In a bar one night, I met a fellow Australian. His name was Jack. I told him about this ridiculous idea I had… And a week or two later he started filming. Why not? If I failed, it would have been interesting. If it was a success, it would have been even more interesting.

Jack, with as little money as me, kept filming, and this month, two years after I finished sailing and sold my beloved boat Constellation, his film will set sail and begin a life of its own.

Unfortunately due to money, I am unable to attend, however I hope my German friends will get the opportunity to be there on my behalf. Be sure to say hello to my good friend Jack, and please buy him some rum, he needs it. It’s been a hard slog for everyone… Albeit a crazy, enjoyable, mad, wild, insane, and life affirming one. Thank you to everyone for working so hard on making this small idea, into a story which will be shared forever.

I’ve seen this film. And it is a very hard film for me to watch. It’s highly personal. It’s 95mins of Nick. I hear myself, I see myself, I see my mistakes and my weaknesses. There are many things you will learn about me as a person, and about my trip that you didn’t know before. I hope those who are able to attend will enjoy it.

For those not in Berlin, soon enough it will be available to everyone to see via the official website, (hopefully) next month. Stay tuned!

Nick.

Sailing with Tobias was a fun experience, as I’ve never been aboard a large, highly strung offshore racing boat before, as generally I toy around on small, slow, full keeled boats where 5kts is deemed ‘fast’… Tobias is a true waterman, living in a house of his own construction over looking a beautiful bay, where he sails and catches lobster, abalone and fishes for food. A sailor, surfer, diver, and really nice person, Tobias is taking on a huge personal challenge and dream to depart this October, at the young age of just 26. Take a look at his website, send some words of encouragement, and watch his undertaking unfold at tobiasfahey.com.au.

Below are a few photos, and a short sailing vignette as we sailed around Frederick Henry Bay, not far from Hobart.

Nick.

The Canadians are happy to have ice breakers tanking oil through their waters. They’re also happy to exploit the Arctic for money, greedily waiting for the pole to warm enough for their waters to become popular trade routes. The tentacles of government and their ‘Polar Institutes’ are also happy to pollute Antarctica with rubbish and research stations. The Australians and New Zealanders are happy to have Chinese fishermen take rare tuna and sell them to the Japanese. These same nations are equally happy to let the Japanese slaughter whales in enormous factory ships, thrashing through our last truly pristine waters.

However, they’re not happy to have Andhøy below 60 degrees south.

Yet he’s off, aboard what people are naming Berserk III, purchased in New Zealand. From what I can gather, the actual name of the vessel is SV Nilaya, and a quick bit of research pulls up a 54ft steel pilot house ketch, currently for sale within NZ waters. I’m no detective, but I’d say with a fair amount of confidence that Andhøy has purchased Nilaya, and is currently barrelling into the southern ocean, reported to have left on the 19th of January. SV Nilaya is the perfect boat for this voyage, and I hope my connections are correct. At a decent clip, Andhøy would be at the very least 500nm-800nm away by now, far beyond the reaches of anyone. The New Zealanders can search for him with their planes and navy ships, but no one is under any jurisdiction to do anything about it. He’s beyond 12nm ocean border of New Zealand territory, and he’s even outside of the Economic Exclusion Zone. I dare say Andhøy is even prepared to be iced-in this winter, as it’s very late in the season…

Rubbish tip at McMurdo, Antarctica.

Berserk III?

Fair winds Andhøy, and fuck the governmental bullshit spouting from the mouths of the politically correct, conservative and freedom-fucking powers at be. Your institutions have created more havoc on this earth than our restless spirits. My only hope for Andhøy and his pal Samuel Massie: To sink with courage if nature so chooses.

No EPIRB. No rescue.

Adventure and freedom.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get very far. The whole story involves hitting the EPIRB, being rescued by a Japanese freighter, Constellation being towed alongside said merchant vessel, pulling her cleats and going adrift, Dave being picked up by the water police, and a local fisherman salvaging Constellation and requesting a tidy ransom for her return… Read on for the full story from Dave.

