Archive for September, 2015

Day 55 – The Equator

Emma: We finally crossed the equator at about 3.30am this morning. The Southern Hemisphere greeted us with squally wind and rain but took enough of a break to allow us to toast to Neptune with the bottle of rum which a friend Paul from the Hawaii Yacht Club gave us especially for that purpose. It feels like a big milestone reached to be finally halfway both on this leg of the journey to Samoa and also on the expedition as a whole. We planned to have a couple of hours today to celebrate but the weather is still squally so we had to make do with eating dinner together in the rain and then postpone the rest of the festivities until Neptune sends us some more favourable conditions. Now the countdown is on to Samoa and then Australia. Here’s to following winds and favourable currents!

Lizanne: Yay!! Very happy to have crossed the Equator! I’m incredibly grateful that we have made it this far all healthy and happy. Here’s to a speedy/smooth sailing/wind on our backs second half. I’m not sure what we expected, but torrential rain, stormy clouds and swarms of birds in the distance wasn’t on the list; once again it leaves us paying respect to the ever changing ocean. We were planning to swim across the equator, which I’ve been dreaming of for weeks, but due to our arrival being in the pitch black night, the unfavourable weather, and the fact that we’ve been followed by a shark for the past few days made this a 3 times NO!Regardless of weather, it’s been a special day as we have reached the milestone that means we are edging out of the doldrums. We can finally start entertaining the thoughts of fresh fruit and that first shower!

Natalia: Reaching the equator was an amazing landmark for all of us. Wooohoooo! We’re over half way now and that means that we can begin a new mental journey. Although the picture perfect, still water and blue sky was not sent our way, Neptune ensured that we will never forget his power for providing change and unpredictability in his almighty ocean. The numerous downpours stopped us carrying out our special social time plans, so these will be resumed at a later stage. We did however have a great, if brief, toast to Neptune in the early hours with my all time favourite spiced rum, then today we sat in the rain, ate a communal lunch and toasted again to the ridiculous equator conditions with our fruit pot deserts and ‘Happy’ song by Tetra C2C feat. Derek Martin! A special thanks to Jay for having the unique idea to sponsor us with 4 songs to be played at this pivotal point of the journey. The other 3 will be played when we celebrate for real in the coming days. Watch this space and bring on Samoa…

Laura: Wow…… We have finally reached a momentous milestone in our journey, the equator! This to me is a pivotal point. To help me chunk the whole row, I have visualised the equator to be half way of the journey and half way between Hawaii and Samoa (even though it’s a little over for both). The fact we have reached half way excites me no end! To think we are now on the count down to home sweet home, which I have been thinking about since week 1 after leaving San Fran in April. Reaching the equator actually felt quite emotional, but this was short lived considering the conditions we were in and the timing of our arrival. The idyllic expectation was that we would arrive around 16:00 with blue sky and blazing sun, we would bask in the glory of reaching the equator and toast to Neptune before having a 2hr social as a team. Of course we have learnt by now that the Pacific can never be predicted and often will do the opposite to our expectations. So of course our arrival was 03:30AM not PM, it was pitch black, the seas were choppy, the wind was squally and there were torrential downpours – perfect! Our toast to Neptune was a momentary pause amongst the mayhem of the weather and gave us a second to appreciate where we were. With just the numbers of the latitude on the chartplotter to go by, there’s no lights, or flags, or marker buoys in the sea to note the equatorial line. So the whole process is very surreal albeit very cool too to think we are the first team of 4 to ever row across the equator!

UPDATE:
We reached the equator!!!! x

Day 54 – England Rugby

I can’t believe the time is here for the Rugby World Cup to arrive in the UK and games are already underway. In my head, I thought we would be nearing the finish line around now and hopefully be back home in time to catch the final England game, unfortunately the winds, currents and timeline has not been on our side, so needless to say, I am gutted to be missing out on all the excitement of the rugger back home. One bonus is that our next stop is Samoa, so being home to many a rugby player, I’m hoping there may be somewhere to watch a game or two on our stopover.
I’ve talked previously about role models and individuals that have inspired me along the way, but one of the biggest learning curves to come out of this row, will be what it takes to make a great team. There certainly is no recipe to this, but I’m sure by the end of the row I’ll be able to highlight the key characteristics that brought us together, the shared values and beliefs that kept us focussed and the antics we got up to keep morale high. Certainly working to bring a team together in the first place, I researched and spent time with a number of effective teams, from Army to Sport to business. One of the biggest in sport that stood out and influenced me the most, is that of the England Rugby team.

