Dr John Harvey, crew 1st leg
When I was a teenager my father gave me advice emanating from his army days, you should never be a volunteer; advice repeated by Spike Milligan in his book “Adolf Hitler – and my part in his downfall”. So I did not volunteer to join the Polar Ocean Challenge, my wife Madame commodore did. A week after she accepted to be part of the challenge subtle exchanges encouraged me to be a volunteer but remembering my fathers words of wisdom I declined. However there are wisdoms and forces in the world more ancient than my dad. How does a woman get a man to do what he has already declined. I find myself sailing into the Arctic Circle mystified about what happened to my never volunteer status.
The never volunteer status gets worse because Madame Commodore was asked to arrange the planning and purchase of food for the Bristol to Murmansk leg of the Polar Challenge. Again forces more ancient than history found me planning the food but it gets worse this non-volunteer offered to do the cooking for the trip. Insanity clearly runs through my veins as buying the food was one thing, but cooking it on an oven system that was more than a little faulty was another (oven inspected by gas engineer upon arrival in Shetland Isles and condemned). Provision plans rearranged to prepare food only on gas rings for the trip to Tromso in Northern Norway. I now take the food trip to the Arctic Circle to have been a success in that in spite of the problems encountered there was always hot food available and no one suffered food poisoning on the way. Not only that but occasionally Ben the fourteen year old adventurer, said he liked what I made; it did not happen every day, but I content myself with he liked something sometime, every one just carried on like troupers.
What now? Well Ros is joining us as Steve leaves (Bens parents) and the purchase of a microwave cooker with a convection oven component will be available for the next leg if we can get the electric generator working, such luxury. So what does the cook think – never but never volunteer, however it has been fun and I have met some very nice people. An old Arab friend told me that the Bedouins believe that you never know someone’s character until you travel with them, so David,David, John, Hazel, Steve, Ben, and Annie so far so good and if my Arab friend is right all will end well.
Dr. J Harvey