This has all just unfolded over the last few days… I went down to see Dave near Wilson’s Prom and see how he was going. Shaken, but otherwise physically fine. Constellation is being held by the fishermen, and Dave is in negotiations to come to an agreement on a reasonable salvage fee. There is a short article in the news about the retrieval here.

Constellation has sustained quite a lot of damage, all inflicted by being towed along the Japanese grain ship, and subsequent salvage. It breaks my heart to see her like this, having traveled with me for so many thousands of nautical miles, across two oceans, and even across America to 10,000ft above sea level, atop a sketchy trailer. She is a true battle ship, and thankfully will live to see another day. Another ocean. Another adventure. But right now she lays alongside an old fishing vessel, as the privateers negotiate with Dave and his understandably emotional and shaken headspace.

Read the full account from Dave himself on what happened here.

There is other damage including broken spreaders, most cleats being pulled off the deck, etc… But I think you get the idea, and I don’t really like dwelling on the photos that much.

RESCUE NOTES

AUSTRALIA-SOUTHEAST COAST.
BASS STRAIT.
DISTRESS SIGNAL RECEIVED ON 406 MHZ FROM 26 FOOT
S/V CONSTELLATION, RED HULL, ONE PERSON ON BOARD,
IN 39-10S 146-48E AT 060727Z NOV. VESSELS IN
VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT,
ASSIST IF POSSIBLE. REPORTS TO RCC AUSTRALIA,
TELEX: 7162025, PHONE: 612 6230 6811,
FAX: 612 6230 6868, E-MAIL: RCCAUS@AMSA.GOV.AU.
(060825Z NOV 2011)

ABANDONMENT NOTES

AUSTRALIA-SOUTHEAST COAST.
BASS STRAIT.
1. DERELICT EIGHT METER S/V CONSTELLATION
ADRIFT IN 39-06S 146-41E AT 061244Z.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 091345Z NOV.
(061343Z NOV 2011)

Tomorrow I return to Europe to see Jack, and will be in Berlin for the first time since I left some years ago to start sailing to Australia. The flight is 8,949.58 nautical miles, which is expected to take a little under 24 hours.

A promotional film poster has just been produced for the film:

I will update with any further news…

Nick.

In other news, I’m experimenting with quick-blogging things I come across at Goodsailor.com.

What do you think? Should I create an offshoot blog elsewhere to blog daily on, or should I do it here? My internal dialogue says this: Bigoceans.com is the personal website of myself, related to my sailing from the UK to Australia. There is lots of personal content, and videos, photos etc… It’s always been a personal blog, and essentially since I am land bound right now, I’d like to write about other things not related to my own personal endeavours.

Plusses for Bigoceans.com: I have a following here. I have quite a few Twitter follows. Lots of people find this site through Google search.

Negatives for Bigoceans.com: Blog becomes too commercial and too broad/general, diluting my own content and site.

Plusses for a fresh blog offshoot: New start, daily content from the beginning, clear intentions.

Negatives for a fresh blog offshoot: Starting from the ground up, neglecting Bigoceans.com, splitting myself across two blogs on a very similar topic.

I need some help! What should I do?

Today it’s a little different. For those that have watched my journey since this blog began in 2006, you may have remembered that I had a Paypal donate button (controversial for some, apparently!). I had asked people who enjoyed my writing, videos, and photos, to make a contribution to keep me going. I figured it was like a voluntary donation for reading a free book… Some months ago, I pulled all the data down from Paypal, and put it in a spreadsheet. I was surprised to see that over my sailing and blogging heyday, I had raised close to $10,000. It only ever trickled in; a few dollars here and there (with a few notable exceptions), but it really added up, and my trip probably wouldn’t have happened without it.

Some may or may not know, that I also work with Roz Savage on her website – Through my company, we sponsor Roz by building, hosting & maintaining the current incarnation of her web presence, which is her primary medium for getting her environmental message out, and maintaining contact with the outside world while she rows across oceans.

