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Talofa Samoa!
By The team arrived in Apia, Samoa at 8.40pm UK time on Sunday 1st November. After 96 days at sea since departing Hawaii, Laura, Emma, Natalia and Lizanne have stepped ashore and are celebrating the end of a long and arduous but highly successful second leg of their Pacific row journey. More blog updates will follow from Samoa over the next few days while the team resupply Doris and Meg joins them replacing the lovely Lizanne for the final leg to Cairns, Australia. Thank you so much for your support on the way in to Samoa and throughout.
Leg 2, Day 96 – blog of the armchair psychologist!
UPDATE:
Under 30 miles to go!! We can smell Samoa…
Wooohoooooo!
Today’s guest blog comes from the wonderful Keith Goddard, our team psychologist. Thanks Keith!
Blog of the armchair psychologist
It seems a long time ago that Laura and the crew wrote a blog about me (Day 43 June 25th) and a lot of water has passed under the ‘boat’ since then! At the time it was lovely to hear how much the guys valued the work we have done together, for me, reading such things always makes me feel slightly uncomfortable! So asking me to write a blog about ‘me’ I think is just plain revenge for all the tasks I asked of the girls over the years! Not to mention the ‘review’ emails despatched from my sofa whilst they are on the water! Nice one girls, like what you did there!
Blog 43 highlighted how and when I got involved so I won’t bore you with that again here. Needless to say it seems like a long time ago.
For those of you who don’t know already I’m Keith Goddard (@ZeusLtd) the team psychologist. By background for those of you who are interested I’m both an Occupational Psychologist and a Sport & Exercise Psychologist. The combination of which probably makes me reasonably qualified to work on a project such as this. Which really is three projects: getting the boat on the water (long project!), keeping the boat on the water (getting longer project!!), life after Doris (who knows how long project!). More of all that in a while.
So apart from professional credentials, why did I get involved? Well as you’d expect from a psychologist’s answers generally, it’s not simple but not complex either. The not simple part is that there are sooooo many reasons why you would get involved in something like this, the not complex piece – well it’s interesting and it’s there, oh and it’s not simple! The uniqueness of the challenge was an obvious hook for me, I was, I have to say intrigued by people wanting to spend so long in a bath tub (sorry Doris) with three other people for months (now I’m a fan of ‘celebrity get me out of here’, but this expedition takes things up a notch – clearly there are other reality shows available on other channels!). I could have looked at partnering with an Atlantic crossing crew, but one, the opportunity hadn’t arisen, and two, well the Atlantic, really?! (“sorry” to all those that have done such an enormous challenge!). The fact that the crew had not ventured into ocean rowing really appealed too. (The me bit…) It reminded me of when I applied to do the Marathon des Sables and people asked “Have you ran a marathon?” Keith: “Errm, no. But why would I bother with a marathon when I could do six across the desert!” So when I heard Laura’s idea and story, clearly it was going to get my attention! As we chatted in the early stages it became clear that it was going to be somewhat of a unique challenge from an applied psychology perspective, the skills required to plan, organise, lead, fund and create interest in getting the boat to the start line were going to be quite different from those required to keep the boat, the individuals and the team together whilst on the water. Before that we have to get 4-6 willing volunteers!! Post Doris’ adventure, well that’s another story!
At that point there were no charities involved, so the interesting turn of events that has partly kept me so involved for this long was the choice of charities. Having at a very early age lost my mum to breast cancer the choice of BCC resonated with me and seemed fortuitous, being ex-military from many years ago, WWTW also chimed. But I have to say whilst these gave me extra resolve to help get the boat on to the water, it was the resolve of Laura and the clear passion and focus for what she was trying to do that also kept me in the project. Then came Emma, different but of equal resolve to push the project forward. Many others that have come and gone along the way. Then came Nat and Izzy who individually brought different dimensions to the already different crew! Then more latterly Lizanne and Meg, again two very different characters to each other and to the rest of the others. And so began the next challenge – keeping a crew of different characters ‘rowing in sync’ in getting the boat (still not called Doris at this point!) on the water, and then being able to switch mode to keep the boat – sorry, Doris – on the water. I recall the frequent conversations in the early stages: do we go for the same types of people, all different, or a bit of both! These were interspersed with conversations about ideal row routines/shifts, sleep patterns, project management skills, career chats, team effectiveness, leadership, corporate engagement…..the list goes on! All of which served to confirm that the project was complex in its whole, as well as considering simple things like recruiting and developing the crew to be effective at managing boredom whilst maintaining key critical boat routines (should have recruited a Barnacle Bill!). What has always been against us is time and money! But that’s probably a different story or blog!
So what do I do? A question many people ask, sometimes with a wry small on their face (or a step back when they hear the word psychologist!), to get the full picture you may need to read the book when it comes out! But here’s the abridged version….I’d probably pause, go and make yourself a cuppa/glass of wine (clearly as long as it is within your weekly allowance for a healthy lifestyle!).
