Sarah Outen

Feb 5th 2010: Goodbye January, hello World

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Hello from February – who saw that one coming, eh?

With January’s swift passage round the first bend of the 2010 track, it felt like it was high time that I touched base to let you in on the plans for my new expedition.

Yes, there is a new expedition. I had thought I would finish off this year and return to the world of teaching, but alas, the call of the wild is too strong to be ignored and with all my school visits and workshops I feel like I am  a teacher, just not in a classroom ( I have spoken to 3,000 children in the last 6 months). So I am heading out to find some more stories and chase some more adventures.

Having spent many an afternoon on the ocean thinking of my little boat tracking across the vast blue, I wondered what it would take to go a bit further. And include green bits as well as blue bits. I wondered what it would feel like to cycle across a continent, and how hard it is to survive in a desert or the mountains. With no land in sight and certainly no people for four months, I imagined the feeling of meeting new people and experiencing different cultures around the world. I wondered what it would be like to start and finish a journey in the same place, and include the whole planet on the route plan.

Since coming back to land I have waxed lyrical about my time on the big blue, and shared my tales of the Tweedles and albatrosses, of sunsets and stars – and I yearn to go back out there, and live on the waves again.

So with all this in mind, my next expedition was conceived: ‘London to London: via the World.’ It will see me set out from London next year and head right around the globe, rowing the oceans and cycling ad kayaking the green bits in between.  Powered by just muscles and chocolate – no engines or planes, no cars or trains. A row boat, a bike and a canoe – and a few changes of happy socks.

More info to follow while  my team (some old, some new) and I  beaver away to oil the cogs and finalise the plans.

Meanwhile, if you think you might be able to help, or your might like to hear me talk, then please wing me a line: hello@sarahouten.co.uk

All salty best,

Sarah

PS Next public talk: National Geographic Store, Regent St, London: February 23rd. 6:30pm No tickets needed – just rock (or row!) up

Jan 3rd 2010: Happy days, happy new year

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A new year, a new decade: how exciting! It’s like starting out on a whole new journey, setting out to row across an ocean or walk across a map. I love the idea of a fresh, crisp diary – even though I have been putting engagements into it for months now – and preparing for a whole new set of unknowns and adventures.  They are not always in salty, muddy or hot, or wet places – sometimes nowhere more extreme than a lecture hall or school classroom – but they are adrenaline fuelled and challenging, nonetheless.

Given that 2009 was a cracker year, 2010 has a lot to live up to.

And so do I. Because I have welcomed in the new year with a fresh ‘To do List’. I turn 25 in May, so there are certain goals on my list below that are time specific to this important year of my life. 2.5 decades – it feels quite pivotal, as though I have something to prove to myself.  Other goals on the list are more just ways of thinking and being, and little ongoing projects which I am starting. Some are based on some of the things I learned on the ocean in 2009 and some I take from one year to the next, trying to put them in to action every day. I struggle with the ‘no chocolate’ end of the spectrum, so figured putting a cap on my chocolate consumption would be a good idea. And what better figure to pick than the ocean munch fest of 2009?

Goals for 2010

(in no particular order)

1. Don’t let the sun go down on dreams and plans ~ Commit, kickstart and chase. Life’s too short for regrets and no one else is going to do it
2. Don’t be afraid of being afraid and unsure ~ it’s healthy. Channel the fear into positive energies and action
3. Share the adventures ~ Continue to inspire folks, especially children, to chase their dreams and live the lives they want to lead
4. Eat fewer than 500 chocolate bars
5. ‘Do something for the wilderness and make the mountains glad’ – spend more time outside and do something worthwhile for nature e.g. pick up litter, volunteer with local conservation group
6. Expand the in-head library~ learn more poetry by heart
7. Make a list each day of ‘Good things about today’. It got me through some low days at sea, when the only good thing seemed to be that ‘today is over’
8. Publish book (finish writing it first)
9. Go cycle touring
10. Improve my sea kayaking skills
11. Capsize less  – Mum deserves a break from the stress!
12. Sit up straight
13. Take a photo every day for a year (Thanks to my friend and fellow adventure nut Al Humphreys for this one)
14. Finish walking the Pennine Way – we started in 2008, walking with Dad’s ashes (this one’s for him)
15. See a concert at the Royal Albert Hall
16. Learn more about British birds that don’t live by the sea
17. Improve half marathon PB
18. Lighten the load, get some headspace – Give away things I don’t need. Good for the soul, good for others
19. Sleep under the stars more often ~ I miss the stars of the ocean!
20. Move on plans for next expedition. Keep blog followers in suspense just a little bit longer until I tell them what next expedition is.

