Race Diary - week six and less than 1000 miles to go!

Written by the Entrepreneur Ship Support Team

20th January

As we perhaps tuck in to our own breakfasts right now, grabbing the cereal out of the cupboard or popping some toast in the toaster, Guy sends us this photo to show us how they go about eating their own breakfast on the boat. ๐Ÿ˜‹
The majority of the food they eat is dehydrated rations that they rehydrate with filtered sea water. ๐ŸŒŠ
This morning Guy is cooking for both him and David. For Guy it’s a Red Berry Breakfast – 504 Kcal of oats, berries and seeds to start his day right! ๐Ÿฅฃ
And for David – his favourite – Posh Baked Beans – a mix of beans, potato, onion, plus tabasco and ginger to give it a kick. A slightly less, but still considerable 465kcal of the 5,000 kcal he needs per day to propel him to Antigua! ๐Ÿ๏ธ
And in the middle, the team’s Jetboil. This amazing piece of kit will boil half a litre of water in 100 seconds. They have clamped the canister between two purpose made pieces of wood so that it won’t fall over and spill boiling water everywhere. ๐Ÿ’ฆ
Making these meals becomes a ritual – it’s a rare moment in a busy day where Guy and David are not rowing, and not asleep, where they can just sit an absorb their world…albeit for just 100 seconds! ๐Ÿ˜‚

19th January

An update directly from David tonight! ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ
“All is well, spirits are good and focussing on getting to Antigua. Ian Couch (the safety office) thinks we will be in on the 30th but we feel the 31st is more realistic. Not sure how I feel about this. I’m going to miss the ocean, but boy am I looking forward to seeing my family and friends who have made the trip out.
“So whatโ€™s been happening on the high seas? Not much on the wildlife front, which is disappointing. The other night we were musing we had not seen another ship or soul for almost four weeks, then two boats sandwiched us! Amazing to think we are really not alone.
“Food is getting very dull now. I would murder a chicken salad and cold coke. Guy I reckon feels the same.
“So other massive news is that we broke the 1000 miles to go. We were so chuffed we celebrated with guess what? Fray Bentos of course! At 500 I have a tin of grapefruit slices and peaches to share.
“It has also been amazing to hear about other teams getting into Antigua – a huge shout out and massive congrats from both Guy and I on their achievements.
“We have formed a nice group with us Blue Tropical Waves and Mindcraft and one evening Blue Tropical Waves passes us a few miles to our stern.
“Weather has been mixed, with fast rough seas and strong winds to dull arm wrenching fighting for inches calm sticky seas.
“We’re both physically well, Guy has a few discomforts but nothing major.
David.

18th January
Amazing!
Not content with rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, David is also now editing his own videos! ๐Ÿ˜ฏ
This particular video was taken whilst David was overboard and cleaning the hull of the boat…which is one of the reasons they are currently travelling at lightening speed. โšก
It’s the blue of the ocean in the background that really grabs us in this video. It’s a deep and intense shade that is perhaps seen nowhere else in nature. It’s a blue that holds so much beauty and so much mystery. ๐Ÿฅฐ
Mostly though we’re still amazed that David is finding time to edit his own videos! ๐Ÿ˜‚
17th January
The Entrepreneur Ship logo has ‘Never Give Up’ incorporated into the logo, and the boat has “Un-Stoppable” emblazoned down the side…but look at the boat a little closer and you’ll find some other key messaging…for Guy and David themselves.
Stuck to the bulk head of their aft cabin so that they are staring at it at all times whilst they’re rowing, is the team’s mission statement…and what a mission statement it is:
Friendship – start and finish as friends ๐Ÿค
Respect each other and the ocean ๐ŸŒŠ
Help & support each other. We are in this together ๐Ÿ‘ฌ
Enjoy, the challenge, the experience, the seascape, the wildlife. ๐Ÿณ
It won’t be easy, this will take us to our limits and back ๐Ÿ˜ซ
Don’t get overtaken (by the guy in the pink elephant suit) ๐Ÿ˜
Raise as much money as we can for UnLtd ๐Ÿ’ฐ
Have fun! Don’t forget to smile and laugh. (We paid to do this!) ๐Ÿ™‚
And…don’t be sh*t! ๐Ÿ’ฉ
We think this should be compulsory on ALL rowing boats going forwards!! ๐Ÿ˜‚
Overnight the boys overtook Tropical Blue Wave with their ever increasing speed – they’re absolutely flying with 67 NM completed in the last 24 hours. ๐Ÿคฏ

