John Moorhouse
CHALLENGES
Scroll down to see recent challenges and a compilation of past adventures.
Enjoy our past newsletters on the blog page or follow on Instagram for more photos and events.
May to September 2024 - Sailing The Pacific from Tahiti to Australia and beyond?
Our aim is to complete our TransPacific sail in 2024. We have made initial contact with the skipper of a boat whose life ethic and modus operandi we greatly admire. Let's see where this leads us ....
August & September 2023 - Road trip around the Baltic.
Covid had scuppered our Baltic trip in 2020 limiting us to a grand tour of Germany but the world is a different place in 2023.
The roof Tentbox got plenty of use free camping in remote spots through Norway, Finland and Eastern Europe. The rest of the time we were in camp sites and cheap airbnbs.
Our overall fitness had suffered on the boat and this trip saw us trekking up lots of peaks in Norway - notably the fabulous Lofoten islands - southern Poland, Slovakia and Austria. Add in increasing tough hill runs, canoeing in Poland, mountain biking in search of Bison on the Belarus border and grade 3 scrambling in Slovakia - so we are getting back to normal!
The distinctive cultures in the individual countries around the Baltic are inextricably linked through years of economic intercourse, political intrigue or armed invasions and it was especially interesting to see the effect of the current Russian expansionism on the countries on it's western border.
February to June 2023 - Sailing The Pacific from Trinidad to Tahiti.
Karen had to return to the UK from Trinidad leaving Paul and I to manage a lumpy sail across the Caribbean checking out Bonaire, Curacao & Aruba where we were joined by Wally and Freda.
Cedric, another friend of Paul's met us in Panama to complete the crew just after Karen got back to the boat. An enforced delay to cross the canal provided Karen and I with plenty of time to discover the delights of the Anton Valley and the local rain forest bordering the canal.
The Pacific lived up to its name with far too much motor sailing in the 4,000 miles to the Marquesas. However, there were enough storm systems around to keep us on our toes and there are not enough superlatives to describe the incredibly varied San Blas, Galapagos, Marquesas and Tuamotos!
We had just enough time to see Tahiti and Moorea (again - I was last there in 1983) before receiving sad news of an unexpected bereavement that lead to our premature return to the UK.
January 2023 - French Guiana, Suriname & Guyana.
We enjoyed the most amazing month travelling overland with rucksacks around French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana before flying to Trinidad to continue our sailing adventure with Paul Chopin.
Vast tracts of the three countries are still virgin rainforest and we particularly liked getting up close to the huge variety of flora and fauna on our trips into the interior.
Due to the different colonial influences the cultural history is both diverse and fascinating. If we have to pick a favourite - Suriname stands out as being super friendly and we can see a longer visit into the interior at some time in the future.
August to September 2022 - Riding The Savannah Trail Cairns to Broome
Karen and I cycled 2,300 miles across the dirt tracks and occasional tarmac of Northern Australia's outback.
We hired a 4WD land cruiser with roof tent and will be taking turns on a Giant hard tail mountain bike that we bought in Cairns.
It was a tough ride in amazing scenery and testing arid conditions - the perfect adventure after our Caribbean sailing. See
The Xmas 2022 newsletter for photos and details.
April to June 2022 - Sailing the Caribbean
We were back in the Caribbean to sail in the St Barth and Antigua regattas before supposedly heading back across the pond in May via the Azores.
See
The JULY 2022 Newsletter
for an update but we ended up sailing down to Trinidad on the catamaran we plan to sail across the Pacific on next year with skipper Paul Chopin.
July 2020 Cycle Scillies to Shetlands 1,034 road miles - 19,460m ascent
The minute the lock down restrictions were lifted we drove to Penzance and flew to St Mary's to camp for 2 nights. Trying to get to the furthest SW point in UK we walked around St Agnes and took a boat excursion to Bishops rock. We had an exciting start to our bike trip by hiring a tandem and going off-road around St Mary's.
Back on the mainland Karen and I left Lands end cycling in relay to complete a LeJog route in good time. 4 ferries and another 100 miles of biking through the amazing Orkneys and Shetlands saw us reach Skaw the furthest point NE of the UK cycle network. Cycle touring in relay was enormous fun and a good warm up for the Savannah Trail next year.
Feb 2020 Backpacking Antigua-St Lucia
We landed in Antigua at the end of January 2020 and after a few days of much needed R & R, Karen and I left for a month of Caribbean island hopping.
First stop was to visit the 'Death in Paradise' island of Guadaloupe and a must-do visit to Catherine's bar. As the land legs recovered we got plenty of good treks and runs in the hills of Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique and finished by climbing the tough Petit Piton in St Lucia before flying back to Antigua and home.
Row across the Atlantic 2019
December 12 2019 marked the start of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Our Ancient Mariner team have applied to Guinness for the world record to be the oldest team of 4 to row across an ocean.
We took 49 days through weather that ranged from mighty Atlantic gales to being becalmed.
Rowing a punishing schedule of 2 hours on and 2 hours off, relentlessly around the clock we carried enough dehydrated meals and snacks for 60 days and made our own drinking water.
We undertook the huge challenge for 2 charities - Blind Veterans in the UK and the Open Arms orphanage in Malawi where I used to live.
Explorers Grand Slam
In 2016 at the age of 60 I became the 37th person in the world to complete the Explorer’s Grand Slam – climbing the highest summits in each of the seven continents and skiing the last degree to both poles.
Ultras, Fell runs, Skyruns, Tough Guy ...
Since returning to the UK from Malawi in 1996 I have done so many long distance running races I was beginning to feel like Forest Gump!
Running has been the backbone of my fitness but, being hopelessly slow, I avoid short fast races. Steady forward progress is my mantra and my performances culminated in second place on the 100 mile Mercian challenge along Offa's dyke in 2016.
Biking and Triathlon
Longer distance cycling suits my stubborn temperament and it was a natural progression from sportives and etape de tour to get stuck into triathlon and adventure racing.
Balance that with the camaraderie of many coast-to-coast rides in different countries with great company to get the most out of this sport for all ages.
Climbing and mountaineering
Living in Cheshire gives easy access to the classic rock routes in Wales, the Peaks and the Lake District as well as being just a short hop to the Alps from Manchester airport.
Our Knutsford climbing group are always fun to go bouldering with or climbing in and outdoors in UK and Spain.
Sea kayaking, canoeing, trekking .......
Since 2010 my wife Karen has joined me on lots of challenges. We both retired in 2017 and have indulged ourselves so much that we have spent most of the last 3 years out of the UK.
The photos show some of my previous sports and a little of what we have been up to together.......