That Mad Belgian

[jmac]

An impromptu final celebration with Lou-Phi and a couple of friendly Tassie bushwalkers. LP flies on to Sydney and beyond tomorrow morning. Reckon he'll be back.

[jmac]

Oh, and of course LP passes on his sincere appreciation for all the support he's received from this group. He'll likely catch up on the conversation when time allows.
J.

PS Spot on, Mowser.

[mikeb]

One thing I believe is often overlooked in debates such as these is that we are talking about a real person. It’s not some arbitrary object like refrigerator that may or may not have met a range of criteria for a certain standard.

Lou Phi has just come from a 52 day massively physical and mentally challenging expedition. We don’t know what his support base is at home. Maybe there are 1000 Belgians all ready to cheer and welcome him home... or maybe this forum is the biggest support base he has.. If I was Lou Phi and I had a look at the last couple pages of this thread, honestly Id feel quite deflated and wouldnt be jumping on to say hi.

I guess we all watch the news and see the media tear people to shreds and so it kind of desensitizes us to it all. (not saying we are doing the same here but I think the time for a robust debate on criteria is not 24 hours after someone has just done a 52 day absolutely exhausting expedition, especially when that person may read our comments)

+1

I think a trek from Bass Straight to the south coast without taking on any additional food is an amazing feat in the modern age. And in winter, well that's next level stuff.

His passion for Tassie and its wilderness is amazing. He loves the place and I hope he returns for another Mad Adventure soon! Bravo LouPhi.

+1

An ordinary guy who pushes himself to do extraordinary things.

[eggs]

It is sad when folk pile on, but it is in fact the general tenor of the Internet. ""As a man thinks in his heart - so he is."
We demonstrate that we can be easily irritated, and the web is such a responsibility free zone that it is easy to say things you would never say in company.

For myself, I had mixed feelings as I followed the trek on these pages.
The main thing as each entry was added was ""I sure hope he survives."
I thought those helping with advice and regular contact did a terrific job - well done.
I'm not sure that I would use it as an incitement to adventure for others. I get the balance by listening to wayno tell us how many are killed in New Zealand.

I congratulate him on a supreme effort. I believe he understood the dangers and his own capacities.
And it reminds me that in our youth we can often feel invincible. Age tones that feeling down a bit.

[wildwanderer]

~snip~
For myself, I had mixed feelings as I followed the trek on these pages.
The main thing as each entry was added was ""I sure hope he survives."

I thought those helping with advice and regular contact did a terrific job - well done. ~snip~

I congratulate him on a supreme effort. I believe he understood the dangers and his own capacities. ~snip~.

I also was thinking of the supreme challenge he faced as I read the log each evening. In the last few days as he began to slow due to fatigue, half rations and all the days of carrying tremendous weight on very difficult terrain, I wondered how close to physical shutdown and even death he was. Does the body just shut down and you dont wake up in the tent one morning? Or will fatigue cause a trip and a serious fall. (A plb won't help to much if you fall off a cliff)

Was awesome to see Lou Phi safely make it to the finish. An amazing and inspiring accomplishment.

Following the tracking each day also increased my appreciation of the vast and varied wilderness we have in Tasmania. I can't wait to travel there and have a bit of (shorter! and less arduous!) wander soon.

[north-north-west]

*sigh*

Surely it's possible to discuss this without it being deemed a personal attack on or by anyone. Or isn't that allowed on the internet?

[philm]

Yes *&%$#! amazing feat. Forget the negative $$,.. and if people think they can do better speak with your actions not frail words. Get out there and do better if you have the courage to do so

[GPSGuided]

*sigh*

Surely it's possible to discuss this without it being deemed a personal attack on or by anyone. Or isn't that allowed on the internet?

It’s a personality thing I suspect.

I can certainly understand why people want to ask questions and to verify the specific circumstances. It can be considered to be a bit anal but no harm meant. It’s also a personality thing how some take these objective questions as a personal attack on LP’s and his achievement. Two completely separate matters if one sits back and think about it.

That’s what a forum is about.

[north-north-west]

*sigh*

Surely it's possible to discuss this without it being deemed a personal attack on or by anyone. Or isn't that allowed on the internet?

