Back in tip top condition after a short break in Hong Kong, Pangaea lifts anchor and sets sail for Malaysia, a short stop-over before heading towards the US.
Pangaea's return to Borneo is for the development of new projects within the area. Mike Horn will accompany a group of young explorers to this magnificent region and will look into the problem of the destruction of the reefs with a coral reef specialist from Australia. Development of this project can be followed on the Young Explorer microsite in mid January 2011.
As the YEP Kamchatka Expedition in Russia winds down and the Young Explorers make the most of their last day in the company of Mike Horn, Pangaea and her crew prepare for their next big voyage.
The crew onboard Pangaea have been working hard over the last three weeks with the servicing of equipment and general maintenance of the boat.
She is now ready to go, this time to Malaysia where the Pangaea Expedition will launch two Special Pangaea Act Project events in January and February 2011.
Young Explorer Lauren Morrell is nominated 'Teen of the Week' in the December Issue of The Capital.com and has been commended her for work and enthusiasm to improve the quality of the shorelines in her local community.
Today, 10 people met up in Frankfurt: YEPs who were on expeditions, YEPs who were on Selection Camps and future YEPs who are planning to apply for upcoming expeditions. The participants came from as far as Switzerland or Austria to attend our actions considering hunger, the Borneo Act project and Pangaea promotion.
After everyone arrived, we sat down in a café and first shared our past experiences with the new Community members. Then, Becci introduced us to the main topic of our meeting: hunger.
Nearly every fourth second one child on earth dies of hunger and in India more than 200 million people are underfed. For confronting people with the reality and making them think about their unsustainable behavior, the Young Explorers demonstrated the passerbys how little for example Africans or Indians have to eat every day and how much Germans have in comparison. We had made cookies out of polenta, flavoured with curry and pepper which we offered on the christmas market. The polenta represents the maize pap, which is the basic food of many people in Africa.
But raising awareness wasn‘t our only goal. We also wanted to raise money for the upcoming Act project in Borneo. So we asked people for voluntary donations for the cookies or the postcards. Along the way, we also promoted Pangaea itself and handed out lots of flyers.
We split up in three groups, each got polenta, flyers and postcards and we set off. We were immediately swallowed by the crowd that shifted through the market. Every group did their job differently, but in the end all of us were content with the result. We talked to many visitors of the Christmas market and most of them were willing to listen, take flyers and give some money. Some even „dared“ to try a polenta cookie, but many people didn‘t want to taste them. It was raining most of the time and after everyone had cold hands and feet, we decided to stop, warm up and slowly get back to the main station.
It was great to have a mixed group of experienced and new Young Explorers. We could not only spread the Pangaea message and raise awareness of hunger, but also get in contact with each other and share our knowledge.
What I love about our amazing planet is the variety!!! Not only the diversity of people, cultures and languages but also the diversity of something that we all have in common, the weather. We left a green, warm Hong Kong via Seoul to Vladivostok and arriving in Russia we where greeted by snow.
Everybody wrapped up in warm clothes gloves and hats. The flight is not so far in distance but long in time. It will take us 32 hours to get to Kamchatka.
I love coming back to Russia in winter and to feel the cold bite at your face, ears, nose and hands. I find it very exciting specially after being in the tropics for more than a year now. Days are short here and nights are long. That is life – taking it as it comes and enjoying every minute of it.
I will keep you updated every day to show you all the beauty of Kamchatka. Nobody wants to go there because they say the weather is too bad but I believe that there is no such thing as bad weather – it’s only weather.
From the 15th until the 19th of November, Summum in France hosted the 12th Edition of the Grenoble Film Festival.
The organisers, Petzl, and valued partner of the Pangaea Expedition, invited Young French Explorer, Hugo Clément and Expedition Manager, Martin Horn up on stage to talk about the recent Young Explorer Expedition to the Himalayas.
The 6 minute film was well received by the 3'000 or so viewers in the audience and highlighted how the youths carried out the maxim EXPLORER-LEARN-ACT in the high altitudes of the Himalayas with expedition leader, Mike Horn.
During the months of January and February 2011, our exploration vessel Pangaea will be back around Borneo in Malaysia where we hope to set up the future Borneo Pangaea Center. This first stage only represents the beginning of an incredible and longterm adventure in this special and unique region as we are planning to develop our presence and Act Projects in that region.
