Day
8:
End in
sight
I was so proud of the
team and the crew yesterday - they worked together so well to assemble and erect
all the flags. It took a long time, so it was close on 9 pm by the time we had
put them all up, had taken the photos, and then taken them down again and stowed
them. I plan to use them on my next expedition. We had another fabulous dinner
courtesy of Jostein and many of the team stayed up late, celebrating the many
achievements of the trip.
Everyone is
beginning to realise that the end of the expedition is in sight and today, with
Robbie and I not able to paddle any further north, we turn the boat around and
start heading for
Longyearbyen.
Success?
People
often ask me 'Has an expedition been successful? Did you achieve what you wanted
to?' On this trip I am delighted with many things - the fact that we got as far
north as we did, further north than anyone has ever kayaked before; the press
coverage we have received especially on ITV and CNN; the way the team has pulled
together (and this despite the individual team members not knowing each other at
all prior to the trip); Robbie; the
flags.
It's a long list and
there are many more than these few examples. But the reality is I will not fully
realise what has been achieved here for many months to come. I have been invited
to speak to Congress on the subject of climate change and security next month,
on the back of the North Pole swim I did some fourteen months ago. So whilst I
am thrilled with what has been achieved on this expedition, as I reflect on it
as we head back to Longyearbyen, many of its achievements and consequences will
only become clear in time to
come.
Crew
member: the Captain
This will
be one of the last team member portraits for this expedition. I wanted to save
the Captain till around this point, as he is a special
man.
The Captain is called
Bjorne Kvernmo, and the MV 'Havsel' belongs to him. He has been a fantastic
skipper. He has piloted the boat wonderfully - I will always remember the sight
of him up in the crow's nest, thirty feet above the forecastle, directing the
boat through the thick ice floes, with the crow's nest listing dramatically from
right to left. And more than this, although he has been a great skipper, he has
also been a great team
member.
When Robbie and I were
in the water paddling alongside the boat, the Captain would often come on deck
and cheer and clap us along, doing a wonderful jig at the same time. He helped
us with the kayaks, with the flags, with virtually every element of the
expedition. Thank you Captain!