Day 44 – The waves are alive with the sound of music

Like Nat tells me regularly; a picture speaks a thousand words. Music is almost like that to me, telling a story.

The gentle rhythmic sound of the oars pulling through the water, waves splashing against the cabin walls, the frequent rain sounding on the roof, usually starting gentle and building up to a loud crescendo, and the quiet or excited natter of the rowers; that sound will resound in our minds when we reminisce back one day about that time we lived on the Ocean.

Apart from these, the sound that will propel us back to sitting on the oars are the songs that we listen to either through the deck speakers, or earphones. Music is an incredibly powerful tool we use to occupy our minds, inspire us to dig that little bit deeper and push harder, and can take us into a world where our minds run away with us as we think about various random things on the oars.

Isn’t it amazing how music can be made by someone who can’t hear? It speaks volumes for the vibrations that eventually enters into our ears and is perceived as sound. It means music can be felt, if you listen hard enough…. Music changes moods. You can emphasise or calm down emotions of anger, sadness, loneliness, happiness, excitement and inspiration. Before getting on the boat Keith, our Sports Psychologist got us to write down our Hot Buttons; what are the three things that gets the best out of you, and what are the three things that gets the worst (it’s a good question, try and answer it!) anyway, I wrote ‘music’ as something that gets the best out of me. Psych me up with a good song and I’ll be happy.

I love all kinds of music (mostly) and I love exploring and hearing new music. All the different blends and flavours of songs and albums from the four of us has melted together beautifully. It’s been great to see that our music tastes on the boat are also very similar, and the range is huge. From Whitney Houston and RnB to Nat’s Spanish music, everything is covered. Each leg of this journey will sound different. Different conversations, different audiobooks, different voices, different music… So I’d like to give you a little idea of what our Pacific Life Leg 2 sounds like.

This is the go-to playlist I made and is played on the deck speakers usually during the Sunset Shift:

Are You With Me / Lost Frequencies (Radio Edit and Harold van Lennep Piano Edit)
Day Dreams / Midi Matilda
Goodbye (feat. Lyse) / Feder
Looking Too Closely / Fink
Headlights (feat. Ilsey) / Robin Schulz
Howling (Âme Remix) / Ry & Frank Wiedemann
Liberation (Radio Edit) / Harold van Lennep
Liberty City (Lost Frequencies Radio Edit) / Krono
Sweet Goodbye (feat. Cimo Frankel) / Krono
Outside (feat. Ellie Goulding) / Calvin Harris
Photograph / Ed Sheeran
Recover / Chvrches
Tether / Chvrches
Under The Tide / Chvrches
The Mother We Share / Chvrches
Reality (feat. Janieck Devy) / Lost Frequencies
Rêveries (feat. Marie Beekman) / Shaparder & LRX
Almost Home (Sebastien Remix) / Damien Jurado & Moby
Africa /Toto
Cut Your teeth (Kygo Remix) / Kyla La Grange & Kygo
Same My Name (Cyril Hahn Remix) / Destiny’s Child
Car Radio / Twenty One Pilots
Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better) (feat. Jasmine) / Felix Jaehn
Help Me Lose My Mind (feat. London Grammar) / Disclosure
Love Me Like You Do / Ellie Goulding
Anything Can Happen / Ellie Goulding
I Love You Always Forever / Donna Lewis
Lady Soul / DJ Jazzy D
Fast Car / Tracy Chapman
One Of Us / Joan Osborne What a Wonderful World / Louis Armstrong
Boys of Summer / Gram

Among other favourites are Nat’s Electro-Tango, Latin music, Buddha Bar, Cafe Delmar and other world music that she has collected on her vast travels. Top 40 Hits have firmly planted it’s way into the earphones of everyone when we need something a little more up beat to face the waves. For me a bit of Bethel music during my morning quiet time. Last but not least, you’ll never guess that what pulls us out of the depth of despair, as we fight yet another current are the cheerful teenagers who emerge from us as we belt out songs by The Backstreet Boys.

There’s an infinite amount of music out there, which excites me a lot! Each era of our lives sound different, and I love that you can revisit it, like going back and reading a diary. So I’m already looking forward to sitting on the beach in Cape Town, listening to my “diary” and reminiscing about shouting at the ocean as she made Doris impossible to steer.