The Special Pangaea Act Project events in Borneo during January and February 2011 will integrate all components of the Pangaea Program: Explore, Learn and Act – A unique occasion to further our exploration of the area and investigate potential future projects as well as promising interesting locations. We have longterm projects in mind, but these will require considerable time and financial investment and will hopefully be implemented during 2011 and beyond. We are likely to conduct the following Act projects during the upcoming Borneo events (list subject to change without prior notice) in January and February 2011:
– Exploration of potential sites for the potential future Pangaea Center
– Island / beach cleanups
– Setting mooring buoys
– Coral reef surveys and monitoring
– On-site in situ construction of artificial reefs for coral growth
– Visiting schools and local communities to present the project
January 13-25, 2011 (13 days) First Special Pangaea Borneo Act Project
Group of 6 international YEPs + 2 YEP Ambassadors from previous Selection Camp / Expedition to work as staff on Pangaea
14 February – 11 March 2011 Pangaea Pacific Crossing and Garbage Patch Project
Crossing of the Pacific from KK to Vancouver, searching/sampling for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and conduct oceanic observations
Group of 4-6 American/Canadian YEPs – Must be good sailors
January 22-February 12, 2011 Geberit-Pangaea Pentakatha School Act Project
Group of 2 YEPs from India + 4 International YEPs from previous Selection Camp / Expedition
February 02-11, 2011 (10 days) Second Special Pangaea Borneo Act Project
Group of 7 Malaysian YEPs + 2 Malaysian YEP Ambassadors from previous Selection Camp / Expedition to work as staff on Pangaea
After an amazing time in Shanghai we sailed back in Hong Kong. We had very rough weather in the Taiwan Strait and the typhoon caused some damage to our boat that we now have fixed. The massive waves ripped our tender out of its mountings and threw it into the railing.
Pangaea is an amazing vessel! Whatever the conditions, she has never let us down. She is as tough as mother Russia!!
I developed a great concern about the over fishing of the Taiwan Strait. From Shanghai to Hong Kong, all we could see were miles and miles of fishing nets anchored in the shallow water with thousands of fishing boats every were. There was no bird life to be seen in 900nm. I do not know how the world can sustain the population growth. We are eating away at it’s resources at an alarming rate.
On the contrary, what I really liked was all the wind farms that China has built along their coastlines. The government has invested millions in renewable energy and that is a sign of hope for the future.
We sailed into Hong Kong at night in beautiful weather and the display of lights was amazing. It is always great to return to a place where you have been once before and to meet up with old friends. My mate Mal came onboard and cooked for us and made us feel very welcome. He cooked us an amazing meal of fillet steak, pork ribs, king prawns and with very little greens ( just the way we like it!). It makes a change from Tristan and Jaceks diet of popcorn!
We are at anchor at Hebe haven and it is a very calm typhoon shelter. The weather has been great and we are getting the boat ready to sail to Borneo.
As for me, I’m busy with my preparation to go to Kamchatka and can not wait to go up into the cold again.
It was a long stop-over in Shanghai but Mike and his crew were kept very busy with events.
Swiss partner Geberit AG invited their employees and VIP's onboard Pangaea and they listened with enthusiasm as Mike Horn discussed the Pangaea Expedition and its objectives to enlighten the youths of today towards the beauty of the planet.
Young Chinese Explorer, Jun Li was also present and was able to explain to the guests about her expediton to New Zealand and her environmental activities there after. To take the message even further Mike Horn gave two speeches to large crowds at the University of Shanghai.
With Geberits event over, Mercedes-Benz then took over, and during one week invited many guests, journalists and VIP's onboard to meet Mike, discover the sailboat and learn about the Pangaea Expedition. Not only were their guests able to learn about Mike Horn's mission but they could also visit the Shanghai Expo tosee the Pangaea display and discover new mobility solutions such as the electric MB Smart car – the mobility of the future.
Mercedes-Benz witnessed the installation of the new Pangaea sails with the new Mercedes-Benz star logo. This feat, long in the planning merited a good glass of Mumm Champagne. With administration very difficult in China, Pangaea managed to hoist her new sails with the majestic Shanghai skyline in the background. The pictures are living proof of this – the first foreign vessel in 10 years to hoist her sails in Shanghai!!!
Our thanks go to Geberit and Merceds-Benz for the great stop-over in Shanghai!
On the 30th of October 2010 Mike Horn impressed a captivated audience as he spoke about his past exploits in the world of adventure – a difficult thing for him to do in only 18mins!!
With the support of some impressive photos Mike Horn spoke about the progression from his first expedition in the Amazon, to Latitude Zero, Arktos, North Pole, the Himalayas, until now, the Pangaea Expedition.
Mike Horn finishes his quick speech, wihich is viewed livestream all around the world, with reference to the website www.mikehorn.com and an appeal, asking young adults to apply and get involved in PANGAEA – a PAN Global Adventure for Environmental Action.
Amongst many interesting encounters, Mike Horn met with Rob Stewart, producer and director of the famous movie Shark Water.
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