As a ‘performance psychologist’ I work on the basis that behaviour or performance derives from a combination of the ‘person’, the ‘role’ and the ‘environment’. So the starting point is getting clarity and establishing a deep and broad understanding of each of those three elements. The less obvious factor in here is ‘team’. As mentioned above, time and money were a challenge throughout, so planning was crucial. Having done some basics on planning and organising (I am known as the planning tyrant!) with Laura and the crew, I suggested that having a look at ‘best year yet’ may help the guys in running the project. Tick, one less thing off my list, delegation! One of my key principles as a practitioner and especially for this project was striving to create self-sufficiency and sustainability for the crew as a team and as individuals. So if I don’t hear too often from the girls on the water, I’ve generally done my job before they got on the boat (if they’ve done their homework!)! However, as some of the crew will probably tell you out of my ear shot, this generally meant me not giving them the answer, but the tools and questions to ask to get the answer for themselves! How very frustrating – yep! Think I may have over played that card at times: ‘Keith – we just need you to tell us what to do here!’ was heard more frequently at the start of the project and way way less before Doris and her cargo set sail. Testament to the girls’ ability to take ideas and tools and make them work for them. Underpinning much of the later work, especially when we had a full crew, or the first full crew (another story!), was team values (SPIRIT). For me this was going to be key to getting the boat on the water but way more importantly, keeping the boat on the water, and in fact one was great preparation and practice for the other. So we discussed an approach to developing a set of team values and what they should look like in order for them to work – developing green and red behaviours against each of the values. We know values create how it ‘feels’ to be around people or in a culture (or in a pink bath tub (sorry Doris!) bobbing around in the big blue sea), but they need to be lived, practiced and people need to be called out on them, rather than the values just sitting on a piece of paper. Hopefully the girls are living the SPIRIT whilst together!
One of the key difficulties was consistency of crew members and getting the ‘right’ people – see earlier comment (same/different; motivated & able etc.). But actually, as the amount of conversations we had around this proves, just finding people that want to do something as way-out as rowing an ocean, never mind the Pacific, is a challenge in itself. This is before we get to ‘can they do it’ and also do I want to spend 6 months plus in a pink bath tub (sorry again Doris, oh and she still wasn’t pink at that point!) with them. We had a number of false starts at getting people into a potential crew and over the years some of these came and went for various reasons. It has been interesting to see this unfold; you are looking for quite a specific ‘animal’ to complete this challenge, a bit like hens teeth! Right time of life, right time in career, relationships, able to financially support themselves (on bread and water at times I’m sure!), want to be at sea for a significant period, be in a potentially hostile environment, the list goes on and this was largely made worse by the lack of major financial sponsorship and the associated certainty the project was a goer. So back to consistency! Whilst I guided the guys in getting a good process in place to recruit potentials and help them with what they should be looking for and how to measure this in selection, it was ‘personality’ where I had a lot of input. We used the NEO PIR as our personality measure of choice, seen as the gold standard tool to measure accurately personality traits. I’ve been using this for years and know how predictive it is and how insightful it can be. We had a core set of criteria that we looked at everyone on and fed that into the overall mix for selection. In the early stages selection was mainly looking at these core criteria, further into the project we then used NEO to consider team fit for later potential recruits, as we already had crew members in place. So similar or different debate again?! Personality is not everything, a person’s values, experience, expertise and intellect all combine to make the ‘person’, and these were all added to the mix for selection. After an initial filtering selection centre (where self-deselection was a key factor) we also threw into the mix a bit of ‘stress testing’ the potential crew members, both to look at them individually under endurance conditions, including sleep deprivation, and also how they integrated into a team. Thanks to Martin and Matt at Fieri for providing the Brecon Beacons experience! Again self-deselection was key here.
As well as for team selection we used NEO extensively for individual development and for team development, initially to raise awareness, but then to deepen individual and team development. It gives a window into how someone might behave in a given context (role & environment). The team all shared their own questionnaires with each other and this both increases and accelerates awareness of self and others, but as importantly the act of sharing very personal information builds trust, which is crucial to this type of challenge. It also reinforces and embeds the team values. We also used ‘hot button’ exercises for the same reason. I worked individually with the girls on identifying and then developing areas we thought might be key to their individual performance leading up to the row but also whilst on the water. Effective team working and leadership were a key focus to getting the boat on the water and this was also a good practice ground for the skills that would also be needed on the water. However, there were other more specific skills that would be needed for the crew to cope personally with the extraordinary challenge they were about to embark on. So we tried to focus much of the individual development and skills into one point of reference: PESs as they are attractively known! Each of the crew’s Performance Enhancing Strategies (PESs) are their own personal ‘tool kit’. These look at the range of ‘states’ they may need to be in at different points in the day, the week, the stage, and the row overall. For example, how does someone relax quickly enough to get to sleep after a gruelling roller coaster of a 2 hour shift on the oars, equally how do they quickly wind themselves up to get themselves to quickly perform on the oars after sleep and being woken in the middle of the night! Also when people may not be at their emotionally strongest, how do they bring themselves back to a place of personal strength. In order to be effective in these states/zones; a range of strategies have been developed, all tailored to the individual’s preferences and needs. For example, learning to breath correctly and using it to arouse/de-arouse oneself is a basic must have! Not to mention it being the one thing we can control the majority of the time (aah the old ‘controlling the controllables!’). More specific tools are: generally a large, broad and varied music collection; a vivid and eclectic range of images (static and motion); the ability to be in the moment regardless of what is happening around you; the various positive mental scripts and thought reframing for the range of negative messages you might have in your head and be talking to yourself with; using touch stones that have high emotive relevance to us (for me my wedding ring when completing the MdS was a key touch stone, which got me through painful days (I lost 5 toe nails!) in +40C temperatures!). These are just some of the strategies that the crew will have individually developed prior to the row (don’t forget GSOH and also a smattering of optimism! – which they all have in spades!!). But then they will have refined their PESs into Hawaii based on their learning in leg 1 of which were or were not working, and are probably reviewing during the current tough phase to ensure they are effective for leg 3. Reflection, both individual and team, is key on a challenge of this sort. For those who like to know the science/evidence base of such strategies we used CBT, mindfulness, imagery & visualisation, many stress management techniques (e.g. STOP & BOPP), arousal control, self-efficacy development, individual motivational needs, realistic preview (What ifs), reflective practice, team cohesion (task and social), team effectiveness, conflict management, problem solving. I could go on but probably for another time!
