Last Minute Media

With a matter of days to go before we leave for Canada, we seem to up a gear and have to pack more into our already busy days.  The amount of things to do continues to grow, but in the midst of it all there are moments of hilarity - and surreal entertainment.  The link below shows a clip of our interview this morning on ITV's Daybreak - and it was a an enjoyable morning albeit early.  Now stand-by for photos of our Daybreak mugs on a trip to the pole!

Northern Exposure On ITV Daybreak

Perspectives - Matt

In the second of a series of blogs before we leave Matt discusses his perspectives on what we are about to do and discusses if his pre-conceived ideas may help or hinder.

"In 2002 along with a fellow Regiment officer I attempted to row across the Atlantic; we were not rowers but approached the entire expedition with enthusiasm and the confidence that regardless of what situations we faced that we would, ultimately, be successful.  Whilst we did succeed in rowing the ocean unsupported, we failed to complete the race we had entered.  But over the course of 78 days 5 hours and 43 minutes at sea we had, what can only be described as, an epic.  But the experience was unforgettable, and one I want to repeat.  At the time I didn't want the experience to end, and I quickly forgot the pain and hardship we had endured on a daily and hourly basis.

Boat Admin

But why work to put yourself through the extreme physical and mental stress?  This is an extremely difficult question to answer.  During the course of the row we learnt to be hungry; we had taken only 55 days of food and I had foolishly thrown some over board early in the journey.  We simply could not replace the calories burned by the punishing routine at the oars, that combined with the constant fear made us feel even more hungry.   We learnt to deal with the pain, the physical discomfort and the seemingly monotonous view from our very small floating home.  We learnt to laugh at the fact that we always seemed to have waves drench us, just as we were about to get into the dry cabin.  We learnt that we actually enjoyed what we were doing and accept that all our days were going to be wet, in fact we learnt to accept that everything including the cabin was going to be wet!  No day was like the previous apart from that we were getting hungrier!  We learnt to appreciate what we were doing and to love the experience. 

We were seemingly alone with nothing to do but row, eat and sleep and not always in that order.  We became so comfortable with our surroundings that conversation wasn't necessary as we had learnt to understand what each was feeling, thinking and about to do.  Our intermittent communications kept us in contact with the outside world, but we started to enjoy the feeling of being alone, as although there were 2 of us on the boat, our punishing schedule meant that we were on our own for most of the time.  We had nothing to worry about, other than the lack of food, the temperamental power system and poor communications kit.  But we were happy in our little bubble, and all the difficulties we were facing were just accepted as being part of our world.  We had learnt to accept the environment we were in and it all seemed to fall into place.

The end of the row - hindsight is a wonderful thing

Or is this a romantic 'rose tinted' view of an experience we endured.  I don't know as it seems like it happened in another life, but what I do remember is the fear during the early days and the hunger in the latter days.  Does this make it any easier for me entering into this expedition?  I really don't know, but at times I wish I wasn't as aware of how the early days of the expedition might be, as my frame if reference is already set. 

What I cannot afford to do is start to write the narrative now of how we (or I) will find those first few weeks.  That narrative will be written by our actions on the ice.  The expedition is something to be enjoyed and not necessarily endured as we chose to be where we are and have worked extremely hard and have been extremely well supported.

I hope you all enjoy reading the narrative of our journey as it starts to emerge in the coming weeks.  And I leave this post with some wise words from John Steinbeck.....

“For I have always…drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed...and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.”  

EXPECTATIONS - Jules

With our departure a little over 2 weeks away, we thought that it would be interesting to sit down and look at why we do these type of expeditions and what our expectations are.  So our posts over the next few weeks should give you a perspective of our thoughts, concerns and expecations.  So to kick off a series of blogs here is the first one from Jules on his expectations.

"Having never attempted or even been a part of a large expedition before the journey so far has been a huge learning curve as one might expect.  The complexity and enormity of this task cannot be underestimated.  It is frightening the level at which it starts to dominate your life; your thoughts, your conversations, your focus, work, social life, even dreams…….or perhaps that’s just me.  The subject of the expedition seems to make its way into almost all conversations, relationships and social events, probably much to my friends’ and family’s annoyance.

