And so how did your attention turn to that? Moving from inspiring and bringing adventure into the military to bringing adventure to the lives of young civilian, perhaps more people in needy situations.

How did that happen? I managed to get a commission in the Royal Engineers, which were a very adventurous bunch, and they tend to support people to do expeditions as part of their development and training.

And through the Army and the Royal Engineers, I led various expeditions.

One was on the Blue Nile, another one was in the legendary Darien Gap in Panama, another one was down the Congo River with a team of eye experts, and the one on the Congo attracted the attention of the Prince of Wales, as he then was, and because we'd taken two or three young people with us, two from Jersey, one from America, and after the expedition, these young people had gone around talking to schools and universities and so on, inspiring young people with the sort of Elizabethan spirit of adventure.

And the Prince said to me, golly, if you can do this with two young people, why can't you do it with three or four hundred? And so he asked me to draw up a proposal to take young people, particularly those from inner city areas around the world.

And together with my colleagues in the Scientific Exploration Society, we drew up a plan to sail around the world with a beautiful sailing ship, a brigantine, the rise of the wind, and to stop off in countries and do environmental work, medical work, help the people and so on.

Everyone who volunteered had to go through a series of pretty horrendous tests.

yeah yeah and it's well spot them where where you can i suppose they uh that how do you test them do you prod them or ask them specific questions or is it

[laughs]

I went back to the planning board and I said, "Yes, but I think you're going to need an enormous amount of backing from the British Ministry of Defense, from the Panamanian and Colombian governments, and hopefully from the American Armed Forces," who were then occupying the canal zone.

So a plan began to evolve.

First of all, of course, it needed some cars to get through, and the Rover Company in England had just produced this brand-new all-singing, all-dancing four-wheel drive called the Range Rover, and they wanted it tested.

And they said, "If we lend you two of our brand-new Range Rovers, would you drive them from Alaska to Cape Horn?" "Oh, yes," I said.

"That sounds pretty well straightforward.

For most of the distance, there's a road, except for the 250 miles in the beginning, and for that, we're going to have to make a track." The Ministry of Defense said, "We will support it," and the British Foreign Office agreed.

I'd like to ask you about the SES, and for those listeners that aren't familiar with the SES, what it is and what do you do, and what are some expeditions that are coming up?