Archive for June, 2015

A very special update via the sat phone today from Izzy and Emma!!

Day 23 – I would row 500 miles…

So it’s day 23 since we left Santa Barbara on leg 1 part B, but I realised yesterday, that it’s day 46 since we left San Fran. Thanks to Keith our Sport Psych who sends us a daily quote with the number of days passed, ever since we left San Francisco. Dare I say it, but I realised that we were technically due to be arriving into Hawaii within the next week. This realisation is not a useful one considering we are approx. 4-5 weeks off now depending on if the weather improves to be more in our favour. But hey ho, we can only control the controllables and on a good note, we passed our 500nm marker yesterday- happy days! This means we are approx. quarter of the way to Hawaii! Woohoo!
The last 3 days the weather has been fairly rough again, thankfully we have however still been able to plod along in a westerly direction. Currently the winds are North- North East and picking up to 18-21knots today. With this obviously comes swell and we have been facing a similar sea state today as that of our first week out of San Fran. However we are now more confident in understanding what Doris can handle so we are tackling the waves more aggressively in order to keep moving Westerly. As per usual, we have been getting an absolute soaking over the last 2-3 days and are back into our constant soggy state. As much as we hate it, it is also the source of much of our amusement. When you’re on the oars random waves in a cross direction will catch you off guard, when these break on the beam of Doris, they tend to slap the side which throws the water up and then it dumps down onto the deck of the boat, absolutely drenching anyone sitting underneath it. I was literally crying with laughter when Nats was singing away in front of me and I was in the bow seat, three consecutive times the waves hit the side of the boat but drenched only Nats whilst I remained crisp, dry and sat back as a viewer. I’m sure I’ll get my fair share in due course, but right now that image of Nat as a drowned rat was priceless! I’d like to add that she too found it highly amusing when she saw how dry I was and she said ‘you just wait Penhaul, your time will come!’.

Personal messages:
Liz Rose – oh my god so lovely to hear from you Liz! Can’t believe you’ve got a little one now, as you said how times have changed since Verbier days, but we’re never too old for a jaeger bomb!

Dan Howie – Any Given Sunday (top 5 fav film), S/S/M I refuse to comment, can’t believe who you picked! & your stag do sounds epic albeit very un- PC but I would expect nothing less. We’re loving your emails and the girls look forward to putting a face to the name on return.
Simon Mansfield – lovely to hear from you and it would be an absolute pleasure to return to Queens when we get back. Feel free to email me on laura@coxlesscrew.com when I return. Thank you for your continued support & have a great Summer of tennis!
Charlie Martell – thanks Charlie for your message, glad to hear I’m not the only one that has random ramblings in the midnight hours! Huge good luck to Ben Hooper #bonkersben in training for swimming the Atlantic

Day 22 – We need to talk about Velcro

Day 22 has brought us NNE winds at about 12-18 knots. The waves are bigger now and we’re back to being frequently splashed, but the sun is out and we’re having great fun on deck.
Before I go on, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Stephen and R&M Bearings International for your continued support providing additional spare full ceramic wheel bearings for us for our arrival in Hawaii.
Today, I thought I’d take a couple of minutes to explain how we feel about one of the smaller, but nonetheless crucial parts of our life onboard Doris….Velcro.

There are a number of things about life on a 29 ft ocean rowing boat that aren’t as comfortable as they would be in everyday life, and we’re fine with that. However, often in these kind of circumstances it is the small things that start as minor irritations and then gradually evolve into constant obsessions/bugbears. For us, one of these is Velcro.
Don’t get me wrong, Velcro is extremely useful. Our Icon and Skwoosh gel rowing seats are swapped around from seat to seat and attach and detach using Velcro. Our Yellowbrick tracker (which updates our position on the Where’s Doris map on our website) is attached to the bulkhead using strong Velcro. Our Crewsaver wet weather gear has Velcro around the wrists, waist and neck to allow us to fasten it tightly to keep out the water, and our ankle leashes and the storage pockets on the wall of our cabin fasten with Velcro. But……

