The adventurer Nick Hancock has passed a milestone in his second attempt to live alone for 60 days on Rockall, a tiny uninhabited islet 230 miles west of the Outer Hebrides: here he blogs about his first 20 days

Twenty days I’ve now been out here on Rockall, on my own and it’s an important milestone for me psychologically for a number of reasons.



I'm now one third of the way through this 60 day challenge, but perhaps of more immediate importance, it marks the half way point to the solo occupation record of 40 days, set almost 30 years ago by Tom McClean in 1985.



Although this goal, and that of the group record set by three Greenpeace activists at 42 days in 1997, were always part of the reason for coming here, they have now assumed a far greater role. They help me break this ‘occupation’ up into reasonable and handle-able chunks of time.



Other markers, some more minor but perhaps no less psychologically important, have come and gone: the first change of underwear, the first Calor gas canister to be finished, the first 25l jerry can of water to be emptied.

Others have yet to arrive: the half-way point for the expedition at 30 days, the last 20 days, the last 10 and then the arrival of the Kilda Cruises boat to take me back to civilisation in early August. It has essentially become a mental exercise in time management.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest The remnant of an extinct volcano, Rockall sits in the Atlantic 230 miles west of the Western Isles and is the most remote piece islet in the British isles. Photograph: Colin Trigg, SNH, Marine Scotland

There have been some definite highs already, and thankfully no significant lows. The only worries I’ve had so far have been relatively minor: an infected cut on my finger sustained during the landing, which has cleared up; constructing the wind turbine on my own in a fairly exposed and precarious position on top of Rockall; and the first couple of times it stopped through lack of wind (which didn’t last!).



The highs have been things like having the time to watch and enjoy shearwaters gliding centimetres above the waves, wondering how they manage not to hit them, and realising yesterday that there are actually two minke whales here, not just one, and watching them hunt, cruise around and blowing at the surface.



Time has definitely slowed, or sped up depending on how you look at it, and I’m definitely into a routine now.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nick Hancock, a chartered surveyor from Edinburgh, plans to live for 60 days in this home-made survival pod on Rockall Photograph: Murdo MacLeod

I don’t get up before 9 in the morning, as it eats into the time I have here; ablutions and breakfast now take about an hour; I tend to read or write my blog in the morning and watch what’s happening outside the RockPod, be that trawlers passing by or the wildlife doing something entertaining; lunch is around 2 in the afternoon; and then, dependant on the weather forecast, I’ll usually do whatever tasks I’ve set for myself outside the pod for the day.



Getting to sleep in the evenings has been tricky, partially because its light so late here at this time of year, and probably more importantly, I’m not mentally tired so my mind has been racing with plans and ideas of things to do whilst I’m here, which keeps me awake.



Early on, these afternoon tasks were larger and more time consuming than they are now, securing the RockPod to Rockall or setting up the Ampair wind turbine, for example.

Now it tends to be housekeeping: bringing rations into the pod, taking rubbish out to the kit barrels, provided by Smith’s of Dean Drums, and measuring and recording as much about this place as I can whilst I’m here through a photographic record and also by measuring, drawing and mapping key features such as the derelict light housing on the summit, the summit itself, fixings left in the rock by previous expeditions, and the wildlife.



I’ve still some tasks to start, as I’m trying to spread things out as much as possible, so I will have things to keep me entertained towards the end of the expedition.



These include Italian lessons, which I finally started yesterday, a number of the scientific research projects I’ve been asked to complete, and I’ve only picked up the harmonica twice, so I really need to get into that.



I am, however, really enjoying reading some of the e-books on my Ergo laptop, which I never seem to have time to do at home. Although I had grand ideas of reading ‘War and Peace’ or some of the classics, so far it’s been autobiographies such as ‘Mr Nice’ [the autobiography by drugs runner Howard Marks] and currently [rapper] Ice-T’s memoir, Ice.



The weather has been good to me too, so far, with a constant temperature of thirteen to fourteen degrees centigrade, winds averaging ten to fifteen miles per hour, and very little rain. There have been hotter days with no wind, when I’ve had to shelter in the shade of the RockPod with the hatches and vent open to get some breeze.



Similarly, there have been gusts of up to thirty miles per hour and rain, but the rain has never lasted more than half an hour and the winds soon die down.



Mentally, I’m in a good place too. I’m looking forward to the next twenty days: breaking the two occupation records and reaching the half way point of my RockallSolo expedition, which is also designed to raise funds for the services charity Help for Heroes; and then the run into heading home.



But I think my mental state has been greatly helped by modern technology and Inmarsat satellite communications, which have enabled me to not only tweet (@RockallNick) and post my blogs, which give me something to write, but more importantly for me mentally, has allowed me to speak to and see family and friends via Skype.



Tom McClean, when he was here back in 1985, only had a VHF radio and lived in a hand-built plywood box. That would have made this a very different experience altogether.

