Читать книгу Sea Change - Ian Dickens - Страница 8

I met Ian fifteen years ago when I was looking for camera kit to document my first polar walk. I had expected to meet a serious and intense businessman intent on grilling me for several hours before agreeing to my requests. Instead, I found an easy-going and enthusiastic supporter who readily warmed to the idea of someone walking through the Antarctic ice with several thousand pounds’ worth of kit which might never come back.

But come back it did, and in the expeditions that followed I was able to rely on Ian, as my adventures continued and developed. While I flew off to the most remote parts of the world, he continued to pursue a career in London, but it was clear that a brightly burning flame would eventually ignite in to something more spectacular.

Looking back, I suppose there were a few clues – his desire to hurtle head-first down the Cresta Run seemed to be the height of foolishness to me, but it clearly acted as an antidote to his day-to-day routine behind a desk. I was happy to act as patron for his fundraising drive to the Arctic Circle and back in the Auto Arctic Challenge Car rally, driving a soft-top MG, which raised over £10,000 for Mencap and Motivation.

Clearly these were mere warm-up acts, and I was not hugely surprised to learn that he was leaving to embark on a round-the-world yacht race. I admit to feeling slightly miffed at losing such a valued supporter – and, by now, good friend – but equally I knew how fulfilling the challenges he would inevitable encounter would be.

Ian’s words show an extraordinary and often moving depth of thinking as he observes the valuable lessons his journey presented. It makes this book far deeper than a simple tale of circumnavigating the world under sail, and it is clear that the family genes for communicating have been passed down to him!

It is also clear that he has taken the numerous lessons that all adventurers learn – preparation, team work, mental strength, stamina, an unknown tomorrow, exhaustion, despair and elation and applied them back to the everyday events that ‘normality’ brings.

He has learned that to go off and test oneself in such a challenging way requires the unstinting support of a loving family. He is blessed with a wife who provides such unswerving support and deserves huge credit for providing the stability for his extraordinary adventure.

This book should inspire a great number of folk who may think it’s too late for them to leave their desk and follow their wildest dreams into proving themselves wrong.

Ran Fiennes,

Exmoor.