"We shall never cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time" — T.S. Eliot
On Monday, Ellen MacArthur arrived back in Europe after traversing the globe by herself in a 75-foot trimaran.
The trip took her 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds, a record, and brought her home after departing November 28th, 2004. The previous record was held by a Frenchman named Francis Joyon, whose record was bested by 32 hours.
MacArthur slept 30 minutes at a time, for usually no more than four hours a day, and in between, she braved the elements in guiding her floating home. She drank desalinated water and ate freeze-dried food prepared on her small stove.
She can now trade in her meager sustenance for champagne and celebration.
Met with fanfare, crowds, and a congratulatory phone call from Tony Blair, MacArthur was also met by some who said that her trip lacked a certain amount of impressiveness because of the technical capabilities of the ship, including a GPS coordinate system.
In 1577, Sir Francis Drake set sail on the Golden Hind for what his crew was soon to find out was an attempt at circumnavigating the globe. Three years and some 36,000 miles later, he returned in 1580 with tales of his exploration.
From that day on, the benchmark was set, from pirate and explorer to sportsmen and sportswomen. The great history of humankind has been measured and detailed in our relentless pursuit of the unknown and the unattainable, and now there's a new entry in our record books.
71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds.
It begs the question: what have I done in the last 71 days? Not more than a couple of hours, or days are even memorable. So much of it revolves around what I watched, or what I read, and other worthwhile yet strictly passive activities.
In the last 71 days, Ellen MacArthur has braved tropical storm force winds, waves, aquatic life, bruises, broken sails, exhaustion, burns, and the stunning force of solitude. In 71 days, she has gone from one end of the world to the other and back, and in the process personally witnessed the power, beauty, and expanse of Earth itself.
Our passion is sports, and our passion is competition. The records and milestones that we keep track of are just a natural extension of our desire to be the first, to be the best, to be the fastest.
At a time when NASA budget concerns are threatening the end of the Hubble space program, a long-time symbol of humanity's desire to see and go beyond what we have come to know, let Ellen MacArthur remind us of our ambition, courage, and dedication to exploring what's next.
Sure, for every glorious sunrise over a crystal blue ocean, there will be a storm so fierce that it breaks the main sail and bludgeons us with a wall of nature's own fury.
But Ellen made it back home, and she's telling me I can, too. It may have taken 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds, but she's convinced me.
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