At Sea

Day 44 – Christmas Party games

As it’s the eve of Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day draws ever closer, a particular topic of conversation that I ask people is ‘what does your Christmas Day look like?’. Christmas Day is a day in which although you often find similarities with others such as roast potatoes and gravy, it’s also such an individually special day. The differences in the way people celebrate, and the way in which people describe their Christmas Day as their face often lights up in excitement for is what makes me love listening to the the answer to my question. So this week in particular, this has been the topic of conversation on the oars.

For me, Christmas involves up to 18 of us spending the day together. A day full of laughter, good food and cheer. Amongst my crazy, bonkers family we have certain traditions that happen. Firstly, it is required that only one present is opened by anyone at any one time, and when the opening occurs, all family members watch whilst the person presenting the present shouts ‘present, present, present’. Secondly, I have never watched anything on television on Christmas Day, (this year I’m slightly excited by the potential prospect of watching a film in the aft cabin!) Instead we play party games. Today I thought I’d introduce you to some of these games in case you were needing some inspiration for your Christmas Day.

– The Hills Ring Game –

Equipment required – a long piece of string, a ring.

Place the ring on the piece of string, and tie the string into a circle shape so that the ring cannot fall off of the string. This game can be played with a minimum of 3 people, but the more people you have the better. Everyone stands in a circle all holding onto the string. One person is in the middle of the circle. It is their job to attempt to find the ring whilst the others in the circle move the ring around working together to keep the ring hidden. From experience, I would suggest the use of sound effects – in particular, the whooping noise works a treat to add extra excitement to the game.

– Gramps’s Sock Game –

Equipment required – a sock, items of your choice

Grab a sock and fill it with items of your choice. Once filled, the concept of this game is for each member of the family to guess the items inside the sock by feeling it. The person who gets the most items correct wins. Particularly interesting items to place inside the sock are squashable items such as grapes, or maybe even one or two leftover pigs in blankets.

– Fork feeding –

Equipment required – a fork, bamboo stick, marshmallows

Attach a fork to the tip of a bamboo stick. The concept of this game is to feed the other members of the family marshmallows. Place marshmallows in a certain spot. Step onto a chair in a spot that is a good distance away from the marshmallows, and also a good distance away from the persons who are due to be fed. Pick up marshmallow with your homemade fork, and feed the chosen person – it’s harder than it looks! Do be careful to be in a stable position on the chair when feeding commences – there is a slight risk of a visit to a & e from a fork stabbing to the neck.

– The Penny clencher –

Equipment required – a two pence coin, a bucket

Place the bucket at one end of the room. At the other end, take turns one at a time to place the two pence piece between ones bum cheeks. The concept of this game is then to make your way over towards the bucket and land the two pence piece directly into it. This game can be adapted to make more difficult such as placing steps on the route to the bucket. Alternatively, it can be played as a race if you have more than one coin, and more than one bucket. This is a game for all of the family and can provide some serious laughter, across all generations. Please note, it is required that all participants keep their clothes on for the duration.

– The up and down game –

Equipment required. 2 x pieces of string equal length, 2 x keys

Tie a key onto the end of each piece of string. This game requires two teams of equal amounts of people. Each team must stand in a line all facing the same way. The person at the front of each team holds the key on the string, and the idea is that they place the key on the string down their clothing, starting from the neck down to the feet, they then pass the key to the 2nd person of the team who then places the key and string up their clothing starting from the bottom to the top (all of the team are allowed to assist, and in the case of skinny jeans this may be necessary). This movement continues up and down each persons clothing until the end of the line. Whichever team finishes first, wins. Please note, it is required that all participants keep their clothes on for the duration.

So there you are. Please feel free to partake in any of the above games this Christmas! Wishing you all a fabulous time from here in the Pacific where we will be trying the penny clencher aboard Doris!

Update – All I want for Christmas is houmous. In other news, yesterday whilst me and Laura were on the oars we saw what looked like a few big boulders in the sea, and a huge crashing reef in the distance that turned out to be atol de Suprise. In the same shift, we also clocked a huge whale in the distance that looked like a submarine – we couldn’t get close enough to see what kind of whale it was. Lastly, as you may have seen we have altered our course slightly heading a bit further south to try to minimise any ground loss from any south easterly winds in the next few days. All on Doris are excited for Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperwares
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven fish a bellyflopping
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight waves a crashing
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine carols a singing
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, ten dolphins jumping (just putting it out to the universe – haven’t actually seen any)
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven attempts at towel drying

Day 43 – A different travel perspective

Travel is the essence of who I am and has always been a huge passion in my life.

