he could go and get some delicious food from a local eatery... As I asked if he still had money with him, he said he did but everything is wet and mouldy, including his clothes...

He is also starting to develop a rash under his chin, from the rubbing of the kayak jacket... 

Yesterday, Wednesday 9 Jan, he had to have a day's rest as the winds were way to strong to paddle...

Today, day 47, the winds are still blowing and the swell is very big, but Robert has decided to try to reach Struisbaai, 27 km away... 

58.2 km today... Totalling 1369 km... 287 km to go...

Today, Robert's paddling went very well. He had a bit of difficulties through the surf this morning and again there were many rocks to avoid but he made it and made good progress... Robert has arrived on the beach in the Dehoop Nature Reserve. He says the beach is absolutely fabulous, made of fine sands to start with and then little stones. The kids would really love that place...

Not many things to report apart from a big shadow under the kayak... And... Breathe! It was only a big jelly fish... Robert says he tries not to look too closely at the water...

A very sore bottom in the new kayak... Still missing the Sea Bear...

Last night as we were speaking Robert had gone into someone's garden to get some water but the search was not successful as all the taps were dry... This morning again he had to search for a long time but eventually succeeded and filled up his bags with 25L of water as he knew that tonight he would end up in the desert of the Dehoop Nature Reserve...

Robert discovered a bag of dehydrated eggs in his supplies so the theory about the eggs is still maintained and Robert reckons the difficulties landing and taking off are due to the eggs. Not to worry though as they will be eaten tomorrow morning and so the day should run smoothly... TBC...

This morning, I received another wonderful email from Albert who helped Robert, along with Johnny, on Pinnacle beach, picking up all his belongings from the water and here is the picture Albert sent... Thank you again Albert.

Weather forecasts for the next couple of days:

	Mo 07.	Mo 07.	Mo 07.	Mo 07.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	Tu 08.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	We 09.	Th 10.	Th 10.	Th 10.	Th 10.
	14h	17h	20h	23h	02h	05h	08h	11h	14h	17h	20h	23h	02h	05h	08h	11h	14h	17h	20h	23h	02h	05h	08h	11h
Wind speed (knots)	13	12	6	3	6	10	10	8	10	8	6	4	5	7	8	9	10	17	13	12	18	20	19	17
Wind gusts	12	13	8	4	6	10	12	9	9	8	7	6	5	8	10	10	12	19	17	16	21	25	23	19
Wind direction
Wave (ft)	10	10	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	9	10	12	13	14	15	15	15	15
Wave period (s)	14	14	14	13	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12
Wave direction
Temperature (°C)	25	24	21	21	21	20	20	20	21	21	19	18	18	17	19	20	22	21	18	19	18	17	16	18