Happy as can be. I think that describes me perfectly this morning! Although saying that, I don’t think I’ve had a single miserable day the whole time we’ve been out here to tell the truth… There’s not really much to be miserable about and personally I spit in the eye of misery anyhow!

Today’s sea conditions aren’t the best. A bit too rock and rolly for our liking making it difficult to apply equal pressure to both blades and get momentum going, but we’re battling through and managing to put some miles away. We seem to achieve our best mileage during the night. I’m not overly sure why this is… Night time always seems to bring with it rougher, more testing waters but there’s no reason why this should be the case. Maybe it’s because you can’t see what’s looming so every wave takes you by surprise and keeps you on your toes!

The nights are pitch black. The moon is doing nothing to help, having waned as much as it possibly can of late. It doesn’t even bother getting out of bed before about 5am, then literally within 2 hours the sun begins to rise!
Rowing at night is a bizarre experience in many ways… Not being able to see a thing just gives your imagination licence to run wild! On particularly rough nights when the waves are coming at you from all over the shop, you wonder each time, whether this will be the wave that finally capsizes you. Many have tried, but so far, none have been successful!

It reminds me of those chaps who work on fairground rides:
“Scream if you wanna go faster! Did I hear you scream little lady? Well hold on to your seat… ‘Ere we go!”

What I find really unnerving about night rowing is the constant threat of danger. You can happily be paddling along admiring the magnificent celestial skies – then the next thing you know, your view has been replaced with complete inky blackness. You just know that there’s a huge wall of water heading straight at you… You don’t know how far away it is, what angle it’s coming from, how fast it is, how high it is, what its chances of breaking are…. Maybe you’re stuffed, or maybe you’ll just casually roll over the top and bob along your merry way! Terrifying or exhilarating? Hmmm. I’m not sure of the answer to that one but one thing’s for sure – a huge adrenalin rush if you’re into that kind of thing!

Pain wise, Mel and I have pretty much suffered from the same ailments: Back ache; swollen hands; blisters; severe bottom ache; aching knees… But I think we’re pretty much through the worst now (Although Mel  is currently sporting a terribly good look of bikini and knee supports!). I think the best way to describe us both at this stage is ‘’comfortably numb”!

Annie

Track Annie & Mel’s race position

We will be tracking Annie and Mel’s progress and posting more of their blogs here. Keep up to date and find out why we are supporting therm here