The ocean is where I belong. I have always known what it is I have to do. I am beautiful, strong, determined and my sole purpose in life is to protect. I am controlled and powered by the natural elements and by the brave that manually try to guide me. I am always a responsible traveller and I am completely self sufficient. My job is to ride the waves and ensure 6 women successfully accomplish an incredible expedition and travel from one coast to another one making safe passage across the almighty Pacific Ocean. I look after their well being at all times and make sure that they feel safe. We respect one another completely and so my job is a pleasurable one.
I am perfectly suited to whatever conditions I find out here in Oceania and taking each day as it comes, I love listening to the laughter, music and random ramblings that go on around me. Wherever I go I attract friends as I look a little different and I move in an usual way. I am not powered by an engine or by sails and I am silent when I move through the ocean except for the regular sound of 4 oars being pulled through the water.
Birds soar above me and among others, fish, whales, sea turtles and dolphins swim below. Occasionally some birds will stop by and rest for a while and flying fish jump over me, however some land short, and hit me instead.
During the daily tasks the girls give themselves, they check that I am clean and that no water has found its way onto any of my hatches. They spray my solar panels with fresh water and then give me a rub down. They make sure that if I have any problems or aches and pains, that they are solved quickly and effectively. The girls make sure they check my vital organs (batteries) and that my body remains clean, but to be honest their cleaning skills are not their strongest forte! Luckily the waves of the ocean rush across me and bathe me regularly.
I love my environment and being immersed in nature. There’s nothing that makes me feel happier and more alive than the beauty of my surroundings. This journey is a special one for all 7 of us!
x——————x
I asked the girls 5 questions today relating to Doris and our journey so far.
1. Favourite piece of equipment on Doris
2. Best thing about Doris
3. Worst thing about Doris
4. What you can’t live without on Doris
5. Most memorable moment on Doris
LP
1. Cabin fans
2. How sturdy and safe she feels in the waves
3. Lack of shelter from the heat and the sun
4. Tweasers!!!
5. First swim in the middle of the Pacific and looking down into the deep blue
Ems
1. The Iridium Go (for email communication)
2. That at only 29ft she has got everything we need to live for 6 months
3. The heat in the cabins
4. Sudocrem
5. One of the beautiful clear, still starry nights
LV
1. Cabin fans
2. Solbian Solar panels, giving us clean energy
3. Her movement makes me seasick!
4. Sunscreen
5. Swimming in the ocean for the first time
Natalia
1. Raymarine chart plotter and deck repeater / barbecue tongs (for picking up flying fish!)
2. She’s been one of my most unique homes to date and is allowing me to explore the Pacific
3. You can’t hide from anything! There is never any respite from the elements
4. Talc!
5. Humpback whale breaching only meters away from Doris
UPDATE:
After a spectacular sunrise and calm but unbelievably hot day, LP and I were about to do a changeover with Ems and LV when we heard a familiar sound. ‘Was that a whale?’ LP cried. I surveyed the surroundings and low and behold there he was. A huge solitary whale. It casually swam passed us in the distance, regularly surfacing and spurting water out of his blow hole and then gave us a cheeky flick of his tail before disappearing into the depths.
Thank you Oceania and thank you Doris
x
UPDATE: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…the rate at which Oceania shows us her differnt personalities is mindblowing. For the last few days we’ve been battling varying wind speeds, constant soakings and a drop in temperature as the wind cooled against our skin or wet weather gear. Yet last night we rowed through torrential rain and today we are rowing a pan flat sea with no wind and increasingly high humidity.
It’s not a mystery, it’s a fact that everything changes out here, but we have found that we do have a few other mysteries to solve…
The only thing I’m slightly precious about is a good pillow. In all my years of travel, the one thing that is paramount to ensure a good night’s shut eye is the right pillow. Not too hard, not too soft and, for me, not too high. Obviosly this was a concern before embarking on Doris for 6-8 months, so I informed the girls that I would search for my own pillow to take. I found the perfect one. A small travel sized, comes in its own little case, blue and white checked pillow. I loved it. I tried it out in San Francisco before our departure and all was good in the world. However, since embarking on Doris, the strangest thing has happened to my little pillow. For some unknown reason it’s permanently damp! I mean seriously, even if it has been dried in the sun out on deck and then brought back in, before you know it, it is damp again!! So without further ado, we would like to share a few of the Doris mysteries…
– Why oh why is one of our 3 pillows (the small blue and white one) in the aft cabin ALWAYS damp?
