"Once you cross that line of comfort to discomfort, this is where the real learning begins. Everything worthwhile I have ever achieved in my life I was afraid to start."

CM: By the sounds of it, It looks like this 6 part series covers some pretty incredible experiences. I'm curious, is there one day in particular that really stands above the rest?

Ellis Emmett: On a remote island, in the Lau group of Fiji, we met a man named Tai. After a traditional ceremony with the Chief of the village at which he granted us access to explore the island, Tai led me up a steep hill face behind the village and showed me the entrance to a cave at the bottom of a cliff.

We tentatively ventured inside and on the floor of the cave were several human skeletons. Tai explained that these were the bones of Tongan warriors who had sailed their dugout canoes all the way from the Kingdom of Tonga to raid and overtake the Fijians and their land. Tai's ancestors had killed them and put their bodies inside the cave to decompose. That was a very powerful experience for me.

- You can watch a two minute short clip of exactly what Ellis is talking about right here. Trust me, it's well worth the glimpse. -

CM: Wow. That's must have been a surreal experience, though I'm sure it was only one of many. Speaking of that, I was a huge fan of your previous show Descending, and I know that once again you're heading below the surface. Can you talk about the roll of diving in Over the Horizon, and maybe speak to the roll that diving plays in your life as well?

Ellis Emmett: To travel by water does not make sense to me if you're not going to see and discover what's beneath the surface. Every part of our ocean holds amazing history and discoveries. It was a top priority early on for Andre and I to make sure we had a dive compressor and all our own dive gear on board, as many of the remote places we were going have no diving facilities.

Some of the most amazing dives we did were on the wrecks of Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These wrecks were sunk during nuclear bomb testing in the Marshalls following WWII. We dove planes, a submarine, as well as several famous vessels from both the US and Japanese fleets. I love exploring wrecks that have amazing history like these. But, they are very deep and because of their location you are very exposed.

CM: Was there ever a time where you felt like you were in over your head, or did you feel like you were pretty comfortable looking out over the bow of your ship?

Ellis Emmett: There were plenty of challenging moments, but not from big seas. We were never hit by any major storms. We were lucky, but also very careful. Sure, a storm may have made for great TV, but not at the cost of safety. Watching the weather reports, good route planning, and a great crew ensured a smooth journey.

Early on in the journey, as we departed New Zealand, we knew we were in for a bit of a challenge because it was very late in the sailing season. In the South Pacific, about half of the year is made up of the cyclone season when huge storms can rip through the region. So, right from the start we knew we only had a short window to get into the Central Pacific, closer to the equator, where the cyclones don't track and it’s safer.

As we had so much filming and last minute preparations to complete before departing NZ, by the time we reached the Kingdom of Tonga we were on a very tight time schedule. Several times we would have to film during the day and then sail overnight in order to get to the next island destination, then film again during the day, and then sail through the night again to the next location.

And of course sailing at night increases the risks. And, to complicate things further, one of our crew members got dangerously sick during this period and we were close to having to abandon the filming and sail back to the mainland to get to a hospital. Luckily, we were able to keep going. Nausea, mechanical issues, tight quarters, hot weather, not to mention the normal stresses of filming (plus the challenging stresses of filming in remote locations such as trying to find WiFi to stay in touch with the team back in Canada, or trying to locate a courier in order to ship our backup footage hard drives)…there were many days we all felt in over our head.

But, there were also those nights when everything would be working properly, and I would have the helm to myself under perfect conditions - a full moon, wind at my back – and I would look out over the ocean, days away from any land, and just be in awe of where I was.