We have come to the conclusion the Velcro simply isn’t designed for close quarter living. Every time we crawl out of our sleeping bags to get ready for the next nighttime shift on the oars, the Velcro nightmare begins. I usually start with my hair stuck on the Velcro of one of the cabin pockets, which yanks out a handful out as I sit up to get dressed. We then go to put our soggy wet weather gear on. This is a bit of a mission anyway with 2 of us in a confined space, but is made much worse by the fact that the Velcro on the tops always gets stuck. I’ll always find that I’m trapped with my arms and head inside the jacket with the Velcro on the waist stuck to the Velcro on the arms. When I finally manage to unstick myself and heave the jacket over my head, the Velcro around the neck will get stuck and pull out another chunk of hair. Out on deck the Velcro on our ankle leashes will catch on the Velcro on our trousers, or even on the leashes that we use to move around the boat when we’re not rowing, ending up tripping one or both of us up during the changeover. Once the 2 hour shift is over, this all repeats again in reverse as we leave the oars and head in to remove the wet weather gear and get some sleep.
It doesn’t sound like much, but trust me, go through this mini Velcro marathon every 2 hours and after only 22 days you too may be prompted to write about it!
A few quick personal messages:

To the Ducklings and the Oundle girls – thank you so so much for all your emails, I love hearing all your news.
Katie Nixon and the A team – thought you’d like to know I’m developing a love for Snickers out here. No Pringles onboard though.
To the Fernie crew – great to hear about the reunion. We were rowing along yesterday to a rather terrible song called Fireball and I thought of you!

Izzy

Day 21 – A day in the life…

Shift 1 (5.15-7.15) – sunrise/day break Nothing quite like watching the moon set and the sun rise. We were treated to a magical show this morning. So far this shift is my favourite. It’s a pretty special way to start the day.

Rest (7.15-9.15)
Straight into the aft cabin. A quick update of the log book and then into the seeping bag for some shut eye (aim for 1 hour 15 mins sleep)

Shift 2 (9.15-11.15) – Early morning This morning we decided to have Chicane playing. The wind had picked up and it was great rowing in some bigger swell again after the flat calm we have had. Personally I like and need variety in general, so it’s good when the sea state changes. The regular soakings are another story however…

Rest (11.15-13.15)
Food time! I had a mild curry beef (doesn’t really taste of curry at all but more of a savoury beef) and rice (LP had a Mediterranean pasta)
I then did a quick wash using the wash bucket (brief splash of water and soap over myself), checked the hatches in the aft cabin (we have daily checks that we run through) and lay down to have a little bit of chill time.

Shift 3 (13.15-15.15) – lunch shift LP and I had decided it was time to do a ‘row dance’.
We put my ‘row power songs’ playlist on and worked out what song we were going to choose and what the choreography was going to be. Had a great shift in the sun practicing moves and time passed quickly.

Rest (15.15-17.15)f
I decided to have another main expedition meal. I went for Spaghetti Bolognese. It’s good and filling so will hopefully help me steer clear of the habitual snacking on the oars!
LP had a wash and a nap and I did my weekly job of downloading all the footage we have taken on the GoPro and Sony, onto hard drives. I then made sure all memory cards were cleared, all batteries in cameras good to go and stored everything back in its appropriate place.
Before I knew it the 2 hours was drawing to an end. It’s crazy how quickly this rest time passes.

Shift 4 (17.15-19.15) – just before sunset shift We got Izz to film us on the Sony doing the ‘row dance’ and decided to go for matching purple tops and headbands!! It was hysterical.
I think we can safely say that we are probably the only ocean rowers to have choreographed and danced whilst rowing – but anyone out there who can disprove me – please let us know!
Video to follow as soon as we can coordinate to send video (probably in Hawaii).

Rest (19.15-21.15)
Straight into the aft cabin. A quick update of the log book and then into the seeping bag for some shut eye (aim for 1 hour 15 mins sleep)

Shift 5 (21.15-23.15) – night time shift 1
We did the shift with no navigation light on (we’d checked that there were no boats in the area) as the moon was nearly full and bright. The wind had eased slightly and the sea looked calm. It was quite magical with the moonlight glittering a pathway on the water and so light that we could see clearly unaided by head torches.
After hearing noises out in the starboard side of the boat, I spotted a couple of dolphins making their way wherever it is they were going by moonlight. Aaaahhhh…the sight of a dolphin will always excite me…

Rest (23.15-1.15) Straight into the aft cabin. A quick update of the log book and then into the seeping bag for some shut eye (aim for 1 hour 15 mins sleep)

Shift 6 (1.15-3.15) – night time shift 2
This shift can be a challenging one as we’re normally pretty tired.
The moon was still lighting our way on the Pacific.
I went for my salsa playlist to keep me alert and watched with interest when Laura began her night time randomness.
This time she started taking her oar out of its gate for no apparent reason (!!??) and then later on was about to go into the food hatch.
When I asked her what she was doing she said “I’m getting a meal for you”.
“Oh, that’s nice” I said with amusement, “did I ask you to do that?”
She realised I had not and we laughed at her random thoughts and actions that go on on a sleep deprived state.

