Day 1 – By the lights of the Big Apple and tiny bacteria

Wow, what incredible progress both team have made during their first day rowing the Atlantic. The Atlantic has been kind with her weather with very light following winds and seas of around 2m high. Atlantic Dagger are staying frosty commenting that “The weather seems perfect. We’re being spoilt but we’re making sure we don’t get a false sense of security.” Great to hear.

For those of you who are new to maritime expeditions distances are measures in knots. 1 knot (sometimes written as 1 kt) is 1 nautical mile per hour. We use this measurement rather than mph as it’s easier to measure using nautical charts and is the accepted maritime standard. For those of you wanting to convert these units into something more familiar here is the conversion. 1 knot = 1.15 mph = 1.85 kph and 1 nm = 1.15 miles = 1.85 km.

During their first 24 hours at sea the crews have cracked out nearly 60nm which is one impressive feat. Typically the first week or so of an ocean row will be slower as the crews make their way south towards the trade winds. So prepare to see some fireworks in the weeks ahead if the normal trend continues.

Both crews checked in reporting no major issues. Cockleshell Endeavour reported a few blisters and a hallucination of New York skyline and lights in the waves. Hallucinations like this are very commonplace and appear to be the brain’s way of processing the new environment. Previously we’ve heard of hallucinations including treelines roads, rolling hills and ice cream trucks, so this revelation doesn’t surprise us too much.

Atlantic Dagger reported that they’re working well together and have already had dolphins and bioluminescence around the boat. Bioluminescence is caused by a chemical reaction inside fish, bacteria, and jellies which is often brought on by movement of the sea in the form of waves. Seeing bioluminescence can be utterly magical and virtually impossible to capture on film (especially in an ocean rowing boat). To get an idea of what it looks like imagine the Aurora Borealis in the water.

Dagger also report that no one has used the ensuite bucket…yet.