“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 may come along at some point and attempt to break the forty five day solo occupation
record I recently set on Rockall, and it was for this reason that I had
originally planned on being there for sixty days, in the hope that this would be a
sufficient amount of time to put off any usurpers for at least the twenty nine years Tom
McClean waited for me to turn up. In actual fact, if whoever does attempt this
challenge enjoys the planning, research and experience as much as I did, then I’m
looking forward to following them when they do take Rockall on, and I’ll wish them
well. However, as I know from experience, sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere is not as simple a challenge as it seems.
It now appears that my record might be challenged
sooner than I expected, but my own experience tells me that this task is a
greater one than it appears to the layman: I originally thought I’d be on the
rock with the record broken in under two years from conception; it actually
took me five years of work to break the twenty nine year old solo record.
My initial response, in order to give me
some thinking time, was “Probably not immediately, but when were you thinking
of going?”
This was an intriguing request, and
demanded some thought and perhaps the input of others, so I turned to the
internet and sought the views of my Twitter and Facebook followers, a sample of
whom responded thus:
“No ... tell them to do one!"
“No way. He needs to start from scratch if
he wants to attempt it..”
“It's a record worth going for BECAUSE it's
tough, not because someone gives you half your preparation as a freebie. Help
the chap make a worthwhile attempt by giving him encouragement and information,
if you feel like it, but he needs to source the rest himself.”
“If they are genuine and responsible then
be magnanimous, to a point. Don't start a craze else you might be criticised [sic]
for encourage an inappropriate rush for the rock!!”
“Yes, unless you're going to do it again yourself of course. Someone will eventually beat it, why not be part of the attempt? All the best sportsmen go on to train the next generation.”
“I'd give a Hell No to the idea of
taking the RockPod but limited advice could be good. If only so they don't kill
themselves!”
“you did it all on your own nick start
to finish if you are to be beaten it should be in the same way [sic] I think
friendly advice is one thing but telling them so much that you're doing some of
the work for them is another...”
I think these are all valid points and
they represent a reasonably diverse range of attitudes, that any information provided should be
balanced with the advice that it is only by doing your own research that you
can truly understand the enormity of any challenge and what is required to
complete it safely and successfully.
After my initial response, more detail
followed, with a brief outline of an idea for an expedition and the
suggestion of a start to some research. The outline suggested a different
format, with ongoing support to remain on Rockall for as long as possible,
making this embryonic expedition a very different prospect for the purist, in
the same way that I always wanted to start my expedition by landing by boat,
rather than by helicopter (cost aside), as Tom McClean had done. For me, I
couldn’t claim Tom’s record if I hadn’t landed the same way. By having on going support,
and I may be being picky here, its not the same
challenge.
Anyway, after that thought, someone made me think
about the potential legal liability I might be opening myself up to by loaning or
selling the RockPod on. I don’t know if I would be, but you can imagine someone
out there suing you for providing their family member with a used ‘survival’
pod that didn’t help them survive: a potential minefield! The RockPod was hit
by big weather that I expected to experience and designed for, but at the time I
wasn’t sure if it would withstand any more weather like or worse than I had
experienced, and I don’t know what, if any, structural damage was caused that
can’t be seen.
My final response is below, and hopefully it
satisfies both my wish to help others have a go, but also my insistence that whoever
does eventually beat the record I’ve set does it the ‘right’ way, which in my
mind is the safest and perhaps purest way. It was only by doing the research, brain
storming, meeting and speaking to the right people, reconnaissance, testing,
repeat testing, adaptation of design, failure, and more testing and research over
a period of five years (not the original one and a half I thought it would take
me) that I was successful.
“I've had a think about your requests, and hope
that my record will be challenged one day, as it should be.
“Regarding loan/sale of the RockPod, I'll have to
say no for a number of reasons which include, but are not limited to, its
sentimental value to me and my family, the fact that it may have been
structurally damaged during the storm I experienced, and that although I was
happy to put my own life in the hands of my self-designed shelter, I wouldn't be
happy to allow anyone else, however experienced, to trust my design and
construction skills. That's all aside from the fact that for me a large part of
the enjoyment of the expedition was designing and constructing the RockPod,
which I hope you will enjoy too; knowing the detail of how your shelter is
put together will give you some reassurance when times get tough.
Regarding the provision of information and advice, I
suspect that many of the answers you'll need will either become obvious as you
progress your planning, or readily available on the internet, but if not do
ask.
I wish you well in the planning and development of
your shelter, and look forward to following your progress. If you have any
specific questions, I'd be more than happy to look at them.
Good luck!”
I don’t know if this is
the ‘right’, ‘correct’ or ‘best’ answer, but it’s the best I can offer, and
hopefully it’ll generate some debate on actually how much help or advice you should
give someone hoping to attempt a dangerous challenge that you have completed,
without knowing who they are nor what experience they have. As one follower summed
up:
“Once
upon a time when I was climbing a big hill in the alps - someone asked our advice
on the appropriate route up. The most experienced in our party was polite but
firm and provided what I thought was an unreasonably small amount of info. I
committed to memory this lesson; not to give strangers a false sense of safety
or security. If they don't know, should you tell them?”
As Shackleton once said, "A short cut is often the longest way around."
