Albury paddlers Matt Flower and Stuart Baker will return to Flinders Island today ready to complete the last legs of their Bass Strait crossing quest.
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The Paddle For Survivors pair will fly back to the island where they will camp overnight before embarking on a five-hour paddle to Clarke Island, about 24 kilometres off Tasmania's mainland.
On Friday, weather permitting, the good mates hope to complete the "tricky" stretch to finish the crossing at Little Musselroe.
Tumultuous weather forced the duo to press pause on their epic crossing on April 14.
But Mr Baker, 63, said there appeared to be a four-day window of favourable weather, which should allow them to complete the 307-kilometre mission to raise funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention.
The final stretch through Banks Strait will require some expert tidal navigation and paddling power even though it's a relatively short three-hour trip, according to Mr Baker.
"It's very narrow and you have Bass Strait at one end and the Tasman sea at the other," he explained.
"We will have to leave (from Clarke Island) one hour before full tide where we will have the tide with us, then there will be an hour in the ebb and the final hour paddling against the tide," he explained.
Both Mr Flower and Mr Baker have been bolstered by the huge outpouring of support from friends and followers at home.
In addition to the many messages and donations from individuals, the paddle has attracted Hume Bank as its major sponsor as well as generous support from McRae Motors and Blacklocks, which both donated $5000 to the cause.
To-date Paddle For Survivors has raised more than $30,000 to help bring to life this year's Albury-Wodonga Winter Solstice and to support Australians for Mental Health (of which Mr Baker is a board member).
The 2021 Winter Solstice, to be held at Albury's QEII Square on June 21, will be centred on the theme of "connection" after the isolation and hardship imposed by the events of 2020.
The "take-home message" of Paddle For Survivors is that so many people have been inspired by the parallels with mental health, according to Mr Baker.
"Our journey has looked a lot like some of the battles people have experienced with their own mental health," he said.
"One guy in the canoe club told Matt, 'You are doing this battle for me' and another woman sent (my wife) Annette a beautiful text to say she had been inspired to make more of her own life."
