Adventurer's bid to live on remote island of Rockall for 60 days
A man is attempting to break an endurance record and raise money for charity by spending 60 days living in a converted water tank strapped to the side of a rock in the Atlantic Ocean.
Nick Hancock will live alone on army ration packs and rainwater for two months in order to raise money for the military charity Help For Heroes.
His destination is Rockall - a tiny island more than 230 miles from the coast of Scotland. Its summit stands at just 18m above the choppy seas of the North Atlantic, and its footprint on a map is not much bigger.
The former British Army officer cadet is attempting to make a landing in the coming days.
Nick will spend two months living in a converted water tank - his 'Rockpod' - approximately the size of a three-man tent.
He will share the cramped space with 350 kilos of supplies including food, water, an extensive medical kit and a satellite phone.
A small wind turbine and portable solar panel will provide limited power for him to stay in touch with his wife Pam and 18-month-old son Freddy.
For entertainment, he will rely on the frequent squawking of albatross and a large supply of ebooks.
Landing on Rockall involves travelling by boat for 12-15 hours from the village of Leverburgh in the Outer Hebrides.
The weather can change dramatically so it was never guaranteed that Nick would make it onto the rock on his first attempt.
He tweeted at 10am on Thursday saying he had reviewed the weather forecast and decided to attempt to hit a "tight window" of good weather on Friday.
Once on Rockall, he will use petrol-powered winches to pull his living capsule onto the only ledge that is large enough to support it.
Named Hall’s Ledge in 1955 after the first person to make a successful landing, the shelf in the rock is just over a metre (3 feet) wide. Nick's living capsule will be held in place by several thick straps.
Nick has spent more than two years preparing for this mission, after first laying foot on the rocky outcrop three years ago.
Typical weather conditions on the island involve swells of eight or nine metres (26-30 feet) and wind gusts of 34 knots.
Nick, a chartered surveyor from Edinburgh, is no stranger to adventure, having scaled two of the highest mountains on Earth and run in several ultra-marathons.
It is not the first time someone has attempted to live on Rockall.
In 1985 the SAS veteran Tom McLean lived there for 40 days - a feat that was only bettered by three Greenpeace anti-oil protesters who booked in for 42 days in 1997.
Nick will attempt to break two world records for both the longest solo, and longest ever, occupation of Rockall.
The adventurer Ben fogle, who once attempted a landing on the island himself, said of Nick's mission:
Rockall is the most extreme outcrop of the British Isles and flew into national consciousness in the 1990s when oil was discovered in the surrounding area.