Whilst on the water my role is slightly different to pre row. Essentially if Tony is ‘Uncle Tone’ then I must be ‘Auntie Keif’! Joking aside whilst fortunately we do not need to talk too often, myself and Tony are the crew’s first port of call (sorry for the pun!) if they need guidance or support. Tony being the key contact having frequent and regular contact with the girls to keep the boat going in the right direction; my role I guess is to support the girls individually and collectively to keep the inside of the boat rowing in the right direction. Another aspect is that we have developed clear communication plans for each of the crew and their families, so if quick critical decisions need to be made there is generally no doubt in who should be talking to whom and who decides what and when! Some of this is also liaising with Carver PR. So in some respects I perform a communication buffer/conduit as well as being another pair of eyes on critical practical decisions that may have an impact on the crew or families; it also frees Tony up to get on and do the practical stuff rather than worrying and spending time ensuring everyone is in the loop. But on a more regular basis I keep in touch with the guys and monitor how they are doing generally and help them work through any specifics that may crop up (we have a weekly review system that’s a bit like a barometer). Support can be as simple as regular email contact (daily quotes to keep their calendar metronome in sync and also as a motivational lift, and obviously so they don’t think they have escaped from my wittering!), to helping them work up their plans pre and post transitions through Hawaii and Samoa (not forgetting StB) – planning tyrant here again, did I tell you about ‘planning for the worst and hoping for the best’?!
Key to the progress of the boat and transitions has been working with Lizanne and Meg to try and get them up to speed with the prep the rest of the crew have had! An accelerated programme for them both, but without the added developing together and bonding time the crew has had – tough gig for them in the lead up to joining the crew with limited personal contact with the girls ahead of leaving SF. Skype is a wonderful thing! However, I did miss my 7am free Lattes (payment in kind!) and lovely lunches at the Hare and Hounds with the whole team, but needs must when you’re on a tight time frame. It was working with Lizanne and Meg that you suddenly realise how much work the crew has done to prepare themselves for the row and how many assumptions there are that need to be made explicit for Liz and Meg. Lizanne had the additional challenge of not being UK based, so credit to her for preparing ‘geographically dislocated’! Team values, hot buttons, boat critical what ifs, personal what ifs, hopes and fears, team dynamics & cohesions, the individual personalities involved, PES development and the underlying skills, not to mention the more functional elements of being part of Coxless Crew!
Key to all of the above are the family and friends of the crew and hopefully some of the pre meetings have made the journey easier for you, the silent heroes of the row (a strong community now). I cannot imagine what response I would give if Eloise says in 20 years or so time that she’s going to row an Ocean or climb Everest! So, as much of an inspiration for me is to be part of the extended support crew called ‘F&F’ (family and friends) – hats off to you guys! Can’t move on without a special mention of Ella, who is another unsung and silent hero of CC!
I’m nearly done, promise, stay with me……..it would be hugely remiss of me not to mention the team behind the team that is behind the team (crew). My wife Helen has been a stalwart of support over the years of the project, never a raised eyebrow to be seen when I got back from a team meeting 2-3 hours late – yes, Laura can talk! (sorry Laura!). Then little Eloise, my now 2.5y daughter (no you’re not climbing Everest!) who can now name all the girls and Doris, who is pink, and also knows ‘Izzy has left the boat!’ She will only realise later in life how much of an inspiration she is to me, even at 2 ½! Helen knows how much of an inspiration she is to me, but probably doesn’t think she is! I have trekked with her in some very odd and challenging places, she continues to show me what bravery is! Base camp Everest with full blown tonsillitis, Mt Meru with a parasitic friend (I’ll save you from the detail!) etc.
So why am I involved with Coxless Crew and why do I do this!? 1. Because it’s there, 2. Because it’s interesting, 3. Because what they are trying to achieve goes far far beyond rowing and ocean, 4. Because everyone has a Pacific to cross and working with those that want to try is a joy and inspiration! Especially for those that have to fight or strive for the opportunity, 5. Finally, because I have a family and friends that support me in my mad ideas and adventures and want to go on the journey with me!
Thanks to the Coxless Crew for inviting me to their party! Thanks to you for reading what started as a Blog and is clearly at least one chapter of my book yet to be written!
One final thing. For the many people that read the Coxless Crew’s daily blogs and may feel they do not have anything to say or contribute, next time you read one, drop them a note, just to say hi and I’m with you – you may think it’s a drop in the ocean! But at the other end, the splash will engulf them!
