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Introduction
During HMS ENDURANCE’S 2006/7 deployment, four members of the Ship’s Company with 3 other Royal Navy personnel and one civilian instructor will be participating in ENDURANCE KAYAK 66 SOUTH, a unique expedition to circumnavigate James Ross Island for the first time in sea kayaks.
Located on the Eastern side of the Northern Antarctic Peninsular in the Erebus and Terror Gulf, James Ross Island is 65km long and is named after the explorer James Clark Ross who first sighted the island in 1843.
 Once connected to the Antarctic mainland by an ice shelf until its collapse in 1995, it wasn’t until 1997 that the first circumnavigation of James Ross Island was made by the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise. The `James’ in the island’s name distinguishes it from Ross Island in the Ross Sea.
ENDURANCE KAYAK 66 SOUTH will take place in February 2007 and depending on the prevailing weather conditions at the time, will take approximately 8 - 10 days to complete as the seven person team will kayak clockwise around the island, some 120 nautical miles.
What sort of weather the team will encounter during their paddle of James Ross Island is of serious concern as they will come across icebergs and possibly temperatures as low as -30C. A very cold day in the UK at -10C is nothing compared to -30C, an unpleasant temperature for humans, even when wearing special protective clothing.
 But the team for ENDURANCE KAYAK 66 SOUTH has undertaken months of preparation for their Antarctic challenge, including severe cold weather training and are finally ready for this once in a lifetime experience.
If this truly tough challenge is successful, ENDURANCE KAYAK 66 SOUTH will raise thousands of pounds for charity, provide valuable scientific information for Leeds University’s research into the effects of global warming as the team will be carrying out geological observations on the south side of James Ross Island on their behalf and achieve a world record, as no one has kayaked around James Ross Island before.
So unique is this expedition, it will also become the focus of an education pack which is being supported by Portsmouth Football Club and Portsmouth City Council and will be released later on in the year to every school in Portsmouth to help children make healthy lifestyle choices and lead fit and healthy lives through the power of sport.
These school packs will support new government policy for schools called Every Child Matters: Change for Children, a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19.
The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:
- Be healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic well-being
This means that the organisations involved with providing services to children will be teaming up in new ways, sharing information and working together, to help children achieve what they want in life. Over the next few years, every local authority will be working with its partners, to find out what works best for children and young people in its area and act on it.
ABOUT PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB
 Founded in 1898, Portsmouth Football Club has been an integral part of the local community for over a century.
Club successes have included an FA Cup Win in 1939, being crowned League Championship winners in 1949 and 1950 and securing promotion to the prestigious Premier League in 2003.
ABOUT POMPEY STUDY CENTRE
 Portsmouth Football Club’s Study Centre at opened in 2000, it is equipped with all the latest ICT equipment and has worked with thousands of Portsmouth school children. Football is used as the motivational tool for learning with activities in literacy, numeracy and ICT based on first hand experiences. These include stadium tours, Premiership matches and interviewing Pompey players. The Centre has a worldwide reputation for producing educational materials and we hope this pack will inspire and motivate even more youngsters through the power of sport.
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