The following has been brought to my attention. It is part of a CV of a bloke called Earle de Blonville. Parts of it are laughable.
Start of extract.
TASMANIA
MEDIA REPORT
First
Tasmania Circumnavigation 1978-79
Australia’s first modern sea
kayak expedition: “The journey they said
couldn’t be done”
Route: The 1798-99 route of Bass
and Flinders
in the
‘Norfolk’
Start and finish Georgetown: anticlockwise via the west coast and Hobart.
Scotland and the Hebrides, plus resulting
articles.
Newspaper stories: 50 (all states)
Radio interviews: 22 (all
states) Television interviews: 7 (4 states)
Publication: Expedition
report (1,000 sales internationally)
Other outcomes:
Founded:
Victorian Sea
Kayak Club (VSKC)
VOYAGE – sea kayaking magazine
Development: Sea Kayak proficiency programs for Victorian Board of Canoe Education (VBCE)
The ‘local experts’ was in fact only one sea kayaker, Laurie Ford, who when called by Search & Rescue Police Sergeant Maurice Massey for advice branded our trip as suicidal, without revealing he was a rival planning to attempt the first rounding of South West Cape. He feared we’d beat him to it. The Police issued no warnings to us and when we met them in Hobart, were most helpful and apologetic. Laurie Ford abandoned his team halfway through. One of his team’s boats was wrecked at South West Cape. Laurie Ford’s own boat was wrecked near South East Cape. In contrast, we suffered no damage or mishaps at all.
My boat wasn't wrecked, it suffered some fractures - and as the weather was too bad to continue I walked out before anyone started a search for me. I walked back in a week later and paddled it out.
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A condensed version of our trip report is here:
http://www.laurie-ford-kayak.net/westcoas.htm
As for any circumnavigation of Tasmania back in those days it was done by Earle Bloomfield and John Brewster. (de Blonville never gets a mention)
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And it would appear that the police didn't say it was suicidal - the SES did (if the newspaper article is correct)
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Unfortunately Earle Bloomfirld seems to be the subject of inaccurate newpaper articles.
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Of course everybody knew that was bullshit and I received notes like this.
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It's hard to imagine why anyone would try to belittle me in their CV - very hard to imagine. But I just thought I ought to set the record straight.
I have never had to embellish any of my trips - they stand on their own two feet, including 5 unsupported trips across Bass Strait in a kayak.
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Laurie Ford.
ACF Senior Sea Intructor.
Incidentally when I see this next clipping I do wonder how much training and preparation they did.
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