It allows you to explore different cultures, landscapes, experiences and I think, teaches you more about the world and yourself than you will learn anywhere else. Following on from a previous blog of mine, such a big part of the travel experience is the journey, and whether it’s the buses, planes, trains or boats, getting from place to place gives you a certain perspective.

Most of these forms of transport give you a great insight into the part of the world that you are moving across but the insight into where you are travelling is peripheral. It’s an outsiders fleeting view into places and lives as you travel through, to and over villages, cities, jungles, deserts and oceans. The environment passes by without a chance to develop a real relationship.

The Pacific ocean is, to almost everyone on this planet, just a concept. A really big tract of water on the other side of the world (for some). When we sit on the shore of any sea, with our eyes seeing nothing but water into the distance, we don’t really have a deep understanding of its scale.

It’s just really really big.

I think that only by self-powered travel across surfaces of land and indeed sea, can a more accurate, intrinsic understanding of the scale be appreciated. It’s the relationship that you develop with the land/seascape that makes the difference and it’s this relationship that allows you to have a deeper connection with the place you are travelling through.

” A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step “,
Or
“Our journey of over 8,000 miles begins with a single stroke”.

The Camino de Santiago or The Way, as it is commonly referred to, is a long walk/pilgrimage across northern Spain. There are actually a number of different routes that spread throughout the whole of Europe but the journey that I took 3 years ago was called the Camino Frances. It begins in France and ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The trail is just under 1000km and you can take as long or as quick as you want to complete it. It took me 30 days.
It’s an accessible adventure on your doorstep if you are based in the UK and allows you to truly connect with your surroundings.

I thought I would share some interesting similarities and differences between the The Way and The Row.

*Same*

1. Travel by foot or by oar power is slow. Really slow.
There is plenty of time to drink in your surroundings. To tell your story and listen to other people’s. There is also great opportunity to reflect. You get to see and experience the small things and can observe life in great detail in the environment that you are passing through. Whether through another person or through nature, there are always lessons to learn about yourself, others and your surroundings. This type of travel allows the time and facility to do that.

2. Taking it step by step or taking it stroke by stroke
Again we are easily brought back to the moment as that is the best place to be. It’s all about making what you are trying to achieve manageable and not allowing it to become overwhelming. Take things day by day – mile by mile.
Override the physical challenges that arise by drawing on positive mental strength and always come back to the now.

3. The only constant is change
With the risk of sounding like a broken record…it’s true! We are constantly reminded of the law of nature…that everything changes . The view, climate, sky, sea state, landscape, your own feelings…they do not remain the same.

*Different*

1. Following a set path or trail
With the Way there are either yellow arrows, small plaques with a conch shell on it or signs with a man that is hiking with a walking stick, that you follow and that show you the direction to take. It is a set path that everyone follows.
The Row is a little different. Although we have had destinations to hit, the path we have taken through water is unique in that there is no set path in something fluid. It meanders, it flows, it changes and the path we have taken has been taken by no one else ever because of the sheer ever changing nature of the ocean.

2. Communication
Depending on the time of the year, there can be many or few people walking the Way. There are different personalities of all ages and nationalities and from all walks of life. You can choose to walk alone or chat with everyone that crosses your path. One of the highlights of the journey is definitely all the amazing and varied people you meet.
The Row is an intense period of time with the same people. There is no choice whether we want to spend time with them or not, it is a prerequisite. We still have an opportunity to meet different people in each of our stopovers, however, but the main journey is the insight into ourselves and our team mates. The only other interaction that happens is when we make friends with the wildlife and talk to them!

Next time you go somewhere slowly and self powered, make time to form a relationship with where you are and what’s around you. Drink in the colours, sounds, sights and smells. Enjoy the tactility and observe it all. Gain a new and more personal perspective of how and why you travel and immerse yourself fully. It’s the best way to explore! x

UPDATE:
We’ve passed the 1000 mile mark …only 990 miles to go – woohhhoooo!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperwares
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven fish a bellyflopping
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight waves a crashing
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine carols a singing
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, ten dolphins jumping (just putting it out to the universe – haven’t actually seen any)

Day 42 – Blog from Izzy’s mum

“I’m doing a Skype interview today for a Pacific Row expedition”. How do you feel when your daughter makes this announcement?! You hope more than anything that she won’t be successful. This is not how mothers should respond. When she tells you, after a gruelling assessment weekend in the Brecon Beacons, that she has been selected to join the crew, you cannot start to be pleased. I don’t want to dwell on the nightmares that followed. The times I just burst into tears when I despaired about her decision and hated myself for not being able to accept her plans. So how did I go from this state of despair to following and supporting Doris on every nautical mile of the girls’ fantastic journey?