Au revoir.
Leg 2, Day 95 – Samoa approaches!
By We are now a mere 62nm from Samoa and it finally feels as though we might actually make it. Although the currents are still keeping us guessing we have had almost 24 hours of lighter winds and weaker currents which has meant a rise in spirits and good progress towards our destination. I am hugely looking forward to reaching dry land and getting the opportunity to rest and recover. In Hawaii this didn’t really happen as we were so busy getting everything done and when we got back onto the boat at the beginning of this leg I was already exhausted. The rowing in this leg has been both a physical and mental battle with almost every shift at the oars requiring a fight against the currents or wind and a lot of travelling slowly or in the wrong direction. Right now I am exhausted both physically and mentally and feel like I have nothing left to give. Over the last few weeks, rowing, which has been a part of my life for many years and which has so far been my happy place on board Doris has become unenjoyable and I have had to drag myself out of the cabin every two hours to get on the oars. Since I am the ‘rower’ of the boat this in itself has been an extra level of personal challenge. A little time away from Doris to reset and get ready for the final push for Samoa is sorely needed.
However as well as endless challenges, the doldrums has also thrown up many unforgettable sights and experiences on this stage of the journey. I could watch the skies for hours and not get bored of the endless variety of cloud formations and the fact that you can sometimes see three or four different weather conditions happening around you at once. Having a power shower under a rain storm is an experience I won’t forget in a hurry. The moody storm clouds in front of burning red sunsets and the glowing sunrises that turn the ocean around you into a sparkling watercolour make you feel like you’re in a dream and no matter how tough it gets, for me, rowing under a bright starry sky or a full moon never fails to lift my spirits. Not only have we also seen an incredible variety of wildlife but our proximity to their home while we are on Doris makes it feel like we have made friends with the ocean dwellers. Farewell doldrums, you are a unique and often magical place but we look forward to some following winds and favourable currents to help us on our way to Cairns.
UPDATE: Today conditions were favourable enough for us to take 45mins out of our rowing schedule and have a team social. We wanted to take a moment before we reach the chaos and distractions of land to celebrate what the four of us have achieved over the last 95 days and to celebrate Lizanne’s involvement in this before she leaves us to return to the real world. It got a little emotional! Together we have battled the erratic conditions of the doldrums, picked each other up through the tough times, laughed, joked and danced together and shared stories of our lives. We will miss the fresh, creative and happy presence of Lizanne when we set off again from Samoa. She is strong yet flexible and brings out the best in all of us. However in the same way that Izzy has been with us in spirit all of this leg, Lizanne will join her in the next.
Leg 2, Day 94 – Lizanne
By Following on from a lovely blog written by Lizanne yesterday, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a few words of how Lizanne will be missed on Doris, what she has brought to the team and my side of the ‘bromance’!
Lizanne has had the toughest deal out of all of us and yet one of her biggest strengths is that she takes it in her stride and never complains. Having joined the team just 2 months prior to us leaving from the US, the only time we’d met was during the team recruitment stages back in May 2014. Lizanne’s dedication was evident then, having flown over from South Africa she got stuck in straight away, rowing Doris over to the Isles of Wight without having ever rowed before,sharing a cabin with me for the night to get a feel for the space, heading to Wales for the Breacons beasting weekend to get a sense of sleep deprivation and leadership. Lizanne easily fitted in socially with the group and it was because she’d just taken on a new business (Cape Town Osteopaths www.CTOsteo.co.za) that she could only commit to doing a single leg of the journey. This made LV our number 1 reserve if we needed it. Crazy how things work out, but a phonecall months after we’d met and thankfully Lizanne was just as enthusiastic to join the team as we were to have her.
Not only did Lizanne not get a chance to meet up with us again since the Breacons, but living in South Africa meant that she had to do everything remotely. We linked her to Alex our S&C coach who wrote her a programme from afar, to Keith our Sport Psych who set up many a Skype session and to GSK HPL to do pre-departure testing. Although there were many an email and phonecall to share as much information as possible before we got on the boat, there was minimal time we’d ever spent together and certainly no time was spent as the team that we’d become. Unlike Meg, who fortunately has had Izzy back to share her stories and guidance in her preparation, Lizanne bless her, was coming into the row fairly blind in what to expect. When meeting with Lizanne in Hawaii she slotted right in, as if we’d been a team of friends for years. She immediately got to work and in less than 24hrs of arriving she was elbow deep in clearing out our mess on the boat!
Since being out at sea for nearly 100 days, Lizanne has been nothing but a pillar of strength to us all. Never complaining (unless it’s about the washing up sponge!), always thoughtful and supportive. She’s confident in sharing her emotions which helped to integrate her immediately and bring us closer as a team. When she had to miss her best friend’s wedding and also when she received the news of her uncle passing away, she was open with how she felt but then moved on respectfully, not allowing negativity to linger. It’s been refreshing to talk ‘shop’ and get the mind working again within the world of medicine and therapy. As Lizanne is an Osteo and I’m a physio, we’ve spent hours sharing our patient/athlete stories, how we’d treat x/y/z, ideas about running a practice and future courses we could each do. I think it’s for this reason that we appear to be seen to have a ‘bromance’ as we have a number of shared interests. Only Lizanne shares my sense of humour. with Flight of the Concords – It’s Business time, or making up our own voice overs with the sea life we see. She also shares in the gobbledegook in the twilight hours, which restored the fact that I wasn’t completely loosing it, or at least I wasn’t loosing it alone! Lizanne is the only person I know that can still look glamorous after weeks of no shower, sleep fatigue, being hot and sweaty in the sun and being coated in sea salt. However there is just one thing I won’t miss about Lizanne and that’s her knees falling on top of me in the cabin! Lizanne is the only person I know who can fall asleep with her knees bent up, however it means that when the boat rocks, her knee will flop down often smacking into me. I then prop the knee back up without waking her and the process is repeated. I’ve been known to pull her legs out straight without her even waking up!