UPDATE: I had my first sense of humor failure today as the steering once again became so difficult to control. The ocean was turning us into all directions apart from the direction we needed to go into. I had a moment. Then a brief laugh from all the girls on the change-over as Ems and Laura heard my shouting. It felt like an initiation…. So proud to say, NOW I’m an ocean rower.

Also, help needed. I’ve started fishing and haven’t caught anything. We didn’t bring any bait on board (as the girls did no fishing on leg 1) so my options are human food. We have a rope with a colourful squid-like thing at the bottom with the hook. I’ve tried dried apricots, dried mango and nuts as bait…. Would have been a miracle if I caught something I’m sure. So any fishermen advice for 4 girls on a pink boat? We have pouches of tuna….?

Leg 2, Day 40 – Parents….

There is no unconditional love like that of a parent’s… Lucky really, for some. They teach us, lead us, care for us, and have that special ability to embarrass us and drive us bonkers, but what is life without a little crazy…..? Dull. They are our examples, our idols and for some we start to find great friends in them as we grow up. We take our parents for granted, and we often fail to realise just how much they have sacrificed for us. So I thought it about time that the people at the deepest core of this row are revealed.

We all owe some degree of us being out here on the Pacific to our parents, whether we (or they) want to admit it or not. I know my mum secretly wishes she hadn’t succeeded quite as well as she has at teaching me to believe that I can do absolutely anything I set my mind to. Combined with a calm demeanour inherited from my dad, stress rarely gets the better of me and I am able to fearlessly dive head first into many unknowns. The extent of what I achieve has been and will forever be restricted only by my own imagination.

My parents had a BBQ last night (we’re South African, so it was actually a ‘braai’) for all the ‘Rower Parents’. Sadly Izz and Nat’s parents couldn’t make it, but Laura, Ems and Meg’s parents all got together with mine, so we gave them a quick call after our first morning shift to touch base on this rare occasion. I couldn’t help but wonder if the people who had raised us would get on as well as we did on the boat. Many of them had met before, but with Meg and I being “newbies” the parents were still to be united. They were in for a treat…. My dad makes the best steak sauce.

I’m sure like many parents would agree, mine weren’t particularly thrilled at the notion of their only daughter trotting off to row an ocean. It’s been one of the questions… “Well, what do your parents say??” so universally I think it is understood that there has got to be some degree of fear, hope and trust in our abilities to safely get to the other side. Many of our blogs have talked about adapting to circumstances; sink or swim, and it’s exactly the qualities I have seen in all of our parents. Regardless of feelings, our parents have been supporting, helping, fundraising, hosting, talking to whoever will listen, praying, researching and following our progress with hawk eyes as they knew there’s no other option than to jump aboard. It’s also shown me a completely new side to them, privileged that I otherwise would not have had that opportunity.

I always knew that I will never know the extent of worry I have caused my parents until the day I have my own children, but I’m thankful to have had a baseline example of how not to fight the current, but to “roll with the waves” like my parents have.

As you might expect, on the boat we have all spoken and told stories about our parents, so I know I’m not alone when I say that we all thank our lucky stars to have been given such extraordinary parents. Yes, they do drive us crazy sometimes, but like I said… Wouldn’t life be dull if they didn’t

UPDATE: Great news!! We have finally crossed and left the Equatorial Counter Current that was pushing us East! We had one lovely shift where the effects were felt, ahhhh, what a relief…. before… Bad news! We entered into a North Easterly current with Southerly winds pushing us North. (Tony… That lovely blog about you might get retracted if you don’t bring good news soon!)

Today has been unkind to the claw hand as we again row as hard as we can. There’s always so much talk about ‘finding the man of your dreams’ where out here on the Pacific we’d rather just ‘find the current of our dreams’ to take us swiftly off our feet to Samoa.

Before our misfortune however, last night was one of the most beautiful, perfect rowing conditions. Still, calm and so flat that with mostly cloud cover, the reflection of ONE STAR shimmered brightly as a reflection on the water. The moon rise was a dark orange, and while Ems and I were on the oars we entered into a squall that appeared so suddenly, I had mere moments to save the Oreos! It was one for the memory bank as rain was coming from all angles, harder than ever, and the waves were again crashing around us.

Happiness isn’t: the 10 minute Danger Zone seems to have increased to 15 as Ems and I got a proper hair wetting this morning.