In my minds eye, I have envisaged this expedition gathering momentum and interest from various organisations and people, which more recently it has.  It has been a long time coming, waiting for the various elements to start to come together but since the middle of September it seemed we started to ride the crest of a wave with numerous good results on the financial front and on the media side also.

We landed our biggest sponsor, worth £20k (a pitch we had been working on for almost 3 months), closely followed by our second single biggest sponsor of £10k.  RAF and MOD media starting taking an interest, looking in to how they can assist and capitalise on the Expedition.  We eventually found 2 very willing volunteers to take on the organising of the expedition launch party.  They too came with an enthusiasm and energy which was reassuring and gratefully received.

Life at -20

So what did I, and what do I, expect?  I think the work that is going on now by Matt and myself is how I expected it to be at this stage; frantic with numerous issues of scheduling, equipment selection, training, calculating weights and options of logistics, dealing with the media angle, and the final financial elements.  Admittedly there have been plenty of moments over the last 12 months where I have had real doubts as to whether we are going to pull this off.  Mainly concerns with funding.  And now that most of our financial fears have been allayed, and as the start date rapidly approaches, I start to worry more about preparation.  Are we going to be ready, physically, mentally?  As the shift of our focus changes from the financial to the physical and mental preparation, I realise that the next few months will be key to getting ourselves in shape in all respects.  The training programme in November in the French Alps will provide a huge opportunity to put into practise much of what we have discussed and thought of.

Waiting at Portsmouth for another cold dip!

Did I ever conceive that by being involved in such an expedition would lead me to the likes of Portsmouth University to conduct cold water experiments? Definitely not.  Did I think we would be engaged with such large companies for such large amounts of money?  Probably not.  The amount of clothing, kit and equipment we have been loaned, given or sold at a discounted price, has been extraordinary and again something I would not have expected.

I am anxious about the cold – a strange statement from someone who has volunteered himself for a trip to the Arctic you may say!  Frostbite is a fear.  Dan and Amelia, a couple who successfully achieved the same trek earlier this year, managed to survive with no effects of frostbite, so it can be done……I keep telling myself.  They said they were religious in avoiding exposing naked skin, and if they did it was only for very short periods.  Amazingly, Amelia went through the ice at one point wearing no immersion suit and still no frostbite!!!

The joys of cold water immersion.

I think the hardest moments will be in the morning, first thing, when Im going to have to climb out of the sleeping bag into a minus 40 tent!!!!  Stopping at the end of the day, exhausted and cooling rapidly will be a challenge.  Keeping moving, and getting on with the administration required without freezing will be difficult and will, I'm sure, involve me digging deep for that mental robustness.

It is difficult to get a concept of just how miserable moments will be.  I am not naïve enough to think that this adventure will be all fun and laughs, although that is something I will wish to emphasise to Matt – we need to keep a sense of humour and ENJOY this, as much as we can.  It will be easy, once exhausted, cold and hungry, to let our heads dip.  Probably be snappy and short tempered, which many will say is the norm for Matt!  We need to keep a check on reality.  We are here because we’ve chosen to be.  This is an experience we’ll never forget.  We are going to survive and we are going to laugh about this, so lets try and enjoy it and laugh about it now!"

A Year of Training

The first experience of the joy of Portsmouth University Sports Science Department

Running home from London

The Brecon Beacons

A summer trip to the Alps

More fun at Portsmouth

And some more

Sorting equipment

The Brenig drysuit - now we can swim

Evening meal in the Alps

Why we are doing it

Expedition Communications in a plug and play world - Matt

In a world where computers and communication devices seem to work from the box, expedition communications appear very dated (and require patience - something I lack at the best of times). I am sat typing this out (albeit using a stylus so please excuse any spelling and grammatical errors) on an old looking HP iPAQ, on a Word template which I will then cut and paste into the Contact5 software. This will then be sent as a data packet across the Iridium network. Given our IT 'biffery' we will need to do this to both the Blogger site (via email) and to the expedition website via the Contact5 dispatch system. This will then in turn ensure that people will know how we are doing - well that's the plan. It also means the Blogger site will update Facebook and Twitter.

So the upshot is if you are reading this the system has all worked - I will have managed to get everything connected and working. You can also now look forward to more regular posts as the start of the expedition draws closer.