Head Coach Stuart Lancaster, has got amazing vision to see potential in players, to nurture them and build their confidence, to draw them together with shared passion and values. As with us, it’s not just about the playing team, it’s the team behind the team that give it strength and England RFU have an excellent support crew in place; from truly experienced and esteemed coaching staff, to the expertise of the Strength and Conditioning team, the physio’s and medic, to the performance analyst team that spend hours behind the scenes drawing together an obscene amount of footage, the nutritionist and Sport Psychologist that play key roles, the admin team that keep everything running smoothly and most importantly not forgetting the kit man (always a crucial role within any team).

I have been fortunate enough in my profession, to have had the opportunity to spend time at Penny Hill Park. A good friend of mine and previous colleague, is Dan Lewindon who has been a physio for the team for some years. He is testament to the type of personality and character of those that work there, he excels as a physio, never stopping to learn more and dedicated to be the best he can be. He is kind, caring and thoughtful, yet assertive and focussed to get the results.

On the times that I have been to their training ground, I have never felt like an outsider. The team, both players and staff, are immediately welcoming and appear comfortable with someone new being in their environment. They maintain a grounded and humbled persona and no matter who they are, they are all very approachable. The atmosphere they create is one of professionalism balanced with an abundance of good banter (crucial to any team!). I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to sit in on a morning team debrief with all the players and hear Stuart Lancaster address them with play feedback on video analysis. Delivery of key messages done assertively yet immediately supportive with how to improve. Plans, processes are all clear as day so any one player knows exactly what their role is and what their goals are to achieve. Simple methods, but hard to do well and extremely effective when they are.

Chris Robshaw also creates a great role model for what a good leader looks like, someone that is reliable, gets stuck in to do the graft, is supportive, remains calm yet authoritative in given situations, but more importantly, recognises and respects the strength of his team around him ‘I may be the captain, but I’m a captain of many leaders’ (quote to that effect). This quote has always stuck with me, on and off this boat, each of the girls leads on a different area. They may have the skill set or have worked with our team of experts around us to develop those skills.

So we have a lot to thank the England Rugby team for and are only sorry we can’t be there in person and team as support over the coming weeks, but rest assured, we will be screaming out into the Pacific words of encouragement and sending our positive vibes back across the equator.

An adapted quote from Any Given Sunday for the boys:
‘You find out life’s this game of inches. So is rowing. So is rugby. Because in either game, life, rowing or rugby the margin for error is so small — I mean one-half a stroke too late, or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don’t quite catch it.

The inches we need are everywhere around us.

They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second.

On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch’

Smash it England, show the world how it’s done!

Update:

Tantalisingly close to the equator!! As I write this message we are less than 10nm away from toasting to Neptune.

Day 53 – The Middle

My best friend got married today… And though I’ve thrown myself passionately head first into the row, for the first time since starting this adventure I’ve wanted to be elsewhere. Unfortunately due to the delays caused in Leg 1 and our difficulty with currents, my bridesmaid dress remained in the closet. Overcoming adversity… it comes in all shapes and sizes.
Ocean Rowing… Absolutely unpredictable.

So I’d like to raise a cyber toast and say a huge congratulations to the gorgeous couple, Anna and Phil.

Needless to say the emotion on Doris has quivered over the past few days as I missed the wedding and we’re teetering on the edge of the Equator about 3 weeks later than originally thought; it’s a mental milestone for all of us. So you can expect a pensive blog today.

Everything happens for a reason?.. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I came to be out here, and not at the wedding, or not anywhere else for that matter. It’s one thing reading about an intrepid adventure, but when it comes down to the crux of it all; how do you make the decision that “yes please, I’d love to go and row an ocean”? Where does the seed that was planted as an idea flourish into an answer? How do you muster up the courage to take a leap of faith knowing full well that the leap will propel you far beyond your comfort zone?

