 THE KAYAKS
Patrick and Olly have gone with the new P&H Cetus High volume. It is both spacious and responsive. Many boats perform well in calm conditions, the Cetus is one of them but it really comes into its own when the swell is up. . It is not the fastest into the weather but I won't be leaving if there's a week of Easterlies forecast. It picks up the wave with ease and stays straight. It's stable in breaking seas but the real benefit for long crossings is the fact that only minor weight shift is to required to steer the boat and that allows for relaxed, stress free paddling.
 Mick is going in the Rockpool Menai. A long waterline makes it fast and it tracks well. It is one of the fastest boats into a big sea and is suitably stable thanks to the flat hull. Manoeuvrability and responsiveness may not be the Menai's strong point but as Mick says 'there aren't many corners between Shetland and Norway. For this sort of crossing it provides a dryer and consequently warmer ride than most boats.
SKEG
No argument here. We've all gone for the Karitek wire skeg. Deep, strong, easily operated even with frozen fingers and most importantly of all you seldom have to take two consecutive strokes on the same side. Whatever the wind aspect it helps you track as direct as a gannet's dive and that includes Force 6 and up where so many other skegs fail.
 TENTS AND DECKS
Reed Chillcheater developed a kayak tent for our Faroes crossing. It acts like a survival shelter and protects us from the wind, if conditions allow us to raft up this will be the key to good deep sleep. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Chris Reed for developing this bit of kit specifically for our ventures. We have also chosen Reed thermals and spraydecks with reinforfoced rim and convenient pump holes.
CAGS
Kokotat have supplied us with outer garments, dry suits, cags, storm cags, and other accessories. Success on crossings of this nature depend on staying warm and dry. Kokotat gives us the best chance to achieve this.
PADDLES
We are using a mixture of Werner, Epic (wings) and Jantex (wings). We can convert all paddles from right to left handed to prevent tendonitis. Spare blades are all short and small
 SAILS
Cheating? Maybe but they are essentially a safety item giving us some way of getting out of any trouble we get ourselves into. Last year we used pacific Action V sails. Exiting stuff and very effective downwind. This year we’ve gone for a medium sized Flatearth sail from Karitek. Although not as powerful it has a better performance across the wind and is a little more forgiving with a much safer system for both hoisting the sail and adjusting the main sheet. We’ve tested them in force 6 in the tide-races off Anglesey and although we need to tweak the rigging and decrease the stretch on the stays we had great results. No capsize, no problem with breaking waves and bags full of adrenalin. Our biggest concern is how to stay together.
SATELLITE TRACKER
I’m not sure we want people to see just how slow our progress is but we’ll be carrying SPOT SATELLITE TRACKERS to pin point our position every 20 mins. It’s a light unit, waterproof and easy to operate but does need to be mounted where it can see the skies. This is great for anyone wanting to follow the drama but more importantly it is a reassuring item of safety kit as we can tell out backup team that we’re ok, in a dodgy position or in need of rescue.
HEAT PADS.
Blizzard Survival have supplied there emergency heat pads which generate a steady heat for up to 24 hours. When we try to sleep one goes down your trousers and one on your chest to help maintain body temperature. These saved the day on our Roof of Scotland expedition after Bennie took a swim when his boat started sinking 30 km out from the Butt of Lewis. He went from expert to novice in 2 cold minutes and it took 2 heat pads and a blizzard survival jacket to get him paddling…. and thinking again.
 SEALSKINZ
As none of us like paddling long distances in drysuits we need something to keep the extremities dry. Sealskinz hats and socks have accompanied Mick and I on every expedition to date. We haven’t got much hair to keep dry but it makes a massive difference if you can achieve it.
 STABILISERS
Fit for an ocean?? Seems to work fine in the garden. The hollow tube runs through the boat and next to the bulkhead for strength. Insert a paddle blade either side, put on your paddle floats and you have yourself a hotel. We’ve placed the tube below the water level to reduce rocking and rolling. Testing in the waves early next week.
No waves to be seen but primary stability is as good as it gets.
SAFETY
When in Rome ……. When at sea, do as Jeff Allen does. We've gone for his 3 in 1 throw bag, tow bag, drogue combination. Saves space and means we can harness up Olly when the advantage of youth kicks in… We also have a parachute drogue that we can clip a drogue to to reduce drift at night.
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