tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45933115235003387822024-03-06T00:11:53.837+00:00Rockall Solo Endurance Expedition in aid of HELP for HEROESNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-26187697638791053462014-09-03T21:38:00.000+01:002014-09-03T21:38:26.147+01:00The expedition/RockPod advice conundrumSo, I got an email out of the blue the
other day from someone I don’t know, and for whom a quick Google search
revealed no information. It simply asked:
“whats the status of your rockpod? Is it
available for loan/hire/sale for another Rockall occupation attempt.?”[sic]
This posed a deeper question that I thought was perhaps worth a blog:
I have obviously considered the fact that
someone Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-12897013833672369572014-07-28T15:34:00.001+01:002014-07-28T15:34:50.925+01:00Final Expedition Blog - posted in The Guardian<!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <!-- <![endif] -->   If you didn't see it then, this is the final expedition blog which was posted in The Guardian last week:Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-10953247950361359672014-07-17T18:15:00.001+01:002014-07-17T18:15:06.676+01:00Final blog from the rock <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- <![endif] --> On Sunday I had some poor weather, coming from the south as it was meant that I had no shelterNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-87383396390907024462014-07-10T18:03:00.001+01:002014-07-10T18:03:27.405+01:00Blog Day 36 <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- <![endif] --> I've been waking up earlier in the mornings since the storm, and this morning was no differentNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-40115098566435831242014-07-04T18:00:00.001+01:002014-07-04T18:00:14.435+01:00Day 30 <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <!-- <![endif] --> Today should have been a bigger milestone than it actually is due to the events of this week. I should have been celebratingNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-65455799230898685092014-06-28T18:10:00.001+01:002014-06-28T18:10:16.548+01:00Calm before the storm? <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- <![endif] --> I've recently had a couple of nights of not sleeping at all well, being awake until after Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-48489273038377404882014-06-25T18:06:00.001+01:002014-06-25T18:06:42.486+01:00Day 20 <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <!-- <![endif] --> (Just in case you didn't see my Twitter link to my blog on The Guardian's website yesterday, they very kindly published the Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-12350655709067644902014-06-17T18:01:00.001+01:002014-06-17T18:01:22.388+01:00Into the mist... <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- <![endif] --> The days are fairly quiet now, and I suspect will only get slower, hence the lack of a blog Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-87604127437542096672014-06-14T18:05:00.001+01:002014-06-14T18:05:51.681+01:00Day 10 <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE <!-- <![endif] --> In bird news, I had an arctic tern hovering over the rock the day before yesterday, which was pretty exciting, and in the Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-62404320094049389912014-06-10T18:38:00.001+01:002014-06-10T18:38:58.504+01:00Twitching <!-- [if gte mso 9]> --> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <!-- <![endif] --> First of all, apologies for the lack of photos on my first blog. I had a very weak satellite Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-10582856059797102402014-06-08T15:34:00.001+01:002014-06-08T15:34:20.012+01:00First blog from Rockall It's been an eventful first few days. The landed went well, we arrived onsite around 0630hrs after 15 hours cruising in reasonable weather. Myself and Ruaridh landed and made our way to the top where I rigged the ropes and we hauled up the extra rope bags and Portable Winch. The winch wouldn't start as being bounced around on the haul had caused oil to leak into the cylinder, but R got that Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-34339345282559037002013-05-31T17:44:00.001+01:002013-05-31T17:44:54.602+01:00Blog: DisappointmentIt was always going to be about the weather.We had to think long and hard whether the window we had to get me and all my kit out to and then onto Rockall would be big enough. We knew that the swell may also be a deciding factor, and in the end it was.Having arrived on site, in the dark, at around 0100hrs, after leaving Leverburgh on Harris at 1130 the previous morning, we circled for a couple of Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-65747434413313621072013-05-05T10:13:00.002+01:002013-05-05T10:16:06.935+01:00The RockPod process
As I'm being asked increasingly about the construction of my RockPod shelter, I thought I would write a blog update describing how it was 'designed' and built:
The idea for a rigid shelter rather than a tent or something similar was made at an early stage of the process and was dictated by the weather conditions on Rockall, and also by using the experience of the previous partiesNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-55850266669009223822013-04-28T20:22:00.001+01:002013-04-28T20:22:23.557+01:00One month to departure!
Today, and I can hardly believe I’m
typing this, it is exactly one month until I leave for Leverburgh on Harris to
await a suitable weather window for departure and a hopefully successful
second landing on Rockall. I can hardly believe it, as it’s been such a long road to this
point, which has suddenly arrived out of no-where!
