Halfway!
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We
should reach the halfway mark today – you beauty! As we’re now on day 38, we
could be in for a 76 day crossing (which is how long it took
Rachel & Lin in Red Arrow in 2007) but we’re hoping we can pick up
the pace in the second half of the race. We’ve decided that we need to celebrate
reaching this milestone and the most appropriate reward we’ve managed to find is
a small tin of pineapple each! Hardly a fitting tribute for 1200 odd miles but
we’ll savour every mouthful as we haven’t had fruit since we
started.
A
slight digression from the rowing…. My
little sister has just broken her foot which she did this whilst out running.
When she was put on crutches she then slipped on some water and broke her toe –
double breakage. Not ideal, considering she has just changed career and is now a
personal trainer! She’s a very talented athlete and she won’t be shy in telling
you that she has a faster marathon time than me although she’s now unlikely to
run the London Marathon in April where she was trying to break 3 hours for the
first time. Get well soon Ells and at least you’ll still be able to train your
clients how to hop! Love ya. A
quick snapshot of the last 48 hours onboard HMS Red
Arrow…. Days
at Sea:
38 Last
48 Hours:
We’ve been making good progress and have climbed a few positions in the
fleet. We’re not getting carried away as the last time we were in the top ten we
dropped 5 places over night and have no reason why. We’ll just keep trying hard
every shift and see what happens. Other
Boats:
YES – and it was well worth the wait. A 250m long cargo ship (we’re 8m
long) popped up on our radar and then emerged on the horizon going to West
Africa. Even 5 miles away it was huge and thankfully we were in no danger. We
tried to do a radio check with him but we didn’t get a response. I’m a bit
worried about our VHF as we had clear line of sight and it should work – either
that, or the ship was on auto pilot and the captain was having a
fag! What’s
been happening? An
update from the last couple of days………………… 1.
Amazing
Sunrise This
morning the sunrise was stunning and I couldn’t stop myself from staring,
similar to watching a fire burn – it was mesmerising. We’re still operating on
GMT and the sun pops up around 9:15 at our current position.
2.
The
Downpour The
most surreal weather conditions happened yesterday during my early evening shift
between 16:00 – 18:00. At the start of the shift I was plastering on the sun
cream and then halfway through this huge black front was moving in. I could see
rain was coming and the seas were increasing. I had 2
options: -
Go
and grab the Musto waterproofs and kit up, or -
Get
naked and have a free shower! There
was only ever going to be one winner with my options and I had my first mid
Atlantic rain shower. The temperature was still warm and the rain was very heavy
so it was really refreshing. Our first bit of rain in 38 days – not bad really.
Yes, that is weather gloating. 3.
Thank
you Ricky Oh,
how Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Carl Pilkington have saved me during my
night shifts. James Downie very kindly bought me an ipod shuffle for the trip
and pre-loaded it with personal messages, songs and comedy podcasts. The 3 mates
chat absolute random shit, insult each other and have a laugh for half an hour
and then sign off. I’ve been roaring with laughter at stupidly early hours to
their comments – absolutely love it and I’m sure it has saved me from falling
asleep! Looking
forward to;
Joke of the Day goes to Cath Allaway.... Bride’s
Dad hands a note to Groom – “Goods delivered are not
returnable” Groom
hands a note back to Bride’s father – “Contract void if seal is
broken!” A
few personal messages from me…………. Dan
& Sandra -
Hello
in Sweden. Dan - I love the letter
and looking forward to seeing you both when you’re next over in the UK. Alan
Skennerton –
Thanks
for the letter and jokes, which were very entertaining. Thank you for your
support throughout and the upgrade back from Dubai! The
row must go on – Antigua here we come. Barnesy |