Happy new year and happy days to you all,

S x

PS Dippers will be starting a new life in America later this year with her new owner, and with a new name. More to follow another day.

PPS Details of my upcoming public talks on the front page of this site. For info on booking me in for a talk to your school, club or business then please email me hello@sarahouten.co.uk

Dec 22nd 2009: Looking backwards, looking forwards & smiling for salt water

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Summing up 2009
Wow. Phew! Happy days. Big smiles. Big birds. Big fears. Even bigger oceans. Lots of tears:of happiness and of sadness. Salty. Very, very blue and ever so slightly chocolatey. Amazing.

I know that the ‘a’ word is used too much these days, but I feel that it warrants inclusion in my list of words for summing up 2009 and the decade that it rounds off.

Journeys
Reflecting on the last three and half years since Dad died and I decided to embark on my Indian Ocean voyage in his memory, I see pain, struggles and salt water. I still find it quite hard to take in. There were so many tough times, contrary currents and troughs of despair in these two monumental journeys which make up the biggest challenges of my life.

But I look at the progress too, and see that my family and I have survived and made it some way down our crazy grief roads, and Dippers and I have traced a wiggly line across an ocean. I have also been priveleged to be able to share the adventure; in the last month alone have rowed both oceans again and again with  thousands of people. Who would have thought?

I also see all the lovely folk who have helped me along the way and been a part of my team; my dear and lovely Dippers rocking gently in a bright infinity blue  or surfing down the waves with my Tweedles swimming along beside; happy socks and chocolate on a cabin day; an albatross cruising on the waves at stage left; the iodine stains from where I lost the lid while dousing the ‘lower deck’. I see Bob tucked away in the cabin and I smile proudly at my faded ragged ensign flying gently in the breeze. Thankfully there is no mush in sight, but instead I am toasting the day with a slug of Port from my Little Miss Chatterbox mug. My hair is salty, my face yellow with zinc cream and I am as happy as a Tweedle on a summer’s day. The sun is setting – bright red and fiery to the one side with aubergine blue skies on the other  showing the first starry signs of night. I know that Orion and his mates will soon arrive to stand sentry. It is beautiful and awesome, quite literally filling me with awe. I am at peace and in harmony with the world. It is raw and elemental – just as adventure should be.

Looking back & looking forward
This is the picture show which helps make up my take-home memories of the decade, indeed of my life now. They will nestle between many more great memories of adventures out on the open ocean; of my right-hand man Ricardo; of those first hugs in Mauritius and the crazy post-ocean wobbling of my early months back on land.

My lovely Dad is there too – smiling and probably chuckling, and no doubt shaking his head in amused disbelief at my next project.

‘And what is this next project?’ I hear you say.

Well, for this you will have to wait until 2010.

For now, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my salty heart and my lovely boat, for all your support in helping me make these journeys through all this salt water – of  oceans and tears, of grief and adventure.

Great work, team. Here’s wishing you all the salty best for a happy and healthy 2010 and beyond.

S & D x

PS Team polo shirts now priced at just £15 and little people’s sizes at £10. Hurry to order one for spring while stocks last! (I’m about to take an order from the Tweedles – apparently navy blue is more fashionable than stripes these days)

Dec 3rd 2009: Boobs & boats: Sharing some great energy

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Folks,

If that title  didn’t get your attention, then I don’t know what will. Listen up! This is super important.

