Jet Skier Lindsay Warner arrives in Broome as finish line looms on world record ride for mental health

A 63-year-old ocean adventurer who has spent more than a year on an epic voyage to become the first person to solo circumnavigate Australia on a jet ski docked at Town Beach this week. Lindsay Warner received a warm Broome welcome as he pulled up to the Town Beach boat ramp on Wednesday August 25, with locals flocking around his 2017 Kawasaki Ultra LX jet ski which has carried him across more than 16,000km of open water. Travelling since March 1 2020, Mr Warner is just weeks away from reaching Exmouth, the place where he first embarked on his gruelling journey around the country and set out to break the Guinness World Record of ‘longest open ocean unsupported journey by aqua-bike.’ Mr Warner said his trip from Cygnet Bay down to Town Beach was enjoyable. “It was nice and glassy for about a third, then the mid third was really rough and bumpy and the last third it settled down a bit,” he said. “Yesterday with all the tides around Cygnet Bay the water swirls and it is all over the place big tides and to ride through that for about 25 or 30 kilometres was quite amazing After announcing he planned to stay in Broome for a few days, Mr Warner said he would use the time to repair his vessel then set sail for Port Hedland, Karratha and Onslow before reaching Exmouth. “I’ve got to do a few repairs because I’ve been right through the Kimberley so I haven’t had a chance to work on a few things that need fixing,” he said. Mr Warner said his ocean journey also had a deeper purpose, to raise awareness for male mental health. “I want to make people aware, especially guys in the older demographic, they need to have their check ups, see their doctors, talk to a friend and they need to look after themselves,” he said. The explorer had his fair share of struggles on the voyage, including COVID-19 travel restrictions, thick fog encounters 50km offshore and riding for seven days straight due to a lack of safe places to camp to avoid crocodile attacks. Mr Warner travelled the coastline of New South Wales, Queensland and half of the Northern Territory in just 43 days and has unofficially broken the record he set out to achieve. Mr Warner said every day on the journey presented a new adventure. “Every day is enjoyable when the engine starts in the morning and shuts off at the end of the day, it is always a great feeling to pull in at the end of a day with the tide,” he said. Mr Warner’s vessel has a standard 78-litre fuel tank and 60-litre bladder on the rear deck, with four 20-litre jerry cans in the foot wells and another four on a sled towed behind the vehicle.