Happiness is: no sea sickness!! And Ems and I spotted a Blue Marlin this morning. Marvin the Marlin.

Love, Lizanne x

Day 36 – Happiness is…

A state of mind, a collection of stolen moments elevating the spirit and raising the corners of your mouth into a cheeky grin or causing you to laugh out loud. It’s the purpose of life for many and we all strive to have some form of happiness in our lives. It comes in many forms; guilty pleasures, spending time with loved ones, completing goals, helping someone in need etc. it depends again on what is important to you in life and love.

My dad has always said “find pleasure in the small things”, and it’s the piece of advice I hope to live by forever. Unfortunately the past week has been my worst since getting on the boat, all because of a little misunderstanding between what my eyes can see and what my vestibular system can feel… Aka sea sickness, my nemesis.

I expected to get sea sick. I mean, I get car sick if I even just glance at a book. I can sleep in a 10min car journey because it’s how I dealt with feeling sick and it’s been such a common occurrence in my life I have even adopted a ‘brace position’; lying curled up in a ball on my front with my head cupped in my hands. The thing I was not expecting however is the duration of my nemesis remaining on the boat. We’ve been out here for over a month now and every time the sea state picks up a little, that’s me gone.

Pushing through physical pain is something I’m used to doing with sports throughout my life. No pain no gain and all that. It’s the pain where you can stick your earphones in and pretend to be Rocky Balboa. It’s what all the motivational videos are about on YouTube and it’s the conversations you have with yourself to keep pushing until you’re over the finish line, and then the pride you feel for having pushed yourself to the limit.
I’ve just never seen someone fighting sea sickness to the theme tune “Eye of the Tiger”. It’s so uncool, if only Rocky hung his head over the side of a boat every few hours…

The girls have once again shown the strength of this team. Like a good Adventure Racing team, when one person is struggling the others pull together to pull them up, an act that will go full circle as we all ride our roller coaster of emotion and physical ailments.

So I digress. It’s basically just highlighted the small things I need to hold onto to find happiness in my days.

Emma wrote in her blog in leg one that ‘Happiness is a dry pair of socks’, more relevant now perhaps would be a wet pair of socks as we chase rain clouds across the Pacific on these sunny days. So without further ado, happiness is…

Washing your hair- we don’t do this everyday, mainly due to the hassle it takes, but when one person does you’ll often find the rest will follow as the envy of clean hair is just too much. (Nat is still trying to get us a fourth world record though; Female who has endured the longest duration on a boat without washing her hair)

Travelling over 1.5 knots- and better yet, travelling over 2 knots and being able to use the autopilot

A clean towel

A clean bed sheet- basically just clean anything.

Wildlife- it seems that no one wants to be stuck in the doldrums, even the wildlife has been scarce! But when we do see a fish, a bird, a whale or some dolphins there is a buzz on the boat.

Cool shift- this can be in the form of a breeze, cloud cover from the sun rays, rainfall or a night shift. Every few days a good rain shower is a real treat to get all the saltiness washed from the boat.

Making it through a shift without getting splashed- this is especially exciting if you get through the 10min danger zone without getting wet.

Finding the perfect snack pack- Oreos, crackers, cereal bars, dried fruit and more… Finding the perfect combo will usually prelude to everyone being told that their perfect snack pack has been found.

A chocolate pot- these are little pots of chocolatey goodness that serve as a treat on the boat for when we reward ourselves or need a pick-up after a really tough few weeks.

Talc- “Hi my name is Natalia, and I’m a Talc-aholic” this was actually said the other day as Nat applied her talc after a night shift. We will be embracing and fully incorporating talc into our lives when we get home. Initially meant for our feet to keep them dry after rowing shifts, it now gets applied to pretty much everything

Sudocreme- closely follows the talc in being an essential on the boat. Again, it’s not just for salt sores, everything slightly red or angry gets an application of sudocreme.

Swimming in the big blue- I think I have found my ultimate happiness, which is a problem as I certainly don’t want to return to the Pacific every time to get my fix of happiness, but nothing can quite compare to swimming in this ocean amongst the fish and a drop below you, not even really sure how deep it goes

Watching the speckled starry night- no light pollution, no moon, the night sky comes alive with the occasional shooting star

Having the deck speakers blaring music as we row- recently Laura played a song that took me back to the summer when I was 18! Music is a very important part of the row…

Myself and Laura coming out of a hallucinative state on our dawn shift, realising what we were just talking about made absolutely no sense and laughing so hard we woke Nat and Ems and all the fish in the sea below us

Lightening- being able to admire it’s beauty from a distance

Lizanne x

Day 32 – Perseverance

Perseverance. It means persistence. Doing something till the end and not giving up despite difficulties, obstacles or discouragement.

