Dawson Taylor Sealand Reflection 14 December 2016

Transcription

1 Dawson Taylor Sealand Reflection 14 December 2016 Sealand I had been talking about Sealand for years before I had any idea that I might attempt to visit this micro nation. Sealand is simply one of those fascinating stories that you might read on some Internet Buzzfeed list, or stumble upon on Reddit. However, I never thought that I would actually visit this place. I had never been to Europe, and that reality seemed very distant, as school and work take up most of my time. However, when granted the opportunity through the University Honor s Program, I was able to finally make the trip to Sealand in May Accompanying me were Liz Holland and Laura Kulik, who made up the rest of the team. They served as invaluable members of the production team, helping to produce and capture the footage that we shot. Our group had a wonderful and exciting time, and had a number of experiences that are irreplaceable. How many people can really say they ve shaken hands with a Prince? As we set up to make the trek, it became clear that it was gong to be a stretch I being able to transport our film gear. As consolidated and limited as our gear was, it simply took up too much space to fit in all of our bags. In addition, much of our film equipment is prohibited from being checked due to electrical safety precautions taken by airlines. We also know that we may have additional screenings and checkpoints because of the nature of the equipment we were taking. We managed to fit everything we needed into the perfect amount of bags that we could all carry everything at once. This would help us move around the airport easily and keep us light in our packing. The only unfortunate circumstance was that my carry-on stretched the limits of baggage, as it was exorbitantly heavy. Fortunately, we found out that there actually is no weight limit for carry-on. However, this bag contained all of our camera batteries, which are extremely heavy and look somewhat industrial and bomb like. This got me stopped many times, and also caused great pain for my shoulder, as I had to carry the heavy bag over my front shoulder. This pain was abated by a slightly humorous moment in security, as the TSA officer asked me if I was selling concessions, because of the way I was holding the bag. Nonetheless, we made it safely on to our flight with all of our baggage in tact. (Flying over Greenland) With very little sleep and extreme jet lag, we arrived at London-Heathrow. After orienting ourselves, we sorted out our plan and located essential resources. Our first interview was with Prince Michael of Sealand, so we needed to be on top of our game, as his interview was essential to nail for the documentary. With our eyes on the prize, we set out for our rental car from the airport. I then quickly adapted to driving in

2 the UK, as we set out to Southend-On-Sea, a tiny town on the coast about two hours from the airport. There is nothing more humbling than driving in a country foreign to you. I actually did not find driving on the left side of the road to be that intimidating, but found that roundabouts were extremely difficult to navigate. Fortunately, we were able to purchase a cheap data plan and used digital navigation to find out way around. Navigating in England would have been impossible without this tool, and I am extremely thankful we were able have a working phone. This also became crucial in securing interviews and meeting locations, as many of our interviewees were on busy schedules and wanted to meet at specific locations. Michael was surprisingly easy to schedule with, and his humble residence surprised us. Southend-On-Sea gives off the feeling of a once frequented vacation town, which has now been abandoned as a ghost town. We dragged ourselves to our quaint and tiny hotel, prepared equipment for our interview, and went straight to bed. We spent a total of 27 hours traveling. captivating as we could have hoped. He told us many stories, many of which I had not heard before. Michael Bates comes off as having done many interviews, but seemed to settle in and get more comfortable with us as the interview went on. We talked with Michael, his two sons, and his daughter, all of the royal line of Sealand. We spent over 4 hours at their house, talking and filming much of our conversation. We were sorry to leave, but our interview with Michael reconfirmed our passion for the project, and helped center the focus of our documentary for the rest of the trip. (Liz with a one of a kind Sealand mug) (Interviewing Prince Michael) Fortunately, our first interview with Prince Michael went extremely well. He was exactly as mysterious, weathered, and The next day, we moved on to London to interview a number of people. We spent around four days in London, knowing that we would have to come back again to interview more people later in our trip. During these first four days we interview around ten fascinating people from all walks of life. From pirate radio enthusiasts, to marathon runners, to the Sealand soccer team, we talked with too many people to count. We also were able to visit some of the museums and exhibits that London has to offer, and started to be able to apply some of our knowledge of Sealand s history to that of

