Maximum fitness for the trip isn’t just about all that gym time. I’ve also been getting myself thoroughly checked over by various medics. Quite apart from generalised worry this involved two big terrors. Would there be enough cash for everything and, most of all, could I face the dentist? First the … Continue reading
I get seasick. Not just a little nauseous, but aggressively, stomach-emptyingly, endlessly sick. I can be seasick in a puddle. Over several thousand sea miles I can grade key trips by their vomit quotient.Top of the list remains Sines to Sines in Portugal when we beat for hours in a … Continue reading
Were there women on tall ships when they were the biggest vessels afloat? The wooden world is often seen as totally masculine, full of Russell Crowe types with their supporting cast of thugs and young gentlemen. It depends rather on both the work of the ship and the country of … Continue reading
Ellen MacArthur smashed the records for sailing single-handed round the world in 2005. She was 29 and she took the 23m trimaran B&Q round in just 71 days. She did not have a safety boat trailing along to pick her up, or helicopters on stand-by, though I’ve heard people mutter … Continue reading
47 days to go! People are asking if I’ve started packing yet.No, I haven’t. Not least because I’m having a party first and I have a suspicion that once packing starts it’s going to take over my flat. I’ve got my new boots of course, and my oilies are coming … Continue reading
Boots have been my biggest piece of new kit required for the trip. I’ve sailed the coasts of the UK every month of the year and have more bits of fleece, oilies and gloves than you can shake a stick at. But boots fit for wading ashore, climbing rigging and standing … Continue reading
Garlanded with honours and academic recognition, French paleo-geologist Claude Lorius still says towards the end of this film that he wonders whether his life will make a difference. He wanders elegiacally through rocks only half covered in ice and stands in the rising tide on some distant atoll, emphasising the ice … Continue reading
Torrents of bandwidth have been dedicated to the Paris climate change conference (COP15). I am not an expert, a scientist or diplomat so I’ve focused on one small question. What about Antarctica, the warning canary of climate change?The standout headline is the commitment to keep global temperatures ‘well below’ 2° above … Continue reading
So the question is: what music do I want on my iPod? There’s going to be times I really want a change from the eerie electronica of much Antarctic inspired music (that’s a whole other post), or the huge library I have of music about sailing. I know there are … Continue reading
Glacial melt isn’t only about sea-level rise. It’s about mud. Sediment to be precise. As old ice melts into the sea it brings down all that stuff it’s been sitting on, the mud it has scraped up and absorbed over decades and centuries. Newly exposed, ice-free beaches deteriorate too, putting … Continue reading