The answer will be different for everyone, and there isn’t a right or a wrong. Having something in your life that allows you to believe that the decisions you make are the right ones will ultimately be the difference between “yes” and “maybe”, “excellence” and “average” and eventually “possible” and “impossible”

I sat on the edge of my answer for a while. I had recently bought a practice which increased my responsibility and kept me incredibly busy and I found myself at a crossroad; my head telling me what the sensible thing would be, but my heart (as usual) fighting to be heard and eventually get it’s own way. The back and forth/pros and cons lists consumed me, until my answer came one day, loud and clear in the form of a sermon by a lady called Charlotte Gambill, her insight and faith completely contagious. She was over from the UK for the Cape Town Women’s Colour Conference and I made it to one of her talks. About 7mins into her talk she said “imagine you’re on a little rowing boat, in the middle of the ocean, with no one around you”. With thousands of women in the arena, it felt like she was there speaking only to me. I went home and emailed Laura, I was doing the row. To be honest, my faith has been integral in my rowing experience, and for me is the thing that puts a smile on my face.

So I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be in “the Middle” of somewhere… Hear me out.

The beginning of something is always new and exciting with endless possibilities. It’s where your motivation is highest, procrastination lowest, inspired by a new beginning. At the beginning of the race you’ve got that nervous energy, ready to put into practice the months of training you’ve been doing. In short, the beginning is always great.

The end of something is usually an accomplishment, a milestone reached, an end of an era, or cause for celebration. Yes, it’s sometimes a sad occasion, but mostly the end of something always brings change, and change is as good as a holiday, right? In the race it’s the feeling of joy, satisfaction and blissful relief as you reach the finish line.

….and then you get ‘the middle’. It’s the bit no one really talks about. It’s not exciting, it’s not inspirational, it’s the boring bit that everyone wants to skip to ‘get rich quick’ and it’s the part of the relationship where you lose each other, only to realise years later that something needs to be done. It’s where all the hard work happens and is the easiest place for us to lose focus as procrastination sets in. It’s the middle that sets you apart from 1st and 2nd place, and it’s where possible is bridged with impossible. If we’re not careful, it’s the space that was only supposed to occupy your life for a short while, and instead it becomes your life; mediocrity.

Right now, in the MIDDLE of the ocean it’s where we’re overlooking our niggles, fighting with the ocean, ignoring the refreshing call of an ocean dip to make it to our destination. It’s the hard work that pays off in the end, and like Charlotte says, it’s in the middle where you find out what’s in the middle of you…

I wasn’t at Anna’s wedding, but I’ll be in her middle.

Our sunset today, in the middle of the Pacific

On a personal note: it’s wedding season, and a huge congrats to Karla and Jeff, and Lydia and Dereck who got married last month. Looking forward to catch up and hearing all about it.

UPDATE: Gobbledygook moment of the week- as I narrated The Lion King to Laura on our night shift a few days ago, from me there was the occasional addition of snack packs to the storyline, but best of all, when I got to the section where Simba was in trouble in the Elephants graveyard LP leaned back and offered me her ore to give to Simba to help him out. Cute.

Day 52 – The senses

We had our longest continual rainfall in the Doldrums. A torrential downpour began and only stopped 12 hours later…

Ask anyone who knows me well and they will confirm that I don’t enjoy being wet. Furthermore being cold and wet is possibly one of the quickest ways to bring out the worst in me. Rain is one of my least favourite things. Well…at least the rain in the UK that is.

There is a reason why I left Manchester nearly 20 years ago and the grey sky and constant drizzle were definitely up there amongst the deciding factors.

Yet out here on the almighty Pacific, I’m learning to embrace the rain.

On this leg of the journey, it can offer huge respite from the heat and is a great way to refresh the body. We watch the squalls heading our way. It’s usually a grey, ominous cloud and a wall of water heading in our direction or just an incredibly dramatic dark cloud formation that suddenly appears next to or above us.

The wonderful thing about the rain is that it evokes all your senses.

Sight – In the Doldrums what seems to happen is that just as the squall hits, the sky looks very dramatic, then the downpour flattens out the water and the colours all turn monochrome. The droplets dance on the water’s surface and the waves form a layered effect similar to that of misty mountain ranges stretching out in the distance as far as the eye can see. It’s an incredibly beautiful sea state.

Sound – You can hear the rain hit the hood of your jacket, peak of your baseball cap or the deck of the boat whilst rowing and when inside the cabin, the pitter patter of rain drops on the roof makes you feel all cosy and cocooned.

