If the Treaty dies, the continent dies. When treaties are broken, people die. Treaties are agreements between those sovereign figments of our collective imagination, the nation-state. Itself an Enlightenment child, the ‘nation’ is our fundamental global organising principle. For the lucky majority, our nationality is the ground on which we … Continue reading
Sight, language, reference and memory are contingent, rely on our agreement to shared understandings. Does what I see differ from what you see? You may read that number-plate which is a blur to me, or I think this scarf is green when you insist it’s blue. Yet the interior experience … Continue reading
R is for rope. The rhythm of coils passed hand to hand, or turned upon the deck in line with the lay. Wrapped round and hung, ready to hand, on pins and cleats, belayed and standing-by for work. Rope is part of the trinity of sail and hull harnessing the … Continue reading
Query Island is a pimple in the ice at nearly 69° south, its existence a question till 1948. The Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (predecessor to BAS) named it recognising the difficulty of distinguishing it from the mass of the Peninsula. That’s science for you: honouring the question. The ‘scientific method’ has … Continue reading
Fear and silenceWhen I started this blog, I said it was about fear. My fears around mast climbing and seasickness and writing honestly.So why have I been so quiet recently? Why not write about the wide horizons and storms and excitements? Has life just got in the way? What’s wrong … Continue reading
A friend asked the other day what ‘being on watch’ meant. I talked about the looking out for ice, the rope pulling and, of course, taking the helm. She was astonished. ‘You actually steer the ship?’ I nodded, enjoying the moment, and remembering how astonishing it was.The first glimpse of the … Continue reading
Giant icebergs range a long way from home, from their roaring, growling birth. Pushed from glaciers out to float, maybe part of an ice shelf before splitting into massive ice cubes walking across the horizon in dazzling summer light, silent amongst the drifting brash ice. Continue reading
I have found it hard to start writing the second half of the trip, the days crossing the South Atlantic from South Georgia to Cape Town. Life intervenes of course: work and friendships and other adventures. Plus procrastination and fear, the writer’s ever-present comrades.When I started I said this was a … Continue reading
Let us sound the battle-cry for #penguinrights. Suppose penguins took us humans to court for destroying their habitat? Suppose they won? I am not talking only of animal rights, or even land rights, but earth rights. Penguin power is habitat corpus: the battle to protect an ecosystem – a place … Continue reading
Oil drips down the trypots and the rigs. It oozes in tarpits, welling up from the ground, the black gold of fantasy released by water under pressure, the raw hydraulics of fracking. The revolution relies on the stuff; prosperity and peace rise with carbon dioxide released into air and ocean. … Continue reading
