Day 27 – Remembering Tim and increasing mileage

It’s fabulous to see Rowing Stones really upping their daily mileages. In the last 24 hours they have had their most productive period to date and have made over 50nm towards Barbados. A combination of favourable weather, a boat which is getting lighter and lighter as the mountains of food get eaten and a crew who are, after nearly 3 weeks on the water, fast becoming a slick ocean rowing outfit are all contributing to some great pace from the pink boat.

Ocean’s Elite by contrast have had a slightly more sedate day and have taken a dip in the sea for the first time this trip. They did this to honour the memory of Tim Crossin – Cold Dip Commando who passed away recently after raising thousands of pounds for charities in the last few months of his life. Louis and Chris got into the sea as they couldn’t be at a huge new year’s event in Plymouth.

The risk of shark attack is very low for ocean rowers and there’s only been one case of shark attack on an ocean rower while they are in the water. However, this was a very unique scenario because John Fairfax was hunting the shark with a spear gun at the time when it turned around and took a chunk out of his shoulder. Thankfully his rowing partner was able to dress the wound and complete the remaining 30 days of their row across the Pacific Ocean in 1971. We always recommend using the 24 hour fin rule where if a crew sees a shark that they wait at least 24 hours before getting into the water. It’s also worth remembering that most shark attacks happen in under 6 ft of water. The risk to our rowers from sharks is very small indeed. Out of all the risks and threats, wildlife is something to be marvelled at rather than feared.