Why do we persevere?

This question circled around in my head last night as we fought a North-East current trying to go South-West. What keeps us going when we start drifting in the wrong direction despite rowing so hard our hands ache and legs feel like jelly? What keeps us pushing on when the wind picks up and starts to blow us backwards? What keeps us up when we’re so tired we start hallucinating? And what keeps the jokes flowing when the heat is so relentless it drains our energy and leaves us dehydrated despite the litres of water and electrolytes we’re consuming. Getting a little deep here, but I guess this is part of the journey- contemplating life and trying to make sense of it all.

We’re rowing the Pacific to raise money and support for our charities Walking With The Wounded and Breast Cancer Care. This already gives us reason to persevere. For me it’s not as simple as comparing the physical and emotional trauma that these women have endured with the strain it takes to row an ocean, but rather recognising that to get through any struggle there are shared attributes that gets you through; resilience, strength, inspiration.

Resilience is the ability to adapt to stress and adversity, and having the strength of character to allow yourself to be flexible and bounce back after something has knocked you down. Developing coping mechanisms to navigate through a crisis is usually accompanied by optimistic and positive attitudes. If this collaborates with inspiration and the capacity to withstand great force or pressure (either emotionally or physically) it creates the baseline for perseverance.

We’re not even halfway yet, so we’re climbing that hill towards our celebratory chocolate treat, our toast to Neptune and a swim across the Equator.

For Laura, she perseveres because of the gratitude and responsibility she feels towards everyone who have dedicated tremendous time and effort into making this row possible. Having worked on something for so long highlights her attitude of doing what she says she’s going to do, and completing the task at hand. She also has a close personal relation to the chosen charities, so for her the belief that the people supported by the charities have endured so much drives her forward. “There’s no other option. Quitting is never even an option”
She draws inspiration from the determination and willpower that she sees in the athletes that she works with, and knowing now that the rough times are often short lived and that it will get better at some point.

Emma draws on the support shown by so many. “We have so many followers and supporters and I don’t want to let them down”. Emma is also one of our strongest rowers, and she always gives 110% by seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. For her, Nat and Laura this leg is only a third of the journey, so having already spent so long at sea, she’s driven by making progress in the right direction and looking forward to getting halfway.

Nat hopes to draw insight from the row, as for her this expedition is all about the journey of life, and she’s hoping it will be the catalyst into helping her understand the human spirit better. “Some say that only by experiencing suffering ourselves can we better understand the suffering of others and deepen our compassion, and for me, I have always believed that the strength of the human spirit is the most powerful force there is”.
“How one accesses that strength, I have never been certain and I was sure that during this Pacific odyssey the question would be answered. So far I have nothing tangible. There is just this inexplicable determination, this desire to keep moving forward and complete what we have set out to do. I persevere because I believe so deeply in what we are doing. I also know that when we find ourselves in any particularly challenging moment in whatever form that comes (rough sea conditions, physical pain, counter current, wanting to be with family, cabin fever), that it will eventually change and that feeling you have will pass”

For me, it’s my best friends wedding that has kept me busting my groove as the dates are tight. Back on the boat I draw inspiration from my team mates, the girls. I know it is important to all of us to progress fast and well, so I feel a strong responsibility towards them to give only my best. I get my inspiration from my faith and other people showing incredible strength; like the woman I have never met fighting cancer while staying strong for her kids

We all have our Pacific to cross. Be it sickness, grievance, relationship trouble, work struggle, an injury, a disability, or addiction. Everyone has the ability to persevere, it’s recognising what to draw inspiration from and having the belief that you are strong enough to make it to the end. What draws this together for me is that Perseverance, Resilience, Strength and Inspiration are our team values, chosen before I even got involved.

UPDATE: Despite my serious blog, aboard Doris we still have a little laugh at our misfortunes. We had another Boobie hitch a ride with us this morning for a few hours and LP and I spotted 5 plastic bottles floating on the surface of the water during one of our shifts today.