The bit about the boat

On Monday I shared my salty tales with a public audience in Oakham – all good fun and we raised some more cash for Arthritis Care, which is great news. My thanks to Oakham School for hosting the event and to everyone who came along.

The bit about boobs

I was particularly excited because a new friend came along and this was the first time we had met. Ever. I have to introduce you to  the inspirational, quirky, wonderful and indomitable Kristin Hallenga of Coppafeel. If you’re reading this with a blank face than worry not, I shall explain.

Back in October I happened to be in front of the TV when the ‘Pride of Britain Awards ‘ came on and instead of returning to my book writing, I sat and watched. And I cried and  I laughed and I shook my head in amazement as I watched the incredible people being honoured on the night. One was 23 year old self proclaimed ‘cancer warrior’ Kristin Hallenga. She is incredible.  18 months previously she had been to the doctor about ‘lumpy breasts’ and was told not to worry. After some time abroad travelling she returned with more pain and worries – but was told it was nothing. A second doctor then diagnosed Stage IV breast cancer. There is no Stage V.  Let me say again – she is my age. 2.4 decades young.

Determined to ‘nip cancer in the bud’ Kris has set up a charity called ‘Coppafeel’, spreading the word that breast cancer knows no age and encouraging young women to check their boobs for oddities. She is undergoing treatment and doing well at the moment.   I dropped Kris a line to send her some salty energy and see if I might be able to help. In doing so, I have landed a new friend and mega source of inspiration. We are planning a couple of joint gigs in the future – more to follow when it’s cooked.

After my talk, Kris and I had a debate. I won. She had told me I was inspirational and I refuted it. For  I draw my inspiration from folks like Kris, those like my brave Dad marching on some painful journeys and those friends of mine battling cancer at the moment – all with spirit and courage and fight.

I am absolutely behind Kris’ campaign and spirit, especially since four women I know have been diagnosed with breast cancer this year. One of them is now trudging through chemotherapy on the long and winding road to recovery.

Please pass the message on: Get feelin’ those boobs and get checked out if things aren’t right. And for some of the most inspirational stuff I have ever read then check out Kris’ site. Amazing.

Salty best,

Sarah

PS  124 days back on land now – the same time I was out on the ocean. Happy days. Less crazy now.

PPS If you are a publisher and reading this and in search of a salty tale, then do get in touch

PPPS  Little sizes of polo shirts now available for little people. 7-8 yrs/9-10 yrs/11-13 yrs  ~ £10 ~ Navy polo, embroidered logo on left chest,  ‘Dream. Believe. Achieve.’ across the back. Email me

Nov 22nd 2009: BBC East Midlands : Monday 23rd November 7.30pm

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BBC East Midlands documentary ‘Inside Out’ will be featuring Dippers and I this Monday 23rd November at 7.30pm (BBC1). Hopefully you will be able to catch up on BBC iPlayer  and I will do my best to upload it, too.  I am a self-confessed technophobe, however, so it may take a while…

This past week has whizzed by in a flash of explorer chat at the RGS, photoshoots in a chilly Rutland Water, lots of travelling and talking, visiting castles and clubs, and some very muddy running. The major highlight was Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening for a fundraising dinner for the Duke of Edinbrugh Award and London Mozart Players. The music was beautiful, the castle every bit the fairy tale that I had imagined and I had to pinch myself more than once to check that it wasn’t just a hallucination after too much bubbly.  And then  my so far loose and dreamy plans for my next project were kicked into reality when I was invited back up to the microphone by HRH Prince Edward, to share my plans with  the assembled guests. I couldn’t refuse the opportunity and so I told them that in 2011 I will be setting off to  – ….! And I’m afraid I’m going to keep you waiting just a wee bit longer before I tell you any more.

Meanwhile, there’s a one-eyed pooch to walk, some fields to go running in, some talks to plan and a book to write.

Until then, all salty best from Dippers and I x

PS

Tickets still available for my talk on Monday 30th November, 7.30pm at Oakham School Chapel. Wing me an email if would like to join us for the salty evening.