– What are the bright lights in the sky that we have seen appear, glow unbelievably bright and then disappear as quickly as they arrived? They are not flares. What are they?
– Why do flying fish only land on Doris at night? Absolutely no fish during the day.
– Where do all the clothes pegs disappear to? There’s really only limited places to hide on Doris, so where on earth do they go?
– The absolute mystery surrounding the 10 minute danger zone. It dumbfounds all of us that regardless of how calm the shift has been, within the last 10 minutes either one or both rowers get an obligatory splash before coming off the oars.
– The mahi-mahi (dolphin fish) have 2 types of jump that they do. One is a beautiful high arcing jump and the other is complete belly flop. Why is this? Most tend to go with the belly flop and we always hear the splash/slap, even if we don’t see it.
– I have started sneezing uncontrollably and feel as if I have an allergy to something. I may be slightly worse affected but all of us are sneezing. Why?
– We spotted a moth flying near Doris and then it landed for a while. What on earth is a moth doing out here over 500 miles from land?
– In Santa Barbara we replaced our grab rails (lines at the side of the boat that we use to steady ourselves during change over) with some new ones that we bought at a climbing shop. The mystery surrounding these lines is that they were taught during the heat of the day and then slackened as soon as the temperature began to fall! Why? This is the opposite to most materials we have come across and was not particularly helpful as night time was when we needed the help the most!
– Where are the choc chip bits in the chocolate chip desert??
– For some random reason we keep finding a solitary red gummy bear in the footwell. Why?
These mysteries and more, constantly confuse us out here on the almighty Pacific. Clearly we have too much time on our hands…and are heavily sleep deprived, but we’re sure you would all be just as confused as we are!! x
Asking the girls random questions is always a great way to get to know them a little better and also an opportunity to give myself something to think about during a shift on the oars. Today I asked Lizanne to share one of her life’s defining moments. Her answer was a fascinating one and led me to thinking the rest of the afternoon about what exactly a defining moment is and how do they impact our lives?
Some would say that a defining moment is one that changes your life. It alters the way you perceive or react to something and it has a lasting effect. A defining moment may also just be a moment that makes you stop and take stock of a few things before continuing on. It may be just that – a moment – but there is a chance that it could shape you and also last a lifetime.
The more I pondered the question whilst staring out in a hypnotic state watching undulating waves glitter in the sunlight, the more I came to the conclusion that life is filled to the brim with defining moments and in fact maybe that is what life is about…learning, growing and developing as a person from all of these moments. We should be open to all these moments and embrace them fully when they occur.
Your first day of school, your first love, the first time you ride your bicycle without stabilisers, graduating, a birthday, getting a job, being promoted, learning a new skill, an accident, moving home, falling ill, undergoing chemotherapy, having a child, losing a love, recovering from an injury, experiencing a new culture, doing something that scares you, death, accomplishing something you or others never thought possible…
The list goes on…almost anything we do in life could become a life defining moment…and that thought greatly excites me.
“Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen”
I have no doubt that all of us out here, traveling across Oceania, embracing the unknown and taking ourselves the furthest outside our comfort zones we have ever been, will experience a number of defining moments. I know I already have.
I’ve learnt first hand how much strength lies in having self belief
I’m amazed to find how much compassion and respect I can feel for people who ordinarily would never have crossed my path
I’m in awe of the power and beauty of Mother Nature
I’ve been humbled by the generosity and support of friends and strangers alike
I equally believe these moments can be experienced anywhere if you allow them to happen.
