Paddle for Survivors pair Stuart Baker and Matt Flower have successfully completed their Bass Strait crossing, arriving on Tasmania's mainland at 3.35pm today.
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The Albury mates had a gruelling 50-kilometre paddle from Long Island to the finish line at Little Musselroe Bay, taking more than 50 minutes to complete the last tantalising 8 kilometres with the tide against them.
"But we knew the finish line was in sight," Mr Baker said after they pulled up on land, exhausted but thrilled to have officially conquered the notorious Bass Strait in their double sea kayak.
... I don't think I'll complain about anything ever again.
- Stuart Baker
Originally the plan was for the paddlers to complete the final legs of the crossing with a five-hour paddle to Clarke Island on Thursday before a relatively short but "tricky" run on the final day.
But Mother Nature being what she is, the pair was only able to complete 18 kilometres before conditions forced them to seek shelter for the night at Long Island.
"We were hoping for the end," Mr Baker said of the last kilometres of the paddle.
"I'll certainly be enjoying a hearty meal and a beer tonight (in Launceston).
"I said to (my wife) Annette I don't think I"ll complain about anything else ever again."
Albury documentary maker Helen Newman travelled over to Tasmania on the ferry with Mrs Baker to film the paddlers' arrival in the bay.
Footage from this mission to raise funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention will be used to finish off Newman's Solstice documentary.
The film aims to "bravely step into the gaping hole left when a person dies by suicide to begin conversations, unite communities and ignite positive change".
The more than $30,000 raised to date from the Paddle for Survivors campaign will help support the running of the 2021 Winter Solstice at Albury's QEII Square on June 21 and the advocacy work of Australians For Mental Health.
Paddling across the Bass Strait had never been on Mr Baker's bucket list.
When his good mate and highly experienced weekly Murray River paddling partner Matt Flower suggested it, the 63-year-old Mr Baker eventually agreed to take the plunge.
At the heart of so many of Mr Baker's endeavours in recent years has been a commitment to shine a light in the darkness and effect meaningful change for those affected by mental illness and suicide after Annette and Stuart lost their beloved daughter Mary to suicide when she was just 15.