the unclaimed coast SUMMARY


Situated in the furious fifties, a latitude shared only with Cape Horn and giving rise to the old mariners saying "in the forties there is no law - in the fifties there is no god", South Georgia is one of the most dramatic landscapes and wildlife havens on the face of the earth.

“…a land doomed to perpetual frigidness, whose savage aspects I have not words to describe” Capt. James Cook

To circumnavigate this hostile and beautiful land in any vessel is a journey worthy of respect - to sea kayak around South Georgia is a world-class adventure and in an age where genuine adventure objectives are few - the circumnavigation of South Georgia remains a coveted world first.

The Adventure Philosophy team of Graham Charles, Marcus Waters and Mark Jones are uniquely qualified to succeed with this audacious goal. Having already proven themselves as world class adventurers and one of the worlds best adventure teams they traversed 500 miles of the Antarctic Peninsula unsupported (2001) by sea kayak and then battled 300 miles of Tierra del Fuego gales before pioneering a new route through the Darwin Cordillera (2003).

South Georgia has an abundance of wildlife matched only by the Serengeti It is a place where southern ocean wildlife abounds in such stupendous numbers that landing on some beaches is almost impossible. It also has a rigorous adventure heritage. It's most famous adventurer, Sir Ernest Ernest Shackleton, put South Georgia on the map by landing the James Caird at King Haaken Bay in 1916 and crossing the island against all odds to raise the alarm to save his men on Elephant Island. Adventure Philosophy hail from New Zealand - home of Shackleton's remarkable navigator, Frank Worsley who steered the James Caird on its remarkable journey to South Georgia.

Steeped in history, rich with wildlife, and epic potential, The Unclaimed Coast is a classic adventure journey and a fabulous opportunity for people to share in this wild and wonderful part of the world.

COMPLETE THE FIRST ENTIRE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND

This has been attempted twice. Once by a team of British Marines in 1991, who were forced back early into the voyage when they encountered adverse going with brash ice smashing one kayak, and again in December 96 when Wade Fairley and Angus Finney were forced by sea conditions to undertake a portage across the Shackleton Gap.

The south coast remains unkayaked by anyone. Ever.


welcome to THE UNCLAIMED COAST

One of the great joys we as a team get out of our expeditions is sharing our journey with like-minded folk. So we're thrilled to be able to share our adventure with you online. We hope you enjoy.
Many people are wondering about the role of a support yacht and why we have it down there. The simple answer is because we have to. Sth Georgia is administered by the British and their safety regulations require that sea based expeditions have their own means of possible search and rescue. The Northanger is our yacht, it is a 54ft steel Damien II ketch rigged yacht designed specifically to access remote, high latitude regions.

We'd like to introduce you to the rest of the team working with us down there. Greg Landreth and Keri Pushuk are the owners of the Northanger and have spent the last 10 years sailing in Arctic and Antarctic waters, including wintering over in the ice in Greenland in 1999. Greg is a very experienced mountaineer and adventurer in his own right. Kevin Nicholas is a long time friend of ours and a UIAGM certified guide. Zak Shaw is along to lower the average age (he's 25) and is there to add youth and vitality. Zak is a high performing all rounder and is as useful in gnarly whitewater as he is in the mountains. Kev and Zak will be doing some 2nd unit filming for us in-between their own adventures and exploring where they can. They will also be providing 3rd party updates and commentary on how they see the weather and conditions and how we are progressing. Back in NZ we have some fabulous support behind our website with Bronwyn Gay - design, Richard Rowe - updates and construction, and Gary Lee from e2-media hosting and constructing the site. And we have 'eye-in-the-sky' weather txt's from Mike Atkinson and Anna Jones.

We have a large family of sponsors (some of them are back for the third time!) and we are incredibly grateful for their support. Please take the time to check their sites and links.

Special gratitude is due to our key associate sponsors - Macpac and GORE-TEX®. Without their investment, faith in us, willingness to take their own risks and live by their own adventure philosophy none of this would be possible. We are proud to be representing their products and regardless of the outcome we couldn't operate in some of the worlds worst climate without the very best equipment.

Our list of sponsors wouldn't be there without the people who have decided to take a punt on us so we owe a debt to: Cascade Designs/SealLine - Tami Fairweather, Ampro Agencies - Sandy MacLean, Paddling Perfection - Scott Waterfield, Kokatat - Marta Miller, Werner Paddles - Shelley Furrer, Canoe and Kayak - Pete Townend, Outdoor Action - Nick Montague-Brown, Pelican USA - Keith Swenson, SureFire - Derek McDonald, Rasdex - Eli Soothill, Teva - Adam Druckman USA/Carol Riley NZ, Qantas - Nichola Lidgard, Bolle NZ - Sandy Ward, Suunto - Tim Curran, HQH - Greg Doherty, Magellan - Paul Lanyi, House of Travel, Pak N Save Mt Albert - Brian Carran, Pacific Basin Exports - Gerry Williams.