Smell – The smell of rain on hot boat is not too dissimilar to rain on hot tarmac. The other smell that the rain brings is that of freshness and a clearing of the air.

Taste – Rain water is so beautifully sweet especially compared to our usual desalinated water. I always a open my mouth wide, stick my tongue out and lift my head to the heavens, to catch a little rain when possible.

Touch – Now that the temperatures are higher, we are often wearing bikinis/sports bras during the day and wet weather jackets with shorts at night, so the rain can be felt directly on the skin. The light rain tickles our bodies but when a heavy squall passes through, the drops prick our arms and legs like sharp needles. It is, however, always good to have a fresh water shower from the rain to clear the salt build up and our skin always feels smooth and clean after a good soaking.

I’m not sure if it’s because we are surrounded by nature or it’s because we can live so completely in the moment, but it seems much easier to draw upon all your senses during any and every activity out here. Compared to the usual distractions and mental noise you find in city life, there is definitely more opportunity for mindful and meditative states to be felt here in isolation from fully observing our senses. It’s easier to go deeper into the sensations that arise from the senses we feel and for me, I feel as if my senses are heightened while on Doris.

Just for a moment, enter our world…

Sight

Everything on Doris. Four women. All equipment on the boat.
Our view – the ocean’s varying sea states and the rich wildlife she holds. It’s easy to lose yourself in the colours and textures of the water surrounding you and the cloud formations and colours of the sky above. For all of us, this staring out into the vast expanse of ever changing Pacific everyday, is our main form of mindfulness.

So basically when we’re not looking at the ocean and the sky, we’re looking at each other and everything on Doris. We also have books and photos for visual stimulation.
Colour variety we get from our clothes and from the sunset and sunrises.
I would say the main colour that we miss more then any other out here is green.

Sound

The oars pulling through the water is one of the most distinctive sounds of this journey.
The ocean – from the crashing of waves to the deep silence.
The wind – from a gentle whisper to a powerful howl.
The wildlife – from the distinct sound of whale surfacing and spouting out its blowhole to the squawking birds and splash of a jumping fish. The boat – the water-maker, the autopilot, the rudder and the waves lapping against the side of the cabins. There are many creaks and random noises that we are now accustomed to on Doris and if there is any new sound heard, it is investigated fully.
Four women – the voices and laughter that drift into the cabin from the pair on the oars or that waft out to the oars from the pair in the cabin. There are also a multitude of bodily sounds!
Personal iPod – audiobooks and music create a great auditory distraction.
Satellite phone – nothing quite like the sound of a loved one’s voice. We have an opportunity to chat to our families once a week wherever possible.

Smell

Everything passes through a sniff test on Doris.
The ocean – the smell of the ocean in the middle of the ocean is minimal. Most of the time we just breathe in fresh, pure air and there is no smell attached. We have however had times where we’ve smelt fish, oil (when coming into Santa Barbara and passed the oil rigs) and seaweed.
The boat – the rubbish bin, overheating electronics, fermenting snack packs, food being prepared, air freshener and the food hatches.
Products – talc powder, sudocreme, after sun, lip balm, washing detergent, soap, sun cream. Our sleeping liners, towels and clothes all have their moments of smelling pretty bad but with that great washing detergent that smells amazing, we manage to reintroduce a good scent after hand washing.
Four women – you would think that we all stink, but I can’t smell the others and although we sometimes think that we ourselves smell, no one else seems to notice each other. We do notice the smell of our clothes and the one thing we all agree on, is that our hair smells disgusting.

Touch

The ocean and the elements – feeling the waves splash, the wind blow, the rain fall and the sun warm or heat our skin.
The boat – we spend 12 hours of every day holding our oar handles. They feel smooth, grainy, slimy, wet or dry depending on the time of day and conditions. Depending on the state of our hands, holding these oars can also cause tendon pain.
Four women – we rub talc, sudocreme and sun cream onto our own bodies and sun cream onto each other. Our skin is wonderfully soft from all this moisturising, but the main thing felt when we touch our skin, are our hard callused hands.

