I have one of my oldest friends (as in years known) Wiz, my student nursing flatmate, bridesmaid, sculler and rowing cox extraordinaire and all round always-there-for-me person (even when we don't see each other for ages) to thank for news of this amazing endeavour by a team called the Coxless Crew.
Four women are rowing 8446 miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Australia in a boat called Doris and here's their plan...
We aim to set WRs for:
First all female team to row the Pacific Ocean.
First ever fours boat to row the Pacific Ocean.
Fastest ever Pacific Ocean row.
MISSION
A group of women, rowing the South Pacific Ocean in April 2015, from America to Australia 8,446 miles, to support women that have had to face adversity and overcome life changing events.
CHARITIES
We aim to raise over a quarter of a million pounds for our 2 charities, to support those who show true resilience; Walking With the Wounded and Breast Cancer Care survivors.
The money we raise for Walking With the Wounded will be setting up the first ever fund for injured servicewomen and supporting their re-education and re-training pathway to create a new journey and focus for them after injury.
Breast Cancer Care is our second charity, where the money we raise will continue to support the carers and services that BCC provide to those fighting breast cancer and their families.
VISION
After the row, the Coxless Crew will share the story of their journey and will continue the legacy to provide a platform to help women that have overcome adversity, to explore their new life journey and reach their true potential.
It's a courageous and ambitious endeavour given that about thirty eight years ago I once did a few seasons of competitive rowing and was always done in for days after racing less than a mile. I have been following Laura, Emma, Natalia and Isabel via their blog and website since their journey began several weeks ago, and almost feeling the pain as they had to turn back to California when water took out their batteries.
But they are on their way again and here's the journey...
The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest ocean, bounded by Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At sixty-four million square miles, it covers one-third of Earth’s total surface area.
Our row across the Pacific will be an unsupported three-stage row starting in San Francisco, California and finishing in Cairns, Australia. Stops will be made in Hawaii and Samoa and the entire expedition will cover 8,446 miles and take 5 to 6 months (weather dependent)!
Stops will last for approximately seven days at a time to restock the boat, repair and replenish supplies and for the team to share their story with the local, national and international media.
This route has only ever been completed by solo and pairs teams, never has it been done by a team of four and never has it been done as a continuous three stage row.
Every day I check the map to see where their boat Doris is...
And then I check the blog because they are writing regular updates in between their two hours on / two hours off rowing shifts in pairs....so no more than two hours sleep at any one time for any of them. You too can write encouraging comments because it must feel like the slog of a lifetime and you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter too.
There are good days and tough days, and then there are Sound of Music singalong days... I can only think it was The Lonely Boatherd or something but I'd be up for that too if I was mid-Pacific. I've just bought a mile which means my name will be in tiny letters on board somewhere I think so I'm tagging along with the team. I'm going to volunteer to do the ironing or something and hope that the next singalong is MammaMia and there will have to be some South Pacific eventually.
Next stop Hawaii, can't wait, always wanted to go there.
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