By Team Status Row on January 20, 2019
Well, well, what a week we’ve had. Truly one of highs and lows. We started feeling all around a bit terrible. Days are hot and slow and no matter how much water you drink (we’re now running our water maker twice a day) you still feel like a dried out husk of your former self. Definitely feeling that whole “worlds toughest row” vibe.
But the lovely Ian called with some good news… we were catching the Kraken! Just a few miles ahead it gave us a concrete goal to rally behind and we were invigorated by the chase. So heads down off we went. Antigua can feel so far away so having a short term goal really helps keep us going. Especially when there isn’t anything else to keep us distracted from the pain.
Other than some curious seabirds and more flying fish (none in Susan’s face this time though!) we hadn’t seen any wildlife and sadly had spotted a plastic bottle on a wave too far away to get. We also suffered a devastating entertainment blow when we lost access to Spotify AND a great number of our audiobooks in one go. A dark day, indeed. We all needed a lift and it’s funny where these things can come from.
The next morning, after officially inching past the Kraken, Caroline was returning from her morning bucket when a rogue wave sent her flying and, as if in slow motion, she toppled right over the edge of our grab lines and into the choppy seas. Man overboard! It’s a situation we had practiced and prepared for but hoped we’d never see and while it could have been a scary moment, before Susan could even grab the throwline Caz had popped back up from under the wave, laughing. Apparently a surprise dunk in the sea is exactly what the doctor ordered. She clambered back aboard without problem and got back to rowing, considerably more upbeat than before. Her only complaint? That we didn’t get it on the GoPro!
Rowing resumed when we got another milestone… officially halfway!! We decided to celebrate that evening by listening to Chocolat the movie and sharing some tasty dessert (more on this another time) during the first night shift.
The next day we got more good news from Ian.. not only had we caught the Kraken but we were gaining on the grandads! He told us there would be a brief window of wind that night so Susan and Caroline quickly jumped in to clean the barnacles off poppy so we could maximise this time. Sacrificing some precious sleep we powered through with two up for much of the night, overtaking the Grandads and having our best mileage day to date.
It’s still hot and we’re still impossibly tired but we haven’t given up and will continue to push forward as hard as we can, taking the small wins as we work our way steadily to Antigua. Don’t count this little red boat out just yet, our best days are yet to come.