So…I challenge all of you to take 5 minutes today and reflect about your life’s defining moments and then look out for the next one x
We’ve had a few days of big swell, high wind and plenty of soakings! Luckily it’s warm now and so we generally tend to dry fairly quickly. Most of the time we find the sessions hysterically funny but sometimes we don’t as this continual cycle of being wet agrivates the skin and can be quite uncomfortable. Night time is always a little more challenging, and I’m sorry to say that I have occasionally reverted back to wearing my full wet weather gear! Nevertheless, every day we ride the waves of life out here in Oceania and so today I thought I’d give you all a little more insight into exactly what type of waves we have to contend with out here, as they all have their own personality and outcome.
Due to the direction we need to be travelling in right now (ideally a COG (course over ground) of 180*), we are generally always beam (side) on to the waves.
The air dump – (sometimes known as the hair washer) this wave comes from the side, hits the side of the boat gathers some speed and height before dumping what feels like a large bathtub full of water down onto both rowers. This wave leaves a delightful salty crust on the body and hair (which takes a while to comb out).
The boat slap – a loud smack against the side of the boat that makes you jump if inside the cabin but offers only sound and luckily no splashage for the rowers.
The cry wolf – a huge wall of water that you see coming and are sure you’re going to get a soaking. It is normally accompanied by a rowers cry of ‘oh oh’, ‘watch out’ or ‘big wave’, but then Doris glides over the wave or it breaks under her and affords no or very limited splashage.
The selector – this is the wave that comes at you from the side and selects only one victim from the rowing positions. The wave usually completely soaks the chosen one and leaves the other bone dry!
The foot wash – this wave is one that breaks low over the side or front of the boat and completely covers the deck (and rower’s feet) with water.
The close breaker – this wave has a loud sound, travels at high speed and can be pretty scary at night. It breaks worryingly close to the boat and you’re sure it’s on top of you but is normally just inches away from the boat and its bark is worse than its bite.
The surprise – this is the wave you’ll never ever see coming. It appears from nowhere and catches you off guard every time. This wave normally soaks either one or both rowers and is always followed by a ‘where on earth did that come from???’
The invisible force field – the waves that look like they are climbing up an invisible wall at the side of the boat and then fall away without really splashing anyone.
The wipeout – possibly one of the worst ones. These waves swipe across the boat so forcefully that they knock you clean off your seat!
The big dipper – we love this one! On the rare moments that we can actually travel with the direction of the current, wind and waves, then we climb effortlessly up walls of water and excitedly surf down the other side (usually gathering a speed of at least 4 knts)
Update:
Last night and into the dawn shift we had a visitor grace our presence. Bertie the red-footed Booby was very happy hitching a ride, doing some pruning, catching some shut eye and pooping all over our solar panels! He watched the sunrise with LP and me before heading off for the day.
As I had no real expectations the first time we headed out in Doris for leg 1, similarly I had no idea what to expect from leg 2. Luckily, I have a huge desire to get to Samoa and so this made getting back on the boat in Hawaii relatively easy. There is something about Western Samoa that draws me. I have a fascination with the culture and this is the one destination out of all of them that I have never visited before. So, it is with this deep motivation that I find myself on Day 3 of the second part of the adventure across Oceania! Woohooooo!!
It has been interesting to see how easily I’ve managed to slip back into the unique daily lifestyle but partnering Lizanne has also opened my eyes to how much of the routine we already automatically take for granted. We mustn’t underestimate the effectiveness of these routines that we took so much time to cultivate and this leg will give us all an opportunity to fine tune what we have already put in place.
The one thing I will never take for granted, however, is the power of the almighty Pacific. Her ever changing nature makes it impossible to do so anyway, and I have no doubt that she will throw us curve balls every step of this journey.
I’m fascinated to learn about Lizanne’s thoughts and emotions right now. We have discussed it briefly, but I think once her seasickness passes, she will have the opportunity to share her observations more clearly. It must be strange to experience the basic things for the first time alone knowing that we’ve all already been through them before.
So…here we go again. We set off on this voyage with a new energy, new boat dynamics, new route, books, music (we’ve all updated our iPods and the amazing Carroll Cox incredibly generously donated to us his own fully loaded iPod to take with us).
Update
– We were surrounded by a huge flock of varied birds diving and gliding around Doris.
– It’s so unbelievably hot that during our team change overs, everything on the deck is too hot to touch.
