The crews enjoy an incredible send off to start their Atlantic Ocean row.
As the sun pushed itself above the horizon to light the sky at the start of another Sunday on Gran Canaria the crews were arriving at the marina for the last time. Despite spending the last two weeks making final preparations there would always be more to do. The crews arrived with their final bags of personal kit and clothing and some fresh food so they have something easy and tasty to eat for today instead of starting to eat the freeze dried foods they have packed immediately. This is the fourth edition of the Mission Atlantic event and we’re excited to see the event build and grow. This year Puerto Mogán certainly put on a very impressive event for their departure.
The departure time was pushed back slightly by 30 minutes as the crews had so many members of their friends and family who had made the journey out to Gran Canaria to wish the rowers well. As the crowds swelled and after some emotional farewells, it was finally time for the rowers to board their boats for the final time and push off into the waters of the Atlantic.
Ocean’s Elite led the way heading out of the Puerto Mogán marina first, quickly followed by the Rowing Stones. The crowds cheered them on as they rounded the marina breakwater and out into the deceptively flat waters of the Atlantic. The winds and waves today are scheduled to be rather pleasant with relatively flat conditions and a light following breeze. We’re expecting things to get a little rougher tomorrow evening but for now the rowers can take a moment to relax into their new environment.
We will be writing daily updates and posting them here for all the supporters. You can also follow the crews via their tracking devices which update every hour for the first day and then every 4 hours after that. You can see the tracker on the Mission Atlantic Homepage. We cannot wait to start “dot-watching”.
Mission Atlantic is powered by New Ocean Wave who supply support, guidance and assistance to ocean rowers seeking to complete human powered ocean crossings around the world.
