ORION as expedition leader with 100 passengers on two voyages. We had
pleanty of excitement , found the Jap whaling fleet and were able to direct
Sea Shepherd to them , visited Mawson, Scott, Shackelton huts, saw pleanty
of ICE, Penguins, whales, birds, seals, chatted every week to Jessica as she
tackled Cape Horn and passed the Half way mark on her epic voyage, ate loads
of five star food and only hit the gym twice in the past seven weeks,had my
bed turned down every night with a chocolate on the pillow and really
enjoyed the marble bathroom. So now it is back to the real world! I get off
ORION on the third FEB. in Bluff New Zealand and spend all that day flying
home to Hobart. On the 4th I set off in the van driving to Sydney via the
Bass straight ferry and Melbourne with a van load of expedition stuff...
All the other crew are flying in to Sydney arriving on the 5th Feb. Mike
from the UK, Pete from America and Dave from Hong Kong...YES we have a full
International crew and we will put all the details up here in days. Stuart
Kershaw is also flying in from the UK to film 24/7 the three weeks of
training and sorting Talisker Bounty Boat also about to start in days.
This Expedition is about to go live and Blogs will come thick and fast
...you are about to get a blow by blow of all the dramas that Expeditioning
generates, so stay tuned and check in regularly ...from the 5th Feb we come
up every day...later we will have audio grabs during the voyage and soon
video clips.
If you are in Sydney and want to be part of what is going on, we have a spot
for a couple of volunteers for the training sessions in support boats or
assist with final preperations?...you need to know boats...we are based in
Narrabeen so it would be good to hear from you...we are also planning a
launch in Mid Feb which will be a chance for all to come along and meet the
crew and check out Talisker Bounty Boat...Details here latter.
For now...after four years of planning and preperations I am about to move
into the last minute panic stage!! Always happens!!
Bring it on...Don
Posts
2 comments:
Hello Don,
Best of luck in all your endeavors! Supporting MND research is a very worthy cause. My father died of Alzsheimers, another terrible way to go. My condolences on the loss of your friend.
Nice that you are chatting with Jesse. I am a huge fan of hers in Maryland US, and have posted links to your impending adventure, and Jesse's at my blogspot,
http://sabreoneninety.blogspot.com/
I admire your goal of returning the concept of adventure back to center stage in the popular culture/human consciousness. I am your age, 55, and was raised on Aku-Aku, "Half Safe", "Tinkerbelle", Artic adventure stories, etc. My 7th grade teacher was Jesse Hart Rosdail (another Jesse?) who was in the Guiness book as the word's most traveled man.
In 1950, Rosdail rode his bicycle the circumference of Africa, and than rode the circumference of Australia. Before WW2, he toured all the countries of Europe on the same bike,including Nazi Germany! All of his travels were done on his bike "Jacqueline" that he bought for 3 dollars. He was an incredibly inspiring teacher, with amazing stories as you can imagine.
I wonder if you could help with something. I think an incredible thing would be for Jesse to get a call from the International Space Station while she is on her voyage. There is an American astronaut on board from Maryland.
Do you know Paul Scully-Powers the Autralian astronaut? If you did, maybe he could contact NASA, and make a call happen. My friend Aldo from my sailing club often remarks about how Jesse's voyage is like a space mission.
Maybe NASA would like the idea of using the phone call to encourage young people to explore space and be adventurous. He could also maybe IM or email from space, but a call would be much better. I know there might be a concern that, well, they gave Jesse a call, now they have to give Abby a call to be fair, but it is the "International Space Station, isn't it"? This would stress the International aspect.
Again, best of luck with your new adventure! Your new adventure also highlights the importance of people understanding history, and the amazing people that have gone on before. A friend of mine has a sheathing nail from the Bounty that was given to him by a Luis Marden when he worked at the National Geographic. Looking at it makes history real.
Richard Weills
Maryland, USA
Rosdail was one of our neighbors in Elmhurst, Illinois, and my sister's best friend was his daughter. He was mostly legendary to us kids because it seemed he was always off traveling.
John Barber
Seattle, Washington
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