I think the key to my complete change of perspective was slowly learning to release my fears. Isabel gradually told us facts about the planning and the team of rowers and supporting professionals. With trepidation, I went to St Katherine’s dock to meet the girls and Doris. The 29 foot boat was hardly visible among the yachts she was moored alongside. I found it hard to talk to others there, but chats with Anne, Natalia’s mother, and the girls started to open my mind to understand their plans and aspirations. I then spent a dreadfully wet day down at Rossiters boatyard helping Isabel and Tony pack up Doris into her container to start the first leg of her journey to San Francisco. It was clear that the Coxless Crew were in good hands and the input of everyone to get them to this moment was highly professional and experienced. I began to gain confidence and belief in the safety and success of their journey. As Isabel and I drove home I realised I had reached the moment I knew I had to accept that the adventure would go ahead and I would try to support Isabel in any way I could. A lunch to meet all the other parents, with Tony and Keith there with us, confirmed my acceptance. Being Mothers’ Day too highlighted it more for me. The knowledge that other parents would support each other was fundamental in seeing how we could and would all cope. Only they could fully understand my worries and help me in the next few months. As it turned out, many friends helped me along the miles to Hawaii and shared with John and my celebrations when Isabel arrived safely. They still, like me, follow Doris every inch of her journey to Cairns.

So to the unforgettable week in San Francisco, where Isabel’s enthusiasm and excitement made me feel very proud of her and all the crew. The start line was before them. The image I will take from the day they left was Isabel, with head torch on, packing the last of her belongings at 2.00am smiling uncontrollably with the excitement of rowing off under the Golden Gate Bridge to take on the Pacific and everything it was to throw at them. The silence that followed in the parents’ car as we stopped on the bridge, looked out to the blackness of the Ocean and watched Doris’s tiny light disappear into the arms of the Pacific, was something else.

UPDATE: Last night we experienced the biggest seas we have rowed in so far. The swell was huge and full concentration was required for steering. However we have been making great progress with Nat and I travelling 7nm in one 2hr shift. We have been told by Tone that we should push to make as much progress as possible over the next 5 days where we should have favourable winds so we are doing as instructed. Eduardo is still with us and was surfing the waves next to Doris last night. We aren’t too sure how we feel about this when we spot him at eye level in the big swell.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperware
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven belly flopping fish
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight waves a crashing
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine carols singing

Day 41 – Christmas

Before now I have only ever spent one Christmas away from home when I was visiting a friend in Singapore. Meg has also only spent one Christmas away from home and Laura two so it will be strange for all of us to be so far from our normal celebrations come the 25th December. Christmas to me means spending time with my family, getting them all together in one place and enjoying a whole day of festive fun. The day starts with singing Christmas songs with my sister, the afternoon always involves playing board games which get ridiculously competitive and a lot of good food is eaten. This years Christmas is going to be a unique one! The toughest part about it is definitely going to be not being able to share the day with our families and loved ones. It is hard to feel festive when it is so hot here and we are so far removed from the normal Christmas shopping chaos, Christmas tunes on the radio and lights up everywhere. It seems a little surreal that we can possibly have reached this time of year anyway after leaving the UK at the beginning of April.

However our little ocean family has come to terms with missing Christmas at home and we are getting very excited about our festive season. We have put up the decorations, started singing Christmas songs as an alarm to wake the other pair up for their night shifts and have the Christmas hats ready. We even have a tiny Christmas tree in the aft cabin. Our parents sent out a whole load of surprises to Samoa for us so we have presents, games and Christmas pudding to go with our rehydrated Christmas lunch. The best thing about Christmas so far has been the fact that it has given us something to count down to that isn’t affected by how fast we are travelling or what direction we are going in. Thinking of ways to mark each of the 12 days of Christmas has filled time during our night shifts and given us things to look forward to. The amazing support that we have been receiving from everyone back home also means that we feel like everyone will be with us here on Doris. We also have some radio interviews planned for over Christmas and new year which will hopefully help us to connect with the celebrations at home.