– I do believe we’ve got another gobbledegook speaker on the boat!!!
We were overwhelmed by your messages of support after my last blog. We are constantly amazed and truly humbled to know we have so many incredible people following our journey. You really have no idea how much inspiration and strength we gain from YOU while we are out here in the middle of the big blue. Thank you x
Update:
– The race is now on to see if Ems will finish the pot of Nutella first or LP will polish off the Skippy peanuts butter.
– We are all a little overly obsessed with counting down the miles to our rendezvous point on the chart plotter.
– We’ve divided up the remaining sweets now our snack packs have run dry. Swizzles new range called drumstick Squashies are definitely my firm favourite! I’ve only got one pack left and I’m going to save them for when I see Tony and Sarah at the meeting point.
– Sadly our black bucket is no longer functional. We are now using the red bucket for all occasions!
-We still have our nighttime escort of mahi-mahi travelling with us.
– We have seen our first Brown Boobie and are looking out for other new birds – We are now within VHF range for the US Coastguard sector Hawaii and get to hear all their announcements.
– Izz and I saw a shark attack a mahi-mahi on our morning shift!
Outside of our routined existence where everything else is insignificant, we have all the time in the world for contemplation. If you haven’t all already gathered by now, I’m the ‘everything happens for a reason’, ‘lt’s all about the journey’, ‘learn as much as you can from your eras of life’ kind of person and I’m definitely the most ‘let’s wish on stars’, ‘salute the fading sun’, ‘stop to hear the silence of the night’, back to the moment member of the team.
So…apart from a handful of (understandable) frustrating episodes that have been shared, I defy anyone to not be mindful out here on this magnificent ocean. It automatically happens every day from watching the birds soar gracefully around the boat, to being mesmerised by the the ever changing waters and skies.
There have been many simple lessons that have been highlighted to me during my various journeys and many are similar to the ones being reinforced and reflected upon out here on the almighty Pacific. They are nothing new, nothing revolutionary but always need to be remembered… I think.
1. Everything changes
2. We may not be able to control the situations that we find ourselves in but we can decide how we choose to react to them.
3. When you find yourself in nature there is always something of the marvelous to be experienced.
4.Love your body in whatever form, shape or size it comes in. Your health is one of the most important things you have, so cherish it. Rejoice in your body’s adaptability, strength and resilience.
5. Have belief in yourself and the strength of others
6. Pay attention. It’s all about the small things
7. Learn how to laugh – at yourself and with others.
8. ‘Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints.’
Travel responsibly and respect our planet.
We all have a part to play in the future of our oceans. We need to be mindful not to add to the existing plastic pollution and take steps to prevent this from worsening.
9. Challenges will come in many disguises and hit you from all angles. Face them head on, one by one and even if you find yourself caught in a current – keep rowing.
10. Wherever possible – be in the present moment. That’s where the magic happens!
I had a blog all planned and good to go. It was uplifting and inspiring and all about the lessons of life that have been reinforced to me while we’ve been out here journeying across the almighty Pacific.
That blog will have to wait.
For the 60 good days there has to be at least a couple not so good. The last few hours have been among my most frustrating so far and I made a deal with myself to share the real journey, with its ups and its downs, so I will write about this dip instead.
We are now 287 nm from Honolulu and mentally and physically, I think we’re all very ready to make landfall.
The last 24 hours have been challenging. We’ve had big swell and high winds in the right direction but a counter current that has halted our progress dramatically and meant we have been travelling at a very dishearteningly low speed.
This close to Hawaii, with the end now in sight, everything seems a little more urgent.
We’re ready to arrive.
All the clothes we own are filthy and always damp, we’re tired and to be honest, a little sea weary. Everything smells of fish, feet and sweat! Our electrical devices are dying and we’ve run out of snack packs. We’re all feeling a little bruised and battered.
It’s time…
The sea state was uncomfortable to row in during the day and even more so at night. I lost count of the number of times I bashed my own knees, shins, thighs, groin and stomach with the oars as they got submerged by a wave and then released with force.
With no moon for most of the night shifts, we were engulfed in an impenetrable black darkness that disguised the arrival of waves. We rowed with an expectant alertness and quiet resignation of the incessant pitch and roll of the boat.