With all this in mind, we recently we launched an early release web application to assist in adventure fundraising, coming up with the idea over a few drinks at a dim bar in Melbourne, when Roz flew through en route to Perth and explained her by-the-mile dilemma. The current implementation was rapidly deployed to fit with Roz’s departure schedule some weeks ago – The project is called Nomaddica, and is currently still in private testing, but with any luck we will add features and make it public in the not too distant future. You will see Roz has been using this app to raise funds by the mile for the last several weeks, and has been quite successful… If you’re interested in learning more in the future, sign up by clicking the ‘get invite’ link located on Roz’s project page – Perhaps while you’re there, consider supporting her efforts! You could also contact me personally if you had a specific and upcoming project in mind where Nomaddica might be useful.

And so on the topic of fundraising… My friends Ben & Teresa from the US East coast are raising funds to go on an epic sailing voyage in search of an iceberg, and to make a documentary on sailing, simplicity, adventure and the environment. They’re using Kickstarter to raise awareness for their project, and in just 13 days the campaign ends – So if you love sailing, want to see more documentaries from grassroots sailors and documentary film makers… Then pretend you’re at the Royal Geographical Society, sipping cognac and watching adventurers pitch their ideas at the monthly dinner banquet… And watch their pitch video:

Nick.

Captained by Jarle Andhøy, skipper of multiple wild voyages in polar regions, Berserk went missing while Andhøy and Samuel Massie were attempting to reach the south pole on ATV’s, leaving a crew of three onboard in their absence. During Andhøy & Massie’s expedition south, the Berserk beacon was briefly detected, before going dark… The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, HMNZS Wellington, and Professor Khromov, all spent a combined total of 141 hours searching for the stricken vessel, covering 25,600km2 of water, and finding nothing but an empty liferaft and no further communications from Berserk.

The voyages of the Berserk are legendary… And worthy of remembering as part of the greatest expeditions in sailing history upon small boats. Unfortunately the Sunday Star Times (NZ) wrote the voyage off as a “foolhardy voyage to Antarctica by a group of self-proclaimed Vikings… Which has cost three lives while forcing a New Zealand navy ship and 55 of its crew into savage seas, damaging the new vessel”…

With two ATVs perilously strapped to the deck of the relatively small 48ft steel vessel, Berserk went deep south into Antarctica against Norwegian Polar Institute guidelines, which ‘prohibited’ them from going beyond 60 degrees south. Captain Jarle Andhøy retorted with “we don’t need permission to sail down there.” … And continued the expedition to mark the centenary of Norwegian Roald Amundsen’s South Pole expedition, successfully making the pole as planned.

While critics claim the Norwegians were foolhardy, unprepared, and breaking numerous Antarctic treaties to ride motorcycles to the south pole… I can’t help but feel the clamour of boredom, bureaucracy and armchair criticism over all of this as anything but noise and tiresome commentary. While the disappearance of the Berserk, Robert Skaane, Tom Gisle Bellika, and Leonard Banks is saddening, and most of all, awful for their families, Jarle Andhøy and his merry pirates are a bastion of light in a world full of tedious and heavily sponsored expeditioning, ’cause’ adventures, and everything else that comes along with it… These guys were the real deal, and I think every one of us feels a tinge of envy when we see their lives of madness and freedom – They took a risk, and very unfortunately things went wrong, while experiencing the most inhospitable, beautiful, remote and dangerous place in the world… I believe their ‘failure’ is nothing short of exemplary, courageous, and full of imagination and wonder.

While the official search has been called off, I must admit to still feeling a glimmer of hope in their reappearance… So many things can happen at sea…

‎”When compared to alternatives, what sadness is found in a life truly lived? Hide all ye bastards struck down by fear of living that death has found ye still alive, lest you spoil the goodness in others that is the courage required to whet the appetite of dreams with reality.” -Anon (Care of Bobby).

Nick.

To which I was sent this today from Captain Ted.

Yargh!

Jesse has hopped off to start sailing. Responses to questions soon…

Nick.