With just a few days left with our little South African, there is no doubt that she will be sorely missed, but not to distract from the fact that we are also looking forward to introducing Meg to Doris. I can’t wait for the day that we are all together as one team, with Izz, Lizanne and Meg, definitely a motivating thought to look forward to reaching the finish.
Update:
We’ve got less than 100nm to go! We’re still battling the currents and wind but thankfully making progress towards Samoa. Without a doubt though, we can not thank you all enough for such amazing comments of support we’ve received off the back of Natalia’s recent blog. We are truly humbled and it has certainly given us a massive boost of motivation after reading your kind words. Thank you all.
Leg 2, Day 93 – Lightening never strikes in the same place twice
By Day 93 – Lightening never strikes in the same place twice
The proverb goes that an unusual event is unlikely to ever happen again in exactly the same circumstances or to the same person. Who knows what the future holds, but for starters I think I’ll stick to land based challenges from now on. As I sit writing this blog I know that this row, alongside these five women essentially gives us our own individual strike of lightening. Each leg of the journey will be different and so Izzy and Meg’s experience will be incomparable to mine, but together we build different pieces of the puzzle completing Nats, Ems and Laura’s full journey.
Even though we were all brought together by the row, I’m sure we will remain part of each other’s lives far beyond our destination. We are a strong team and have endured many stresses together; winds, waves, currents, torrential rain, muscle sprains, tears, heartache, back ache, sleeplessness; and that doesn’t even include the arduous years some had to endure to get Doris to the start line.
As my time left on the Pacific diminishes by the day, the thing that I will miss far beyond the wildlife and amazing night sky or sunrises is the unity we’ve developed within the team. Being in each others faces and spaces for so long brings rise to an unspoken language formed, where you can talk with a gesture and where our female intuition is at its sharpest. If ever I wanted to make lightening strike twice, it would only be with these three.
Emma
Everyone needs an ‘Emma’ in their lives. She is kind hearted, generous and will put her heart into everything she does. Our team is built on her strong foundation, the rock; solid, firm, powerful and resilient. Without her none of us would know how to row, and we probably would have washed up on the shores of Christmas Island long ago. Her gadget fingers will fix anything before you’ve even noticed that it’s broken or squeaks. She has been a pillar of strength throughout this row and her stories will keep you captivated, intrigued and surprised at the crazy things she’s done in her life. It’s a testament to the gutsy way she leads her life…. And that smile! It creeps up her face and into her eyes. Without Ems we would sink.
Nats
Nat is quite simply, glitter! She is what makes the group sparkle. She’s the fairy dust in Peter Pan that lifts everyone up and makes them fly, captivating you into her own magical Neverland where people just laugh, become philosophical and eat mandarin fruit pots. Nat will always ensure to “bring you back to the moment” and will make sure that you are thankful for the amazing sunrise you are experiencing at that moment. She has a beautiful demeanour who sees the funny side of everything. Without Nat the boat would be sparkle-less and dull.
Laura
What is the girl version of a ‘Bromance?’
Laura and I have discovered that we have countless similarities. There is a constant chatter about our shared interests; triathlons, work, music, family, friends and food. At the moment food is our main topic of discussion, reeling off recipes as we present what is on ‘today’s menu’. She is diligent, hard working, open and funny. If she was a man I might marry her. She’s the powerhouse of the project, a great leader and the centre of it all. Without LP none of us would be here.
It amazes me every day that after 93 days of eating, sleeping, talking, rowing, living in such close proximity to each other we’ve not wanted to chuck each other overboard. In fact quite the opposite; it has bonded us far beyond what I had imagined.
UPDATE
We are currently united in complaining about our bums hurting in the sitting position, ie rowing! We’ve not done too badly if this is the first signs of deterioration after 90 days!
Leg 2, Day 92 – Digging Deep
By Day 92 – Digging deep
As the miles count down to Samoa, the intensity increases. There is no time for being complacent and no relaxing to be done until our feet are firmly on land. The most challenging part of this leg so far has begun for me. I seriously cannot believe that we have been out here for over 3 months. Spending 12 hours of every day sliding backwards and forwards and rocking side to side to the rhythm and the motion of the ocean, we face all the elements that Mother Nature wants to throw at us. All we can do is take it and deal with the consequences. There is nowhere to hide and no respite whatsoever. For the other 12 hours of every day we spend our time either lying or sitting in an area slightly less than that of an average sized single bed! It’s ridiculous when you really think about it. Next time you wake up from your wonderful mono-phasic 8 hour sleep (I’m not jealous!), have a look around you and imagine spending over 90 days on your bed, sleeping, eating, washing, existing with one other person always in that space with you! If you’re fortunate enough to be in double bed, then just visualise half of it.
