Rowing Adventure

Back in Blighty

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:51:19 +0000

So that is it… After a years worth of hype, a months worth of delays and 70 days on the Ocean, we arrived back in the UK Thursday morning to be greeted by a biting March wind and an overcast and drizzly vista. Thank you to everyone for your messages of support and good wishes whilst we were on the water, the really helped to keep us plugging away.

On the whole we are very pleased with how we performed out there, we know we made some silly mistakes that eventually cost us a good few positions, but considering our boat hadn’t touched water before the race start in La Gomera, we could hardly expect to be up to the standards of some of the guys, and girls, who put in hours and hours worth of training throughout the year and knew their kit inside and out. A serious well done must go to Charlie Pitcher, and Ole and James from team QBE, who were not only brilliant company in La Gomera, but are truely worthy winners of the Atlantic Race ‘09 and the Pairs Class ‘09. No doubt Chris and I have found some great friends for many years to come.

The boat performed beautifully, after we discovered how to row it in certain coniditions, and thanks must go to the guys down at Rossiter Yachts for building us such a responsive and safe boat. We had complete confidence in her the entire way across. Despite the fact that we have grown quite emotionally attached to her, unfortunately like all good things, our love affair must come to an end. If our story, or that of any of the other competitors in this years, or previous years races, has inspired you to pick up the oars and have crack at the Ocean, then you will be in need of a safe, and very well built boat. If you are interested in HCL Workforce One, then please get in contact via the contact us page. Or you can email me directly on: j.h.thompson@me.com

Joe

Feeling Good

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:14:07 +0000

You may be wondering why we haven’t finished yet, sat on the beach with our feet up, with a cocktail in our hands. We are actually very close with roughly 100 miles to go and the weather in our favour. Spirits are soaring high.

The last 6 days tell a different story. As the finish line looms closer, navigation gets a bit tighter. And with strong southerly and south-westerly winds gusting up to 17knots, we had no choice but to put out the anchor. Every bit of forecasting showed hope, but the adverse conditions prevailed. It was the hardest mental and emotional period of the race we’ve had to endure, especially with our parents waiting at the finish.

We got on the way again yesterday and have been making great speeds. I just hope it will see us through to the end. HCL workforce one’s job will be done and she’ll be looking for the next crew to take her across… if you are interested get in touch. Thanks to everyone who has been following us for all your messages of support on the blog and sat phone, we’ll be in touch in Antigua, and we look forward to seeing you when we get home.

so near yet so far

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:51:18 +0000

Well, 260 miles to go and we’re back on the para-anchor. We can almost smell the strawberry daiquiris, mojitos and rum punch, but we’re still a frustrating six days’ rowing off of getting wasted on the white sands of Antigua. We’ve had to stop rowing as we are drifting too far north, and need to start thinking about our angle of approach to the island. We should start making progress again in 9 hours or so. Thanks again for all the messages of support, this situation is incredibly frustrating at the moment but we’ll just keep thinking of those cocktails at the end of it!

Because we’re worth it

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:19:01 +0000

Disater on board HCL Workforce 1. Forget the potential impending weather, forget the half rations, even forget the sore bums. We have run out of Hawian Tropic factor 5 carrot oil and are forced to use factor15!…. it may as well be sun block. I packed some emergecy coconut cooking oil for just such eventualities but it went rancid in the heat.

Seriuosly though, with luck we will be in Antigua by the middle of next week and are looking forward to regaining some sense of civilisation. Spirits are high and Chris and i endevour to enjoy the last stretch of the journey, after all when will we do this again?………..

Antigua or bust !

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:13:33 +0000

We have been off and on the power anchor for the past two days , but things lightened yesterday morning and we are slowly on the move again, with the weather in our favour . If the storm brewing in the gulf of Mexico forms as predicted we should be in Antigua in 10 days, if not,we’re shafted!

Food for Thought

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:33:51 +0000

From flat calm sea to unfriendly westerlys, this adventure has been one of continuous battles with the elements, combined with stunning sea and sky scapes, but before i get too wistful, we still have 600 miles to go and only 10 days of food left! so we are hoping not to be anchored up for too long, otherwise its down too half rations, this is not especially welcome as we have felt hungry most of the way across. We need you’re messages now more that ever, please keep them coming.

A time for constipations

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:24:44 +0000

Still very light conditions but we are puling hard (wheeey!) and seem to be making good progress. The cocktails and beaches of Antigua are tantalisingly close , however we always feel so far away.

During my morning shift I saw quite a few fish larking about, and after the relief of getting over a short spell of constipation all I could think about was tucking into some fresh Atlantic marine life. Therefore I have cast a line over the side with some sparkly thing on the end. Its now just a waiting game.

A time for Celebrations

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:40:09 +0000

Today is a day for celebration, we have strong winds and currents from the east pushing towards our goal, we have made a leap to the second page of our chart, and today is also Chris’ birthday- yipee. A big thank you to all who sent messages. Humpo, Joe asks if you found that new diet plan in your monthly subscription to cosmo……………..salad and yoghurt.

Scientific Discoveries

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:13:43 +0000

Right. That’s it. Its official… Chris and I are 100% feral. If Sir Alexander Fleming had a pair of our shorts, he would have been able to cure cancer in a matter of hours. Rowing in 35-40 degree heat for two hours at a time, with little to no wind to cool us down, has actually catalysed the evolution of intelligent life where there once was none. Despite this, we’re now back to rowing at good speeds and we hope to be in Antigua in roughly three weeks.

Salt and Sudocreme

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:35:14 +0000

One of the consequences of rowing for 12 hours a day through an ocean is that you get a very sore backside. All sorts of treatments and remedies have been tried, or at least I thought so until today. The idea is to clean the area that is pocked with spots, sudocreme the worst bits, and then cover with a melolin pad. This, however, I could not do on my own. Therefore, as I lay on my front with legs akimbo, Joe proceeded to tape the patch to my rear, dangerously close to where another man should never go. This is one memory I will find hard to forget.

Thanks for the messages, especially from Tom Foulkes- Arnold and Adam Libby in Afghanistan, good luck and stay safe.