Taste

The ocean – saltwater on our faces and on our water bottle lids from the splashes Food – our main meals are not the most varied or tasty if we’re honest. They are mainly a source of fuel and necessary daily intake of calories. Our snack packs on the other hand are a different story. This is the bag that packs a punch with a multitude of flavours. From the infamous oreos, to cereal bars, sweets, dried fruit, packet tuna, savoury crackers and the piste de resistance, the jelly beans. I am constantly amazed at how something so small can cause such a taste sensation. Guessing the flavour of each is a highlight of my day when a handful are found in a snack pack.

Sixth sense

We do all also have this wonderful intuition.
At nighttime if the stars or moon are not lighting our way, it is still sometimes possible to know when splashes are coming or rain is approaching as we seem to feel their presence or proximity.
We feel the moods of each other and usually without anyone saying anything, we can instinctively know that something is not right.

UPDATE:
We’ve hit 00 degrees …Woooohhoooo…so will pass the equator any day now.
We were also visited by Fernando the shark today.

Day 51 – Roly and Poly

We spend a lot of time with Roly and Poly on board Doris. About 6 quality hours with each of them every single day to be precise. Roly and Poly are our two rowing seats, Roly at the front in the stern and Poly at the back in the bows. They are made of wood (the only wooden thing on the boat) and slide up and down the deck on 8 roller blade wheels. Four of these wheels are upright and roll along the top of the deck and four are sideways underneath the seat and roll along the sides of the deck to keep the seat moving in a straight line. These wheels were the bane of my life for the first leg requiring a lot of maintenance and DIY. Inside the wheels are bearings which let them roll smoothly and in the first leg the wheels kept coming loose and damaging the bearings making the seats not roll so I spent a lot of time removing wheels and replacing bearings – not the most easy thing to do on a moving ocean rowing boat and meaning that either Roly or Poly was taken out of action for a while. Thankfully after some modifications with the help of Tony and a brand new set of full ceramic bearings from our sponsors RM Bearings we seem to have solved the problem this leg ‘touch wood’.

Since we sit on Roly or Poly for 12 hours each day, comfort is very important. We velcro foam cushions covered in a green waterproof cover onto the wooden seats to provide cushioning (although after 51 days they are starting to loose their padding ability) and then place a sheepskin on top. We each have our own personal sheepskin as the lanolin in the wool is soothing to angry bums and they are all named to tell them apart. LP also uses a ‘booster seat’ giving her extra height to ease the pressure on her hip and making the rest of us look like we are rowing in go karts.

Roly and Poly bring with them different responsibilities. The rower sitting in Roly in the front is responsible for the steering and sits looking at the bulkhead of the aft cabin. This contains the deck repeater telling us what heading we are travelling at and what our course over ground is, the aft cabin hatch which depending on the time of day can provide entertainment by watching the rowers inside and the stickers we have been putting up to mark off the days which we have been at sea. The rower sitting in Poly has less responsibility but duties include shuffling sheepskins to and from the fore cabin, rummaging for snack packs and staying in time with the rower in front. The view from Poly is mainly of the back of the rower in front and you are mainly isolated from any conversations between Roly and the aft cabin due to the sound of the wind and waves. The positive of Poly is that you get complete privacy when frequenting the bucket (unless there is someone in the fore cabin) although it does come with an increased splashing potential in most conditions.

UPDATE: Two nights ago Nat and I were on the oars in the darkness when we spotted some strange lights on the horizon. With the two of us this happens more than you might think so we waited to see if they would rise and were therefore stars. They didn’t and it become obvious that there were two boats, one passing in front of us and one behind. Like buses, you don’t see a boat for 45 days and then two come along at once. They were large fishing boats on their way to a fishing ground. Unfortunately they didn’t respond to our calls on the VHF so we didn’t get to have a chat but it is nice to know that there are other people out there!
Today we also got to chat to Meg and Izzy on the phone who are doing a 24 hour ergathon to raise money for our charities. They were 12 hours in when we spoke to them and doing amazingly although despite our testing conditions and salt water showers today I would still rather be here than sat on an erg for 12 hours!
We are still edging painfully slowly but surely towards the equator and are looking forward to the rituals and celebrations when that finally happens.

Losing Sight of Shore – Sarah Moshman Blog

” You can never cross an ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of shore ” Christopher Columbus

Losing Sight of Shore will be a documentary created by Sarah Moshman about a Pacific odyssey in a 29ft rowing boat called Doris.

