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Explorer is due back with some amazing tales

Oct 2 2011 by Joanne Butcher, Sunday Sun

EXPLORER David Scott Cowper is due to arrive back in the North this week... after two years at sea.

The intrepid 68-year-old is due to complete his incredible sixth circumnavigation of the globe in the next few days.

Along the way he’s suffered a broken foot, completed a secret mission for NASA and battled through some of the most treacherous waters in the world.

David, who lives in Newcastle, set out on his epic journey from Maryport, Cumbria, in 2009 on his specially-built boat Polar Bound.

He was waved off by wife Caroline, and son Freddy accompanied him as far as the Isle of Man to check over the boat. But since then, the veteran sailor has been alone on his 35,000 mile journey.

When he set off David said: “The Polar Bound is the perfect tool for the job; self-righting and the strongest surface vessel of her size in the world.

“She can take 65 tons of ice pressure per square yard of hull and her bottom is shaped like that of a tablespoon so that she cannot be caught in the ice’s grip. If she is squeezed, she pops up.”