Australian couple, Lorraine and Glenn Keating plan to leave Sydney on Yamaha FX Cruiser HO WaveRunners this upcoming April 1, 2016 to complete a three part mission to circumnavigate all of Australia. The couple plans to travel 11,800 miles during an 8 month period in an attempt at a world record for the longest distance traveled by personal watercraft.
The WaveRunners will use almost 5,000 gallons of fuel and the will have only minor modifications such as long range fuel tanks, GPS units, and an auxiliary batteries. A support crew will accompany them along the coast during most of the trek. However, there will be long stretches when it’s just the Keatings and their watercraft because of the distance from the coastline in some areas.
The ride was planned during afternoon cocktails while the two mused about all the exciting things that other people do and they thought “why not us?” After all, they had recently returned from Vietnam and had a blast riding jet skis during their holiday. The brainstorming soon commenced and now they’re going big which brings us to the second part of the mission: the addition of a YouTube travel channel, and their website, Terra Australia-Girt by Sea.
The YouTube channel will contain features highlighting their journey, adventures along the way, people they meet, and the things they see along the coast. The Keatings are stoked about recording their travels and planned meetings of fellow jet skiers. The channel will also feature a real time GPS map so we can follow along. Quite a bit information is provided on their travel channel, including their sponsors products, blogs, and articles. Currently, both sites host videos of the Keatings and their task at hand.
This ride is also a fundraiser for the Cancer Council, which is very important to the Keatings because they have each lost a parent to cancer. Many of their friends and family have been affected by the disease as well. Some of them have beaten it while others are still battling. Donations are accepted through their website. The couple and crew will head north from Sydney in an anti-clockwise direction and plan to return in November. We wish them the best!
