Day 16 – Hard graft passing 2000nm to go

At this point, it’s clear that both crews are finding it tough. The excitement and adrenaline of departure and the first few weeks at sea has long since departed. Barbados is still so far away as to be unimaginable and unsurprisingly rowing for 12 hours a day is exhausting.

These are the hard miles and it is undoubtedly tough. The small glimmer of hope that we can offer the teams is that later on today they will hopefully cruise past the 2000nm to go marker. An outstanding achievement. There’s every chance that the crews won’t have realised this as they will be focussing on the next way point which is around 300nm away, focussing on the next day of rowing, focussing on the next shift on the oars, on the next stroke. The crews are now really living in the moment. They are so focussed on the now that the future is a hazy picture which can’t really be seen clearly. Trying to think about all the nice things which will happen when they land won’t help at this stage, and will only make them miss these things all the more strongly. There’s nothing they need to do other than keep rowing.

Opening the chart of the North Atlantic starting from Gran Canaria, the crews will see how far they have come and how much they have to be proud of. They have made amazing progress. However, if the chart is opened from the Barbados side, the scale of the task still ahead of them will be evident and overwhelming. Their progress so far will feel small, insignificant even. The truth or reality lies somewhere in between. To get to this point the crews have undoubtedly encountered the toughest, coldest and wettest portion of the trip. Thing will be faster for them in the future as they will be rowing less south and more directly towards Barbados. Their boats will be getting lighter and lighter as they eat through their food and they are now far more accustomed to rowing their boats and moving around them than they ever were at the start.

The winds are expected to lighten today to a far less aggressive strength and come more from the north today before clocking around to return to the more favourable easterly direction a little later in the week. We hope that these lighter winds will allow the crews to relax a little more and to give them a chance to enjoy a nice Christmas onboard tomorrow.