It’s exhausting and not very pleasant but we all took it in our stride.
Inside the airless cabin the situation was also trying. We lay in a pool of sweat and rocked back and forth knocking against one another, every time Doris moved.
This was also, without a doubt my worst 24 hour’s day’s sleep so far. with an average of about 3 hours.
On my awake after my second night shift I was preparing for the 2 hour row and putting sudocrem on my behind when a huge wave lurched me forward head first into the switch panel. As both my hands were being used at the time to apply said cream, I had nothing to break my fall except for my…head. It was quite a thump and I swear I actually saw tweetie birds/stars like the cartoons.
Must have been quite amusing to witness but let me tell you – it was really quite horrendous at the time!
We all know how quickly things change – so here’s hoping that by the time you are all reading this blog the current is finally with us.
For all her beauty and majesty, the ocean can also be a little troublesome and cruel. She is always in control and has a lesson to teach.
So…we soldier on but I can speak on behalf of all of us when I say…bring on Hawaii!!! x
Less than 500 miles to go!! Woohoooo. We’ve now got strong wind and big seas again. We haven’t seen this type of sea state since we left San Fran! The swell is large and we climb slowly up the walls of water and dip or surf down them on the other side picking up speed. Occasionally we get waves washing over Doris’ deck giving us a soaking once again.
The moon is rising late these days so the night shifts are challenging as you cannot see the waves in the deep darkness. Note worthy events are:
1. LP got hit in the throat by a large flying fish!! Unfortunately her and her jacket stunk of fish but on a positive note the fish did rebound straight back into the water and therefore survived!
2. We rowed through a tropical downpour with heavy rain and wind hitting us hard. All we could do was look incredulously at one another, laugh and continue rowing!
3. I actually got catapulted out of my shoes and seat with a sudden boat lurch as my shoes have stretched out of shape and are now too large!
4. With the rain has come lots of rainbows! Who doesn’t love a good rainbow?
5. We have had large flocks of Shearwater birds visiting us daily (Manx and black-vented Shearwaters) and a couple of Magnificent Frigates . They busy themselves with a feeding frenzy then pop by to check all is good with us. *Not long to go, but still time for the mighty Pacific to throw some surprises our way… x
A huge thank you for the great response. We received some amazing questions and if we had the time (and limitless internet credit) we would have loved to have answered them all!
Please find the 10 chosen questions below:
1. Cheryl Tree:
Hi all, In admiration for what you are all doing. My question is :
Referring to you two worthy charities and the difficult life events they support people through. What small things do you think friends and society can do to further help and support people with Breast cancer or those living with life changing injuries? these charities help immensely but is there anything you’d like to encourage from others?
LP: lovely question Cheryl. I’m certainly no expert at this so this is just in my opinion and the limited experience I have had from a physio perspective, but I guess one thing is for people to remember that the person in question is still a person and for you to put yourself in their shoes. What I mean by that, is to see and treat them as you would do normally and how you would like to be treated, don’t just see them as a cancer victim or someone with a disability. Often it’s hard to think of things to say when you hear of the diagnosis, but If they’re your friend or family, then be supportive through continuing to do and talk about the things you always have done. Create distractions and other interests rather than focussing on the problem continually as they will have enough doctors and medical staff that will do that for them.
2. Steve in Marlow:
Hi inspirational women! My question is: which toe or finger hurts the most for each of you as you complete this section? Fair winds and smooth seas! Steve
Natalia – right hand middle finger and left hand ring finger
Izzy – middle finger on my right hand
Emma – right hand ring finger which is split at the bottom.
LP – right hand middle and ring finger, left hand middle and ring fingers.
3. dovegreyreader:
Before the episode of the Broken Kindle what were you reading, how on earth are you managing without it (I might cry if it was me!) and I am intrigued to know if any of the others are reading and if so, what are the best mid-Pacific ocean books?
Natalia – 100 Year Old Man that jumped out the window (audio book), The Secret garden (audiobook)
I will definitely stock up on audiobooks and podcasts in Hawaii as I would love to listen to more.