3 England itself. One particularly impactful moment for myself was in a museum that outlined the history of war in England. The sprawling museum took over two hours to walk through, but I kept finding myself waiting to see how the museum depicted the Revolutionary War. The museum brushed over the revolutionary way in a brief paragraph on a side exhibit. This moment gave such an alternative perspective to a worldview that many people in the United States share. The United States is not the center of the world, and such large moment in our history does certainly not warrant being a large event in another. (Me in front of St. Paul s Cathedral) of the most important interviews in our documentary for tying our more structured historical interviews in to the fascinating phenomenon of Sealand. Tom talked at length about his experiences in many unrecognized states, but also talked about many states that much of the world recognizes while others may not. For example, Transnistria, a tiny Baltic state, is for all intents and purposes a recognized state. However, because large amounts of human trafficking and drug smuggling takes place through this country, the United Nations, and many other countries do not recognize the status of Transnistria. Transnistria is like this through no fault of its own, as it has been eternally sandwiched between Moldova and Romania, multiple times trying to secede from Moldova without success. The UN considers Transnistria officially apart of Moldova. However, Tom Coote told us about his experience actually visiting there, and seemed to think that much of the people that live there do not seem to think that they live in Moldova. (Interviewing Tom Coote) We enjoyed London immensely, and planned to visit again after we filmed our other interviews. We then traveled south to Brighton to interview a micro nation expert who has visited a number of famous micro nations and microstates. Tom Coote was one of the nicest and most accommodating people we met on our journey, and I am still in contact with him today. He helped bring our documentary a more global focus, as he talked about how globalization is reducing the need for concrete borders, and that many international boundaries are somewhat arbitrary. I think this could be one We bade farewell to Tom and promised to keep in touch, moving down the coast to Dover. We interviewed a few people in Dover, while also scoping out the White Cliffs and Dover Castle, both, which contain so much English History. The rest of our

4 interviews in Southern England went smoothly, and we were able to meet up with a few other subjects that we previously thought would be indisposed. We additionally had to keep a sideways eye towards the weather throughout the trip, as we needed perfect conditions to visit Sealand. Unfortunately, the spring is a particularly stormy time in the North Sea, so we were skeptical of our chances of visiting the nation. We decided to camp out in Harwich, a small port town that is the closest landmass to Sealand. After three days of waiting, our chances seemed slim. We packed our belongings, preparing for the long flight. However, The night before we were scheduled to leave, I checked the weather report one last time. There was a chance that the weather would abate early in the morning of the following day. I decided that I would try to stay an extra day when the Laura and Liz went home, as someone needed to return the rental car the following day. As I dropped the girls off at the airport, I frantically attempted to change my flight. After talking to 10 different travel agents, I finally connected with a kind Canadian woman who changed my flight. I camped out in Harwich that night, anticipating finally reaching Sealand the following day. (The group at the hotel in Harwich) I arrived at the boat dock at 5am, exchanging pleasantries with the boat captain, Gary. The weather looked stormy but Gary assured me that it was passable. We made our way out of the harbor, crashing through waves. Suddenly, Gary told me there was a problem with the motor. He went to check, and came back with grim news. His boat motor had been struck by one of the waves, and had rendered it incapable of taking us to Sealand. He told me he would call a number of his friends that were boat captains, but none answered his calls. I dejectedly made my way to the airport, disappointed with how close I had come to the place that I had spent so long thinking about. As disappointing as the end of our trip was, I can say that the turn of events has only furthered my drive to one day visit Sealand. I am currently planning on visiting England again this spring to visit the island nation. This time I will wait as long as it takes. Despite not visiting Sealand, I feel like I learned almost as much in two weeks as is humanly possible. The Internet and books will only provide you with so much, and Sealand is living proof. Michael told us so many stories that can only be transmitted through word of mouth, which is one of the many reasons why Sealand is so memorable, and hopefully will allow it to stand the test of time. (The group in front of Big Ben)

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