The amazing Sarah was introduced to us via Womanthology, an online magazine promoting and celebrating the achievements of women. After an initial Skype introduction between Sarah and ourselves we fell in love with her instantly. You cannot help but feel the pure passion that Sarah exudes and we could honestly not think of anyone we would rather have to tell our story to the world. She shares in our values completely and is one of the most inspirational women we know. She instantly become an integral part of the team and her smiling face at each stopover is almost as good as our first shower! Sarah is honest, compassionate, incredibly talented and we are happily leaving the sharing of this journey in her capable hands. Check out more information about Sarah below and the Losing Sight of Shore Facebook and Twitter pages to keep updated with the latest happenings of the documentary. Check out the trailer below!

Sarah Moshman is an Emmy® Award Winning documentary filmmaker and TV Producer, but most importantly she loves to empower women! Growing up in Chicago, IL Sarah found her passion for filmmaking at an early age once she realized how the camera truly gave her a voice. She attended the University of Miami where she studied Video-Film and then moved out to Los Angeles, CA to pursue her dream of working in TV & film. Sarah worked in reality television as a field producer for networks like ABC, NBC, MTV, Lifetime and the Food Network. Documentary filmmaking has always been her passion, and it was in 2012 when she came up with the idea to create The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things as a way to change the way women are portrayed in the media by traveling around the US and interviewing inspirational women from all walks of life. Sarah’s career has taken an exciting turn as she and her producing partner Dana Michelle Cook now have the privilege of screening the film and speaking in schools across the country about following a dream and not being afraid to fail. The Empowerment Project has won several film festival awards, two Gracies awards including Outstanding Directing and has screened over 100 times around the US and Canada. Sarah is thrilled to be directing her second feature documentary Losing Sight of Shore with the Coxless Crew who have set out to row the Pacific Ocean.

Day 49: Pink Pacific Parlour

At night Doris becomes ‘Chez Doris’, by day, Doris is known to be host to the ‘Pink Pacific Parlour’. The floating beauty parlour travelling across the Pacific Ocean. Doris really does have an eclectic array of skills, so I thought I’d introduce you to the wide range of beauty treatments and grooming facilities we have available on board. If you are to ever frequent the beauty parlour aboard Doris, note that the experience is for long stay only of approximate 6 months duration, minimum stay 2 months, with pick up or drop offs in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Hawaii, Samoa and Cairns. The spa facilities are certainly world class, including salt water bathing, fresh tropical rain showers, cabin sauna and possible natural jacuzzi depending on the storm conditions or what your team mates have recently eaten. Please note, you will need to bring your own clothing and dry towel, plus be prepared to be coated in a thick layer of UVA protecting moisturiser, for the duration of your stay.

Here is the list of available treatments…..

Grooming

Self waxing: Doris is a proud distributor of Veet waxing strips also available for sensitive skin. There are a plethora of sizes to account for all body areas where required.

Express hair removal:An alternative option to waxing is that of a razor.

Eyebrow shape: tweezers and a small handheld mirror make this possible and keep any slugs at bay.

Whilst it is deemed sexy and manly for a man to grow a beard on his ocean crossing, for a female to grow leg, underarm or bikini line, I can’t imagine we’d receive the same response. I had planned to wax my legs on reaching the equator hoping this would have been around 4weeks, now after 7 the furry animals would certainly challenge those legs of any male. So being rather repulsed by them, I figured they had to go, so I opted for a full leg wax with Veet self strips followed by a soothing aloe Vera balm.

Hair wash and air blow dry

There are 2 available options here for the process to which the hair is washed:
– salt water rinse: this involves leaning over the side of the boat and immersing the head in the sea to first wet the hair. Following this the shampoo can be applied and massaged into the scalp, before using the drinks bottle to rinse the soap suds away with clean water.

– fresh water immersion: with a half filled bucket of clean, fresh water, you can dunk your head into the bucket with a snug fit (advisable not to do in stormy sea states for risk of getting stuck). The shampoo process is then the same as above.

Once clean, the hair is brushed with a ‘tangle teaser’ (amazing brush!), then there is an opportunity to be taught how to French plait your own hair by the others onboard.

Skin treatments:
For the derrière, the following step by step process is advisable:

1. A lavage with fresh, desalinated water
2. Rest time to air dry
3. application of a soothing Sudacrem balm
4. sitting on a lanolin, filled fresh sheep skin for 2hrs
5. application of a wet wipe
6. a dusting with Johnsons talcum powder infused with Aloe Vera and vitamin E.

