Well, so much has happened since our last update!
Sadly Linda has had to withdraw from the crew. Although a gig rower for a decade and having travelled on all types of ship large and small, Liberty got the better of her with extreme sea sickness which couldn’t be resolved (and believe us, we tried everything!). Crew safety is paramount and the health of each one of us, so whilst she’s not in the boat with us, she’s still very much one quarter of Oarsome Foursome albeit land based!
The crew will now row as a three. As a result the time to complete the race will be longer, an estimated 60-65 days but of course so much depends on the weather as well as the rowers. There are still world records to create and hopefully beat, especially Mo being the first hearing impaired person to ever attempt this crossing. As we love to say “be more Mo!”.
Liberty has also been wrapped – all sponsor logos are on her, including Roseland Online, and all will be with us for every stroke of the 3,000 mile journey.
She’s now in Essex waiting to be shipped to La Gomera. The race start is only 6 weeks away so she’ll be packed and stowed ready for the crossing and we’ll meet her again in Spain.
Training is now all land based – more ergos (rowing machines), gym (weight training for strength), yoga and more.
You can follow us and all the other crews taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2019 by downloading the app YB Races. It will show you distance covered, estimated arrival times and much more. There’s no cost to download and be warned, it’s addictive! The team names don’t usually get updated until much closer to the start date (12th December) so don’t worry if you can’t find the race or teams just yet.
This race has been 2.5 years in the making for us. Whilst we have our own reasons for taking part we’re raising awareness and funds for our 3 south west charities – http://www.carefreespace.org
We sell our boat after the race, a donor match funds that (equals the sale amount) and that lovely sum gets divided equally between these charities. Hopefully they can gift aid too. But not just that, we’re hoping for donations before, during and after the race. All amounts make a difference so please support us.
Here’s a link to our donation page