Nov 10th 2009: Update & lowdown: Hello November

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Folks, happy November to you all ~

A little bit of a shake down herewith, given that my first three months back on land haven’t provided sufficient opportunities for sending you any great deal of procrastination material. If we reverse the thinking a bit, I remember that three months into the ocean clocked Dippers and I as only just having passed the half way mark after our crazy bit of ocean knitting. And we had just had our first 360 of the trip – the first capsize. In spite of the crazy bits, I do miss the ocean and our simple life on the waves.

Do I pass?

I think that I could just about pass for a fully normalised ‘Real Worlder’. What do you think? Certainly the wobbling, freaking out and derailing happens less frequently nowadays. This is most definitely a good thing as the re-entry to the aforementioned ‘Real World’ has been a great deal trickier than I found the previously aforementioned crazy bit of knitting in the middle of the ocean.

Talking, speaking, talking

Yes, these are both the same thing and I am doing huge amounts of both at the moment, while still being surprised and overjoyed at the fact that I can earn a living essentially from telling my favourite adventure stories. It is great fun, challenging and hugely interesting to meet such very different audiences.  So far I have spoken at corporate gigs, given assemblies to little people through to bigger people; I have lectured to boardrooms and conjured up the ocean in Scout huts; shared my lessons with Executives at business breakfast clubs and eased folks through the post-luncheon haze and  also entertained merry diners at, well, er, after dinner events. Tomorrow I will be in Chester cathedral, next week at Windsor Castle and the following week back in my beloved Oxford. Each day is different and I am loving the challenge of tailoring my tales to the varied groups.

Please email info@womenspeakers.co.uk if you are interested in getting me in to share some salty tales with your crew. The story is so versatile that any message can be woven in, so long as it is not about reducing chocolate consumption. That would be too tricky.

Writing

It is a fickle world, this literary one and the much-dreamed of advance is still only hypothetical and much dreamed of. As such, I am taking the opportunity to keep my bank manager happy by the more immediate rewards obtained from speaking engagements. Fear not, we’re still aiming at a publishing date to tie in with the one year anniversary of the row, so you should have some reading material for the summer holiday.

Documentary

We are currently pursuing alternative funding routes as the TV world is at least as fickle as the literary world and it looks like the best option will be to produce independently. If any corporate or individual is interested in the soft sponsorship of the documentary, which will be sold to broadcasters across the globe, then please email me (hello@sarahouten.co.uk).  The race is on to raise the capital before history gobbles up the living memory into the recesses of yesteryear.

Salty best,

Outey Toot Toot x

The PS Brigade

And finally, the much loved PS Brigade – singing their post scriptum notes in fine fettle, as always:

PS   30^th November: 7.30pm:  Oakham School Chapel: A full length fundraising talk by Dippers and myself, complete with slides and video. Tickets available via hello@sarahouten.co.uk or by calling 07916 167540

PPS   23^rd November: 7.30pm : BBC 1 East Midlands Today. A little documentary about Dippers and I adventuring on the high seas.

PPPS   Parents, please don’t blame me when the little people say that they want to try their hand at eating five hundred bars of chocolate.

PPPPS Super pleased to report that the holes in Dippers’ hull, sustained during our reefy episode in Mauritius, are only cosmetic. She is now resting quietly, while being used for occasional photo shoots. Results from the shoots will be released in due course, but they are all quite secret at the moment.

PPPPS Very exciting news from the ocean last week : the Rt Hon Monsieur Tweedle le Grand sent me a  finmail to let me know that he and the others were now back in Perth for the summer. They send their scaly best.

Oct 31st 2009: Public Lecture: Monday 30th November, Oakham

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‘Solo Across the Indian Ocean’

Monday 30th November

7.30pm

Oakham School Chapel

Tickets £8/6*  from hello@sarahouten.co.uk

*20% of all ticket sales will go to Arthritis Care

PS

Life trucking on busily with talks &  book writing & various interesting meetings – more on this another day

PPS

Childrens’ polo shirts available to order very soon – make sure you order in time for Christmas (both  for little people and big people)

PPPS

Dippers sends her love, as always

Oct 20th 2009: Whirlwinding through October

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – this land lark is a bit crazy at times. It has been a busy time of late…

The past week has been fairly hectic, but full of lots of good things: Like attending the Women of the Year Lunch in London and meeting some incredible women;  yomping up High Pike in the Lake District on my three days of ‘resting’; the ocean party and a day at St Edward’s School yesterday. Talks are being booked up and all is good, though I’m not quite sure when I’ll get chance to sit down and write this book!

