Interview with Oceanographic Magazine
Arksen Foundation & Explorers’ Club Director, Olly Hicks, sits down with Oceanographic Magazine to talk world record-breaking adventures, solitude, survival and his deep love of the ocean.
Photographs by Emma Francis & George Olver.
A passion for minimalistic, human-powered expeditions has taken this endurance athlete and ocean rower to every continent and to every ocean. Enjoy an excerpt of Olly’s Oceanographic Magazine interview on world record-breaking adventures, solitude, survival and his deep love of the ocean.
What captivated you about ocean rowing?
“…growing up on the coast and messing around in boats. I didn’t like any of the racing, but I loved exploring the creeks and going as far as I could on the river.”
“…I was just captivated by the concept; the beautiful simplicity of getting into a teeny boat on one continent, and with no technical expertise, just rowing until you get to the other side.”
What are the positives and negatives of being alone at sea for long periods of time?
“It’s a process, coming to be comfortable with the solitude. As you break away from society and from company, it takes some time to adjust to not having anyone to talk to and not having any physical contact. That’s quite difficult. I guess you kind of crave it to begin with and you love seeing the aeroplanes and other boats, because it gives you some connection to humanity. But then…that fades away and you get more comfortable being alone.”
What can adventure into nature do for everyday life?
“I think it’s similar to what we now call mindfulness. It’s that recalibration of what’s important, having that thinking time. We’re here for a short amount of time and you have to decide how you want to spend it.”
Do you think adventure and exploration can go hand in hand with sustainability?
“If you boil it down to the microcosm of adventure and exploration, it’s really interesting. People are trying to improve.”
“Arksen is interesting because it’s a commercial company building explorer vessels. On the one hand you’d argue the world probably doesn’t need more boats, but if you accept that people will always want boats and recreational time, the question then becomes: how can we go about making that recreational time as good — and sustainable — as it can be? That’s the rebalance Arksen are trying to achieve.”
How does the [Arksen] Foundation operate within the wider Arksen business?
“We’re trying to create a paradigm shift in both the construction of the vessels and their usage profiles so that, for the periods of time that these vessels aren’t being used recreationally, we can use them for science or conservation purposes via the Foundation. That’s the Foundation’s purpose — working to support ocean conservation, restoration and science.”
“Our lead campaign is called 10% for the Ocean, through which we are building a super fund for the ocean — creating a new funding mechanism for the world’s largest ecosystem.”
“…as soon as you realise that every second breath comes from the ocean, and some of the latest cancer cures are coming out of coral reefs that we’re killing, then suddenly it makes sense to be putting resources back into the ocean. The future of humanity relies on it.”
You can read the full Oceanographic Magazine interview here.
Find out more about the Arksen Foundation.
Discover more about Olly’s adventures in our short film ‘Arksen Origins — Olly Hicks’.