UPDATE: Last night Nat and I were on the oars enjoying the clear night sky and the increased speed that has arrived along with some stronger winds when we noticed a shape slinking through the water. It was a fin reflecting in our red port side nav light and it belonged to Eduardo. He looks even bigger than normal in the dark and he stayed with us for the full two hour shift. This morning, although the swell has picked up, Eduardo is still tracking Doris.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperware
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven belly flopping fish
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight waves a crashing

Day 40 – Izzy and Lizanne

In my previous blogs I have mentioned how I wanted to use this time to explain how we came together as a team and how each of the girls have made this journey so amazing. Izzy and Lizanne I have written previous blogs about before they left the boat, so to avoid repetition and seeing as people think I have a ‘bromance’ with Lizanne, I would hate to be seen writing more about these two than anyone else, so I have brought them together in this blog.

Izzy and Lizanne both showed interest in the row at the same time that Meg and Nats joined in approximately March 2014. Izzy in fact had come along to our Inspirational Speakers Night the year before, just shortly after Ems had joined the team as she’d seen it on Emma’s Facebook. That night was a great success thanks to Ella for organising and for our key speakers Danny Crates, Martin Hewitt, David Cornthwaite and Emily Penn who all volunteered their time to speak of their amazing adventures followed by us, who were yet to have achieved anything. I’m sure I recall Izz having said since, that she thought the row was an amazing adventure but at that time never imagined she’d be applying to do it herself. Oh how time and things change!

On the day at Bisham Abbey where most applicants were met and were to go through interviews and assessments, neither Izz nor Lizanne were able to make it. We therefore set up Skype meetings during that day, so they were still involved and therefore had a schedule to do 1:1’s with Keith, Ems and I plus Fergus to get a chance to ask questions and hear more about life at sea in a rowing boat. It was however compulsory for them to come to see Doris, go out for a paddle and also make it to the Breacons weekend. For Izz bless her, this meant missing one of her best friends weddings. Having been away in France for her mum’s birthday during the Bisham weekend, Izz unfortunately had to make the decision of sacrificing her friends wedding or to miss out being considered for the row. The fact that she attended the Breacons weekend went a long way to show her commitment and dedication, so definitely played a role in a reason for selection. That being said, I think I can safely say that Izz has the busiest diary of anyone I know, so our 6 weeks notice was still last minute.com for poor Izz.

The Breacons for Izz was actually more of her comfort zone than the rest of ours, as climbing mountains or walking in the Yorkshire Dales is a regular weekend past time for Izz. So it was going to be the sleep deprivation, team management and leadership tasks that I was hoping would apply the test for her. However I recall Izz becoming the perfect Girl Scout image when she got handed the baton to lead the way and navigate across the Beacons, if only I’d taken a photo!

Without question though what drew us to selecting Izz, is that she thrives in the areas that I don’t. Her strengths are my weaknesses. Izz was exactly what was needed to give the project and the team an extra push to make it to the startline, which is exactly what she did. Someone to co-ordinate, organise and document everything that was in my head on to paper and pick up the missing links. She definitely applies her meticulous organising skills to all parts of her life and is the epitome of ‘work hard, play hard’, as she was even able to keep us inline when she was skiing down a mountain in Canada that Winter.

The introduction with Lizanne was very different. I recall seeing a few comments from Lizanne on our Twitter feed after Chrissie Wellington had kindly posted that we were looking for team members. I think Lizanne may have even said something along the lines of ‘so gutted I live in South Africa as I would have loved to apply’. Of course not wanting to rule anyone out, I looked into Lizanne’s profile. Awesome picture of her doing some thing adventurous by the sea, pictures of completing a half ironman plus half marathon fell runs, plus she was an Osteopath that had trained with a colleague of mine. So I figured that if she was the right person, then we could make it work from SA even if the distance pre-row was not ideal for team cohesion and familiarity, we have Keith to work his magic for that! Regardless of this, Lizanne set about applying and then booking her flights to come over for a couple of weeks. She travelled down to meet Doris and within our first 24hrs of meeting she stayed aboard to get a feel for the close proximity. The next morning we headed out to row over to the Isle of Wight with Ems and I, so with 3 onboard we rowed for 2hrs and rotated every hour. After 10hrs we made it to Cowes and Lizanne certainly had got a good insight of life aboard Doris. When she joined us again for the Breacons, Lizanne’s bubbly personality shone through. She was a great team player, getting stuck in and being adaptable where needed. I remember when we were all dead on our feet at the end, it was the early hours of the morning and we thought we’d finished until the Fieri team gave us one more final task, to get all the equipment back up to the house which was 400m away, carried only by stretcher and we had a tight time limit. One minute Lizanne and I are half asleep on the floor, the next we’re sprinting on our blistered feet, carrying our backpacks as well as 20kg drums strapped to a stretcher. I don’t know where we got it from, but even back then we seemed to snap into action together.

