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James Castrission and Justin Jones mark the 18 month anniversary of their world first Trans-Tasman Kayak Expedition, Crossing the Ditch, very shortly. James is releasing a book on the journey and Justin has been producing a documentary alongside Quail TV,both of which we expect to see around July 2009.

We have been dusting off all of our Crossing the Ditch prep work, images, videos and data and hope over the next few weeks to get it all posted up here at rushlabs.com.

We started with a short snapshot of the live monitoring of the kayak. Note the track the team took is coloured which corresponds to a scale in the top left relating to velocity.

Click here to see the Crossing the Ditch Case Study and check back regularly over the next month as we gradually update it.

It has been almost 18 months since James and Justin paddled into Taranaki , New Zealand after a gruelling 62 days at sea. We just had the Quail TV crew here at Rush HQ filming the last few snippets I suspect of the expedition documentary which will be released alongside a book published by Harper Collins in late June 2009. James kept a diary from the day he set his mind on crossing the Tasman and naturally has extended this into what will no doubt be a great read. Justin turned to the doco and has been pulling together footage from all over the place, working with Quail TV to tell the story through video.

Book description

“Our journey across the Tasman was frightening at times. Sharks tearing at our hull, 30-foot waves crashing over our kayak, and the possibility that the stern of the boat might be ripped away; these were all very real fears. Who were we to take on the Tasman Sea? But the little kid inside me screamed, ‛Go on, mate, give it a go.′” – James Castrission

With more than two thousand kilometres of treacherous seas and dangerously unpredictable weather and currents, not to mention the ever-present threat of sharks, it was little wonder no one had ever successfully crossed the Tasman by kayak. Australian adventurer Andrew McAuley had come close just months earlier – tragically, though, not near enough to save his life. But two young Sydneysiders, James Castrission and Justin Jones, reached the sand at New Plymouth – and a place in history – on 13 January 2008, 62 days after they′d set off from Forster on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.

In the process, they overcame a litany of difficulties, including dwindling food supplies, a string of technical problems and two close encounters with sharks, as well as one demoralising 14-day period in which – caught in a whirlpool – they found themselves being dragged back to Australia. When they arrived in New Zealand, they were sunburnt, bearded, underweight, physically and mentally wasted … and, most of all, happy to be alive.

The book is on sale from 1 July 2009, published by Harper Collins

Today, James is in final prep for a casual ascent of McKinley and something tells me that we are about to hear about the next big thing from the duo who don’t believe in ‘halves’.