Is that frost I can see?????
Panatlantic
Sun 17 Feb 2008 17:11
Well its been over a week since we finished and I have been back in sunny
Bristol since Saturday. We were gutted that our laptop broke, writing a
blog was one of the only things keeping me sane (notice I speak for myself
and not for Niall!!). You will now know what happened from Niall's last
entry, losing the Sat Phone was really tough with 2 weeks to go, mainly
because we weren't able to let our family and friends know that we were
ok.
Right rowing the Atlantic from my perspective - What a stupid yet amazing
thing to do! Admittedly you need to have a screw loose to even contemplate
something so ridiculous but those of you that know us are already aware
that we are not normal guys, and hopefully the rest of you got to know us
a bit at sea. On the Tuesday we finished we were out for an evening meal
with family and friends, Orlando from Go Commando and I reflected on the
experience and came to the conclusion that it was pretty damn horrible,
but now a week later looking back it was a fantastic experience that will
stay with me forever. Would I do it again? hmmm firstly I think my
girlfriend would knee-cap me at the mere suggestion of doing it again but
who knows, I could well be tempted by a 6 man record attempt in Oyster
Shack. But not for a few years, I have some making up to do and need to
drag myself from the financial red zone. It was great to find the ballifs
camping in my front garden when I got home!
The finish in Antigua was just amazing, the night before I was first to
notice the glow on the horizon which got brighter and brighter and then as
the sun came up we saw the first outline of land. What a feeling! Its hard
to describe a mixture of emotion, relief and absolute joy. As we got to 10
miles Miguel (sorry Niall, I'll stop that now) got on the radio and we
finally got a reply. Up until that point we still didn't know if our
families knew we were ok or where we were. Then with a couple of miles to
go we spotted the RIB carrying Amanda from Woodvale, my Dad and Niall's
mum. It was amazing to see them and was a very emotional moment, its hard
enough being away from family for a long period but we had been removed
from society altogether.
Finally the horn sounded and we had officially rowed an ocean unassisted,
that was quite unbelievable. Only then were we told that we had to row
another mile or so to the harbour. I felt like a Duracel Bunny whos
battery had finally ran out, yet we kept going and by all accounts lloked
pretty good on our way in. Finally we turned a corner, the sea flattened
and the scene was just amazing. We were surrounded by yachts and boats of
all sizes, shouting and sounding horns, then high on the fortress wall we
saw some of the other rowers with flares and finally on the shore was a
crowd of people banging drums, shouting and waving. It was a very surreal
moment as we finally docked and stepped onto shore after 63 days 2 hours
and 5 minutes (we would have been quicker but Niall kept stopping to take
photos). The legs were wobbly but we didn't care as we were met by our
families and other rowers, including Mission Atlantic who got in just over
an hour before us. I could see the relief on my parents faces and it was
amazing to see them. Im being blamed for newly formed gray hairs but Im
sure thats not my fault!
So we had finally finished and my Dad greeted me with the Magners I had so
longed for and I can tell you it tasted damn good!
We had until Friday afternoon in Antigua although I didn't get much rest
due to a mixture of chatting, giving tours of the boat and getting drunk!
It was great that so many people showed an interest in the race and the
boat, I must have given over a dozen talks including to a group of rather
attractive young ladies. Strangely during that talk I told them I had
fought off sharks and saved Niall's life twice?!
Well its done and Im glad to be home, it was amazing to see Jess, my
family and friends and I now have until Monday to relax and recover. I'm
off to the gym this afternoon to start training for the next challenge
whatever that may be!
James