It was during the Breacons that Lizanne had made us aware that she had just bought a new business back in SA, so realistically she felt she couldn’t commit to doing the whole row but would certainly wish to be considered for a single leg. When Izz then came to the difficult decision that she could only do one leg, it was a no brainer to get straight onto the phone to Lizanne. Luckily for us she was still keen – happy days!

Whether on the boat or now off, Izzy has been a machine to keep the wheels in motion back in the UK, as well as being so thoughtful Izz has even written us cards, wrapped presents and co-ordinated videos for us to watch on day 10, 20, 30 etc. Lizanne too has been busy on email giving us blog ideas, discussion points and working with Izz to organise an event when we’re back in the UK.

Both Izzy and Lizanne have brought different things to the row and a different dynamic from leg 1 to leg 2, but this is what has made it so special. A journey in each leg, a new team dynamic, a new colleague that steps on the boat as a team member and off the boat a true friend.

Update:
Last night was one of the most memorable night time moments aboard Doris. The sea was a glass calm and with the sound of only our oars breaking the water each stroke, when we stopped rowing it was the quietist I have ever heard it. No waves breaking, not even a gentle breeze to have wind in your ears, it was completely silent. As Nats and I were about to change over with Meg and Ems, I suddenly heard a hollow breath in and exhale… A whale! The moon had set so it was pitch black apart from the star filled sky, so we couldn’t see the whales but only could hear them breathe at the surface for about a minute before they dove back down. Their entrance and movement through the water was even silent, just the breath through their blowhole to be heard.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperware
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven belly flopping fish,

Day 39 – Funk Town

As I’m sure you’ve read, this whole rowing experience is a bit of a challenge! With every beautiful sunset, there is a rain cloud around the corner and with every bit of flat and calm there is swell and splashing salty waves. All are beautiful in different ways, but it’s appreciating them at all times that is the hard bit! In other challenges that I have done, there is always either a time limit, or similar to this there is a mileage countdown, but they normally correlate, and so with one you can normally work out the other. Yet with this challenge, each and every two hour shift is completely changeable, and if using the amount of miles covered on a two hour shift, or even in a day as a guide to our arrival date to cairns, you can honestly turn yourself loopy. As a result it is imperative to stay in the moment, and not project into the future. Since leaving Samoa, I have been having constant chats with myself to make sure that I am in check with how I am feeling. Whether it is telling myself to ‘choose your attitude’ or that ‘I can do it’, or even to try and distract my mind from how much longer we may be at sea for, it is these pep talks that help me to find the strength to get back out on the oars and keep me balanced.

So it is today that I would like to introduce you to Funk Town. Discovered by my best friend Rose and her brother after their time together in New Zealand last summer, Funk Town is a metaphorical place to live out a bad mood. It’s a brilliant way of making a bad mood into a good mood, and as I’ve been teaching the girls on Doris to embrace the funk, I thought I’d do the same with you. Let me explain! So there I was on the oars, rowing in the back seat, battling a current and barely moving, when in my mind I saw a sign post that said 0.2 miles to Funk Town. I jumped, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to embrace the funk, so I managed to have a chat with myself and change mood direction. But I don’t want to scare you away from Funk Town in your lives, because it really is a fabulous place!

How can I embrace the funk I hear you say? Firstly, when a bad mood hits, accept that a visit to Funk Town would be beneficial. Ensure that your team mates know that you might be visiting for a bit so they know where you are. (They might be able to help you to de-funkify later on) Head through the welcome gates, and decide what you want to achieve in Funk Town. Most head into funk festival, a bar with other funkers. By all means do engage in conversation with other residents, but be careful not to be funked downwards into the funking spiral. Others enjoy funk de la mar, a chilled place by the sea where they can reflect on their funk. Whatever floats your boat you will find, (as after all it is a mental concept!) But by the time you have have spent some time in your funk town place, you may have decided if you are ready to leave funk town and re-enter the real world. If not, you can stay the night. I’d suggest not getting too comfortable. Some stay at the luxurious hotel de funk but then end up staying a week – funky hostel is a better option.

At any given moment, after you feel your bad mood beginning to lift, and are ready to re-enter the real world, it is time to funk out. Funking out involves plugging in an iPod, and headphones, and turning on a funk town classic. There’s a few out there – from the song ‘freak out’ to the song ‘funky town’ it really can be any song whereby the lyrics can include the words ‘funk out’. After discovering your song, and with lots of practice, it may well be that you find that you no longer need to visit Funk Town, and instead the song funks you out, which is awesome! It is also important to note that as well as funking out with music, in such a small space such as Doris that if one finds there to be a cause of the funk in the first place, that they let their team mates help them to resolve the particular situation.