It’s a personality thing I suspect.

I can certainly understand why people want to ask questions and to verify the specific circumstances. It can be considered to be a bit anal but no harm meant. It’s also a personality thing how some take these objective questions as a personal attack on LP’s and his achievement. Two completely separate matters if one sits back and think about it.

That’s what a forum is about.

Indeed.

[Lizzy]

Blimey looks like Louis has deleted his photos :O
This guy isn’t the luckiest...

[Mountain Rocket]

Blimey looks like Louis has deleted his photos :O
This guy isn’t the luckiest...

For those wondering what this is referring to, this is his latest FB post:

Later today I might announce something most of you don't know. Something Tasmanians and perhaps Australians might wanna do... Some sort of treasure hunt. For now: I'm in Sydney. And I have bad news. Due to a mistake on a Mac (I hate Mac for taking decisions broader than asked), a journalist deleted all my photos of my main full Gopro microSD memory card. Happens, we're under pressure to deliver content. We spent the afternoon with recovery softwareS that messed-up. During the night I asked advice on the Belgian tech community. One man decided to help in about 10 days in Belgium. But that might not be sufficient, we might need to use a specialised data recovery company like on crime investigation. My question to my followers? Anyone a good contact at @sandisk #sandisk ? They might have molecular level recovery hardware tools.

Poor bugger.

[Warin]

Poor bugger.

Arrrrrg.

That is just .. absolutely utterly awful.

Humm I always copy my photos. Then I copy them again. They need to be on two different bits of hardware before they get deleted off the cameras memory card. And no one else gets my memory cards.

I have heard of people paying for a firm to copy their memory card photos to a CD. They were given the CD and the memory card, the card was wiped 'as a service' .. and the CD did not work. Never trust anyone with your originals untill you have at least one good copy of them. It is just not worth it.

[GPSGuided]

That’s terrible news!

Well, just have to do it again next year. Though hopefully he can get the data recovered, somehow. Could be very expensive with pro services.

[north-north-west]

Now that really sucks.

It's a good job he had us following him all the way or people might question whether he actually did it.

Well, just have to do it again next year.

It took him twelve years to work up the strength to tackle Tassie a second time. That puts him in his mid fifties for the next trip . . .

[beardless]

It took him twelve years to work up the strength to tackle Tassie a second time. That puts him in his mid fifties for the next trip . . .

He has not reported getting trench foot this time so he might be able to recover a bit faster.

Hope he can a way to access the footage.

[louphi]

Hi all, here the MAD BELGIAN aka Lou-Phi, LouPhi (Louis-Philippe Loncke)
Here is Sydney, 30/9 past midnight. Most of you are asleep so you will see this little surprise (gift?) to you this sunday or later. Monday is a break right?
First all of many thanks to the person created the thread. A least, I have a slightly better nickname then "Crazy Belgian", mainly" used 10 years ago when I crossed the Simpson Desert for the first time. Now "(That) Mad Belgian" can be new nickname and indeed it's short and easy to remember.
So here it is: http://www.MadBelgian.com It currently forward to my latest blog post and so this will not be on the front page of my website in the coming months after other posts.
1) I will read all you wrote and will try to comment and give plenty of details
2) I will set-up a newsletter for the book. I never wrote one but I have 3 book ideas:
* An adventurer in Tasmania - 101 days of expeditions
* An adventurer in Australia (or in the deserts): mainly the 2 Simpson Desert Crossings, the start of my bushwalking experience, with some anecdotes I remember, so more "biographical" and how I decided to start going more extreme than my first overnight 2 days "Six Foot Track".
* An adventurer on Latin America's great lakes (Lake Titicaca circumnavigation and lake Nicaragua - expedition not done yet as it could be the next one and depends on the political situation in the country, not stable at all now)
The newsletter will only be for the TAS book.
3) On that page I will soon write where I lost my (with holes) drybag containing: Panasonic camera (is normally in a drybag, now, how tight/dry is it with the pressure of the water?), headlight, JULBO explorer sunglasses, some gopro mounts, Rodemic videomic pro (new, was sponsored), some peanuts and perhaps other stuff I don't remember, there was also John MC's green gatorade 800ml plastic bottle and a 1,2l (soda) bottle with a black zip-tie around the neck.
Anyway, There is a 1000AUD dollar reward for returning the camera to me with the SDcard if intact. Obviously great videos/photos on it not to be deleted so if someone find it (1) remove battery (2) remove and protect SD card and (3) sent it all to me. I'd like to keep the dead (rusted) headlight PETZL ACTIK CORE as souvenir
All equipment might be still in the same black drybag or separated from it... I dunno, it was not 100% closed I think before the "accident" where I jammed the packraft (and myself) onto the log.(Day 25)
In the press section of my website http://www.louis-philippe-loncke.com/2004/06/press-tasmania.html, I'll compile, archive all press articles.

