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| Rock on: adventurer to live alone on remote Scottish islet for 60 days | Rock on: adventurer to live alone on remote Scottish islet for 60 days |
| (4 months later) | |
| An adventurer hoping to set a new endurance record by living alone for 60 days on Rockall, a storm-drenched rock in the Atlantic, was given one piece of advice by the last man who did so. | An adventurer hoping to set a new endurance record by living alone for 60 days on Rockall, a storm-drenched rock in the Atlantic, was given one piece of advice by the last man who did so. |
| Nick Hancock, a 38-year-old chartered surveyor, was warned: "You need to enjoy your own company." | Nick Hancock, a 38-year-old chartered surveyor, was warned: "You need to enjoy your own company." |
| Tom McClean, an SAS veteran who holds the solo record by occupying Rockall for 40 days in 1985, told Hancock that loneliness was the greatest challenge he faced, isolated for two months on a volcanic outcrop 230 miles away from the Western Isles. | Tom McClean, an SAS veteran who holds the solo record by occupying Rockall for 40 days in 1985, told Hancock that loneliness was the greatest challenge he faced, isolated for two months on a volcanic outcrop 230 miles away from the Western Isles. |
| McClean lived in a hand-built plywood box, sleeping on top of his water containers and food – including a large stash of Christmas puddings – and kept up human contact by reaching trawlers in the area by shortwave radio. | McClean lived in a hand-built plywood box, sleeping on top of his water containers and food – including a large stash of Christmas puddings – and kept up human contact by reaching trawlers in the area by shortwave radio. |
| Hancock too has made his own vessel. He has nearly finished fitting out and testing a homemade survival pod, built in his garden outside Edinburgh from a modified, bright yellow tubular water tank often used by motorway construction gangs. It is 1.9 metres (six feet) long inside, 1.2 metres (four feet) wide and at just 76cm high, too low to stand up in. | Hancock too has made his own vessel. He has nearly finished fitting out and testing a homemade survival pod, built in his garden outside Edinburgh from a modified, bright yellow tubular water tank often used by motorway construction gangs. It is 1.9 metres (six feet) long inside, 1.2 metres (four feet) wide and at just 76cm high, too low to stand up in. |
| "I'm fully expecting it to be tough," he said. "I'm hoping that by doing my daily tasks fairly slowly, I'm going to be able to keep most of my time busy. I think the worst times will be if I'm cooped up in the pod for several days by bad weather, and I get cabin fever." | "I'm fully expecting it to be tough," he said. "I'm hoping that by doing my daily tasks fairly slowly, I'm going to be able to keep most of my time busy. I think the worst times will be if I'm cooped up in the pod for several days by bad weather, and I get cabin fever." |
| Hancock hopes to land on Rockall in early June and will carry out the last winching tests of the pod with the Scottish fire brigade's help next week before driving over to Harris in the Western Isles in three weeks. | Hancock hopes to land on Rockall in early June and will carry out the last winching tests of the pod with the Scottish fire brigade's help next week before driving over to Harris in the Western Isles in three weeks. |
| His self-titled RockPod, with winching points, a watertight access hatch and windows built into it by Hancock, will be fixed to one of the few flat points on Rockall, a slender area called Hall's Ledge. | His self-titled RockPod, with winching points, a watertight access hatch and windows built into it by Hancock, will be fixed to one of the few flat points on Rockall, a slender area called Hall's Ledge. |
| He has a small wind turbine and a solar panel for power, more than two months' worth of army surplus "boil in the bag" rations for food, a satellite phone and a laptop loaded with e-books to keep him going. | He has a small wind turbine and a solar panel for power, more than two months' worth of army surplus "boil in the bag" rations for food, a satellite phone and a laptop loaded with e-books to keep him going. |
| From its cramped confines, Hancock will update an expedition blog, texting messages out on Twitter and emailing his wife Pam and friends on mainland Scotland every day. | From its cramped confines, Hancock will update an expedition blog, texting messages out on Twitter and emailing his wife Pam and friends on mainland Scotland every day. |
| White-capped by seabird droppings, Rockall is just 25 metres (82ft) by 22 metres (72ft) across, rising 18 metres (59ft) above sea level. | White-capped by seabird droppings, Rockall is just 25 metres (82ft) by 22 metres (72ft) across, rising 18 metres (59ft) above sea level. |
| Best known for its starring role in the Radio 4 shipping forecast, it has been occupied before, most famously by McClean but also by three Greenpeace campaigners, who set the long-stay record of 42 days in 1997 by occupying the rock in protest at oil and gas exploration in the area. | Best known for its starring role in the Radio 4 shipping forecast, it has been occupied before, most famously by McClean but also by three Greenpeace campaigners, who set the long-stay record of 42 days in 1997 by occupying the rock in protest at oil and gas exploration in the area. |
| Alerted by lucrative oil reserves and fishing grounds, diplomats have been fighting over its status for decades: the UK insists it is British and that its ownership is settled. McClean said his occupation there was partly to symbolically cement the UK's claim. | Alerted by lucrative oil reserves and fishing grounds, diplomats have been fighting over its status for decades: the UK insists it is British and that its ownership is settled. McClean said his occupation there was partly to symbolically cement the UK's claim. |
