Bonnie Hancock

So we would be looking at the forecast, you know, the skipper would be analysing the week ahead and what was coming.

So as I was making my way down the East Coast, we want northerlies behind me.

So if the wind's picking up at 12 o'clock in the day, there's not really any point paddling before that.

If I go at 12 and paddle till 12 that night, I'm going to get the best conditions.

It's easier paddling.

I'm going further.

I had a little head torch.

I had an LED light on the back of the boat, but that's all.

So that's up to 500k out to sea.

And that light was flashing on the back of my boat and on my ski.

And essentially it saved my life a couple of times because the boat would have to come back to me and make sure I was okay, either whether I got on or not.

But that flashing light essentially saved my life.

How tricky was it to pull yourself back in once you tipped out of a surf ski?

It's like doing a chin-up.

That's probably how hard it is.

So you've got your ski.

They're honestly probably harder, a weighted chin-up.

That ski is getting tossed and turned around in these waves.

You're trying to hold it at the direct angle you need against the swells so you can get on because if that ski is, say, facing with the swells, it's just going to roll away from you.

I'm also strapped to it.