The last 72 hours have been a battle. A mental and physical struggle like no other so far on this section of the journey. We are so tantalisingly close yet things couldn’t be further from ideal. We have a very tight COG (course over ground – direction you’re actually travelling in) window in order to hit Samoa and the wind and currents have been making holding the necessary course very difficult. The rowing has been so hard. We give everything we’ve got every time we get out on the oars. Every time we manage to swing Doris round and travel in the right direction, a wave will hit her and swing her back. It’s frustrating and demoralising with the very real possibility of us overshooting our destination. Every shift has been a fight. A fight with the wind, currents, waves, physical pains and mental chatter. All of us have varying skin ailments on many different parts of our bodies so everyone is a little broken physically.
I’ve got so many salt/pressure sores on my backside that sitting is painful. As soon as it’s possible to take the weight off this area it’s gladly welcomed. The best position for this seems to be lying down (not good when you have to sit for at least 14 hours every day). I also have this strange skin irritation under my arms that has begun rubbing against whatever clothing I have on and my life jacket. It’s really uncomfortable every stroke I take until I desensitise myself to the pain. My left hand is heavily callused and beginning to blister from all the strong one-armed rowing that we are having to do. This also takes some distraction in the first few minutes of a shift before I can force my mind to ignore it.
I’d like to share a particularly hard shift that happened between 1-3am. Ems and I headed out onto the oars and we already knew before the handover that we were going to be pushing hard to maintain a COG near what we needed. I began rowing and every time I pulled the oar there was a pain in my left hand. My left bum cheek was really uncomfortable and underarms were being rubbed raw with every stroke. I dug deep and kept on rowing. I knew that within about 10 minutes the aches and pains would subside and I could just keep going. After about 45 minutes, I felt as if time was standing still. I was exhausted. I’d been giving all my energy and I was feeling disheartened. My underarms were still sore with every stroke and I felt like I didn’t have any more to give against the howling 18 knot wind and huge crashing swell. “I can’t do this”, I heard myself think, “I just can’t”. I checked myself instantly and then heard a loud, authoritative voice (that was clearly my own) say,
“You CAN do this”!
I snapped myself into gear and powered through, giving my all. For that is all you can give.
20 minutes later Ems and I were treated to one of the most incredible things…a moonbow! I’ve never seen one before but it was amazing. It was this white arc of light in the sky and it made me smile in wonder. The Universe will always throw something special your way when you need it the most.
I came in from the shift and Ems and I shared our stories as we’d both been battling different demons. We know these last few days are going to be challenging and we don’t want them to override the rest of the journey. All things considered we’ve been really fortunate to only be suffering such skin irritation now and after this length at sea it is not surprising.
Luckily we are all united in our suffering and this just pulls us even closer as a team. Whatever we’re going through, we’re going through it together. We control the controllable, believe in ourselves and do everything else needed with great SPIRIT.
We continue to laugh, row the hardest we can and talk incessantly about our bums!!
To keep up morale and to remember the magic of what this leg has brought, I have been asking everyone to think of all their most memorable moments. So…as we power through the tough times, these, as well as the incredible support we are receiving from all of you, are what we remember. Thank you for motivating and inspiring us x
Leg 2, Day 91 – meanwhile, on dry land……
By Today’s blog comes from dry land! I can’t believe that it is nearly 100 days since I left Doris and the team in Hawaii. I have been asked by the girls to blog to provide an update on what I’ve been up to since I got home at the end of July (and to give them a well earned day off blog writing!).
Probably the most common question that I have been asked since I got home is: “is it difficult being back in the real world” or “did it take you long to adapt to being back in the real world?”. The short answer is no. I don’t want to disappoint anyone (some people seem to expect a very profound or philosophical answer!), but I came back to find that the real world is exactly as it was before I left! I have been lucky enough to have had a really amazing experience, learnt some new things and met some great new people and I’ll take that forward with me, but I don’t see myself or the world any differently now. It was lovely to see friends and family again after being away and to be able to thank people personally for all of their support, but after that I just slotted straight back in to everyday life. I think a big reason for this is the fact that life out there on Doris is simply so far removed from everyday life that it really does feel like another planet. The ‘bubble effect’ that we talk of is very real. Now that I am back on dry land, it is still sometimes difficult for me to imagine what the girls are doing and feeling, which is strange since I spent so long out there with them myself! I have emailed Doris a few times with that in mind, telling the girls to try their best, despite the frustrations and difficulties, to appreciate the incredibly unique situation that they are in, as once they are home it will seem like a faraway world. Of course, we are all very different people and the other girls may find that they have a completely different experience on returning home, particularly Ems, Nat and Laura who will have been at sea for an incredible 9 months or more.
Now I am back on dry land, I am in a support team role and have the responsibilities that come with that. We received a huge amount of help in the run up to the start line, but since coming home I have seen first hand how much time and effort is still being dedicated every day by our incredible support team of Tony, Keith, Ella, Alex, Kirsten and Meg (until she flies to Samoa on Thursday!). We really can’t thank them enough for their hard work, generosity and enthusiasm. There are also so many others to thanks of course, including our charities, sponsors, PR support Carver PR and Angle Studios, ambassadors, families, friends, supporters and followers.
