Start of 2014

Hi all,

So the awaited blog for the start of 2014, we apologise that this is over a month late due to all the antics we’ve been distracted with over the last month. However, New Years resolution – to write more frequent blogs and to keep you all in the loop.

So the start of the year was a busy one! Jan 4th was the first day of the London Boatshow, which we were so fortunate and thankful to the boatshow for sponsoring us with an amazing spot for our Doris to be on exhibition.

Doris looking pretty in pink

Considering Doris was just a shell last year, she is now a nearly fully kitted out boat ready to take on the seas! This is all thanks to our boat builder Rossiters and our supportive sponsors Raymarine, Victron, Solbian, International Paint, McMurdo, Marlow Ropes, Fusion Electronics, Lewmar and iCom whom all make our boat the safest she can be.

Whilst at the boatshow we also were fortunate to have gained support from some new companies, in particular we welcome Crew Saver who are kindly sponsoring our liferaft with survival pack alongside the latest technology life jackets ErgoFit We tested out the life jackets whilst we completed our 2hr on: 2hr off 12 hour row. The jackets passed the test with flying colours, with no jaffing or irritation, we didn’t even feel like we were wearing lifejackets – so that’s perfect for a 6 month row! Next test is add in some sea water.

Courtesy of The Rowing Company http://therowingcompany.com/ for the support of the ergo, the rowing machine also gave a wealth of people of all ages and abilities, to come and have a go at rowing on an ergo machine . We also ran a 200m race which got a good competitive spirit amongst families, friends, partners. We had top winners from the week:

Fastest Male: Phil Clapp who won a HP Printer courtesy of Kamwell www.kamwell.com

Fastest Female: Sally Slack who won a Clarisonic face courtesy of Loreal

Fastest under 16’s female: Bridget Tahourdin won a waterproof bag courtesy of Overboard www.overboard.com

Fastest under 16’s male: Benedict Aldous won a pink overboard bag courtesy of Overboard www.overboard.com

Random winner selected to come out on the boat with us: Martin Attfield (best prize of all!)

Alongside the rowing competition we also continued to run our ‘Buy A Mile’ campaign and successfully a further 150 names have been added to our inspiration wall to travel across the Pacific.

Thank you to everyone that came to visit our Doris and us as a team, we love talking about the row but more importantly to spread the word about our Charities that we are doing this for. Walking With the Wounded and Breast Cancer Care, are 2 charities that support the Survivors and their families. Whether someone is injured or has overcome Breast Cancer we want to show how these individuals and many others can overcome adversity and make the most of the life they have been given. 6 months of our life to be at sea is nothing to the life challenges that these survivors have had to face, so help support our row and raise the money for these amazing charities.