So there you go. Funk Town. Next time you’re in a bad mood, try it. We’d love to hear what funk town looks like to you at doris@coxlesscrew.com. Be sure to take a photo and post to us on social media, (unfortunately we can’t receive photos) and remember what it looks like to successfully funk out of funk town!

Update – we are still in the absolutely incredibly calm, glass like ocean state! It’s completely mesmerising how the water of the mighty Pacific can go like this. It’s hot and we are battling another current, but one stroke at a time we are bobbing along, admiring the fish and the wildlife getting more excited by the day for Christmas! The stars have also been quite incredible this week, so life on Doris is good.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, five Tupperware
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six boobies flying

Now that the festive period is upon us, everyone is preoccupied with Xmas parties, decorating, mulled wine, dodgy Xmas jumpers, shopping, presents and spending time with family. The one thing that has always stood out for me during Christmas time is how much everything shines.

For those that have been following our journey, you will know how much I love hugs. However, there is actually one thing that I love more than hugs….and that is sparkle.

Ensuring the need for sparkle and light on Doris, I packed my small bottle of fairy dust (glitter) and for Xmas we made sure there was tinsel, fairy lights and as much shiny, glittery card/paper as possible. In hindsight I would have brought my disco ball but as it goes I have been suitably happy with the amount of shine we have going on. The surprising thing is that I never realised how much natural shimmer there would be around us in the almighty Pacific.

Sun casting pathways on the water, fish glittering in the depths of the crystal clear blue sea, sunsets/sunrises reflecting metallic light across the ocean, rain drops glistening on the deck, turquoise flashes shining in the tops of breaking waves, stars twinkling in the night sky, the glimmer of the moon…the list goes on.

There is always sparkle surrounding us, we just have to see it x

SPARKLE UPDATE:
The last 12 hours has been one of my most exciting of leg 3 so far.

The 1st night shift had a small sliver of moon low in the sky shining a narrow, glittery pathway across the ocean. When LP and I went out for our 2nd night shift, we found that the moon had set and the wind had died completely. The sky was unbelievably clear with a picture perfect Milky Way amongst all the other stars and the brighter ones were all reflecting in the water. We have seen one or two stars shine their light on the water but this night there were small lines of reflection all around us.

Oceania was flat, still and perfectly calm. As we began to row I noticed that where the oar was moving through the water there were small flecks of what I can only describe as sparkle light. I was mesmerised. We’ve seen this phenomena before but nothing as bright or plentiful as what I found myself looking at. At the end of each stroke we took, there was a perfect semicircle of sparkles that drifted effortlessly across the surface of the water.

LP had just begun narrating ‘Home Alone’ to me (it is Xmas after all) when I stopped her as I had a huge urge to explore this sparkle light further. I stopped rowing and went to lean over the side to make splashes to see if I could create even more sparkles. I could! There was small specks flying through the water in all directions. I felt like an over excited child.

Now…the last time I splashed around in the water was when I went for a daytime dip in the Pacific with LP and as I was kicking my legs as hard as I could, she said to me,
“Well that’s great..now you are going to attract all the sharks.”
Little did I know that as I was swooshing my hand in the inky black water making as many sparkles as possible, LP was behind me thinking exactly the same things she had that day we swam.

About 5 minutes after my sparkle splashing heaven, LP spotted a large fin slice through the dead still water. I kid you not. We both looked at each other and then intently to our left when suddenly a large shape appeared between our oars lit up by the green tinge of our starboard navigation light. It was Eduardo!

There was no question. He was huge and looked even bigger at night as obviously our perceptions are always going to be more warped in the darkness. A bolt of adrenalin pulsated through my body. This shark was big…and had I really attracted him? The rendition of Home Alone was put on hold and for the next hour LP and I rowed wide eyed looking out for our Eduardo as well as Alonso and Juan for the remainder of the session.
Our rowing speed increased quite dramatically with our adrenaline injection and with LP looking right and me looking left, we had the boat covered. We saw Eduardo twice more. Once when we saw some sparkles and a swish of movement near our oars on the right and then again when he swam silently under the boat.

The dawn shift was magical with silver and pink light glistening across the great flat expanse of water around us. As the sun rose, the Mahi Mahi started belly flopping, the birds soaring and as we saw a large fin cut through the still water like a carving knife, we knew Eduardo was still with us.

We believe Eduardo to be a relative of Fernando. A possible Galapagos shark who is about 6ft long and solid. We’ll soon find out if he and his family are going to follow us and keep you updated. I wonder if Eduardo will become as big a household name as our Fernando?

