Leg 3, Day 37 – A Sister’s perspective

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.