My Mobile Hut project

In order to present as complete a blog as I can of citizens of the Frontier or at least the left - field, I had better add this reference to the year (2005) when I lived in a 7' by 4' box trailer. My days of hanging out in the ocean are long behind me, and even then I had no desire to live the experience alone. Nowadays I am happy to sit in my hut and look out at it from there. The hut project was partly an exercise in living in as basic and minimalist style as possible, while still being able to engage in a professional business, job or trade profession, and without looking or behaving like a homeless hobo after any length of time; ie its not hard to do for a few days or a week or two, but its worth going through at least 4 seasons in order to get a proper picture. I remember being inspired by Steve's Behemoth bicycle and the Microship vessel, and deciding to do something far more simplistic and bereft of as much gadgetry and mod-cons as possible. Somehow a portable black and white TV still crept in for a while though. I suppose that the modern thing to do would be to set up a website to more fully document the project. I shall add that item into the "Things To Do Real Soon Now" basket.

Steven Roberts: Nomadic Research Labs

This is the first "Last Great Frontiers -man" that I read about on the 'net several years ago. He seemed to be into a sustained simple mobile lifestyle in a way that interested me, except he seemed to be quite focussed on using technology, especially comms and internet technology to remain linked-in in realtime to the rest of the planet. (This is similar to The Ultimate Taxi, which probably should have its own blog entry here).

Steve's projects include

• Winnebiko & BEHEMOTH bicycle adventure - (17,000 miles around the US from 1983 to 1991)
• Microship Expedition
  (amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran, 1992-2002)
• Bubba the kayak
  (with location tracking and solar power, 2003-2006)
• S/V Nomadness
  (nautical substrate for open-ended voyaging, 2007 and beyond)

Get more from Steve's website... and check out the first comment to this, where I have reprinted a sentiment that I am sure is echoed somewhere in all the journals/blogs of the other Frontiersmen featured here.

Roz Savage

Following her successful crossing of the Atlantic in 2006, Roz Savage is bidding to be the first solo woman to row across the Pacific Ocean from California to Australia.

Best of British, Roz!

More info is at the Roz Savage website

Pete Bethune: Earthrace

• An attempt to circumnavigate the world in record time in a biodiesel powered speedboat. Skipper Pete Bethunes' dream has always been to increase awareness of the use of renewable fuels and it is important to him to reach as many young people as possible.
• Earthrace is a 24m (78ft) tri-hull wavepiercer that has been designed and built specifically to get the record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe. She is an advanced endurance vessel, capable of submarining up to 7m (23ft) underwater as she powers across oceans.

More: Earthrace website

Greg Kolodziejzyk: Pedal The Ocean

In Dec. of 2009, Greg is planning on pedaling his human powered boat "WiTHiN" 3000 miles across the Atlantic ocean in less than 43 days setting a new world record for the fastest human powered Atlantic crossing. Pedal The Ocean explores the limits of what is possible with human power.
Our modern sedentary lifestyle is putting our kids at risk of becoming the first generation that will have a life expectancy shorter than that of their parents. Worldwide, between 10 and 15% of our children are obese and 60% of the general population is overweight.

He looks like having a better chance of success that our ill-fated plans to windsurf around the sun back in the last century. Maybe someone will get around to it before this one ends.

More:

1. Pedal The Oceanwebsite
   
2. WiTHiN sea trials HD from Greg Kolodziejzyk on Vimeo