Our last 24 hours after 24 days. 24 hours, 1 440 minutes, 86 400 seconds and the Earth spins full circle… A lot can happen in a day.

“Change is the only constant” and our last 24 hours have stayed true to this statement, but I’m not sure I’d call this change a ‘holiday’. It’s the perfect follow on from Nats blog explaining why we are experiencing such an array of weather conditions.

Yesterday started relatively calm. The sun was out and the clouds dispersed over the horizon. The first shift for Ems and I was spent lathered up with sunscreen, absolutely baking in the morning heat. By the time we came out for our second day shift there was a dark wall ahead of us. Laura and Nat had spent the entire 2 hours drenched and cold in rain fall, and now it was our turn. With bikinis and sunglasses we were armed, way too eager for a cool break from the heat we’ve been having. The heavens opened up and we endured 45mins of raindrops the size of coins, singing “The sun will come out toomoorrooww……”

It was definitely the most weather-varied day we’ve had so far (almost like England actually. When in doubt always take a jacket, even in a heatwave… You just never know)

For the rest of the day we again made painfully slow progress. We started by fighting a Westerly current and a Southerly wind which felt like rowing uphill. The sunset was pretty much non-existent due to the cloud cover and as night time set in, without the moon and stars I could see nothing but absolute darkness beyond my oars. This added an element of surprise to our row and was a useful tactic in keeping us awake as the waves splashed without warning and oars knocking into knees happened regularly as waves appeared from nowhere and interrupted our stroke.

In our last night shift the heavens opened up again. We could hear it coming as the wind picked up very quickly. Like a well practiced army-drill we put our wet weather gear on, transferred anything that shouldn’t get wet into the hatches (mainly our snack packs. SAVE THE OREOS!) and braced ourselves, oars in hand. By now there was also a change from a Westerly current to an Easterly current (as Nat predicted in her blog) and a Southerly wind of up to around 25knots, which was working hard to blow us backwards. Ems and I pretty much nearly burst a vein trying to keep course, at a pace of a whopping 0.3knots. We could have walked across the Pacific quicker…

By the time LP and Nat came out for their shift we were being pushed North by the wind and it was decided that we would deploy the para-anchor and re-assess in 2 hours. We ended up staying in the cabins for 6 hours! A part of us were a little excited by the prospect of getting some more sleep, but we all woke up feeling drained, achy and exhausted. Don’t mess with the routine… It’s always hard to get back into it. We’re now still struggling to keep a Southerly course, but we’re getting there. Tortoise wins the race and all… Let’s hope Oceania plays nicely tonight. Ps. Is lightening always accompanied by thunder? There have been a few sparks flying, but it’s all bark and no bite. I think we’re ok with that though, but who knows what our next 24 days will hold….

Lizanne x

Day 20 – Daily tasks: Land vs. Ocean

Every really new idea looks crazy at first. Alfred North Whitehead

It’s sometimes strange to imagine that one day this will all just be a memory. The daily rhythm of our lives are scheduled by a 2 hour alarm and at the moment it feels like this might be it, forever.

Still, with the difficulties we face we are all very much trying to take note of those moments where we emerge from the cabin and exclaim “wow, look how flat the water is!”, “look at the stars!” Or “can we all just take a moment and realise where we are for a minute?!”

This has also got me thinking how the rhythm of life and our daily tasks out here contrasts with life back on land. As cliche as it sounds, it’s the little things you take for granted. Back at home, if we see a big spider or get grossed out by a cockroach we invariably might call the nearest male to “do something”… Out on the ocean there are no spiders (much to Laura’s delight) but our response to getting a flying fish flop onto our lap or hit in the face gives a similar shriek. We made a plan and now we deal with them the only way one should… By picking them up with barbecue tongs.

We’ve also not walked properly upright without holding on for support since getting on the boat as there is so much movement, so by adjusting to the size and motion of living, most of our daily tasks have needed to be altered. Its survival of the fittest out here…

Brushing teeth:
Since I became so well accustomed with the side of the boat in my first few days, I pretty much do everything leaning over the side now. Everyone has their own unique way of doing things though. Emma has an amazing ability to brush her teeth in the cabin, then without stepping foot outside she leans out and rinses over the side.

Getting from A to B:
Something as simple as walking from one end of the boat to the other usually requires either holding onto the grab rail, holding onto the rower sitting down or crawling. No wonder our calves are wasting away!