Some aftermaths. The next 2-3 days after the expedition I was sore. Now I walk like a zombie, completely broken, I guess some sort of long duration of adrenaline kept me "OK" during the press frenzy of TUE and WED (25/26)
The research I did is 100% successfull, meaning I've completed the tests without hiccups. Results will take a few months. I might most some sound samples/videos of it.
Speaking of videos, long story short a journalist killed deleted the photos of my 128gb full microSD card gopro (as if losing the panasonic was not enough). I just finished saving the VIDEOSof the card on 2 just-bought external USB keys. The microSD will be given tomorrow to the journalist, once I'm home and the videos copied/saved twice on my big teradrives, he will go with the card to the best sydney recovery company. (I'm an IT guy and I cannot recreated HEX damaged file corrupted sectors) Hopefully thet can deepscan and retrieve the PHOTOS. Without it, a bit hard to make sponsors happy, do lectures or insert in the book or perhaps even enter photo competition as some on Cradle and Ossa are awesome I think (very good weather there)
I go to bed. 1am

PS: I'd like to receive on my email all photos from people taken from me, even selfies, would give me some good morale. Chocolate is great but not enough this time.
I mand in Brussels on 4 oct, fly out of Sydney on 1 Oct (1 full days in Hong Kong)

[north-north-west]

Good to hear from you, Loopy . . . err, I mean Louis-Philipe.

If the drybag with the camerawent in the water open, the contents are not likely to be usable even if found. A short dip is survivable, but a long swim can kill anything. Still, stranger things have been known to happen. I'll have a look at that stretch of the river (and some of the lakeshore) when the levels are nice and low.

Obviously, all of us here would be voting for the Tasmanian book option to be done first, but they all sound fascinating. And probably easier than the trips themselves. (Then again, my own attempts at writing have been utterly draining, so maybe not.)

It's going to take a while to recover, so don't expect too much of yourself. Jet lag after getting home won't help either. So take care and give yourself plenty of time.
And congratulations on the journey. We''re really grateful for the entertainment you provided.

[GPSGuided]

SD cards can survive very well under water and I’d think there’s good value if it can be retrieved alone. What’s the depth of water in that section of waterway?

[Warin]

The drowned stuff.
One treatment is to wash it in cold clear drinking water. This helps remove any dirt, salt, mud that may have accumulated. You might even include some soap and a soft haired painting brush. But do a final rinse in plain water. Then some meths to dilute the water and help it evaporate. Air dry in the sun.

I' not hold much hope for any lens - water tends to get inside and the only real way to clean them is complete disassembly, not worth the cost given that the coatings may have been effected not to mention any glues used to hold lenses together.

The SD card may have survived.

The sooner the items are cleaned the better. If left to dry as is then the dirt, salt, mud that may be in the water that things are sitting in will dry to a hard crust and be more difficult to remove. Perhaps an approach to a local museum will get a professional preserver/restorer interested that it could be done with their assistance?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Might want to find it before thinking about cleaning it.... in a river like that it could have washed for miles or be stuck underwater on a log. Flows pretty quick through there. It'd be a great result if it was found.

[photohiker]

Good to hear you are recovering. Sad to hear your photos have been lost in the river and the Journalist wiping photos from the card!

Speaking of videos, long story short a journalist killed deleted the photos of my 128gb full microSD card gopro (as if losing the panasonic was not enough).