Life as a Coxless Crew supporter is a busy one and I thought I would finish by summarising a few key events that the other members of our shore support team and I have been up to recently:
– Meg and I did a 24 hour “rowathon” at Discovery Park in Kent. We rowed a 2 hour on, 2 hour off shift pattern to help Meg to prepare mentally for this routine when she joins the girls on Doris in Samoa. The event was a chance to tell more people about the row and to raise money for our charities, as well as an opportunity for me to meet Meg’s extended family for the first time. These guys are amazing – they should be available to rent out to cheer people on! Thanks also to Discovery Park, Miles and Barr and New Level Results for their support.
-Meg, Ella and I were joined by a number of the team’s family and friends at The One Show, where Matt Baker and Alex Jones spoke to the girls live from the Pacific.
– Meg, Kirsten and I attended the 2015 Women of the Year Lunch as representatives of the Coxless Crew team. The lunch is an annual event held by the Women of the Year Foundation to celebrate women’s achievements and contribution to society. We still have no idea who nominated us to attend, but we are very grateful that they did! It was a wonderful occasion. The room was packed with women who have achieved extraordinary things. We heard some fascinating stories and felt very humbled to be there.
– Meg and I met with the teams from Breast Cancer Care and Walking With The Wounded last week to talk about our ongoing fundraising effort. Laura and Ems wrote blogs earlier this week explaining a bit more about why we are supporting these brilliant charities. We are very lucky to have good relationships with both charities and we receive an amazing amount of support from them. We have got to know everyone we are working with at BCC and WWTW well and they really do feel part of the team. Tomorrow, I am going to join some of Walking With The Wounded’s injured service men and women to walk one day of their 1000 mile Walk of Britain challenge. I can’t wait! http://walkingwiththewounded.org.uk/walkofbritain2015/
– Preparation for Samoa has been full steam ahead! With help from some of our incredible sponsors, Tony and the rest of us have been making sure that the girls will have everything that they need to resupply Doris in Samoa ready for the third and final leg to Australia. Our thanks goes to Victron, Crewsaver, Solbian, Peli Products, Azoprint, Revo, Jetboil, Fusion Audio, SOS Rehydrate and BeWell expedition foods (and many others).
UPDATE FROM THE GIRLS: Ems and Nats were in the cabin when they heard the cry of “turtle” from LP and LV on the oars. They rushed to the hatch door. “That’s a small turtle, maybe it’s a baby turtle, how cute” said Ems. “Wait a minute I think it might be a coconut” said LV. On closer inspection that is indeed what it turned out to be. T minus 4 days until the main thing left on board to eat is rehydrated beef curry. Samoa can’t come quickly enough!
Leg 2, Day 90 – Breast Cancer Care
Leg 2, Day 90 – Breast Cancer Care
This leg of our journey has been a particularly tough one and today marks 30 days since our expected arrival date in Samoa and needless to say we are still not there. We have been incredibly inspired by the stories from women, both friends and strangers who have shared their Pacific with us and this has been particularly poignant coming from those supported by Breast Cancer Care. In the tough times it is the sharing of these stories which puts into perspective a few waves and adverse currents and reminds us why we have taken on this challenge. We want to support and make a difference to those women who are facing and overcoming adversity in their daily lives which they have not chosen to take on. All of us in the Coxless Crew and almost everyone we know has had their lives touched by Cancer. One in four women suffers from breast cancer and therefore the support that Breast Cancer Care provide touches the lives of a huge number of women and their friends and families. We wanted to be sure that we knew exactly where the money we raised for this charity was going and after learning more about the different services which they provide we decided as a team that we would like to contribute to the Younger Women Together program since as we are all young women this was close to our hearts.
Younger Women Together is for women aged 20-45 who have been diagnosed with primary breast cancer in the last three years. Although breast cancer is less common in younger women with around 5,600 diagnoses in women under 45 every year these women have different needs, worries and responsibilities to deal with. In particular issues surrounding fertility and the challenges of dealing with a young family alongside their diagnosis.
Younger Women Together run two day events which take place on a Friday and Saturday, with all food and accommodation provided free. They give the women who attend the chance to talk and share stories with others in the same position as themselves, away from the pressures of their everyday lives. A group of experts and specialists in the field are also in attendance and topics such as treatment, fertility, sex & intimacy, reconstruction, relationships (present or future), lymphoedema, healthy eating and exercise are all discussed with plenty of opportunities for questions to be answered. The events have been hugely successful and “every woman who joined us last year said they would recommend it, and many have made lasting friendships. The next Younger Women Together event is on 20 November in Bristol. For more information visit the Breast Cancer Care website at https://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/information-support/support-you/local-support/younger-women-together
If you would like to help us meet our fundraising target of £250k and make a difference to women facing and overcoming breast cancer and those women injured at war then please visit our Virgin Money Giving page to donate.
UPDATE: We have just passed the 200nm to go to Samoa mark! Woop woop! We are still battling with the ocean every stroke to try to hold course for Samoa and our date with a shower, a proper bed and some real food. Fernando came to join the party again yesterday and Nat and I considered what would happen if he was washed onto the deck in one of the huge waves crashing towards us…..
