The Man of Tides

The Man of Tides

Upon meeting Henry Chamberlain, you’d want to stop and try to listen to the message that nature has in store for you. He did just that and, after a career as an officer in the Royal Marines and several humanitarian campaigns, in 2016 he founded the Coastal Exploration Company in Norfolk. It proposes a slow way of sailing, in which exploring also means swimming, surfing, learning to forage and feed on what the earth spontaneously offers.

What are the Coastal Exploration Company’s values?
Our values are slow living, tradition through our heritage fleet, adventure and protecting the environment.

In your previous life, you were a Royal Marines Officer and a humanitarian then. What did you bring from these experiences to this ‘new’ adventure?
In both professions I learnt how to survive in wild places, so I still have this love of the wilderness and how to look after yourself and others in such places. I also learnt that almost anything is possible if you apply and believe in yourself - initially I never thought I would ever be good enough to pass the Royal Marines training, but step by step, I did.

What did Africa teach you?
To value what we have in the UK and Europe, many people do not have access to clean water and food - we have it all and so have a responsibility to help others and protect and appreciate it. My favourite drink is still a clean glass of cool water, because once I had to live off dirty and unclean water in the Sudanese desert, I know how incredibly valuable and important it is.

What are the Coastal Exploration Company’s values?
Our values are slow living, tradition through our heritage fleet, adventure and protecting the environment.

In your previous life, you were a Royal Marines Officer and a humanitarian then. What did you bring from these experiences to this ‘new’ adventure?
In both professions I learnt how to survive in wild places, so I still have this love of the wilderness and how to look after yourself and others in such places. I also learnt that almost anything is possible if you apply and believe in yourself - initially I never thought I would ever be good enough to pass the Royal Marines training, but step by step, I did.

What did Africa teach you?
To value what we have in the UK and Europe, many people do not have access to clean water and food - we have it all and so have a responsibility to help others and protect and appreciate it. My favourite drink is still a clean glass of cool water, because once I had to live off dirty and unclean water in the Sudanese desert, I know how incredibly valuable and important it is.

How do people who join your explorations ‘react’?
People are often skeptical or not sure, but once we leave the pontoon and enter the salt marsh you can physically see and feel them relax. Our explorations are so immersive, with clients often, for the first time experiencing the rush of a powerful incoming tide, the cry of an oyster catcher or the gaggle of geese flying overhead. The complete tranquility of no man-made structures on the salt marsh and silence of the boat gliding through the creeks.

Norfolk is your land and your sea: what are the characteristics of this place that most resemble you?
It is very flat, so that often puts some people off, but there is this incredible energy driven by the very strong tides which rush in and out twice a day. Transforming the landscape from a watery world to a dry sandy landscape twice a day. The contrast is incredible and causes the environment to constantly shift.

What is your relationship with wood and especially with wooden sailing boats?
One of our core principles is safeguarding the environment and so plastic boats do not sit well with us, because they will take hundreds of years to deteriorate once abandoned and are made from fossil fuel derivatives. They also represent easy and fast living, which is not what we stand for. With wood there is connection with nature, the feel and touch of a natural material is completely different, it is tremendous, but it requires constant attention to maintain.

What does it mean today to do a project in harmony with the territory that hosts it and the community living in?With the rapidly changing world as we advance with AI, I think it is even more important to be in touch and protect our natural world, because without it we are dead. It provides an important balance that we are rapidly losing

The weather in Norfolk can be very harsh, what is your relationship with stormy weather and the cold in general?
It can be harsh, but even in the most challenging conditions there is inspiration and beauty, By preparing properly, wearing the right clothes, having warm drinks and food, you can not only survive, but thrive in tough environments and the feeling you get afterward is much stronger. A feeling of having conquered. It makes you feel more alive.

Will Coastal Explorations ever cross the borders of UK?Yes! We have new boat which can do that, a 42’ Norfolk fishing boat, she is much larger and more powerful than our other vessels. We are just waiting to get her coded and then we shall be away!

What does it mean today to do a project in harmony with the territory that hosts it and the community living in?With the rapidly changing world as we advance with AI, I think it is even more important to be in touch and protect our natural world, because without it we are dead. It provides an important balance that we are rapidly losing

The weather in Norfolk can be very harsh, what is your relationship with stormy weather and the cold in general?
It can be harsh, but even in the most challenging conditions there is inspiration and beauty, By preparing properly, wearing the right clothes, having warm drinks and food, you can not only survive, but thrive in tough environments and the feeling you get afterward is much stronger. A feeling of having conquered. It makes you feel more alive.

Will Coastal Explorations ever cross the borders of UK?Yes! We have new boat which can do that, a 42’ Norfolk fishing boat, she is much larger and more powerful than our other vessels. We are just waiting to get her coded and then we shall be away!