Team Anna Victorious

We are really pleased to report that we have resolved our technology issues that had hampered us over recent weeks.  We have replaced the sensor that attaches to the rudder arm.  This means that as the rudder moves, it feeds back to the computer and without it we could not use our auto helm.  Jack managed to fit the replacement kit just before we set off on our longest row to date.

With Ed’s expert towing abilities, we negotiated the narrow streets of Falmouth and found what we thought to be the slipway.  Rob went and found an official looking gentleman and standing next to our 28 foot rowing boat enquired if we were in the right place to get her in the water.  There was an awkwardly long pause and the chap pointed at the ocean and said “well that is the sea!”. It turned out Lee was just used to getting asked stupid questions by tourists and was in fact incredibly helpful, and with his supervision we managed for the first time to deploy Emma from a slipway rather than being craned in.

We rowed out of Falmouth Harbour waving to the other boats and with 150 miles ahead of us back to Poole we were relieved of some different coastline to admire.  For most sports, amateur and professional alike, a trip of this magnitude would have been the pinnacle of their training but this distance represented only 5% of our trans-Atlantic effort.  We were confident in our boat and in the training that we had undertaken but it did feel like stepping out into the unknown.  This was the first time that we would lose sight of land and the first time that we were putting several nights together without attaching ourselves onto a buoy or anchoring to wait out adverse tides.  We had previously used these times to catch up on sleep or cook while no one was rowing.  This time it was important that we as close as possible simulated the routine of 2 hours rowing followed by 2 hours resting as this is what we would do on the Atlantic.  

The wind was strong on the first day and we encountered probably the largest waves we had seen to date.  As the sun set, the lack of coastal lights and clouds obscuring the moon meant we could not see the horizon.  The impact was quick!  Despite Jack and Rob having taken seasickness tablets they were both sick almost immediately.  Jack reaching for the toilet bucket and Rob favouring to lurch over the side.  It wasn’t long before Adam had also broken his duck, having not been sick until this point.  Ed is the only member of the crew who has not encountered seasickness that has resulted in dry retching.  For some reason only known to himself, Adam has been keeping a tally on who uses the bucket and for what.  It turns out being sick counts for 3 whereas a “regular” use of the bucket was only 1!  As it would turn out Jack would attain an unassailable lead in the vomit Olympics. Rob and Adam both seemed to recover from their bouts of sickness quite quickly but Jack just went from green to grey and it was clear he was really suffering.  Jack remained stoic and stayed on the oars but when you are feeling that unwell and can’t keep anything down, the greatest risk is dehydration. And when combined with a lack of fuel, you feel even worse.  It wasn’t until Adam insisted that Jack bring the oars in and go and lie down in the cabin did he agree to take a break.  For those of you that have suffered from seasickness, it is not just nausea. It is a feeling from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.  It is all encompassing, and on a 28 foot rowing boat you cannot escape it.  We adjusted our rest patterns to allow Jack a short rest and to get some fuel and fluids on board.  There will certainly be times when we need to cover shifts for each other, and this is not weakness or failure but a flexible team that can pick up the slack when needed.  We agreed at the end of the row that despite how awful Jack had felt, it was a positive thing to go through as a team.

Coastal rowing is very different from ocean rowing.  Both are tough but for different reasons.  The tides that we have around the UK waters sometimes make rowing impossible.  If in shallow enough water we can drop our anchor but as we passed Swanage and approached Old Harry’s Rocks that mark the entrance to Poole Harbour, we were in deep water and the wind and tide were against us.  We seemed to be getting pushed further out to sea to the extent that Rob’s watch automatically changed onto European time making him somehow an hour early for a shift.  We took the decision to put three of us on the oars to try and hold our position.  The best we could manage was 1 nt… backwards!  We rowed like this for over four hours and went back 4 miles.  It seemed demoralising but had we not rowed hard we estimated that we would be over 20 miles in the wrong direction and we would have missed the tidal window for getting into Poole Harbour.  It was clear that fatigue has an impact on our cognitive function. Rob insisted several times he had bought his new night-time rowing top from Carphone Warehouse and not from the similarly named but very different Mountain Warehouse!  Eventually the water went slack and then the tide turned in our favour and we made our familiar journey past the Chain Ferry and to a slipway. Without much drama, we got Emma out of the water and safely back on her trailer.

We all agreed that we had learned more about ourselves and the team on this row. We had worked hard to mitigate tide and sickness and neither had been an issue.We felt at last we were proper seafarers who are confident and competent on the ocean. It can be a risky place even in what appear to be calm conditions but we never felt unsafe. The equipment and training we have undertaken allow us to manage the risks. You often hear explorers “conquering” the sea or “fighting” the conditions. If you think you can triumph over the sea you are deluded, the might and power of the ocean only makes us passengers and fighting a battle you can never win is tiring. So we accept the conditions that we are presented with and make the best of them. While we are off to get anchor tattoos, it is less than 70 days until we start the race and we are still fund raising and training as hard as ever so please keep an eye on our social media for updates.