Rest (3.15-5.15)
Straight into the aft cabin. A quick update of the log book and then into the seeping bag for some shut eye (aim for 1 hour 15 mins sleep)

…and then a new day begins… x

Day 20 – Inspiration

This morning we received an email which totally made my day. It was from a wonderful woman called Linda (the auntie of our lovely Meg) who is running a fundraising event at her swim school in Broadstairs. The children in her school are swimming one length for every mile of our journey to raise money for our charities in a dedicated slot once a week. They are doing better than us and have already made it to Hawaii! The email talks of the children who have been pushing themselves further than they thought they could, inspired by our journey across the Pacific. What they probably don’t realise is that they are the ones inspiring us to keep rowing when it’s cold, wet or the currents are pushing us round in circles. Stuck in our little Pacific bubble it is amazing to hear that people back in the real world are following our story and being inspired to take on challenges of their own. Getting messages from home is one of the highlights of our days. We can’t wait to go and visit the swim school when we get home.

If there are any other schools who want to get involved in our schools project and help us to fundraise for our charities then please get in touch at schools@coxlesscrew.com and get some more information on our schools website www.schools.coxlesscrew.com. We are hoping to make some calls to some of our schools project schools live from Doris on the Pacific.

In other news we received our first weather forecast from Tony this morning containing a North easterly wind. Very excitingly this means we will hopefully start making some more progress towards Hawaii soon. There has been plenty of dancing from LP and Nats and singing of power ballads from Izz and I today, the wind has picked up but the sun is still mainly shining. Last night the moon was the most beautiful we have seen so far followed by a stunning sunrise. All is well in our little corner of the Pacific.

Day 19- soaking up the sun

After a night of rowing on Galaxy velvet smooth waters, under the moon that was heavily covered by cloud, the sunrise brought with it crisp clear blue skies. It was like we rowed out of the clouds that we’d been under the majority of the time since we left Santa Barbara and onto the next chapter of the row which maybe brings calm waters, Easterly winds and 12hrs solid of uninterrupted sunshine (here’s wishing!!).
Today was beautiful on the oars, we all reminisced of our dip in the ocean & chuckled at our Coxless crew style remake of calendar girls. But with such amazing sunshine it only asked for great music to be played but unfortunately our on deck speakers hadn’t been working since we left SB, so I decided today was the day to fix it. I discovered a loose connection of the wiring, so with a bit of tweaking we once again had tunes through the speakers, which has been awesome! There’s nothing like singing your heart out at the top of your voice to Katy Perry-Firework (Heather I thought of you). We had Nats iPod on for the afternoon which has some great playlists of songs I haven’t heard for years, it never ceases to amaze me that no matter how long, you can still remember every lyric to songs not listened to for a decade!

When there is music there has to be dance & I keep finding myself attempting to bust some moves whilst also rowing. So far this has mainly led to smashing my thumbs or shins, not quite the desired affect, so think a few shoulder shrugs and head popping will be the extent of the skills. Nat too has been attempting it so I think when we next partner up, we’ll be putting a wee routine together- small things keep us amused!

Personal messages:
Lily – so lovely to have a message from you Lils, thank you! So funny that you’re working with Walshy, blast from the past. Hope he’s ok though, he’s certainly in great hands if he’s needing treatment and pass on my wishes to him for successful training and prep for Rio. Say hi to Stu for me too and congratulations on the tri results, knew you’d smash it!
Mary & Darren – herrrow! I think of you both most nights, as I tend to have a peppermint tea out on the oars to keep me warm at night and yes Darren, the teabag is always left in ;)! If a film was made then the more tasking question is who would play you two? Clearly Jason Statham is a given and then Mary – Julia Roberts (the only hot red head I can think of!).