While anchoring was no more
taxing ‘than a nice day in the Solent’ in the light winds he encountered, he advocates anchor watches nevertheless. On-watch crew had extra-long boat hooks to fend off small ice plus a dinghy ready to push away approaching bergy bits. Above all, he says, prepare.
‘Beforehand we realised our standard drills to return to someone falling overboard were pretty slick but there had to be less faffing around getting them out of the water. The amount of time someone can survive is significantly reduced in water that’s zero degrees. When I put a timer on it, that concentrated the mind.’
Think ahead. Minimise risk.
Know the drill. All central to a Yachtmaster instructor’s mindset. It reminds me of a quote by Roald Amundsen when asked about the adventure of his polar expeditions: ‘Adventure is just bad planning.’
Solo challenge Of course, Ella won’t have the luxury of crew. For her there’s just a UK shore team: her dad, a former British Army helicopter pilot, handling weather-routing and her mum, managing social media. She estimates between five and six months to complete the clockwise trip – a start point west of Norway then Iceland, Greenland, the Northwest Passage, Alaska, Russia, northern Norway – and return to Gosport. ‘I’m hoping it won’t be quite that long. In areas of open water I can push the boat to six, seven knots. In pack ice we could be as slow as half a knot.’ She adds: ‘I’m sure there will be
moments where I get frightened and think “Why did I put myself through this?” but part of the challenge – being out there by myself – is what I’m most excited about. I’m looking forward to putting myself through those challenges and coming out the other side.’ Perhaps that’s why Ella has
reached out to Kirsten Neuschäfer, 34
rya.org.uk SPRING 2024
ON THIN ICE In January, Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring organisation, reported that 2023 was the warmest year on record. Temperatures were 1.5˚C above pre-industrial levels. Scientists have found that the last time they hit such heights was before human civilisation began. Such warming is evident in polar regions. The Greenland ice sheet
is currently losing, on average, 30 million tonnes of ice an hour – more than was thought before. And it’s not just polar bears that are affected. As polar ice melts, very cold freshwater enters the Atlantic, making it less dense and causing sea currents to slow. Climate scientists warn flows like the North Atlantic Drift could stop within a century at current warming rates. In addition, white ice reflects light which would otherwise be absorbed into the ocean. With the Arctic warming twice as fast as anywhere on Earth, the loss of Arctic ice could snowball: more melting, so more absorption, leading to greater disturbance of global weather systems. The effect on coastlines, wildlife and communities is inestimable. Sea ice loss will increase activity in the Arctic, further disturbing communities and degrading ecosystems. The current scramble for Arctic oil rights doesn’t bode well to limit fossil-fuel emissions. Ella says: ‘When there are no ice fields to stop polar streams
moving further south, our winters are going to get harsher and colder. It’s not as black and white as saying it doesn’t matter what happens there because it won’t affect me.’
An increase in fresh water from melting icebergs slows the ocean currents that move warm water to colder climates.
Photo: Getty
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