Salt water exfoliation
Once doused in a salt water splash, it’s left to dry in the residual sun which will then leave the salt deposits for skin exfoliation.

Tanning options
For the look equivalent to that of Ross from ‘Friends’ when he accidentally has x4 strength 8 spray tans on his front only, then simply rowing for the x4 day shifts should suffice. For tanning of the back of the legs and derrière, unfortunately options are limited to land based only.

Manicure/ Pedicure:
We specialise in the ‘102 year old’ hand look. The way this is developed is through:
– rowing for 2hrs in torrential rain and salt water dumps
– washing clothes in the bucket and then wringing them out to exfoliate the calluses To treat, pat dry the hands and feet, then apply copious amounts of talc powder.

Fish pedicure: Sitting on the side of the boat, allow the feet to rest in the water while the small fish of the sea rise up and nibble away at the dead skin. NB. Small risk is that something larger rises from the sea and you lose more than just deadskin on the sole.

A birthday parlour hamper:
This includes a casing of a zip lock bag within which are the following essentials:

• flannel
• handheld mirror
• tweezers
• nail clippers
• sudocreme
• talcum powder
• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• tangle teaser hair brush
• Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream

For those interested in a spa experience aboard the Pink Pacific Parlour, please contact doris@coxlesscrew.com to share your interest.

Update:

Same old same old aboard Doris today. The wind is ESE approximately 12knots and the current is westerly approximately 1.0knot, we are able to hold a 240degree course at an average of 1.5knots, so slowly but surely the mileage towards the equator is ticking away.
Keep your eyes out for the launch of our documentary film trailer ‘Loosing Sight of Shore’ by the amazing Director Sarah Moshman. We have yet to see this new trailer, so we will wait to hear from you what it’s like.

Day 48 – Breaking Routines

I am always amazed at how the human body adapts to the different variables it gets exposed to and how there is always something left in your body to give even though you think you’ve given it all. It’s a topic I can ramble on about for hours.

We have now had almost 7 weeks of 2 hour stints; rowing, resting, rowing, sleeping, and so on. Due to the recent unfavourable conditions we had to break this routine for about 14 hours. After we deployed the para-anchor and had a team Greys Anatomy watching session a few days ago, I found that suddenly for a brief moment we were at a slight loss of what to do…!! We have been so set in our 2 hour lifestyle that breaking it felt like finishing a school term and not really knowing what to do with all that free time. We have one goal and that’s to move closer to our destination every day, so life on the boat with no rowing?? Absurd.

LP and I quickly snapped out of it and started the ‘The Ultimate Oreo Challenge’. It’s unfortunately not a “how many can you eat?” challenge, because at this point in time Oreos are too precious. Due to our delay in getting to Samoa we are going to run out of snack packs, and hence I need to imagine a life aboard Doris with no Oreos! (Don’t fret, we still have plenty of food, just not our snacks and sweets)

So the challenge is; getting an Oreo from your forehead, to your mouth, no hands, then getting it between your teeth and separating it in half, eating the one side that doesn’t have icing on, licking the icing off the other side, and then eating the other half of the Oreo….. Doing all of that with no hands, and no dropping it. LP does the latter part of this challenge while on the oars! It’s pretty impressive.

Laura and Lizanne doing the Oreo challenge

The four of us had a great time playing games and chatting before retiring to our humble abodes. Like Nat said, she went with Ems into the Fore cabin for the night while LP and I the Aft Cabin (slightly bigger). Worst night sleep of my life. After about 3 hours my body started to ache like I’d just run a marathon with a fridge on my back. I strangely welcomed the 2 hour alarm beckoning us to monitor our track and fill in the logbook. I am amazed, I longed for routine and so did my body.. It had gone into a complete inflammatory state with muscle spasm! It eased quickly with stretches and movement, but we all emerged from the cabins that morning groaning and moving like we were 101 yrs old.

It struck me then that the 8 hours sleep that was normal to us in our lives back on land, was suddenly too much for our bodies to handle. We got used to the 2 hour rhythm, and any more time gave leeway for inflammation to enter our repetitively strained joints and muscles. I started looking closely at our bodies to see exactly how they had changed since we started the row. More to come on this in detail.

