Day 14 – Two weeks at sea, rudder lines and a squashed hose

Day 14 – Two weeks at sea, rudder lines and a squashed hose

The crews are continuing to enjoy the strong weather helping to give them a real shove towards Barbados. Ocean’s Elite have been pushing a little further south with the aim to hit more stable and favourable conditions later on in the trip, whereas Rowing Stones have been more focussed on improving their pace. It’s great…

An ocean rower in wet weather clothing rowing at sea.

Day 13 – Progress

With their various technical issues resolved the crews have been able to get what they do best, rowing. The conditions are broadly favourable and after some encouragement to go faster, Rowing Stones have had an excellent night on the oars and made some great progress. Despite having two additional rowers / engines compared to Ocean’s…

Day 12 – Repairs

Day 12 – Repairs

Yesterday was a day of fixing systems for both crews. This feels a little bit like a right of passage in some ways. The first week was marked by the crews becoming accustomed to their environment, being challenged by the wind and waves and discovering their new normal. The second week has been marked by…

Day 9 – Aerial visitors

Day 9 – Aerial visitors

The crews have already received welcome visitors from whales and dolphins from beneath the waves. Now they are starting to receive visitors from the air in the form of birds and insects. Despite having rowed for more than a week and even through they have rowed more than 300nm they are less than 250nm off…

Day 8 – Rough stuff

Day 8 – Rough stuff

Although wind and waves aren’t great it’s the cloud which can be an ocean rower’s worst enemy. Without sun falling onto the solar panels the crews have to start being a little cautious about how they manage the power which is available onboard. They do have two sizable batteries onboard to allow the boat to…

Day 7 – One week in and it’s getting rough

Day 7 – One week in and it’s getting rough

One week into their Atlantic adventure, the crews of Mission Atlantic are already showing remarkable grit and determination. However, the ocean has no intentions of making things easy. Over the last 24 hours rain, and intensifying winds have tested their resolve, and now the crews face their biggest challenge yet. Riding the StormFor Ocean’s Elite,…

A chart showing the current under both rowing boats as of the evening of 13th Dec

Day 6 – Current

Those of you who have been closely following the YB tracker may have noticed the recent dip in speed of Rowing Stones followed shortly afterwards by the recent increase in speed of Ocean’s Elite. It’s almost as though the crews were playing a video game where their boat goes over a speed booster, and in…

Ocean's Elite at sunset

Day 5 – Wildlife

What a glorious thing it is to receive a message like the one below from Rowing Stones. We had the most beautiful day today. The sea was quite flat, blue sky, and the mission was to reach our next waypoint before the weather changes. We had to stop on our tracks however, as we spotted…