How seven military adventurers are spending Christmas on the oceans and in Antarctica
This Christmas, seven British military veterans are taking on challenges to raise money for charity and awareness of the environmental impact of micro-plastics.
Speaking to Amy Casey on BFBS Radio, Commander Matthew Main, a Marine Engineer Officer, is part of HMS Oardacious - a team of five taking on the the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
This will see the row across the Atlantic, from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, to Nelsons Dockyard in Antigua.
Cdr Main said the team would be marking Christmas with snacks and "putting down as many miles" as possible.
"We each brought a few small bits and pieces from home. I managed a Christmas pudding, so that will get shared around," he said.
"We've got a few little snacks to mark the day, we've got some videos that got sent through by our team manager, kindly, from our families so they've got that to look forward to.
"We will try to, each of us, speak to our families on our sat phones.
"We're very conscious that a day like today of all days, do remember those of our community who can't talk to their families today - particularly submarines."
Another set of military adventurers are Alan Chambers MBE and Dave Thomas, both Royal Marine veterans.
The pair are part of Mission Spiritus Antarctica, the first expedition of four science-based expeditions to collect nano-plastics from across the earth for Columbia University scientists to study.
Speaking to Amy Casey, the pair said they would be celebrating Christmas like many of those at home - with a feast.
"Christmas has just come and we've got some biscuits, we've got some port we've got some Christmas cake, so this evening we’ll be having a bit of feast," the pair said.
The pair also said they were now past the halfway point, but are ahead of schedule.
"We've had storms, we've had white outs, we've had warm weather, we've had harsh snow, we've had ice, soft snow, but we just take it as it comes," they said.
"We're just about on track, we’re.. maybe a day… ahead of where we wanted to be on Christmas Day which is fantastic.
"It's uphill all the way, everyday is quite a challenge.
HMS Oardacious, on the other hand, are just coming up to the midpoint of their expedition.
"We're going pretty well, we’re not counting our chickens yet obviously.
"We had a really strong start to the race, the weather was pretty full on, which suited us, and so we made a really good pace early on.
"We're going well, we're all doing okay."
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