[Paddlewise] Bears? What'dbout Leopards?

Sorry for my last bear/gun post, I got the subject header screwed up.

Another tale of kayaking survival appeared in the paper today. As I'm on
the digest version, I don't know if anyone has beaten me to the draw:

"Java kayak trip turns into tropical forest nightmare"

Two adventure paddlers, Dave Stibbe and Frank Wolf were trying to paddle
the length of Java, when 6 meter swell crashing ashore destroyed their
double kayak (probably vacuumed-bagged :-)). They had to trek across 30
kilometers of dense jungle, just missing encounters with poisonous snakes
and crocs, but one member coming face to face with a big leopard (where's
that 44 magnum when you need it, eh?).

The confluence of currents from the Sunda Strait and Indian Ocean funnels
nasty chop and terrible seas off the Indonesian island. Forced off the
water, they came crashing ashore in a wave the size of a house. The
attempted hike was done portage style with the men ferrying gear and the
collapsed kayak to try to get to a road marked on a map, somewhere inland.

Dehydration, encounters with leopards, tendon damage and abraded skin being
torn off, crushing fatigue, a sleepless night watching for the big cat,
took its toll, according to the story. Eventually, and fortunately, the men
came upon a ranger station, recuperated, and later flagged down a passing
fishing boat.

Frank had done a previous trans-canada canoe paddle in 1995. The men had
had a recent disappointment when they abandoned their 3,300 kilo paddle
from Thailand to Bali, one month prior to the above incident -- when an
infection took route in Frank. They continued on to Bali, after the second
disaster, by train. Don't know if they were using a folding kayak.

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd (your kayak-war correspondent)

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