Post ocean party

Huge oceanic sized thank you to the staff and management of Brook Hotels for hosting such a wonderful ocean party for me and a veritable crew of Tweedles at the Whipper Inn at the weekend – my only regret is being too busy talking to folks that the delicious buffet almost completely passed me by. It was a feast fit for Neptune himself – really super delicious.

Talks, talks , talks

Just waiting for the final totals for Arthritis Care from the talk at St Edward’s School yesterday in Oxford, but it’s looking great. My thanks to everyone for coming along, laughing in all the right places and for the folks of St Edward’s for looking after me during the day. I enjoyed it, so I hope you did, too.

Don’t forget, if you would like to book me for a talk to your school, club, business or even breakfast meetings (!) then please wing me an email and we can hook up for some tales from the sea.

Until the next time,
Outey Toot Toot x

PS Team polo shirts selling like hot cakes and I strongly advise some speedy ordering if you would like to join the team. 100% cotton polo with neat logo. Free delivery worldwide. Click here

PPS Your very own piece of ocean rowing scrawl/kit. I have an idea: The writing in my cabin and all over my boat, might make cool pictures. And the various bits of ocean kit might make an interesting display for an office or school or gallery.  Suggestions on whether folk think it might be viable for me to photograph the messages and make some prints or on whether some sort of online auction of ocean kit might be a goer, would be much appreciated.

Oct 10th 2009: Ocean Party : Full Boat

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Folks,

We now have  a full boat for the Ocean Party so if you’ve not RSVPd to me already then I’m afraid you’ve missed the boat. Fear not, there will be further opportunities to meet Dippers and hear some ocean tales.

Fear not some more if any of you  have been puzzled by my local and faithfully misprinting papers  this week  – contrary to what they would have you believe, it is not a public free for all, it is not at the Hornblower and it is not even something they should have been printing. Media, eh?!

Dippers was admired yesterday by all the children at  Stamford Junior School (my old place) where we spent the morning talking about our adventures. Lots of very intrigued little people, and one very concerned little girl worried about whether I knew the results of X Factor, on account of my ocean wandering. I stifled a chuckle – I wouldn’t even know who it was even if I had been on land!

Favourite questions, rather unsurprisingly, revolved around toileting facilities and capsizing terrors and there were more than a few shocked faces at both my methods for washing clothes and the numbers of chocolate bars stowed and eaten during the voyage. Happy to report that both the Tweedles and my albatross friends have a new band of ardent admirers and Dippers a whole new Appreciation Society. Parents of these children be warned: when asked by the Headmistress who thought  they might like to row across an ocean one day, there was about 90% take up by one class!

Yours in thinking-about-my-outfit for the ocean party,

Outey Toot Toot x

PS : The team t shirts almost arrived yesterday, but my instructions hadn’t made it to the delivery dude and Bonnie’s signature obviously wasn’t good enough, because they were taken away again. They will be with you before the next millennium, I promise!

Oct 4th 2009: Public Lecture : The North Wall, Oxford, 19th October

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Dippers would like to invite you to our first public lecture since the ocean, hosted by St Edward’s School at The North Wall, Oxford. Dippers will be on display. All proceeds towards my supported charity Arthritis Care.

Monday 19th October 7.30pm

Tickets £8/£4 concessions

Available from: www.thenorthwall.com

See you in Oxford.

S & D x

PS: Team t-shirts should be arriving soon – delay at the embroiderers,apologies. Click here to order your very own.

PPS: Girl in a Boat ocean footage

PPPS: Life trucks on – busy but good. More news when there is something concrete to share.