Day 3 – Progress
It’s about now that we can start to think about relaxing…a bit.
The crews have both made some excellent progress away from Gran Canaria and are now progressing out into open waters where the waves will start to become less choppy and more rolling. The reports coming back from the crews continue to be encouraging with the crews overcoming the various challenges which come their way.
Rowing Stones gave us a very positive update this morning.
Today is shower and major clean-up. Three days and already a mess 😂 but a few lessons learnt, like “no bread cos it makes crumbs” Other nice update, got a visit from a turtle who came for a chat, and a dozen dolphins. Last night we rowed in luminescent plankton. Stunning
Rowing Stones 11th December 2024
It’s encouraging that the crew are already considering hygiene as an important aspect. We’ve seen some crews finish the row and they’ve never considered it as important. With these boats we say that we can smell the boat before we see it. Being visited by dolphins and a turtle is a rare treat which the team will no doubt cherish and reflect on. Dolphins are considered a good luck symbol by many cultures and we’re happy to adopt those cultures anytime the crew see dolphins.
The sea sickness affecting JP is starting to pass and he’s not been sick in the last 24 hours which is great news. We’re keeping an eye on him but it appears that the worst is over.
Ocean’s Elite are still in the choppy area of sea at present and it’s proving a real struggle for Chris and Louis.
Through yesterday and the swells…they weren’t enormous, but they looked enormous when you’re in a tiny little boat. The problem is, you’ve got to take the wave on the stern, otherwise, they hit the side of the boat and all the top of the wave comes over you, and you get soaking wet, and then you get cold. And believe it or not, here we’re not far off the tropics…if we’d carried on last night we would have been hypothermic.
Chris Thrall – Oceans Elite
It’s not what you think folks, well maybe it is what you think but I didn’t think it would be this hard. It is ferocious. Every part of our body aches.
The sway of the boat is like the opposite of gravity. So every time you try to stand up, sometimes you just can’t, you just don’t have the energy, you have to wait there, wait for the rock of the boat. And then it’s like now it’s my time and put in that much effort just to stand up.
It certainly sounds tough but we know that this first week at sea is definitely the toughest week that both crews will face. The choppy waves will become more rounded and stop washing over the deck. The crew will become more at harmony with moving around the boat and the effort required to move around will become more reasonable and bumps and scrapes will become less common occurrences.
Now we hope for another positive day on the oars and some more miles mate to Barbados.
Today’s image is supplied from a video shot by Geoffroy Houzel at the start of the race.
