A science teacher is embarking on a unique challenge to combat the loneliness and isolation of repeated lockdowns during the Covid-19 crisis. Chris “Cam” Cameron, 53, plans to spend two months living alone on Rockall, a barren islet deep in the Atlantic. He hopes to break the record for occupying the sheer-sided chunk of granite and raise money for charity in the process.
Rockall, measuring 31 metres long and 17 metres tall, sits 230 miles (370km) west of North Uist in the Hebrides, the nearest permanently inhabited place. The islet is pounded by intense storms during the winter months, causing the entire rock to vibrate with the impact of the waves. Annexed by the UK in 1955, Rockall sits in rich fishing grounds and has been at the centre of sporadic territorial disputes with Ireland, which disputes British ownership, as well as protests over its potential role in deep sea oil drilling.
Cameron’s goal is to beat the longest occupation record, of 45 days, set by Nick Hancock, a surveyor from Ratho near Edinburgh, in 2014. Cameron has been fascinated by Rockall since Tom McClean, a former SAS member, set the first occupation record of 40 days in 1985. “It’s just an amazing place – the remotest place in the UK,” he said.
Cameron is setting sail from Inverkip, a port on the Clyde coast, with two companions – a radio expert and a mountaineer – who will live with him for the first week to 10 days of his expedition. Adrian “Nobby” Styles, the radio operator, will share Cameron’s small survival pod; Emil Bergmann, a Bulgarian mountaineer and radio ham, plans to sleep outside on a hanging platform known as a portaledge, used by mountaineers to sleep dangling off cliffs. If a storm hits, all three will squeeze into Cameron’s pod.
A former soldier with the Gordon Highlanders originally from Buckie in Aberdeenshire, Cameron’s goal is to raise £50,000 for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. He said the expedition was intended to honour all the seafarers, soldiers and submariners who spent long periods overseas.
Styles and Bergmann will play a key role in the fundraising by broadcasting to amateur radio enthusiasts around the world, working in shifts 24 hours a day for the first week. Radio hams will be sold QSL cards, a postcard-based certificate with Rockall’s unique location code, which confirms they have had radio contact with the islet.
Their chartered yacht, an 18-metre (60ft) boat called Taeping, will remain in the vicinity for the first week before returning Styles and Bergmann to the mainland. Cameron will then be alone, left for two months with supplies, a laptop, a VHF radio and an Iridium satellite terminal, which will act like a wifi router, and a small solar panel to ensure his battery packs remain fully charged.
Hancock has offered Cameron advice about technical and logistical issues. He said the greatest challenge in 2014 was the “mental games” needed to survive 40 days of complete isolation. “Which is why I had planned to do so much: learn to play the harmonica, which didn’t happen, and to speak Italian, and do scientific research. Being busy is probably the best way to combat that.”
Hancock admits he will be disappointed if he loses his record. “I always knew it would probably be broken at some point, but I would’ve hoped it would last longer than a decade,” he said. “But then if Cam does break it: well done.”
Cameron’s expedition is a unique way of combating the loneliness and isolation brought on by the Covid-19 crisis. By spending two months alone on Rockall, he hopes to break the record for occupying the islet and raise money for charity. Rockall is a barren islet deep in the Atlantic, measuring 31 metres long and 17 metres tall, and sits 230 miles (370km) west of North Uist in the Hebrides. It has been at the centre of territorial disputes with Ireland and protests over its potential role in deep sea oil drilling.
Cameron’s goal is to beat the longest occupation record, of 45 days, set by Nick Hancock, a surveyor from Ratho near Edinburgh, in 2014. Cameron is setting sail from Inverkip with two companions – a radio expert and a mountaineer – who will live with him for the first week to 10 days of his expedition. Adrian “Nobby” Styles, the radio operator, will share Cameron’s small survival pod; Emil Bergmann, a Bulgarian mountaineer and radio ham, plans to sleep outside on a hanging platform known as a portaledge.
Cameron’s goal is to raise £50,000 for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and ABF The Soldiers’ Charity. He said the expedition was intended to honour all the seafarers, soldiers and submariners who spent long periods overseas. Styles and Bergmann will play a key role in the fundraising by broadcasting to amateur radio enthusiasts around the world.
Their chartered yacht, an 18-metre (60ft) boat called Taeping, will remain in the vicinity for the first week before returning Styles and Bergmann to the mainland. Cameron will then be alone, left for two months with supplies, a laptop, a VHF radio and an Iridium satellite terminal. Hancock has offered Cameron advice about technical and logistical issues. He said the greatest challenge in 2014 was the “mental games” needed to survive 40 days of complete isolation.