Team Belly Full of Tea is racing to Alaska and needs your help!

A bit about me: I’m a kayak and canoe adventurer and racer. I love being on the water (mostly as I am a bad swimmer!) I’ve raced in UK, Australia and the Yukon and am progressively drawn to longer and harder and longer races. My craft is an 18 feet Rockpool Taran, a fantastic sea kayak made by a company based in North Wales.

What is R2AK: If you haven't heard of it, it's a unique event where those who finish towards the end of the fleet get more kudos and attention than those who come first. Perhaps because I’m very good value for attention as you can watch along for 18-21 days. The winner, in 4-5 days doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

The Race to Alaska is a 750mile boat race along the Inside Passage from Port Townsend, WA to Ketchikan, AK, that has two real rules: no motors onboard, no prearranged support. There are no care packages, no shortcuts, no safety boats. There are no handicaps or classes for different types of vessels and the first to cross the finish line gets $10,000, the second-place team gets a set of steak knives. Teams range from racing trimarans, open sailboats, outrigger canoes, rowing boats, SUPs and 3 kayaks.

There have been no solo female finishers yet!

There are cliffs with no landings, currents can go over 20km/h, heaps of whales and there are many many BEARS!

To race this well, to have the best logistics and bets on finishing, as well as being smart and safe, there are a few steps for me to get there.

1. Organise all logistics including food – to be in Canada when I need, when I live the other side of the planet

2. Manage a life move across the world at the same time

3. Be ready for the start line on 14th June 2026

4. Train for conditions!

How your support will help me: Donations made to this fund will help me in a few ways. One is to support logistical costs of nutrition. It’ll be between 4500-5000 calories per day. Much of that needs to be eaten and drunk while in my kayak. And needs to be lightweight and protected from bears when I’m camping on land. This part is taking up quite a lot of my time to organise. And because of the distance, exchange rates and crossing borders, it all gets purchased rather than homemade.

Secondly, these donations will support additional gear I need. I’m currently paddling and training in Sydney, Australia. It’s generally warm to hot here. Shorts and t-shirts are 95% of my attire all year round. Not at all like the expected cold, wet and windy conditions of the Inside Passage. I’m working on sourcing new sea kayak gear, good quality camping supplies and the safety equipment necessary for this race.

This is a fund for those who support adventurous folks. Who want to be part of the classic R2AK tracker junkie group . And who want to support someone who will be jumping into a Rockpool Taran 18 sea kayak for the first time ever just before race start!

Thank you so much for your support, whether you donate or not! There will be some swag coming as well for supporters!

You can follow me here .

Esther