Izzy – I’m on book number 10 or 11! Laura is kindly lending me her kindle now mine has broken. Among others I’ve really enjoyed Unbroken, Wild and A man called Ove, and I was mid way through Shantaram on the broken kindle.
Emma – I read the Mockingjay and Divergent on Izzy’s kindle before it broke. Good easy to read entertainment. I’ve also listened to The Book Thief, 100 Year Old Man and Secret Garden audio books. I’m also a fan of the ‘no such thing as a fish’ and ‘the infinite monkey cage’ podcasts in an attempt to increase my general knowledge.
4. Sam/Mike S:
Sam : What is the dreamiest meal combo that you want awaiting you when you finish your epic row? Even when I do a ridiculously unepic 10k Run I will definitely spend a lot of time considering the foodie reward that will refuel me afterwards (perhaps that’s just me)….after your killer rowing exploits I can’t imagine what you’ll be hankering after!?!?
Natalia – Frozen yogurt (first things first) then as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I can have. The meal I am most looking forward to is a breakfast! Poached eggs, muffins, avocado, fresh tomato and salad, washed down with a chai latte.
Izzy: I’ve been craving a BBQ with sweetcorn and lots of yummy salads to accompany the meat. Frozen yoghurt for pudding. Yoghurt and fresh fruit for breakfast.
Emma: I’m looking forward to a big salad with some real meat followed up with some frozen yoghurt and lots of fresh fruit. Also some fresh bread will have to feature somewhere.
LP – I would love one of my aunty Marie’s Cornish pasties or my mums roast beef but as neither are possible until I get back home, then I’d certainly be content with a fillet steak medium rare, fresh grilled tomato, green beans and spinach, bearnaise sauce and chunky chips, with a large ice cold and fresh lemon coke and frozen yoghurt with fresh fruit for dessert- delish!
As you can see the one thing we all have in common is the frozen yoghurt. This is going to therefore be our first port of call. Yoghurt Land here we come on touch down in Hawaii!!
5. Linda and Peter Toy:
How will you celebrate when you get your first sighting of Hawaii?????? We can only imagine your excitement at the thought of nearing completion of leg 1 !!!!!
Natalia – The moment that we first sight land will no doubt be met with loud cries of joy. The real excitement and 100% relaxation will only be once our feet are on solid ground and we feel the water from that first shower hit our faces! However, we will be ensuring that we take an hour’s social time as a team to celebrate the sight of land and swig from the bottle of bubbly we have from Ems’ birthday! I for one will call it a glitter day and ensure that I cover the others in sparkles!!
Emma: As we come into sight of land we will likely be pretty busy monitoring our AIS for other boats and checking our course is safe around the coast. However we will also take the time for a celebration of our achievements as a team while it is still just the 4 of us before we reach the craziness of land and the real world!
LP- Peter I’m sure you will recall my exhilaration when I went on Oblivion with you at Alton Towers! Now triple that and that will most probably get close to my response when we see land. Although this will be nothing in comparison to when we see land in Australia!
6. Annette Ovens:
Having just had a weeks sailing, I was wondering what you use to protect your skin – and how many bottles!?
Natalia -Hey Annette. Rocky Mountain SPF 50 sun block for our face and body plus face sticks. We ordered 20 litres for the whole trip and reapply every daytime rowing shift (every 2 hours). We also cover up wherever possible when it’s not too hot.
7. Gayle:
What is the science behind the 2 hour shifts? It seems unbelievably hard to sleep less than 2 hours each changeover. I personally would prefer longer work effort and longer sleep but I presume there is a sound reason for two hours – is it a physical or psychological decision?
LP – hi gayle. It is a mixture of both physical and psychological for the 2hr shifts. During a normal 8hr sleep you go through a number of sleep cycles, polyphasic sleeping like we’re doing, means we aim to get just one sleep cycle in before we wake up, then repeat that on at least 4 off shifts so that in total we would accumulate a 4.5hr sleep per day. If you extend beyond a 1.5hr sleep, you fall into deeper sleep and it’s therefore harder to wake up from. Secondly as you mentioned physically, it’s manageable 2hrs on the oars but any longer than that and you start to get uncomfortable with the repetitive motion. Therefore 2hrs/2hrs off has become a steady practice, but some people do mix it up.