I have been very lucky, particularly
this year, in having Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-91384357989044668842013-03-21T20:16:00.003+00:002013-03-21T20:16:45.533+00:00Moving forward
A major step forward has occurred since the last blog post: I now have all the transportation confirmed for the expedition. This includes Orca 3, operated by Kilda Cruises, which will take me from the Isle of Harris (Outer Hebrides) to Rockall; the previously agreed ferries, operated by CalMac, which will take me from Skye to Harris; and now Northgate Vehicle Hire have kindly Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-65254339899496167102013-02-13T19:48:00.000+00:002013-02-13T19:48:03.146+00:00Things keep getting better!
The great news is that, following a presentation to the Kukri Adventure Scholarship panel at the Royal Geographical Society in London on Friday, I was awarded part of the inaugural scholarship fund along with four of the other entrants.
This unexpected injection of cash to the Rockall Solo coffers, along with the recent donations from LPG Exceptional Energy and Calor, Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-28357750245792275292013-01-23T20:56:00.002+00:002013-01-23T20:56:23.875+00:00Lots and lots happening!
Well its 2013 and this is the start of the fourth (or is it fifth) year of trying to get this expedition off the ground. However, things are looking really good for a positive outcome this year (as always dependant on the weather!).
The first thing that happened at the start of the year was that, thanks to a suggestion by my sponsor Exceptional Energy, Calor have agreed to become a financial Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-25265339944172522492012-12-10T20:35:00.001+00:002012-12-10T20:35:15.114+00:00Massive leaps forward!
Well, in the continuing theme of throwing mud at walls, it just goes to show that you should never give up (something that I might need to keep in mind whilst on Rockall!) In a somewhat random move, I 'Googled' people with the surname Rockall who might have a link with the expedition. As luck would have it, and following a letter to Paris, James Rockall, CEO of the WLPGA 'got' the Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-27384158081274724332012-11-08T22:02:00.000+00:002012-11-08T22:02:25.096+00:00Nothing ever goes quite to plan!
I had intended to update my blog last Sunday with a (hoped for) tonne of good news. As it happened, things didn't go quite to plan, and after a day off work with bad guts, it is only today that I'm not heading to bed early and I get the chance to update the blog.
So, I had hoped that by the end of last week I would have agreed with a van hire company, whom I am still in discussionsNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-30485645847930727402012-10-29T20:46:00.000+00:002012-10-29T20:46:30.592+00:00Not quite begging, but not far off...
Chasing funding for my expedition has been an ongoing issue since the initial concept back in 2009. The original aim was to head out to Rockall in 2011 for the two hundredth anniversary. However, there was no money available so soon after the 'credit crunch'. Postponing, and aiming to go instead in 2012, pushing hard for funding had more success with a family friend pledging a quarter of the Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-33446510274633939702012-09-25T21:07:00.002+01:002012-09-25T21:07:58.073+01:00Seeking funding...
Following the successful reconnaissance in June, and having sent the
first Tweet from Rockall wishing Her Majesty The Queen a Happy Jubilee
weekend, I received a letter last week from Balmoral congratulating me on reaching
the summit of Rockall!
Having completed the post expedition administration, and having launched a new format website at
www.rockallsolo.com,
which Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-71690376559930553022012-08-08T20:31:00.002+01:002012-08-08T20:31:44.033+01:00Still moving forward, slowly...
Well its been just over two months since I landed on Rockall, and things, as usual, have been bubbling along in the background:
I am in the process of writing an expedition report for the landing in June, which I will eventually submit to the Royal Geographical Society, and will upload to the www.rockallsolo.com website once it's finished. I have also set up The Rockall Club (Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-54986728742140052212012-06-21T13:41:00.000+01:002012-06-21T13:41:50.742+01:00Jubilee Expedition SummaryThe original aim of my expedition to Rockall,
250 miles off the Outer Hebrides in the North Atlantic,
was to land and stay for 60 days, setting two new occupation records and in
doing so, raise funds for Help for Heroes. Due to the economic climate
resulting in a lack of funding, the main expedition was postponed in March this
year. However, at the end of May, I set off on a Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-44824732584014323052012-06-02T18:03:00.001+01:002012-06-02T18:03:47.697+01:00Rockall landingWe finally got on the boat and left for Rockall at 0230 Friday morning.We finally sighted Rockall at about 1430 hours from about 9 miles out, but it still look another half an hour to draw closer, during which time Bob, Nick, Pete (crew) and I were donning dry suits and making sure that all the gear was all in the tender.Once we were close enough, the RIB was lowered off the back of Orca3 and we Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4593311523500338782.post-31668377953083411082012-05-31T22:51:00.001+01:002012-05-31T22:51:23.201+01:00Disappointed, yet positive...So, day three in Harris and I was all set to depart this morning for Rockall. I started the day with a live interview for Good Morning Scotland, which was thankfully brief as it was my first live interview, but I forgot to mention Help for Heroes and the expedition website. Such a professional!Next was sorting kit a final time and breakfast. Off I went down to the jetty, all positive and raring Nickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16173954235639753586noreply@blogger.com0