Climate Change!

Lia and I flew into Stanstead airport at 17.30 yesterday to be greeted by 3 inches of snow and a temperature of -1. Just five hours earlier we had been complaining about how hot the taxi was on Tenerife as we hunted for a surf shop to buy some foot straps for the boat on the way to the airport. The display in the taxi was reading 24 degrees.

I had only shorts to wear on the journey as I had sent all but my rowing clothes home with my family a week and a half ago figuring that the next stop for me was Antigua via rowing boat. It was with some relief that on leaving the plane that it had connected to one of those covered walkways so was spared the usual trek across the tarmac you get with budget airlines (thank Thompson Airlines).

A slightly surreal experience being at home in the lead up to Christmas when I had expected to be a third of the way across the Atlantic, especially knowing that I will be back in the Canary Islands within the week and still have an ocean to row!

With family visiting I was clearing the snow off my trusty truck this morning and it was then off to the supermarket for those last minute items (oh the unexpected joys of Christmas).

Ready Steady Cook Lia Style!

During the short time that Lia has been my rowing partner I have been delighted by her ability to create tasty meals form the somewhat sparse and ecclectic selection of ingredients in our apartment fridge. We have been entertained with an excellent Thai coconut Curry and Chorizo sausage with rice and vegetables.

Today however was the crowning glory to a week of cooking Canary Islands style. For breakfast this morning we had the novel and interesting mix of ingredients "fried egg and fruit flapjack".

To be fair to Lia though we are trying to eat up what is left before we leave on Friday.The flap jack had been donated to us by 'Team Insight' a fours crew in the race and had a very interesting taste of fibre glass having been stored in their boat for some time.

This was washed down with a glass of Chocolate protein shaake as we try to build our reserves up for the start of the race. Yum!!!!!!!!

Any suggestions for other menu's gratefully received.

Simon Chalk Unveils his latest Ocean Rowing Boat!

We were privileged today to be present when race organiser Simon Chalk (who has rowed 4 oceans) unveiled the prototype for his new ocean rowing boat. Simon described the boat as 'taking ocean rowing back to it's roots' and plans to build the new boat out of Carbon Fibre, used dehydrated meal packets and beer mats from the Blue Marlin (the legendary ocean rowers bar here in San Sebastian). Although quite a lot smaller than current ocean rowing boats it should suit diminuitive rowers like Simon especially as it is quite 'beamy' compared to it's length.

Simon is seen in the picture showing off his revolutionary design and we are pleased to have it proudly moored next to our boat.

Just in case you think we are sitting in the sunshine with our feet up.....!

We have tried to use the extra time that we have in La Gomera wisely and have today been repacking our food supplies (for the 4th time). Due to the amount of salt water that washes over the boat we have to be very careful to ensure that none gets into our food and destroys it. The food is stored in compartments under the deck of the boat which have waterproof hatch covers however no hatch is ever completely watertight so we have spent the day double packing each days supplies in 2 layers of plastic baags and sealing them with tape.

This is a long and laborious process we managed to repack approximately 25% of our food in 4.5 hours. This was aided by the fact that it was hot with bright sunshine after yesterdays rain. This also has it's disadvantages as the main cabin on the boat where we sleep was 35 degrees this afternoon.

The pictures above show us packing the food back into the boat.

We hope to finish the job tomorrow before flying home if the weather holds, it has however in the last hour started throwing it down with rain again so we will have to see what the morning brings.

Boat Preparations

The delay in the start to the race has in a lot of ways, up until now, been really good news for us as we have had a chance to use Lia's ocean experience to change things on the boat and professionalise the operation.





This had been an interesting experience for us both. To have an ocean professional inspect every bit of the boat and equipment and give a brutally honest opinion as to whether it will last the distance or not is challenging (especially as it has been two years of extremely hard work to get to this point). For Lia to join a completely amateur campaign put together by a bloke who knows very little about oceans is equally challenging in a reverse way and shows that she has taken an enormous leap of faith in doing so.





By trading food with other crews and the support boats we have been able to lighten the boat considerably and have removed upto 100 kilos of weight. This will also give us a greater variety of food to choose from, which is important as we have to eat 2-3times the normal daily intake and meals bacome highlights of the day between rowing sessions.





We have also concentrated on trying to make everything on the boat as strong and as watertight as possible and Lia's experience has been invaluable in doing so. We are currently having some new hatches made and also have spent a lot of time finding appropriate foam to make seat cushions. Sitting rowing for 12 hours a day takes an awful toll on ones behind, so 'butt care' is very important.

Flying Home For Christmas! (or nearly)

Due to the delay in the race start date it is now more cost effective for us to fly home for a week than stay in La Gomera. We have been renting an apartment and the cost of doing this until race start date now exceeds the cost of flights home and back.

