Sunday, August 30, 2015

Three days and counting....

Greetings,

I hope this update finds you all well.  The past few weeks were extremely busy with work, climbing, and travel.  Sorry to stop the updates but something had to give and I figured I would give everyone a little break before I bombarded you with updates.  We are heading out late Wednesday night for Dover, England.  I am in great swimming shape.  My body withstood a huge training effort so far and I am now just resting these final few days - with a little swimming thrown in to keep me fresh.  There is nothing more I can do to prepare myself other than rest while I await a long day on the water.  If all goes well, I will be able to swim during my tide.  The weather doesn't look terribly promising but forecasting errors increase the further we move out from the date of interest.  Right now, we are almost 5 days away from the beginning of my tide (Sept 4th).  Cross your fingers and hope for good weather, smooth waters, and a nice tail wind pushing me towards France.

During the next week, I will post updates on the blog.  Kathy will post a definitive update when I start my swim.  She will post on the blog so be sure to follow along here.  The best place to follow my track is on the Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation's website.  They post live tracking on this page.  The ship's name is Suva just in case you wanted to know the specific boat to track.  We will be sure to post as much information as possible.  Due to the nature of the swim, there is no way to give you much notice.  I may have little to no notice before I swim so your alert may be more relaxing than mine.  In the meantime, sit back, relax, and hope for the best.

I promise no earthquakes or avalanches for this adventure.  Thanks to my brother-in-law (Kevin McGovern) for providing me with a little bit of humor prior to this adventure.  Here it is for you all to enjoy....


Three days and counting.  See you tomorrow for more updates.  Time to pack.

Monday, August 3, 2015

More on Everest 2015

Greetings,

While my focus remains squarely on the English Channel these days, I keep getting more new information on Everest 2015.  Here are two tidbits to keep you entertained for a bit.

1.  Wired magazine has a new feature article on Global Rescue and our climb.  Please read the article and be sure to comment on whatever you see fit to discuss.  Here is the link: 

 http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/

2.  I just received a note from Dan Mazur about our permit fees from 2015.  Apparently, the Nepal Ministry of Tourism (and other things) will honor our permits.  Here is Dan's message:

Dear Everest Nepal 2015 Team member,
I hope you are well and had a good July. Thank you so much for joining us for the Spring 2015 Everest Summit Climb.
Soon I will be returning to Kathmandu to lead our Autumn expeditions in Nepal which will be reopening following the terrible events this spring. Pease follow our updates at www.SummitClimbNews.com
Regarding your participation during 2015, Firstly we would like to apologise for the difficulties that were caused when the earthquake of 7.9 magnitude occurred.
The earthquake triggered an avalanche which wiped out Everest basecamp; subsequently 18 people were killed at Basecamp and overall 8000 people were killed in Nepal. Our condolences go out to all involved. As you are aware this lead to the subsequent Nepal Ministry of Tourism's closure of the mountain to all expeditions. 
Now we write to you with good news: The Nepal Ministry of Tourism has said they will offer a free permit to those people whose trip was cancelled due to the earthquake.

Well, there you have it.  Time to head to the pool.