Leg 2, Day 89- Walking With The Wounded
Day 89 – Walking With The Wounded
Many may wonder why we are raising money for two charities that seem to be completely different. Well, it’s because they have a common purpose; both charities support their personnel with an holistic approach, to support through the adversities that they’ve faced and help them to see beyond the illness or injury. The charities create opportunities for sufferers to be able to speak and learn from others who have gone through the same, they work towards re-education and re-training to show them what a fulfilling life they can achieve going forwards. I have seen a number of ex servicemen come through an expedition with Walking With The Wounded and it’s transformed their lives, re-ignited an inner confidence and belief in what they can achieve. There are so many amazing charities out there, but WWTW stood out to me because it aligns with my passion of Paralympic sport. They demonstrate through their expeditions, to focus on the abilities their wounded personnel have and not to wallow in the disability. At Headley Court, this is where the in-house rehabilitation process begins, to teach personnel how to walk again or adapt to use of prostheses etc. the attitude they demonstrate reflects the spirit of the military personality, if you have a below knee amputation well it’s deemed as a ‘mere scratch’, if you have lost one upper limb and a lower limb, again there is always someone else worse off than you. Having this approach hopefully helps them to accept their disability and make a smooth transition into society. However, leaving the military must be very hard for some who have only ever known military living. This is where WWTW come into their own, they have amazing experts around them to help support those finding it difficult and the aim of the charity is to prove to them what they can do and not focus on what they can’t.
WWTW’s mission is to support all veterans with physical, mental or social injury to gain the skills and qualifications necessary to develop new careers outside the military, re-integrate into society and provide long-term security for themselves and their families. The monies we raise are specifically going towards women that have been injured at war. Check out the website here
In addition to the services they provide, since the charity was founded in 2010 by Ed Parker, WWTW have organised and run ambitious expeditions to extreme parts of the world incorporating teams of wounded servicemen and women, both with physical and mental injuries.
The rationale behind their expeditions to the North Pole in 2011, Everest in 2012 and more recently to the South Pole in 2013 focus on both the wounded as well as wider society and include:
– To raise awareness of the work Walking With The Wounded undertakes.
– To provide inspiration to those coping daily with injury and disability.
– To demonstrate to ‘Our Wounded’ that they are able to achieve at the very highest level.
– To highlight to Corporate UK the extraordinary skill, determination, ability and courage that members of the wounded community possess despite injury.
All of their expeditions are sponsored in their entirety by corporate partners and their funding is separate from the generous donations they receive for the charity. This ensures monies they receive from fundraising activity are distributed solely into their re-education and re-training programs and not into funding any elements of the expeditions.
The latest expedition is the Walk of Britain, which has seen four British and two US wounded veterans walk 1,000 miles across mainland Britain, starting in Scotland on August 22nd and finishing at Buckingham Palace on November 1st (72 days in total). The team are Alec Robotham, Matt Fisher, Scott Ransley, Stewart Hill, Kirstie Ennis and Andrew Bement.
Find out more about The Walk Of Britain here.
Hopefully it will be timed that when the Walk of Britain team finish, we may well also be arriving into Samoa. So whilst we may moan about salt sores, I’m sure they’re enduring worse with irritation of their stumps, or back issues where a leg length may be putting them out. Whilst we do our wet:dry routine every 2 hours to get on or off the oars, it’s a reminder of how difficult it can be to simply put on a pair of dry socks when you only have one functional hand. It certainly acts as motivation for us, that no matter how much the weather and currents are against us, the Walk of Britain team and many other injured service personnel are inspiring us to draw on our abilities without complaint.
Update:
Thanks to the lovely Johannes of Victron Energy and co-ordination of Tony, we have finally got ourselves back on track with being able to use and recharge our personal electronics. The power issue started when unbeknownst to us one of our eight solar panels failed and because of how the solar panels are wired together the failure resulted in us losing a big percentage of our battery charging ability. Over time, with the unknown reduced charge going to our two batteries, we noticed the batteries were gradually dropping and despite conserving as much power as we could we didn’t seem to be able to get one of the batteries to fully charge back up. The inability to fully charge one of the batteries concerned me as normally I ensure we recharge both our batteries to 100% at least once a week which allows the batteries to equalise and synchronise with the battery monitors. With the help of Tony remotely, I was able to fault find and discover one of the solar panels had indeed failed. Disconnecting the broken solar panel from the system meant that we regained the charge ability from the other working panels, however after several days of good solar charging conditions and continued power conservation one of the batteries still appeared to be at a much lower state of charge than the other. After lots of correspondence back and forth, Tony discussed things with Johannes and shared all the test meter results I had given them from the boat and it was felt that one of the battery monitors wasn’t giving a true reading of the battery’s actual state of charge. After manually synchronising the battery monitors to show both batteries were 100% full the batteries are now showing to be fully functioning, discharging and recharging equally again. So no more concerns over lack of power, which means we can have music again!!
As a side note, some of us can charge our iPods from Power Monkeys (portable solar chargers) we can have on deck, but unfortunately not all our iPods are compatible with the Power Monkeys, so music has been scarce for the last few weeks – I have no idea what I’ve been thinking about nor what we have talked about for that time, but some how we managed even when it was during the difficult conditions.
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