Making food:
The only cutlery we have are plastic sporks and our only cooking facility is the jetboil. Add hot water to our freeze dried meals and voila… Gourmet! LP’s advice to me regarding the food was “just tell your brain you like it, and you’ll like it”. And like always, she was right. I am looking forward to doing some cooking when I get home though and flavouring my food with something other than Ketchup. Thank goodness for ketchup though.

Washing up: Nat has the fine art down of doing everything in the footwell and uses her water bottle a lot to give a rinse down. For me it’s over the side of the boat again (with our biodegradable soap of course)

Washing bodies:
This is very weather dependent. When it’s wet and splashy we have a quick routine of using wet-wipes to get the salt off, then baby powder-ing bums and feet after every single row shift. Within seconds of getting the powder out Nat will shout from wherever she is on the oars “I see you baby, talcing that a**”

During our off shifts we’ll have a proper wash though. This will either be done in the footwell (pretty uncomfortable), out on the oars in between the rowers (trialled and tested today) or as a group using solar shower or bottles to rinse after a swim.

Washing clothes:
In the bucket and gets hung out on the grab rails. Our clothes/sleeping liners get dirty so quickly due to the heat that this is almost a daily task. Like the same feeling back at home, there’s almost nothing better than getting into a clean bed.

Getting changed:
The cabin is big enough for you to sit upright comfortably, but not nearly enough for standing. Therefore, a change of clothes is usually done wriggling around lying down.

I think the absurdity in the smallest things we do has contributed to spirits being (fairly) consistently high on Doris as there is always something to laugh about.

So tonight when you brush your teeth, cook a lasagne, or have a shower, spare a little thought and imagine how you would do it on a small, pink, moving vessel.

Lizanne x

Leg 2, Day 16 – Meet Doris

Doris is one of the girls. She’s streamline, pink, and basically the glue that holds the 6 of us girls together. Like a good mother-figure she protects us, carries us and reassures us when we need it.

I am getting to know her better each day and have become fascinated by her design. There have been many nights when the waves crash onto the cabin walls inches from my head and I am amazed that she remains intact and scar-free. Similarly, when riding the waves there have been a number of times I thought she might capsize, but elegantly she just glides over unfazed.

No one knows Doris better than LP, so on our sunset shift yesterday I got the lowdown.

Doris was made by Rossiters in the UK, using Keflar and glass with a foam sandwich, and carbon fibre in the bulk heads. This basically makes Doris bullet proof yet light as a feather.

The Deck:

There are two rowing seats; one behind the other, and unless the weather is dangerously stormy these two positions will always be occupied.

The front rower is positioned next to the hand steering so will have the responsibility of maintaining our course heading. In true fashion, Doris has top-of-the-range navigation gear from Raymarine, so there is a deck repeater to the side of the hatch door which displays our heading, COG (course over ground) and speed. Our routine allows for the rowers to change position after every shift, ensuring that everyone shares the steering and navigation roles.

Below the front rower is our life raft and flares. This is easily accessible, but out of the way as we hopefully will never need to use it. Interestingly, we should in theory never need to abandon Doris as she will always float, even when the cabins are flooded. This is due to all the air pockets she has within her.

Below the second rower is the ballast water. We currently have about 110 litres of water which basically acts as a weight at the bottom of the boat. This means that Doris will need to tilt sideways at least 90 degrees before she capsizes. We could have used anything for this extra weight, but the water doubles up as emergency water if the water maker was to fail. A sneaky second function of our life raft is also to act as a ballast as it weighs 30kg.

On deck there are 3 Lumar hatches either side of the rowers. This is where we store food, mechanics bag, ropes and para-anchor and Tupperware. It’s important that the weight within these are evenly distributed to ensure Doris remains balanced. There are another 4 Henderson hatches distributed one at the front and 3 at the back which houses our snack packs, and eventually our rubbish.

If the deck gets immersed in a wave (which occasionally happens) the water drains within about 30 seconds through the scuppers as there is a slight gradient either side.

The Aft Cabin:

This is our main cabin. The size of a small two man tent, the aft cabin houses our electronics and water maker. This cabin has a footwell, which means that you can sit up-right at the door (rather than crossing legs). There is a shelf to the left which is where the autopilot sits, and the shelf becomes a bit of a “dumping ground” for sunglasses, lip balm, iPods and random snacks. To the right is our GPS, VHF Radio and battery display monitors (which allows us to see what % the batteries are charged from the solar panels).