8. JG:
Lizanne will be joining you shortly. The members of the crew remaining after Isabel has departed will have had a long time to develop their social cohesion with each other. How do you plan to help Lizanne slip into the fourth slot and quickly become a balancing member of the team?
LP & Emma: Keith our Sport Psych back in the UK, has been working hard to prepare both Lizanne and ourselves for integration into the team. We have spoken to Lizanne via our sat phone whilst out at sea as well as regular contact on email. Secondly we have put together a full handover plan for her in Hawaii including a lot of work on our individual hot buttons (what gets the best and worst out of ourselves) roles and routines on the boat plus running through our individual NEO personality scores to see how we all react in certain situations. We’ll also run through our safety drills and what if scenarios on Doris before we depart. It is going to be important for the 3 of us to remember that Lizanne will be experiencing everything for the first time and things that we have become used to will be out of her comfort zone to start with.
9. Jeff J:
So at some point you will cross the international date line. When you do will you do two blogs with the same date or skip a day entirely??? Follow up question, when you cross a time zone does that screw up the two hour shifts?
Remember always laugh and enjoy life. You only get one!!!!
I expect we’ll work out what we’re doing about blogs when we get there – it seems a long way off! It will probably depend on how many other tasks we have to do in our off shifts at the time.
Crossing a time zone does not impact on our shift pattern. We simply continue 2 hours on 2 hours off all the way. We communicate with Tony regarding forecast etc on UTC time. We have also only just ceremoniously changed our personal watches from San Francisco time to Hawaii time!
10. Babs:
Everyone talks about ‘hitting the wall’ when they do a marathon ( not that I would know!) but in rowing terms, when was the worst time for each of you, and how did you overcome it?
You are now seeing what the last 4 years in the planning has done to help you achieve this epic row. We are all so proud of you, and can’t wait to see you complete the first leg, not long now girls, keep safe xx
Natalia – Apart from the obvious disappointment of having to return to land after leaving San Francisco, I think the hardest thing for me was about 4/5 days where the conditions had been cold and wet and hadn’t shown us any variety. The monotony of the 24 hour day began to get to me and frustration creeped in. I always try to bring myself back to the moment and for this period I really had to take it stroke by stroke.
Izzy – the final night rowing into Santa Barbara was a personal low. We had one very very cold, wet shift where we were making hardly any progress. It was more challenging than normal to stay positive knowing that we were going back to land.
Emma: The only time I have wished myself off the boat was after about 5 days of being constantly cold and wet to the point that I wasn’t warming up in my sleeping bag at night. At that point we were also making very slow progress. Taking it one shift at a time was the only way to get through it and it passed pretty quickly.
LP: After 2 weeks of sea sickness and then facing the fact that we had to turn back to land, this without a doubt made me question that it wasn’t going to happen. The positivity and strength of the team together meant that these thoughts lasted for less than 2hrs before we were getting excited about food and showers!
11. Derek M:
To keep your minds off of “rowing”, I’m keeping my questions very light-hearted and somewhat childish:
I know that you absolutely LOVE your crew mates and wouldn’t want to do this adventure with anyone else but them. BUT just for fun…
1.) If you had to toss your 3 crew mates overboard and select “3 Celebrities” to join you on this long adventure (assuming they could all row too) who would you choose & why?
2.) Same scenario but choose “3 Friends/Family members”
I can’t even imagine the mental challenges that you are facing through your amazing journey. I can only encourage you to press on because you continue to inspire women, men, children, cities, nations….the world!
Natalia:
1.A. The Dalai llama – to keep me mindful and at peace with myself, my team and Mother Nature! An enlightened being with humour and stories to learn from. B. The amazing Sir Ranulph Fiennes. Adventurer extraordinaire. So many incredible stories to share. He’s funny and awe inspiring and has been through it all! C. TBC…still thinking about a female partner in crime
2.This is easy. My brother, Jared. He’s funny, interesting, entertaining, super fit and strong, determined, an out of the box thinker and is a fab handyman. I couldn’t think of anyone better and would LOVE to row an ocean with him. Our dear friend Rik who is just an all round legend and never fails to make me laugh and then last but never ever least is my best friend in the whole wide world, Elisa. She is magical and knows me better than I know myself!
