From Laurie Ford: “Sea Canoeing is 80% mental, and 20% physical.”

From David Lewis: “No one, in my opinion, should embark on the open ocean, the Antarctic, or any wilderness for that matter, not prepared to get out of trouble by his own efforts. By voluntarily challenging the elements he automatically assumes the responsibility for his own safety. He should not expect anyone to risk life and property on his behalf. The very idea of possible rescue is debilitating to the will; it should be replaced by self reliance.”

From ‘Voyage to the Ice’ (The Antarctic Expedition of ‘Solo’), By David Lewis - 1977-1978.
David Lewis, medical practitioner, adventurer, scientist, author, mountaineer and sailor, was born in New Zealand. He completed the first and second single-handed transatlantic races of 1960 and 1964, coming third in the first race which was won by Francis Chitchester. In 1963 he was leader of the Greenland Sea Expedition and in 1964 gave up full-time medical practice to pursue his love of sailing. From 1964 to 1967 he completed the first circumnavigation of the world in a multi-hulled yacht, accompanied by his wife and two small daughters. From 1968 to 1975 he was a Research Fellow with the Australian National University and during that time he spent nine months sailing with the traditional star-path navigators of the Pacific Islands. He has used the Islanders navigation methods in many long Pacific voyages. He was also a Research Fellow with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in 1974-75 and a Senior Research Fellow at the East-West Centre, Hawaii, in 1974-76.
(In the southern summers of 1972-73 and 1973-74 Dr. Lewis made the first single-handed voyage to the Antarctic. His thirty-two foot sloop Ice Bird was three times capsized and twice dismasted but he reached the Antarctic Peninsula and later South Africa without help.)

From member of Tasmanian Sea Canoeing Club, recently (back in 1999) trying to sell a sea kayak (Cec went and had a look)
“Most club trips are too hard”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From Nevil Shute: “If I have learned one thing in my 54 years, it is that it is very good for the character to engage in sports which put your life in danger from time to time. It breeds a saneness in dealing with day to day trivialities which probably cannot be got in any other way, and a habit of quick decisions.”
 
From NSW Sea Kayaker (issue 41): “A sea kayak is a kayak designed, constructed and fitted out to be able to be paddled safely in a wide range of open sea conditions.”
(Can we assume that they would define a SEA KAYAKER as a person that paddles in a wide range of open sea conditions?????????????)

From NSW Sea Kayaker (issue 43): "The  coastline we had just traversed (The Tasman Peninsula) is the best and most spectacular sea kayaking environment in Australia."

From Prof. Paul Davies: (Speaking about CHAOS Theory on the SBS) "Weather forecasting is notoriously bad - the weather is notoriously unpredictable."

This little gem came out of Longreach: Never be afraid to try something new. Remember amateurs built the Ark - professionals built the Titanic.

From Billy Harris: "Your possessions should set you free like a boat or a pair of hiking boots. If you work for your possessions and they don't set you free, what are you working for?"

From Edward Abbey: One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast ... a part-time crusader, a half- hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; you will outlive the bastards.

Anonymous: You won't get to where you want to go if you only travel on sunny days.

From Elli Tappan: And I decided that after seven hours in the car, three hours hiking and five hours paddling all in one day, 68 isn't really old at all! It’s just normal life with Laurie Ford.