We each have our own pocket for personal belongings (clothes, books, toiletries) and two communal pockets for everything shared. Below the cushions are hatches for our wet weather gear which has been used intermittently since leaving Hawaii.

This cabin also has a port hatch which allows for the occasional breeze to flow through the cabin. The cabin hatches are (almost) always kept closed, especially during rough sees, as this is necessary for Doris to self correct if she was to capsize. If the cabins flood this will not be possible. Luckily Tony installed my favourite piece of equipment in the cabins before we departed Hawaii… The almighty fan! (sometimes feels a bit like a fan oven, but moving air is better than nothing!)

Fore Cabin:

Another small two man tent, but without a footwell and without a port hatch. This cabin gets absolutely roasting in the heat of the day, but is lovely during the night. Occasionally one of us will sleep in there, although due to electronics and the log book being in the Aft Cabin we mainly pair up in there.

Below the cushions in this cabin is most of our “extras”. Sunscreen, soap, after sun, baby wipes, baby powder… My favourite part of Doris is in the cabin; our BAM (Buy A Mile) Wall. On the walls are all the names of the people who have sponsored us and “bought a mile”. It is so heartwarming to see the names of everyone who have contributed to our row and to see the names of loved ones, acting as little letters of support.

I have not once felt unsafe or vulnerable in Doris. She is a true resilient companion who will get us across the Pacific safely.

UPDATE:

LP and I had another swim yesterday. Within minutes we were surrounded by about 10 Mahi Mahi. The night before we rowed through the hardest torrential rain I have ever experienced! We both just laughed with a “Where on earth did this come from?!”

We have been rowing hard with slow progress over the past 24hours due to a change in current and a slight Southerly wind. To paint a picture; imagine rowing through treacle…

Lastly, a huge public apology to our new friends Freddy and Clyde, the FRIGATEBIRDS. They have actually been beautifully behaved so did not warrant being called FRIGGETS (haha oops!)

I might put that error down to a second bout of sea sickness. Won’t happen again. (Thanks for pointing this out Simon and on a side note: the full name for these birds are ‘Magnificent Frigate bird’…. What a name!

Lizanne x

I’ve never been in a situation where 3 other people know exactly where I am or what I’m doing, 24/7, for an extended period of time. There isn’t anywhere to hide on Doris! Like Laura said in her last blogpost, our little bubble on the Pacific feels a bit like the Hunger Games.. Or slightly less death defying; Big Brother…

I have now had a few days rowing with each of the girls to help the integration process to speed along. I was with Nats first, and I fear that due to my sea sickness my personality was about as colourful as a baked potato. So I am now on shift with Nat again, feeling dandy. To give you an idea of our routine at the moment it is as follows… 06-08:00 Nats and Liz sleep, Ems and Laura row

08-10:00 Ems and Laura sleep, Nats and Liz row 10-12:00 Nats and Liz awake shift, Ems and Laura row

12-14:00 Ems and Laura awake shift, Nats and Liz row

14-16:00 Nats and Liz awake shift, Ems and Laura row 16-18:00 Ems and Laura awake shift, Nats and Liz row

18-20:00 Nats and Liz sleep, Ems and Laura row

20-22:00 Ems and Laura sleep, Nats and Liz rowing 22-00:00 Nats and Liz sleep, Ems and Laura row

00-02:00 Ems and Laura sleep, Nats and Liz sleep

02-04:00 Nats and Liz sleep, Ems and Laura row

04-06:00 Ems and Laura sleep, Nats and Liz row

…..and then we repeat.

05:50- this is the David Attenborough moment that Izzy spoke of earlier in the blog. The rowers look straight into the cabin, so when the alarm goes off after their 90min sleep the light goes on and two rowers slowly get themselves ready for their rowing shift. The weather has been less favorible over the past couple of days so they prepare as best they can for a soaking on the oars. Emma has by far the most descriptive facial expressions, especially visible straight after her nap.

Meanwhile it’s “Danger Zone” for Nats and Liz as the last 10minutes of every shift there is generally one wave that soaks you before heading into the cabin. More often than not its Nat. There are a few things that causes a lot of laughter on the boat, the main one being and getting splashed by a big wave.