I have now been here for nearly four weeks and although not looking forward to the English weather it will be great to back for a while. Lia left England in May to drive a powerboat to Spain and has not returned since then as she has had a series of jobs including running the power boat and delivering a 48ft Carbon catarmaran from South Africa to Dubai amongst others.

On the subject of weather you will be pleased to hear that it is now raining heavily so we can sympathise a little with you all in cold old England and elsewhere around the world. It is however strangely warm and we are still in shorts and flip flops, so it's not all bad.

As a result we will be flying back on Friday afternoon (I'm not looking forward to landing at Stanstead as I only have shorts and flip flops. I sent all my other clothes back last week thinking we would be starting rowing).

We have to be back in La Gomera 48 hours before race start (13:00 27th Dec)and can only get flights back to meet this deadline on Christmas day. We therefore will be flying back to the Canary Islands at midday on Christmas Day so no Turkey for us! unless Luton Airport offers it in the departure lounge (Yum!)

New Start Date 29th December 09

Due to the continuing poor weather in the Atlantic the race organisers have taken the difficult decision to postpone the race to 29th December. The problem is that for the forseeable future winds are blowing strongly back towards Africa or North towards the North Atlantic. Forecasts vary but the consensus is that we would have at least 20 knots of wind against us and perhaps 40 plus. If we have winds above 15 knots we cannot create enough power to go forward and would have to put our parachute anchor out andwait until it subsides. This means that all the boats would get battered by the wind and swell which is not good.

I have attached a weather map to give the idea. To view the animated weather forecast for the Atlantic go to passageweather.com and click on the mid-Atlantic area on the map until it brings up a picture similar to the one attached and then click animate.

Todays news

This afternoon we went out on Dream Maker to continue to refine our rowing technique. We were assisted by Margaret Bowling who was responsible for bringing the two of us together and has travelled out specifically to support us (as well as acting as an equipment 'mule' on Easy Jet bringing some much needed items of kit).

Margaret was a competitor in the 2007 Atlantic Rowing Race and her advice has been very helpful. Margaret was able to use her river and ocean rowing experience to help us and we had a very productive outing.

We have also been assisted by Billy who is a friend of Lia's who is doing great work on the boat by using his engineering experience to spot potential points of failure and remedy them.

Weather, weather, weather!

An update on the current situation regarding the race.

The race was due to start on 6th Dec but due to the hurricane in N Atlantic we were unable to leave as it created difficult conditions for us to row in.

Following the hurricane there has been a large low pressure covering the whole of the North and mid Atlantic that means that we are unlikely to have safe conditions to start until at least the middle of next week and most probably the start of the following week (20th Dec).

We are therefore taking time to re-prepare the boat and get used to rowing together.

We have already changed some of our food making the boat much lighter (100 kilos) and with Lia's ocean experience have been making changes to various aspects of the boat.

Richard Rows the Atlantic

It was with great pleasure that yesterday (sunday) I competed in a round the bouys race just off San Sebastian together with Richard my original rowing partner who had come out to assist in preparations and see the start that was originally planned for Sunday.

Both Richard and I really enjoyed the race and it was fantastic to for both of us to row the Atlantic together if only part of it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Richard for his help and support throughout the project as with out him I would not have got this far!!

Great News I have a new partner!

You will be pleased to know that I have managed to find an excellent new partner. Following appeals on ocean rowing websites I was put in contact with Lia Ditton who is a sailer rather than a rower.

Lia is a 29 year old professional yachts woman who has completed 3 transatlantic solo crossings as well the Route de Rhum and has over 75,000 miles of ocean sailing experience. Lia has beeen interested in rowing the Atlantic for some time and therefore is an ideal candidate.

Lia arrived in La Gomera yesterday at 10pm after flying from Dubai where she had just completed a yacht delivery from South Africa.

We were on the water today with me using my rowing coaching skills to assist Lia in getting to grips with rowing.

Lia also put me through my paces by casting her professional eye over all the equipment and the boat itself and we now have a long list of jobs to do and yet more things to buy.

We are confident that we will be on the start line with the other 30 boats on Wednesday lunchtime (weather permitting)

Great News I have a new partner

Photos of boat and launching in Gomera

Race Website

You can follow our progress on the race website at http://www.atlanticrowingrace09.com/

Update 1st December

We have been in the Canary Islands for 10days now and it is with sadness that I have to announce that we have split as a rowing partnership. It has been difficult for us since getting to San Sebastian and we have found that the pressure of preparing for the start, getting through scrutineering and boat surveys have all taken their toll. It became increasingly apparent that we reacted differently to situations and this caused issues with many things.

After a lot of thought and soul searching I (Mick) took the difficult decision to dissolve the partenrship for safety reasons. It is OK to disagree on land but for this to happen at sea can become a real safety issue.

I (Mick) am now seeking to recruit a replacement partner to complete the row.

I will keep you informed as to my progress.