Local environmentalist, Mukti Mitchell, set off onboard his ecofriendly, microyacht this April, in a bid to promote low carbon lifestyles.

‘I’ll get to combine my two greatest passions in life ñ sailing and raising awareness of low carbon lifestyles ñ into a single event!’ explains Mukti Mitchell. As we speak it is ten days until the launch of the Low Carbon Lifestyle Tour. On April 8th, Mukti set sail in his hand-built boat, called Chance, with the aim of navigating the entire UK coastline. Stopping at 40 ports or so along the way, he will be greeted by his supporters staging events, which focus on how we can all make a difference by adopting a low carbon lifestyle.

A carpenter by trade, Mukti’s interest in sailing developed from time spent crewing on a yacht that crossed the Atlantic. It was during this journey that he heard the tale of a Russian engineer, Evgeniy Gvozdev, who had built a 12-foot boat from scraps and sailed it around the world. Inspired by this Mukti sat down and designed his revolutionary microyacht.

Built entirely by hand from wood, and powered by sail and oar alone, with no engine, Mukti’s zero-emission microyacht is an example of the low carbon lifestyle he is promoting on his tour. Not content with building a boat and sailing it around the UK coastline, Mukti has also written a booklet to accompany the tour. It details the many small ways we can all change our own lifestyles to reduce carbon emissions. It is available from the low carbon lifestyle website.

I asked him what he thought would be the highlights of the journey. ‘Well, I am particularly looking forward to sailing around Scotland,’ he replied. ‘But all the different landscapes will hold some attraction ñ being able to watch the environment and culture gradually change as we are sailing by. Meeting new people every time we stop will be a big part of it too. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s the whole experience really,’ he added. ‘Just to feel the force of the wind and hear the sound of rushing water ñ it’s almost meditative.’

Contact: www​.lowcarbonlifestyle​.org

Mukti Mitchell. Photo: © David Harding