| Fraser MacDonald, a historian who has studied Rockall's history, said this expedition was an echo of Britain's "expeditionary culture" without involving any new discoveries. Hancock's expedition had "clothed itself in patriotic garb and in that sense it inevitably invokes the symbolic heritage of Britain and its empire". | Fraser MacDonald, a historian who has studied Rockall's history, said this expedition was an echo of Britain's "expeditionary culture" without involving any new discoveries. Hancock's expedition had "clothed itself in patriotic garb and in that sense it inevitably invokes the symbolic heritage of Britain and its empire". |
| The last human inhabitants Hancock knows of were a small group of Belgian ham radio enthusiasts, who specialise in broadcasting from obscure islands; they were on Rockall overnight in late 2010. | The last human inhabitants Hancock knows of were a small group of Belgian ham radio enthusiasts, who specialise in broadcasting from obscure islands; they were on Rockall overnight in late 2010. |
| Hancock has run several ultra-marathons and climbed two of the world's seven tallest mountains, but he is a novice at this type of challenge. He admits that living alone on one of the most isolated and smallest rocks in the Atlantic, which can be battered by towering waves during winter storms, verges on the extreme. The challenge is in part a fundraising stunt for the military charity Help for Heroes but chiefly a personal quest. | Hancock has run several ultra-marathons and climbed two of the world's seven tallest mountains, but he is a novice at this type of challenge. He admits that living alone on one of the most isolated and smallest rocks in the Atlantic, which can be battered by towering waves during winter storms, verges on the extreme. The challenge is in part a fundraising stunt for the military charity Help for Heroes but chiefly a personal quest. |
| "I was looking for a personal challenge. It's just something in my nature. I sometimes find ordinary life a bit dull and I like to push myself. I like to find out where my limits are, both mentally and physically, and I think this is going to give me that opportunity," he said. | "I was looking for a personal challenge. It's just something in my nature. I sometimes find ordinary life a bit dull and I like to push myself. I like to find out where my limits are, both mentally and physically, and I think this is going to give me that opportunity," he said. |
| The summer weather around Rockall is generally far more benign than mid-winter. He thinks he is well-prepared: "I don't know what else I can do, apart from pay off the weather gods." | The summer weather around Rockall is generally far more benign than mid-winter. He thinks he is well-prepared: "I don't know what else I can do, apart from pay off the weather gods." |
| McClean, who is now a motivational and after-dinner speaker, said he would be cheering Hancock on, but no one could take away his self-appointed crown as "King of Rockall". | McClean, who is now a motivational and after-dinner speaker, said he would be cheering Hancock on, but no one could take away his self-appointed crown as "King of Rockall". |
| "I'm the first person to reside on Rockall," McClean said. | "I'm the first person to reside on Rockall," McClean said. |
| "I always say to people, 'If you want to do something like that, go and sit in a wardrobe for a week'. | "I always say to people, 'If you want to do something like that, go and sit in a wardrobe for a week'. |
| "I wish him well: I hope he's there for 60, 70 or 80 days. You've just got to relax, chill a bit and get out there and enjoy it." | "I wish him well: I hope he's there for 60, 70 or 80 days. You've just got to relax, chill a bit and get out there and enjoy it." |
| Hancock has been in close contact with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, liaising about rescue arrangements if he falls ill or faces appalling weather. They have reassured him that Rockall is within range of the coastguard rescue helicopters on Stornoway. They have asked him to take a personal distress beacon and emergency flares, just in case. | Hancock has been in close contact with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, liaising about rescue arrangements if he falls ill or faces appalling weather. They have reassured him that Rockall is within range of the coastguard rescue helicopters on Stornoway. They have asked him to take a personal distress beacon and emergency flares, just in case. |
| Hancock has no large support team behind him. Except for the coastguard, his only lifeline will be the Orca III, the passenger boat which will take him from Harris on to Rockall. | Hancock has no large support team behind him. Except for the coastguard, his only lifeline will be the Orca III, the passenger boat which will take him from Harris on to Rockall. |
| His main daily contact will be Ann Parry, who runs a bed-and-breakfast in a forest just outside Glencoe village in the Highlands. | His main daily contact will be Ann Parry, who runs a bed-and-breakfast in a forest just outside Glencoe village in the Highlands. |
| Parry's task, helped by her husband, is to send Hancock daily weather reports from the Met Office, deal with media inquiries and help him update his expedition blog from their B&B. | Parry's task, helped by her husband, is to send Hancock daily weather reports from the Met Office, deal with media inquiries and help him update his expedition blog from their B&B. |
| Hancock calls Parry his expedition manager, and she admits to being nervous. | Hancock calls Parry his expedition manager, and she admits to being nervous. |
| "I'm looking forward to it because it's such an amazing thing that he's doing, and a scary one at that," she said. "But it's fantastic and I can't help but be positive and supportive of it." | "I'm looking forward to it because it's such an amazing thing that he's doing, and a scary one at that," she said. "But it's fantastic and I can't help but be positive and supportive of it." |
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