Day 37 – A sister’s perspective

Meg has always been one to throw herself into challenges for charity, which we have all admired her for, but this row has been the biggest challenge to date!

In 2007, at the age of 17, she shaved her head in front of the whole school for Children in Need and raised over £1,000. In 2008, she ran the London Marathon, and then in 2011, Meg was Expedition Leader for a Kilimanjaro climb with her University, raising funds for a charity called Dig Deep. This involved recruiting and leading a team of students that raised £26,000. She then went onto be a part of an expedition that climbed Machu Picchu for the same charity the following year.

When Meg told me about the row, I had really mixed feelings. Part of me thought WOW what an amazing thing to do and also for two fantastic charities that mean something to the both of us, but then a part of me thought WOW, one small little boat out there in the Pacific with four girls in it – all a bit daunting if you ask me.

I couldn’t be any prouder of my big sis than I am today. Often I hear people saying “Oh, wouldn’t it be amazing to do this and that with my life”… and then never seem to fulfill these different dreams for one reason or another. Meg, and all of the Coxless Crew have taught me a lesson. We can all live by ‘what ifs’ everyday but wouldn’t it be great if we could change these into ‘I did it’ after people’s fears are faced after completing an individual challenge. That is what the #mypacific concept is – overcoming personal fears.

At the end of 2013 our Dad had a massive accident whilst training for a half marathon that he and Meg were supposed to be completing the following week. This threw our lives up into the air and tore us both to absolute shreds. Things became very difficult for us and we had no choice but to come together as a team. As our dad is still getting over his accident, our relationship with him has also suffered, and two years on and I can honestly say that as well as Meg being my sister, she is also my best friend. I am trying to express a message here that we will now always continue to live by….appreciate what you have in life because you never know when that could be taken away from you.

Growing up, Meg was always the bossy one who used to do all of the talking for me (It was always questioned why I was a late speaker). I used to point and squawk like a parrot and Meg would translate into exactly what I wanted. Meg and I had an amazing childhood, thanks to our mum, big Sal – a completely selfless, absolute inspiration for us both. We spent our time making mud pies and trying to find some poor animals to feed it to, or doing the hopscotch in the garden. We used to have a big pond outside our house, and every year we would both find the joy out of seeing how many tadpoles we could find and bring out of the pond into our hand, and watching them develop.

Every day I watch Doris, the little pink boat rowing along and getting closer and closer to Cairns battling anything that the Pacific throws at her. I know that each stroke is bringing my big sis, and The Coxless Crew closer and closer to having their feet back on the ground. I never ever thought I would say this, but I can’t wait to hear Meg’s voice, even if it is nagging me about something!

I really couldn’t be any prouder of the six girls in this challenge. They are amazing and I know from the bottom of my heart I could never complete a challenge like it. I am sure there are very mixed feelings at the moment, “the next time we hit land, we won’t be leaving it again on a boat” and the “Wow, what an amazing challenge with six special women that is about to end”. I wish I was there to see them when they arrive in Cairns. The amount of money that they have raised and are continuing to raise will have such a massive impact on their two chosen charities, and I know there are people that will be eternally grateful for it. Sending so much love and good luck to the girls for the rest of the journey

Amy
xxxx

Update: we have reached half way to Cairns! To celebrate, me and Ems are putting together a two course Christmas hat luncheon out on the Deck. In other news, we found out yesterday that Laura’s parents have actually been on The Dawn Princess (Harry’s boat). They sent him an email, and here is the response below:

‘First of all, thank you for your incredibly thoughtful email. It’s not often I receive mail onboard and I must say, I’m impressed it found me so quickly! My senior officer and I have not stopped talking about our encounter with the girls and Doris. We initially made contact via radio as we thought they may be in some sort of difficulty. However we were then completely taken aback by not only their positivity and enthusiasm, but also their willingness to share their incredible story with us. It really is remarkable what Laura and her teammates are undertaking. Every chance I get I load up the blog and see what they’ve been up to. The morning after we passed each other, I firstly informed the Captain of the girls adventure and then our Cruise Director so that he could publically inform all on board of this amazing story, making reference to the coxlesscrew.com website. We currently have 2986 people on board from a huge range of nationalities, so hopefully this will help draw even more attention to the cause! What a coincidence that you yourself have cruised on the Dawn Princess! And even sat in the Captain’s chair! This is something I’m still working towards! I have been with Princess for just over 5 years now since I left school at 18, and I’m finding the life at sea to be an incredibly interesting and educational one. I can also honestly say that I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to sail past Laura and the girls. It was our pleasure to talk to them, and we’re even more pleased to know it gave them a boost! I will try to contact the girls directly through their website to let them know we’re all behind them and wishing them all the best on this leg of the journey. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us on the Dawn Princess!
kind Regards,Harry Ford

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Christmas hats.

