Swim4TheOcean: On Monday, January 5, Jono Ridler will start his 1,000nm swim
by Swim4TheOcean 4 Jan 22:37 NZDT
Swim4TheOcean © Swim4TheOcean
Tomorrow, Monday January 5, Jono Ridler will set off from Waikuku Beach at Otou, North Cape right at the very tip of Aotearoa New Zealand on his 1,000-mile mission.
The start time is tentatively set for midday and you’ll be able to follow live updates on social media channels @itsliveocean on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Jono and the six-person operations team travelled to Northland yesterday and are now into final preparation for his world-record attempt at the longest unassisted staged swim aimed at igniting New Zealanders around the race for a healthy ocean with a clear call to end bottom trawling.
Just getting to the start point will be a challenge in itself. On-water support craft, including the Swim4TheOcean StabiX and IRB, will launch south of Waikuku and motor north, while the shore team and a handful of friends and family there for the send-off will travel by vehicle as far as possible, with the final few kilometres only accessible by four-by-four, or on foot.
Weather and sea conditions at North Cape are being closely monitored with a moderate 13-15 knot breeze from the east sou-east, and waves of around 1.5 metres predicted. Current is another key factor the support team consider and unfortunately on Day 1 Jono may initially face some mild adverse current, while later in the day it could assist his progress.
Conditions are described as ‘swimmable’ and Jono and the team are raring to go, to get ‘out of the blocks’ and get some kilometres down the coast.
Website: liveocean.org/swim4theocean
The Swim4TheOcean project is heavily reliant on PredictWind for forecasting of both weather and currents as well as data transmission on progress using a PredictWind Datahub.
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