Overview by Steve
I am afraid we are in quite rough seas at the moment which makes typing quie difficult. As such I have posted the answers I gave for an interview two days ago. I hope this will give a good overview of how things have been up until now.
The row has been amazing so far. The first 8 hours were a bit of a baptisms of fire however with winds of 26 knots and huge seas we were forced to put out the drogue for the second night (a Droge is like a parachute with a whole in the end, it keeps the boat pointing into the wind and waves to prevent it from capsizing in a storm but also allows it to drift slowly). During the night we had several waves crash right over the stern and across the whole boat hitting the front cabin and forcing water in through the air vents. The next morning each of us wondered if perhaps this was going to be harder than we anticipated. However we have been able to adapt to the conditions better and the weather has generally been much kinder.
Our physical preparation has proved to be very beneficial, we all undertook considerable physical prep leading up to the trip training up to six time per week twice per day. We also had to gain extra weight to insure we have enough reserve energy for the long endurance of the row (my personal weight increased from a normal weight of 74kg to 90kg on the day of departure! I might have over done it a bit with the fried breakfasts!!) The one area we did not prepare for and I a not sure that we could is the sleep deprivation, this is proving to be the biggest difficulty. Sleeping for 2 hours then rowing for 2 ours 24hrs a day is quite challenging, this is made even harder when the weather has been bad and all the beading and clothing is wet making getting to sleep difficult, Overall however we are having a very comfortable trip considering.
Have you encountered any surprises or unexpected events during the row?
Not really, I feel we are fairly well prepared, we have had the odd whale come alongside and blow its air out at us and Simon was hit during the night by a flying fish but apparently that becomes quite common as we get closer to the carabean (still a bit of a shock at 4am however but probably more of a shock to the fish!)
We have brought a fishing rod along and have been catching Dorado during the day, these fish are delicious and we have been quickly bioling or eating raw the fillets to supplement our rations which are very bland otherwise.
Are you managing to eat, sleep, row as planned - two hours on, two hours off? How's the morale of those on board?
See above. Morale is so much higher than any of us could imagine, we are consistently laughing and joking with each other. The trip has made us acutely aware of the impotence of sleep however, the difference between getting 2hrs of sleep and having a 30min snooze is amazing, snoozing is to be avoided at all costs as the following 2 hr rowing shift will be very difficult indeed.
Due to the way the shifts have worked out I have been rowing on every single sunset and sunrise for the first 22 days and have experienced some breathtaking views. With 0 light pollution at night the stars are incurably bright and we see shooting stars all throughout the night which is an amazing spectral.
Steve