08:00- the routine of getting from the cabin and onto the oars is a meticulous one. As well as freeze dried meals, we also have snack packs which helps us ticking over. The snack packs get passed from outside to inside, and inside to outside to the respective rowers seat. The person who is rowing at the back (they’re at front of the boat actually as we row backwards) goes out first; life vest, clipped onto a leash (our lifeline to the boat) and heads out. The back rower has by now also started making their way to the front. Seeing as the water is so unstable and choppy, this often either happens as a crawl, or leaning on the front rower for support. While rowing we also have an ankle leash on.

14:05- Ems and Laura lather up on sunscreen and cover up from the mid day sun. Nats and Liz prepare their lunch during this session. This requires taking a food pack from the hatches and just adding hot water. Shepherds pie, spag bol, oriental chicken, beef curry to name a few. In this shift, or the one prior we might also do some washing; clothes and body.

18:00- whoever is blogging this day might do “bedtime story” here, reading their blog to the others. Nats will also usually spend the majority of this shift talking to the birds following Doris around. We names two Friggits today- Freddy and Clyde.

00:15- Ems and Laura turn off the light. The moon hasn’t risen yet so it is pitch black on the oars. This shift is usually spent talking or having an up beat playlist on.

05:00- this is my worst…. Graveyard shift. No matter what I do I just can’t help but drift off every now and then during this shift. Nat has started doing the Dawn Dance with me which helps an awful lot! On land I usually started every day with a coffee… Now I will just start every nigh with a coffee

Lizanne x

Leg 2, Day 8 – It’s all going swimmingly

At the moment the negatives I can mention about life on the ocean are pretty minimal. Ems and I have thankfully now overcome our sea sickness and the weather over the past week has been mostly good to us (barring the westerly current that caused us to go painfully slow and the soaking splashes that came with it).

Like most of you know, our shifts are 2 hours on the oars, 2 hours off. It’s amazing how you can maintain a normal level of physical and psychological function on this polyphasic sleeping pattern. I’ve always loved a nap though, and now I get to do it for 2 months straight!

In the first few days I had to sleep in all my “off” sessions; probably because I couldn’t keep any food down and therefore my energy levels suffered. I have however by now slotted nicely into the routine of being awake for 2 off sessions and during this time we do all the necessaries like wash, eat, blog… On a rocking, moving vessel. Rowing is the easy part!!

The sexy beachy-wavey-salty-hair look is sadly non existent due to the replacement being hat/hairband hair, but our tans are coming along swimmingly!

Now come the good bits….

The sunsets and sunrises have been magical, but what has totally caught my attention is the moon-rises. One night there was a slither of moon low across the horizon poking through the clouds and LP thought it was a UFO! Credit to her though it looked nothing like the moon, as it has been rising with a deep orange/pink/red colour before turning a silver beam light as it rises higher in the sky.

Before the moon rose last night, Ems and I were on the oars and it was pitch black. Every now and then you hear the sound of a fish jumping in the water or a wave breaking, but visibly you couldn’t even distinguish where on the horizon the night sky ended or the ocean began. This is where you see the magic though- alongside the cloudy Milky-Way it looked like someone took white paint and flicked it all over a black wall, with an occasional brief white smear appearing in the distance, and then you make a wish

Today has been my fav so far. I experienced the thing I was looking forward to most… Swimming in the big blue! Due to the calmer conditions we decided to take an hour out and have a proper deck shower. While Ems and Nat washed their hair and kept lookout, Laura and I went for a swim. The water was a shiney turquoise blue and the visibility was clear, beyond that though it just sort of disappeared. The enormity of our location actually made me laugh out loud; suspended in 64 million square MILES (!) of water around us… It totally exceeded my expectations. We also had a visit from some Mahi Mahi fish swimming around our boat.

Our day was the topped with a cherry on top by a funny and much needed group shower. We generally make sure we keep really clean anyway, as the salt will quickly let us know if we’re not, but the feeling of flowing fresh water is something I certainly missed.

I know it’s still early on, and there’s a while to go until we get to Samoa, but I have firmly fallen in love with the natural beauties presented to us out here.

On a personal note, thanks so much to everyone who have been in touch. It’s amazing to get a taste of home so far away from reality.

Over and out from me,

Love Lizanne x