HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MUM.

No, I hadn’t forgotten although as you have probably realised you don’t have a present from me but I’m sure my very organised siblings would have packed you off with a present from us all and I’ll be “invoiced” for my third when I return. For those of you who don’t know Mum (aka Mrs B) she is where I get my energy from and also my love of Sport. A retired PE and Geography teacher by trade Mum was also a talented athlete in her day – county Hockey player and lends her hand to most sports. Last year she even completed her first sprint triathlon which is pretty impressive for a Granny! Mum is currently out in Antigua awaiting our arrival and knowing her the harbour will be decorated with homemade banners and she won’t be sitting still. She has helped so much with this project and always has an “I’ll do that” attitude and nothing is ever too much trouble for her. Rich and I are very grateful for all her help and I hope you have an enjoyable day.  Love ya.

Sue – Rich has also asked me to say a very Happy Mothers Day and he can’t wait to see you.

Back to the Ocean…………..

Red Arrow is moving along nicely and we’re now homing in on Dream Maker who were only 3 miles ahead of us. HCL must have found their performance enhancing drugs because they are now 60 miles up on both of us and I don’t think they can be caught. We’ve not got 130 miles to fight it out with Dream Maker to the finish and we’ll give it our best shot.  

So I’ve been thinking about when Red Arrow crosses the finish line and I’m not sure whether I will scream, cry, clench my fist and punch the air, shout  “YES” really loudly several times, slump my head and look down into my lap and just do nothing, jump into the water and splash violently or shake Richie’s hand and not have to say anything because we know what we went through. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do and in what order but I’m sure it will be a mixture of the above. After we have finished the race we then have to row into English Harbour which is a mile or so and by all accounts we’ll be joined by lots of boats following us in. When we moor up in English Harbour this is where they’ll be our welcoming party to see us and here is what I see happening………….

Laura -                    Giving her a big snog and a very long hug!

Dad -                       A huge man hug for the old man.

Mum -                     Telling her to stop crying and lifting her up into the air to celebrate.

Grandad -                Another big man hug as he is now likely to be there which is brilliant news.

Everyone else -        Lots of hand shakes, hugs and tears.  I’m sure they’ll even be some surprise faces at the finish too!

I then want to call James Downie to let him know we’ve finished and I’m sure he’ll be praying we arrive a sensible hour!  I also want to call my brother and sister to let them know it is over.  I’ve missed them both a great deal and they have both been very supportive.  After that Woodvale have to whisk us away to clear Customs and Immigration and never before would I have worked so hard to get a stamp in my passport! Hopefully this all goes smoothly before we can rejoin the celebrations. I also want to weigh myself before I forget. All the rowers in La Gomera had a weigh-in before we set off and I want to know if I can recommend this form of extreme exercise and dieting to my fat friends!

COME ON RED ARROW – Double figures here we come!!!!

The row must go on – Antigua here we come!

Barnesy

http://www.justgiving.co.uk/rowingtheatlantic

Thanks to the following  people for getting in touch with various good luck messages, jokes, quotes, stories or general words of wisdom;  Lloyd Cox,  Cath Rogers,  Catherine Grose,  Viv Whiteling, Geoff & Shirley, David & Debbie, Chris Holian, Geoff Bowie, Lou & Mark, Alan Thomas,  The Loudins & Dan Holian.

A couple of personal messages from me……………..

Everyone in Antigua -          Sorry, we’ll be there soon!!

Mum -                                  Another Sunday missed, so it is now 17 Roast Dinners and one Christmas

Dinner!

The Swifts -                        Enjoy Vegas and make sure you’ve taken out health insurance for the big man!

Colman –                            Dinner sounds lovely and double portions for me please.

Wendy Newton –                They’ll be no spanking my arse when I get back - you wait until your mother reads this!!!

Debra  Searle -                   Your text has thrown a spanner in the works!!!!!! Noted about the last blog - good idea.  Thanks

Farrow -                               I loved the story about the statue of the elephant in Thailand!