Lars Simonsen, his partner Suzi, and their two kids spent 18 months in a pair of Hobie Tandem Islands, adventuring from Copenhagen to Istanbul. His book LIFE IS GOOD follow us: A family kayak odyssey 7,300 km from Copenhagen to Istanbul is available on Amazon 22, 2016.
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Safety on our trip was one of our top priorities. Having two small kids, who were too small to handle the Hobie Tandem Island by themselves, it was very important. From the beginning, we imagined the worst case scenario, and then developed our safety practices from there. We imagined a lot of different situations, and tried to think about what to do in each one, what we would need to cope with them, and how to do things as safely as possible.
One of our greatest fears was falling off the kayak and watching it sail on with, or without, our kids. For this reason we were always connected to the kayak by a lifeline, attached to our lifejacket. It was tested a few times, but we always removed it before landing on a beach with surf.
The idea of being trapped under the kayak if it capsized, seem like a bigger risk then being thrown into the surf itself. Which happened one time when Liva, my daughter, was lifted off the trampoline by a wave, together with a big bag. She held onto the bag, with the waves constantly crashing over her head. I jumped into the water and pulled her onto the beach and she was holding a plastic shovel in her other hand.
“Why are you holding onto the shovel?” Suzi asked
“I wanted to play with it on the beach,” she said.
To see what safety equipment we had in our lifejackets have a look here:
We also had a bail-out-bag on a quick release system, on both kayaks. It was a 13-liter drybag, attached just behind the front seat.
Inside we had:
• Old school mobile phone for emergency calls – the battery lasts longer on those
• First aid kit
• Big emergency rocket flare
• Water
• Food
• Extra flares
• Powerful head torch (250 lumes)
• Emergency bag
• Heat patches
• Emergency light for the mast
• Knife
• Something to start a fire
Everything was in double plastic bags.
We found a lot of inspiration in – Sea Kayaker’s Savvy Paddler, 500 tips for better kayaking.
In cool weather and in cold waters we always had our dry-suits on. One idea was that we could use the emergency bag at sea, crawling into it and to keep ourselves a bit warmer if we were in the water. We never tried it. However, we often used them to keep the kids warm on the kayaks.
I think our best safety asset was the stability of the Hobie Tandem Island, and having two. Also, you then have four things that have to break down (two mirage drives, one paddle and a sail) on each kayak before you can’t go on.
