Sir Peter Blake and Blakexpeditions
Sir Peter Blake spent the great majority of his adult life racing yachts on the oceans of the world. During these times, while he remained fiercely competitive, he also marveled at the beauty of the marine environment. Perhaps this insatiable curiosity derived from his childhood when the Blake family would go cruising onboard the family yacht off New Zealand’s North Island. Here the Blake family would experience seabirds, dolphins, whales and other marine creatures in their natural environment. Irrespective, during his yacht-racing career Sir Peter would always take the brief time available between the many tasks involved in driving an ocean-going yacht fast to enjoy these interactions with nature. He also was an observant man who, over 25 years, noticed significant changes in the marine creatures he saw whilst traversing the world’s oceans. Typical of this was the concern he developed regarding the drop off in Albatross numbers - from many sighted every day during his round the worlds races in the 1970s to only one a week by the early 1990s. As was typical for Sir Peter, he not only became concerned - but he decided to do something about it and after retiring from competitive sailing he dedicated the rest of his life to conservation.
Peter decided to establish his own environmental organisation - “Blakexpeditions”, as the vehicle to show the world the beauty of our water planet. Together with friends, Alan Sefton and Scott Chapman, Sir Peter brought onboard sponsors and supporters - many of whom had a long term involvement with Sir Peter’s campaigns. A polar-equipped sailing vessel designed and built in 1989 for French explorer Dr Jean-Louis Etienne was converted to “Seamaster” the flag-ship for Blakexpeditions.
Good water, good life. Poor water, poor life. No water, no life. This was the credo of Blakexpeditions, which he created to draw attention to environmental causes through sharing his adventures in remote and threatened regions of the world.
“I want as many people as possible to fall in love with the environment, with all its life forms,” he explained. “I want to take them on a televisual and Internet interactive series of expeditions to many parts of the globe to understand the oceans, the weather and the part that water plays ...
The plans for Seamaster and Blakexpeditions were ambitious - typical for Blake - he set lofty goals and then went about pursuing them with zeal and a passion that made those who were part of his teams believers and contributors. For the first expedition he took Seamaster further south in the Antarctic than any other yacht had gone and then, fatefully, into the Amazon. Next on his list were Greenland, the Arctic and an attempt on the formidable North West Passage. Sadly this was not to be for Sir Peter. Subsequently however, Seamaster has been purchased by Etienne Bourgois who has renamed her “Tara” and has established Taraexpeditions - an organisation which will continue on with the use of the vessel for exploration, science and environmental education.
What Sir Peter and his crew did during the brief life of Blakexpeditions was quite remarkable and the daily logs and photos are a valuable record and wonderful resource for those interested in Sir Peter and the voyages of Seamaster. They also provide some wonderful insights into the environmental challenges faced by the Antarctic and Amazon ecosystems - two environments that could not contrast more in terms of latitude and environmental conditions - but two environments that share major challenges in terms of human impacts and degradation.
So, reproduced here - with the kind permission of Blakexpeditions co-directors Alan Sefton and Scott Chapman and supported by Pippa, Lady Blake are the records of the voyages of Seamaster. In reproducing them on the Sir Peter Blake Trust website we hope that those who read them will be inspired and develop insight into a very special person in Sir Peter Blake. We would also like to acknowledge the many contributors to these logs, to the Blakexpeditions website and to the adventures of Seamaster. Thanks go to:
Alan Sefton, Scott Chapman, Chris Coffin, Simon Greenwood, Omega Watches, Line 7, the United Nations Environment Program, and the crew and guests onboard Seamaster who included: Dr Trevor Agnew, Robin Allen, Simon Atkins, Nick Blackman, James Blake, Pippa, Lady Blake, Sarah-Jane Blake, Geoff Bullock, Michael Davies, Charlie Dymock, Jacqueline Hass, Marc Lonergan-Hertel, Diego Maccall, Santiago Maccall, Alistair Moore, Roger Moore, John Morgan, Ollie Olphert, Janot Pratt, Don Robertson, Maureen Robertson, Leon Sefton, Dr Marc Shaw, Franck Socha, James Walsh, Rob Warring, Ivor Wilkins and our friends from Brazil including guide Miguel Rocha da Silva, pilots Joseph and Bosco and cook Paulo.
My apologies to those who I have missed!
Mark Orams
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe
