Working together we can defend the Arctic and encourage world leaders to take immediate action to end  climate change. We must also insist on new legal protection of the Arctic to protect the environment and preserve the peace. Global warming is a serious problem that cannot be solved by just a few individuals. By inspiring people from around the world, the Polar Defense Project gives us all the power to make a difference.

In 2008 Lewis Pugh kayaked from from the Island of Spitsbergen (in northern Europe) across the Arctic Ocean, into the Arctic ice pack. The expedition journal is below.

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I would like to thank the two remaining members of the expedition team:

Fred Kalborg has been one of the photographers on the trip. He has shown incredible commitment, staying out on the zodiac for the whole day, in freezing conditions, to capture some fantastic images. And Julia Thomas has been the physio on the boat, and has been invaluable for both me and Robbie in easing our multitude of aches and pains each day.

I would also like to thank those critical members of the team who were not on the boat: Professor Tim Noakes, David Becker, Martin Jenkins, Jason Roberts, Daniel Terreblanche, Emily Lewis-Brown, Damien Forrest, Matt Carlson and his incredible team, Jorgen Amundsen, Olivier Muller, Patsy Rodenburg, Nic Marshall and Antoinette Malherbe, Margaret Brady, Peter Morrisey, Amy Benbow-Hebbert, Jude Hosie, Mark Landsberg and Marcus Brewster.

And finally all those who have called and emailed me with messages of support and encouragement.  The support from funders has been critical also. Thank you very much.

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We are back in Longyearbyen and in range of mobile reception. Everyone’s mobile phones and blackberries bleep and ping with an avalanche of messages and emails. We no longer feel so isolated from the outside world.

Call with the PM

We arrived back in Longyearbyen this morning, earlier than expected. We made good time over night, steaming over an ocean flat as a millpond. We are back by 10 this morning. The big event of the day is a call from Gordon Brown, who congratulates me on the achievements of our expedition.The call goes really well. The PM is engaged, interested, and very well briefed. I explain to him what I have seen, and how important I believe it to be that we get the British public to rally behind bold and courageous steps to combat climate change. He agrees to a meeting. I am impressed by him and delighted at the outcome of the call.

Now the real work

Although the expedition is over, in many ways the real work is still to come - my job now is to act as an ambassador for the Arctic, to convey to policy makers the changes that are taking place here. This starts immediately - I am going to Washington DC soon to speak to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. I spoke with Congressman Edward Markey (D-MA) and his team in May, and it was a wonderful conversation - one I look forward to continuing.  Smart people working hard to push these important environmental issues forward.

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This will be one of the last team member portraits for this expedition. I wanted to save the Captain till around this point, as he is a special man. The Captain is called Bjorne Kvernmo, and the MV ‘Havsel’ belongs to him. He has been a fantastic skipper. He has piloted the boat wonderfully - I will always remember the sight of him up in the crow’s nest, thirty feet above the forecastle, directing the boat through the thick ice floes, with the crow’s nest listing dramatically from right to left. And more than this, although he has been a great skipper, he has also been a great team member. When Robbie and I were in the water paddling alongside the boat, the Captain would often come on deck and cheer and clap us along, doing a wonderful jig at the same time. He helped us with the kayaks, with the flags, with virtually every element of the expedition. Thank you Captain!

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I was so proud of the team and the crew yesterday - they worked together so well to assemble and erect all the flags. It took a long time, so it was close on 9pm by the time we had put them all up, had taken the photos, and then taken them down again and stowed them. I plan to use them on my next expedition. We had another fabulous dinner courtesy of Jostein and many of the team stayed up late, celebrating the many achievements of the trip. Everyone is beginning to realise that the end of the expedition is in sight and today, with Robbie and I not able to paddle any further north, we turn the boat around and start heading for Longyearbyen.

Success?

People often ask me ‘Has an expedition been successful? Did you achieve what you wanted to?’ On this trip I am delighted with many things - the fact that we got as far north as we did, further north than anyone has ever kayaked before; the press coverage we have received especially on ITV and CNN; the way the team has pulled together (and this despite the individual team members not knowing each other at all prior to the trip); Robbie; the flags. It’s a long list and there are many more than these few examples. But the reality is I will not fully realise what has been achieved here for many months to come. I have been invited to speak to Congress on the subject of climate change and security next month, on the back of the North Pole swim I did some fourteen months ago. So whilst I am thrilled with what has been achieved on this expedition, as I reflect on it as we head back to Longyearbyen, many of its achievements and consequences will only become clear in time to come.

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Our flags are assembled - we were in awe of the beauty of all the nations colors surrounding us……

BUT…. one was missing!

We took some photos against the flags - me and Robbie, then the whole team. We joke around and do some ice sliding. I notice Robbie was distracted, and walking between the flags, head bowed, clearly looking for something. Eventually he said it,

“Where is the Hungarian flag?”

I stop in my tracks. We all stop. Robbie explains to us what the Hungarian flag looks like, and we all start looking for it in the forest of 192 flapping, colourful rectangles. The truth dawns on us - the Hungarian flag is quite simply not there. I cannot believe it. How can it be that of the 192 flags I bring with me, I have mislaid that of my teammate and friend?