Day 36 – Choose your attitude – Ems vs. Ems

Leg two of our journey between Hawaii and Samoa was a tough one. The painfully slow progress and battling hard every day against adverse currents frustrated me massively and led to a spiralling of negative thoughts and a dislike of being on the oars. Over the last couple of weeks we have had a bit of déjà vu as we have been again fighting negative currents and after a racing start our progress became frustratingly slow. I was worried, as I’m sure was the rest of the team, that I would struggle with this and give in to the frustration again. However thanks to the amazing Keith, our sports psych, who I had spoken to often during the last part of the second leg and who I spent time debriefing and talking through coping strategies with while we were in Samoa, and my lovely team mates who have supported me in the tough times and also while testing out different techniques this leg has been very different. I feel like I have dealt pretty well with the challenges which the ocean has thrown at us over the last few weeks.

One of the main fuels for my frustration in leg two was constant calculating of how long it was going to take us to reach our destination depending on the speed which we were currently travelling. This combined with adding extra time with every current which took us in the opposite direction to Samoa was enough to drive anybody crazy! This leg I have made a conscious effort not to do this. Even when we were making amazing progress I never allowed myself to get carried away with excitement about an arrival date. I have been making a huge effort to stay in the moment, to take the time every shift on the oars to appreciate where we are, the beauty of the water, the waves and the endless skies. Despite still not exactly loving the rowing I have been able to remind myself every day how lucky we are to be out here.

The frustration felt with our progress also led to my trying to row my heart out to fight the currents and winds on my own on the boat. I ended up aching, exhausted and dreading each session on the oars. I needed to have a plan for this leg to prevent the same thing happening again and in Samoa with Keith decided that when conditions were tough I needed to define success for that shift for myself. Whether that be a target speed or direction, holding position or just rowing at a sustainable pace for two hours or keeping up conversation with my rowing partner as a distraction. I have also been determinedly not paying too much attention to the speed reading on our deck repeater and only worrying about keeping the heading on the required degrees. I also worked in Samoa to put together some positive imagery surrounding rowing for using on the oars when I was struggling to stay in the moment and enjoy a shift. I have always used imagery surrounding racing to put myself in a ‘power up’ or ‘game time’ state with a lot of success as part of the performance enhancing strategies we put together with Keith before we started the row. However this required something a little different. Images of peaceful rowing below the lock at Marlow, a calm summers day on the Bristol docks, freezing cold sunrises out at Ely when training for the boat race and weekends spent in the sunshine on the canal in Stroud all made the cut and are helpful for chilling out on the oars.

This row is proving to be more than just a physical journey across the ocean and I am learning a lot of skills which I’m sure will be transferable to life when we return from the row. When I first joined the Coxless Crew team and first met Keith I was a little scared by how accurate my NEO personality profile was but impressed by his insight and the strategies he gave us to develop skills individually and as a team. I’m not going to lie though, I found our initial team sessions a little stressful. However throughout the journey to the start line and in particular since we’ve been on the boat Keith has proved to be a great sounding board, giver of good advice and general legend. Thanks Keith! Thanks also to everyone who has sent supportive messages and encouragement to Doris and on my blogs. It is a massive help to know that I have so much support back from so many people.

UPDATE: Last night after Megs and my crazy rain storm LP and Nats saw a family of sharks circling the boat. There was little Alonzo, his older brother Juan and dad Eduardo. Meg and I have taken it upon ourselves to become the Christmas fairies and are providing little festive treats for each of the 12 days of Christmas. Day one was candy canes and then yesterday we made hot chocolate and baileys for our middle of the night shifts. It was the tastiest drink I’ve had in a long time. Today we created goodie bags with some festive games and an invitation to the Coxless Crew Christmas party. Early this morning Megs and I were woken from our slumber by an approaching fishing boat. LP had contacted them on the VHF but a language barrier meant that they thought we might need help so they headed over to check up on us. They called us small boat and as they approached we told them we were ok and they said bye bye small boat and headed back off on their fishing trip. Today it is hot hot hot and the towels and sleeping sheets are drying nicely. Yay!

I’ll leave you with the start of our very own Christmas song…. To be completed.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a striped cane of candy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boats a passing.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three sharks a circling.