MicroSD card doesn't have a lock, but it it is attached to a SD device, it can be locked.
https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/deta ... -or-locked

I'm sure you know about this, but others might not know:



Lock the card before allowing anyone else allowed to connect it to their computer:


Preferably, only give a copy, not the original because the original card could be damaged.

https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/deta ... -or-locked

[Warin]

Might want to find it before thinking about cleaning it..

Umm usually people find things like that, haul them out of the water and let them dry.

And a good deal of damage results.

Best to know what to do if it is found. In the short term easiest keep them wet in the water they were found in.
A 'dry bag' used to keep the water inside with the items would work.

Once home, I'd wash them with the garden hose through a 'shower' spray - carefully. And then follow what I said above.

-------------------
If there is water in the lenses of the camera/video then they are toast IMHO. If the camera has a separate body there will be water inside that too (if there is water inside the lens). So given that condition I'd not even bother trying to clean them to try and save them.

The memory card I'd try to save. It is waterproof from the factory - otherwise the memory would fail. So wash it as clean as possible, then let it dry.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Might want to find it before thinking about cleaning it..

Umm usually people find things like that, haul them out of the water and let them dry.

Ummm really? Do you know the area it was lost in very well? It's not exactly a frequently visited area.

[Warin]

Ummm really? Do you know the area it was lost in very well?

As it was lost when his packraft hit a tree on the water .. fairly safe to say it is in the water
It was, I think, night time. He did search for it, then retreated back. And then came back through the area to progress onwards.
So it is not all that visible, or was not back when it first got lost.

You 'd need to read back through this thread to find it.. it is fairly large but if you have followed it it does tend to stick in the memory.
I'd think it makes a good read, particularly if read in conjunction with his blog.

------------------
I wonder if a metal detector would help find it? Not much metal in present day stuff, and you'd want one that works underwater.

[GBW]

I wonder if a metal detector would help find it? Not much metal in present day stuff, and you'd want one that works underwater.

Goggles?

[louphi]

Update on MadBelgian.com with content and location.
So big black dry bag (20 or 40l) but had 2 large holes in it.
Inside: the blue bag.backpack.
Inside the blue bag, all the content.
The panasonic is in another small back drybag.
The rodemic is transparent sort of ziplog but i doubt very watertight.

[north-north-west]

I wonder if a metal detector would help find it? Not much metal in present day stuff, and you'd want one that works underwater.

Goggles?

A face mask would be better, but it's not a spot I'd care to try to dive.
A lot depends on how close he was to the bank. When the flow has diminished and water levels are lower, it may be easier to find. It may have snagged on something, may have been washed some distance into Lake KW. That's a big area to search, and much of the lakeshore will be hard to walk until the levels have dropped dramatically - which may not be until mid summer.

However, Loopy says the main bag has two holes in it, so it should fill with water fairly quickly and should most likely, therefore, sink close to the point he lost it. Foot search first, then snorkel, although underwater visibility would probably not be much, which means you'd be working by feel.

EDIT: According to the details on his website, this happened north of the bridge, which does narrow the main search area, but you still want to wait until the flow diminishes. Not an easy stretch of riverside to access.

[north-north-west]

The drowned stuff.
One treatment is to wash it in cold clear drinking water. This helps remove any dirt, salt, mud that may have accumulated. You might even include some soap and a soft haired painting brush. But do a final rinse in plain water. Then some meths to dilute the water and help it evaporate. Air dry in the sun.

I've seen the result when metho has been used to dry out digital photo equipment, and it is seldom good. Wash with distilled water and put in a tub with (uncooked) dry rice, which will absorb the moisture.

[GPSGuided]

Suspect the value is in the much more robust SD card and the photos and videos recorded. Those other electronic gears are all replaceable and can be kissed goodbye.

[Overlandman]

See the Mercury Newspaper website has a story on the reward for the lost camera.
“Mad Belgian posts reward for camera lost in Derwent”.
No use giving a link as you have to pay to read it.

Hope you get the info off the SD card Lou-Phi & get some well earned rest back home.

Regards OLM