Vessel and crew required for charity expedition to Rockall

[nhancock]

Hi, I'm planning an expedition to Rockall (www.rockallsolo.com) in aid of Help for Heroes, and am looking for a yacht or motorboat and crew who are willing to take me and my equipement out there, drop me off, help me land my kit, then return 60 days later to pick me and my kit up again. This might suit someone who is planning to cruise the west coast and islands of Scotland in the summer, or a longer trip to Iceland/Greenland and back. I'm ideally looking to go next spring/summer (2012), preferably towards the end of May and coming back around the end of July. If you can help, or know someone who can, please email me: nick@rockall2011.com . Many thanks in advance, Nick Hancock

 

[snooks]

I can't help, but have a bump on me

 

[Lady Campanula]

You should perhaps be aware of this:

Our mailing address is:
Round Rockall Race
Rockall Race HQ
Galway, Gaillimh 00000​

You may have some company....

 

[SAWDOC]

You should perhaps be aware of this:

You may have some company....

I'm sure he is - the OP gets a mention here

http://www.roundrockallrace.com/2011/07/expedition-news/

 

[shaxi]

i like to watch the race ,hope that will be wonderful !

 

[Evadne]

Good luck! Rockall is a fearsome rock to think about approaching, even in calm weather. It's been many years since I worked up that way but I remember the seas and the winds right enough.

 

[Lady Campanula]

I'm half-interested, but can't be bothered with all that ISAF OSR Cat 1 Regs 'jobsworth' nause....

....but the craic and parties in Galway should be worth the effort.

 

[prv]

I'm half-interested, but can't be bothered with all that ISAF OSR Cat 1 Regs 'jobsworth' nause....

So sack the racing and use the excuse of delivering this modern-day hermit to his rock in order to get involved?

If I lived in that part of the world and had a suitable boat I might possibly be interested - but the biggest issue for me would be that having got him there, you then have an obligation to get him off again.

Pete

 

[flipper]

He's probably better off trying to get a lift from a trawler. How he lands is another matter though...

 

[Kelpie]

If he can wangle dual Anglo-Spanish citizenship that would make it easier to persuade a trawler to deposit him.

 

[prv]

How he lands is another matter though...

Somewhere on (or linked from) that site is a video of a previous landing in (I think) the 80s. A fishing boat launches an inflatable, and the guy jumps from that onto the rock. It looks like they might have fixed a plywood platform at the bow of the boat for him to get a good jump from. He gets swept off by a wave the first time, and recovered by the boat (don't think he was wearing a lifejacket, commentary says he was nearly drowned). After a cup of tea on the trawler he has a second attempt, and manages to climb above the wave line before a big one comes in. It sounds like a spotter on the mothership is telling them what the waves are doing by radio - I guess from the leeward side of the rock the inflatable can't see what's coming up next.

Once he's at the top of the rock, they set up a line from him to the ship for him to pull all his gear ashore. The video doesn't show this being set up, so don't know if he carried the line up with him and threw it down for the inflatable to pick up, or if a line was launched (presumably by rocket) up to him. They can't (don't try to) get enough tension on the line to fly the kit through the air, it all gets dragged through the water and then up the side of the rock.

An interesting operation to run, but certainly not without its risks!

Pete

 

[sarabande]

I thought the met electronics on Rockall needed replacing from time to time. Get a lift from the helo that services them ?

Not quite so much fun, though.

 

[prv]

I thought the met electronics on Rockall needed replacing from time to time.

I don't think there are any.

On the guy's site he says he asked Trinity House about hitching a lift when they service their "beacon" on the rock (not sure exactly what kind of beacon they mean). They replied that it was blown off the rock two years ago and they have no plans to replace it.

Pete

 

[Erik C]

In Google images you can see waves completely washing over the island. There might not be as many storms in the summer but still...

 

[Sybarite]

...then return 60 days later to pick me and my kit up again.

Give or take a month?

 

[Erik C]

This storm that's going on seems to hit the rock square on, with a predicted wave height as high as the rock itself. Without any shelter available it would be a bad place to be right now.

 

[bikedaft]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2970276892066935736#

that's the landing vid - think he had crampons on, stood on a ply triangle on the bow of rubber dinghy! hat off to the guy

if nav lights keep getting knocked off, not sure about a living pod bolted to the rock, but probably ok in the summer? good luck

 

[ms.lau]

yes, i'd be interested. i've got a boat and i'm expecting to be free next summer. i'm in bristol and would want help to get the boat up there. she's a fastnet 34, good solid boat, class of '79. not as wet as some might have you believe

it could fit in with my plans very well. but no worries if you get a better offer.

laura

 

[Kelpie]

Presumably Mr Hancock will be taking something like a steel cubicle that he can bolt down to the rock and live inside. Hope you have plenty of deck space!

 

[ms.lau]

cramons???

re. the vid: as a climber i can only wonder at the stupidity of wearing crampons in an inflatable boat when they're only of any use when climbing ice.

i hope this isn't the training video you're using. my dinghy is not to be used. crampons may not be worn on my boat.

laura