by Ellen Timmer
With the Winter Olympics just having ended in Turin, Italy, we've all gotten a taste of extreme winter sports. In local sports news however, local resident Ray Fusco is preparing to depart on a challenging journey in a sport more commonly thought of as a warm weather endeavor. Mr. Fusco will be leaving on March 12, 2006 to paddle in a kayak across the Adriatic Sea. Facing water and air temperatures that top out at 50 degrees and short daylight hours, Mr. Fusco says he is “prepared for all kinds of conditions, but will wear a dry suit for the long crossings.” From the research that Mr. Fusco has done, there is no information that anyone else has made this particular crossing by kayak.
The trip, from Split, Croatia to Pescara, Italy, will take Mr. Fusco and his companion, Shane Braddock, five days in two separate single person kayaks. The paddle will cover 190 miles with four stops on the islands of Brac, Vis, Palagruza, and the Tremiti Islands. Most impressively, the two professional kayakers will complete two open water 40 mile crossings. Traveling an average of 4.5 to 5 miles per hour, these long stretches will take 10 - 12 hours. “We have to leave early, at 2 or 3 in the morning, and paddle through the daylight because we can’t be exhausted, in the dark and looking for a rock in the middle of the Adriatic,” quipped Mr. Fusco. The kayakers will use a mobile GPS unit to guide their way and will also plot a course on a manual compass as a backup.
Historically, the route from Komiza, Vis to the island of Palagruza was a popular crossing for Croatian fisherman. Palagruza is essentially a tall, rocky outcropping in the middle of the otherwise wide-open sea. The sharp peaks of the island provided a natural spot for the fishermen to dry their catch in the sun for preservation on the return trip. Today, a ceremonial race happens annually to the island in traditional falkusa fishing boats.
At this time of year, the bura wind that courses down the Croatian coast can produce 3-5 foot swells and a 2 -3 foot mist above the water will require the kayakers to paddle close together so as not to lose sight of each other. The paddlers will carry two to four days of food in the boats at all times, as well as a full complement of foul weather gear and safety supplies. Among the challenges of crossing such a vast body of water is the commercial boat traffic traversing the same routes. The solution to that is to “wear lots of yellow and reflective gear,” says Mr. Fusco.
Ray Fusco, a Beacon resident, is the Director of Programming for Hudson Valley Outfitters in Cold Spring, NY and the President of the Trade Association of Paddlesports. Mr. Fusco began kayaking in Portland, Oregon six years ago as a way to get outdoors. He subsequently left his life as a corporate salesman to pursue kayaking as a career. Mr. Fusco describes the Adriatic crossing as “the most significant trip” he has ever done. Last summer, he paddled from Hudson to Cold Spring in one day. The trip was 61 miles and was completed in 14 hours and paddled against two flood cycles, ebb and flow, which change every six hours. In September 2005, Mr. Fusco won the GoZero race, from Beacon to Bannerman Island and back, a distance of 9 miles.
Stay tuned for follow-up information on the completed trip in April’s Dispatch!
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