Since I got on the boat I have wondered in astonishment how our bodies have coped so well with such little aches or pains. With Laura being a Physiotherapist and myself an Osteopath we do focus on preventative measures, but I’m still astonished. I guess it’s just another case of ‘sink or swim’, as rowing is the only way for us to get to our destination, and so our bodies instinctively adapt.

No doubt we will settle back into a monophonic sleeping pattern when we get home, but before then I hope it is smooth rowing all the way to Samoa so that we can avoid having to “rest” for a few hours again. Sounds ridiculous to say it, right??

UPDATE: thanks so much to everyone who helped with the fishing advice, I’m on it. We’ve unfortunately not had one single flying fish land on the boat for weeks, hence why I’ve not used them.

Last night however LP and I had just finished our sunset rowing shift and on my way into the cabin I asked Nats and Ems to keep any flying fish for me if by chance they see any jump on board so I can use it for bait. I went inside and was talking to LP when 2 minutes later I heard a ‘plop’ next to me and we looked at Nat (facing into the cabin from the oars) thinking she threw something, she hadn’t. When Laura asked what that was I joked and said “a fish”. Funniest moment so far…. It was in fact a fish! In the footwell! A tiny flying fish. We all burst out laughing as I took my fish with the bbq tongs and kept it safely to use for bait the next morning.

Since my bait had literally landed into my lap, I was sure i’d catch something today. Sad to say I didn’t. Better luck tomorrow

Love Lizanne x

Day 47 – BAM wall & Fore cabin Hell

The heat increases and the sweat begins to glisten on our skin. The space is minimal. Grey pockets line the walls bursting with various things from medical kit to hygiene items and random stuff for the boat. The very tip of the cabin has a huge bag of spare sheepskin rammed into it and surrounding that we have carefully jammed our wet weather gear, sleeping bags and spare lifejacket. Up by the hatch entrance is our laptop (for downloading footage) and chargers and all of our personal items are up near where our heads are positioned. We are completely wedged into this tiny space next to each other and lying shoulder to shoulder gives extra unwanted body heat. The space is so limited, to the extent where you cannot sit up straight or even stretch out and fully straighten your legs without touching the stowed stuff.

We’re in the fore cabin.

As Ems mentioned yesterday, the wind picked up and when rowing we were travelling in an unfavourable North-Westly direction at a fast speed. To stop us moving backwards we had to put out the para anchor for the night and head into the cabins. Ems and I went into the fore cabin and LP and LV into the aft cabin.

You would think that an opportunity to chill in a cabin, not have to row and to get a longer block of sleep would be a wonderful thing, wouldn’t you? You would be wrong!

This is how it goes…

Having fallen into a polyphasic sleep pattern over the last 46 days, we are now used to a short nap of about 75 minutes, so anything longer causes confusion. It’s a fitful sleep during the 10 hours we remain in the cabin and the body doesn’t handle it very well. Apart from a wall fan circulating warm air, the atmosphere is stifling. Hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. The body begins to stiffen. The hands ache, back seizes up, and the hamstrings cramp. When we want to change position then it works best to do so in tandem. Ems rolls onto her left side and so I do the same. We don’t really feel like we have slept at all and when we get up at 6.30am with the sunrise, in a pool of our own sweat, we feel as if we’ve been hit by a truck! A layer of film over my eyes makes everything blurry and I cannot move my body. Ems and I groan, look at each other and then laugh.

This is what we call ‘fore cabin hell’!

So…this morning we lay unmoving staring up at the roof of the cabin in a daze. Hundreds of names stared back at us. My eyes slowly cleared and when I looked at the names, some familiar, others not, I smiled. The saving grace of the fore cabin is without a doubt the BAM (Buy a Mile) wall. This wall of names is what keeps us going. It’s what makes us push through the hard times and reminds us why we are doing this journey.

These names give us strength, help us persevere, make us smile and encourage us to keep on rowing!
These names and the beautiful people that they connected to continue to inspire us and words can’t express how much we appreciate your company.

As Ems mentioned in her bucket list blog, not everyone will get a chance to row across the Pacific, but with your name on the BAM wall, you CAN.

This is the last opportunity for everyone to join our journey as the deadline for BAM names is fast approaching.

x ———-We would love you to travel every stroke of our journey with us———- x

Buy A Mile