LP:
1. David Attenborough – for his amazing narration and endless knowledge of the sea creatures we always question. Heather Stanning (GB Gold rower & army officer) lovely personality, strength on the oars and great army mentality. Hugh Jackman – for obvious reasons!
2. My auntie Marie as I’m sure she’d figure out a way to make pasties on the boat. Michelle Robertson – 1 of my best friends who knows me inside out, she has an amazing attitude and is great fun to be around. Kirsten Samuel – great friend that is such a strength of character, full of positivity and kindness.
Izzy:
1. A. Katherine Grainger – GB Olympic rower. She’s a lovely person and a perfect example of why you should never give up. B. John Bishop – comedian. He’s funny, sporty, and I’ve been reading his autobiography on Laura’s kindle and he has a fascinating life story to tell. C. Ben Howard – singer songwriter. I’ve been listening to his music all the way across from San Francisco and would love a live version on the boat.
2. A. My little sister, Philippa, who is an excellent rower, has a fab sense of humour and brings light to every situation. B. My friend Katie Nixon, who I spend a lot of time in the mountains with. She is one of the most positive people I know and I can sing songs and talk rubbish to her all day long. C. My friend Caz Bullard, adventure racer supreme and all round sporting superstar. Super experienced and wonderful company.
Emma:
1. I would take Kelly Holmes as she is fit, sporty and pretty hardcore when out of her comfort zone as seen in her recent trip to the jungle. Secondly Ed Sheeran with his guitar to provide musical accompaniment. Thirdly Russell Howard for some laughs.
2. Out of my friends and family I would probably take the 3 other members of the speedy Marlow lightweight four we raced for a couple of years Joey, Tamsin and Dani. All good rowers, good under pressure and a team better than the sum of its members.
As we approach the final straight, it’s only natural that a little excitement is creeping into all of our minds ahead of our arrival into Hawaii and the completion of leg 1.
Our predictions of arrival dates that we all made on the 9th of June were as follows:
Izzy – 29 days – 8th of July
Laura – 36 days – 15th of July
Emma – 40 days – 19th of July
Natalia – 44 days – 23rd of July
So, given that anything can still happen, let’s see who is the closest.
The mind is a truly wonderful thing! I found myself uncharacteristically out of the moment today, and my thoughts began to wander. Before I knew it I had this overwhelming feeling and all I could hear screaming in my brain was,
“I don’t want to row anymore!!”
My runaway mind continued,
“I’ve had enough of this backward and forwards sliding motion. I’m over it! I would like variety. I just want to be able to move my body in a different way!! I don’t want to row anymore!”
Me being me, and always one to share my feelings, I felt the need to release my thoughts and thereby acknowledge them, but not give them any power and then let them go before returning back to the safest place to be…the moment.
As luck would have it, I was in the middle of a ‘Spanish speaking only’ rowing shift with Izz and so when I did my shout out to the skies above and surrounding sea, it was only her that understood me.
In hindsight this was definitely a good thing, as I have been told before by Keith that I need to be a little mindful with what I share with the team as it could possibly have an undesirable effect!
Obviously the moment passed (as they always do) and not rowing is never going to be an option. I however thought I would share my small outburst with you all none the less, as I challenge anyone who has rowed for 70 days (having never rowed before getting involved in this expedition), to not have a fleeting moment pass when that thought doesn’t cross their mind!
Today LP and I also jumped in the ocean to do some barnacle scraping and it gave me the opportunity to move my body in a different way. I swam and I even did some running in the sea! It felt AMAZING!
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Anyway now it’s all down to you guys. We’re giving you all the opportunity today to find out the answers to any questions you may have about our extraordinary journey or the team.
The lovely Ella will choose a selection of 10 of the best/most interesting questions posted on the blog and send them to us to answer.
We’re intrigued to see what you come up with and very much look forward to hearing from you all x
By 
