Day 15 – Wet and wild
It’s been a wet and wild time of it for both crews over the last week or so. The winds have been particularly intense and blown hard for a long time. This in turn has caused the waves to pick up and be more aggressive. This in turn leads to an increase in stress for the rowers. Any movement onboard has to be calculated and even the most basic of tasks becomes a major engagement requiring extended periods of effort and a lot more patience.
Trying to do the most simple things like going to the toilet are almost impossible. Pretty worn out but not down in spirits. Pretty grey skies, we’ve not seen the sun for a long time…You’re wet through, you’re greasy. All the sores you were hoping were healing tear open again, and I mean they’re everywhere, in the rudest places and on your feet. We’ve not had the chance to have a good scrub because it’s so choppy.
Louie – Oceans Elite
Last night Rowing Stones called in to let us know that they had snapped an oar. A wave came out of nowhere during the night rowing and the boat tilted over pushing the up hard. With nowhere left to go the oar snapped in half and the spoon drifted away in the darkness. It isn’t uncommon to break an oar but it’s never something which we want to see happen. In such rough conditions it really is only a matter of time, but it just goes to show how hard the equipment and crews are forced to work in these conditions. Of course the crews have spare oars which can easily be swapped out with the broken one but it just puts everyone on edge and increases tensions still further.
The good news is that the winds are due to reduce from tonight and give the crews a decent period of respite from the relentless and brutal battering they’ve been subject to over the last few days. We look forward to the crews having a mental break from the barrage of attacks they’ve faced recently. What a well deserved Christmas present that will be.