Robbie’s response

Robbie, of course, takes it in good spirit. But I am very sorry about it - Robbie has been a wonderful team mate - hugely supportive, endlessly good natured, humble, gentle, the best kayaker I could ever hope to meet and the best friend I could ever hope to have. I am so lucky that he agreed to come on the trip with me. Robbie - next time, I promise, I will bring two Hungarian flags!

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So, what are Robbie and I paddling in?  We have had lots of email requests from the paddling community, so let me answer them here. We are paddling on what Australians and South Africans call ’surf skis’ (I have chosen to call them kayaks as I was concerned that using the term ’surf skis’ might confuse people into thinking we were skiing up here). These craft are tapered sharply to both ends, are twenty feet long and only two feet wide. It’s probably best to describe them as open sea kayaks - Robbie and I sit on top of them, not in them - this means should we capsize or be attacked by a walrus, we can get back in quickly without having to empty water out of them. It is composed of carbon Kevlar honeycomb, which is incredibly stiff, but also fragile. We have had to strengthen the tips with duct tape and foam, in case we should fail to avoid the ice floes and flotsam I mentioned earlier in the blog. It is also light - each one weighs only about 12kg so we can average 9-10 km/hour. This is the first polar expedition that I am aware of that has used surf skis, so in this, as in other things, the expedition is pioneering.

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The world’s flags…

No paddling today - we don’t find a break in the ice. However, we do come across a substantial ice floe, and I decide now is the time to plant the 192 flags I have brought from London. These flags - of the nations of the world - symbolise the fact that the Arctic, though it is thousands of miles from most of the people on the planet, and though only a small proportion of those people will ever visit it, affects all of us. The loss of sea ice here, if it should continue unchecked, will have far-ranging and far-reaching consequences across the globe.

…are a sod to assemble

So we stop at the ice floe, and start to prepare the flags. This is no simple task - each flag needs to be individually assembled. This turns out to be harder than expected as the flagpole for each flag needs to be inserted into the fabric rectangle that displays the flag insignia. And for some reason, the flagpoles have a bulbous end that makes it close to impossible to get them into the fabric sleeve. The team knuckle down to their task, on deck, in freezing conditions. At the same time, I am on the ice floe with some crew members, using an electric drill to make holes for all the flags. After about an hour and a half of work, and much cursing, the flags are up. They look magnificent. The bright colours flap against the grey and white panorama of the Arctic scenery. The frustrations melt away, and I think it comes home to all of us why we are here.

Leaving no trace

When we return from the Arctic we’ll take the flags with us and leave no trace. But for a moment they stand together, a symbol that we’re all connected to this place.

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We are still struggling to get beyond 81 degrees north. The MV ‘Havsel’ continues to push east in the hope of finding a break in the ice so that Robbie and I can paddle further north. So far, to no avail - we are right up against the edge of the ice wall. My disappointment, however, is tempered by a special sight. Steinar spots an adult male polar bear out on the ice, a couple of hundred meters in front of the boat. For many of the team, this is the first polar bear they have seen outside of a nature programme on television. It is a magical moment - they are such wonderful creatures. This one looks at us with a degree of curiosity, stands up, sniffs the air, pauses; and then pads leisurely on. Polar bears are an extraordinary mix: although huge - adult males typically get to 400 kg - they are as graceful and nimble as a domestic cat. They are also frighteningly quick, both in and out of the water. You can forget outrunning them.

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Team Spirit
The MV ‘Havsel’ is no cruise liner. She is a battered old Norwegian fishing ship with a strengthened hull. Living conditions are cramped - most of the team are sharing small cabins, in tiny bunk beds. The cabins are downstairs near the engine room - they are noisy through the night, so sleep is at best disturbed and at worst impossible. Choosing the right team is always vital, but it becomes even more critical when the conditions are as they are on this trip. And I am delighted with the way the team is working - they are in persistently good spirits, and are pulling together really well. The atmosphere on the bridge, where Phil the journalist and the bloggers have set up office, is great (even if young Branson persistently hogs the best chair).

Team Selection Criteria
I choose my teams with great care on every expedition. I have some constant criteria. First, I am looking for world-class skills: the best skipper, the best pacing paddler, the best physio. Secondly, I am looking for a commitment to excellence - people who won’t put up with anything but outstanding. This commitment becomes - to my mind - a necessity when Robbie and I are risking our lives in the water every day. Thirdly, I am looking for humility - Arctic conditions will not tolerate any arrogance. Fourthly I am looking for courage, and lots of it - not only from Robbie, getting in the ice-cold Arctic sea with me but also from others on the boat - from for instance the skipper as he pilots the boat from 30 feet off the deck in the crow’s nest, swaying perilously from side to side, through crowded ice floes. Fifthly, I am looking for a sense of humour- you need that up here, and especially when things go wrong. And finally I am looking for integrity - I am trying to communicate to world leaders what is happening up here, and I want all my team to do that with total honesty and fidelity to the truth.

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