16th January
The team have found a new friend in this bird circling them a lot recently. ๐Ÿฆ
We’re not quite sure what sort of bird this is – David said it’s smaller than it appears in the image, so perhaps a type of Shearwater.
Known for flying fast and at an angle, dipping the tips of their wings in the water (shearing the water, hence the name), there are lots of different types of Shearwater, some small some large, all amazing in their own way. ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ
They’re also one of the oldest birds in the world. A smaller Manx Shearwater was ‘ringed’ in 1953 aged at least 5 years old, then recaptured 50 years later in 2003, and still going strong! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ
And talking of still going strong – Guy and David have had a HUGE 24 hours at 65 nautical miles! That’s taken 13 nautical miles out of Tropical Blue Wave’s lead, and they’re now just 2 NM behind them! ๐Ÿคฉ

15th January
These brilliant photos show David’s recent trip over the side to clean the hull! ๐Ÿ’ฆ๐Ÿคฟ
When David went over this time he couldn’t believe the number of barnacles that had attached themselves to the bottom of the boat. Up to 70% of the hull was covered in growth! ๐Ÿš
It’s a strange feeling jumping over the side to clean the boat. Particularly when one of the crews in this race has had a marlin shoot through the hull and deck of the boat, and another has had a marlin stalking them for some time. There are lots of thoughts that must have gone through David’s mind before he jumped over. ๐Ÿ˜จ
Of course there is always the worry about sharks, and other potentially dangerous wildlife, but perhaps the most challenging part to get their heads around, is simply the unimaginable depths that this water drops down below them. ๐Ÿคฏ
The deepest part of this ocean is 27,000 feet, almost 8.5 kilometres, straight down. Way below David’s feet it gets pitch dark, zero light, and creatures not yet seen by man are abundant, both large and small…yet David just bobs around on their ceiling, a thousand miles from land, protected only by a line to his tiny rowing boat. ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿ˜ฑ
The duo’s speed seems to be ever-increasing, 2 days ago they managed 36 nm in 24 hours, yesterday it was 46, today it is a whopping 57!!! ๐ŸŽ๏ธ

15th January
Despite the torrential rain, Guy continues to row, and continues to smile! (or is that a grimace?!) ๐Ÿค”
It does really highlight that these two men are exposed to everything the world throws at them, 2 hours on, 2 hours off. โ›ˆ๏ธ๐ŸŒฌ๏ธโ˜€๏ธ
Their wet weather gear is a serious bit of kit and is not your average ‘pac-a-mac’, keeping the team completely dry underneath. โ™จ๏ธ
The issue comes when getting back into the cabin. At home you might hang soaking wet kit up in the bathroom whilst it drip dries…out here their bathroom is a bucket on deck. So when Guy finishes his shift, he’ll clamber into his cabin and, trying not to get his bed too wet, will get his wet weather kit off and either try and hang it up by the door, or just leave it in the footwell of the cabin. ๐Ÿงฅ
Whilst he sleeps, the wet kit will make the cabin pretty humid. Then, two hours later it’s time for Guy to get back on the oars, and regardless of whether the clothing was hung up or not, it will still be sopping wet. So if it’s still raining he’ll have the unenviable task of slithering into his still wet and cold kit to return to the oars. ๐Ÿ˜ซ
It’s a tough environment to operate in, but as we can see here, these two continue smiling! ๐Ÿ˜„

14th January
Above the team, for a few days now, has circled this very beautiful bird; the White-Tailed Tropicbird. A sign the boys are slowly getting closer to the Caribbean! ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ
These birds fly a really, really long way (hence being out here, a thousand miles from land), but they land and nest on tropical islands, including the Antigua. ๐Ÿ๏ธ
Their favourite food is flying fish, so perhaps the boys rowing through the water is making the flying fish leap and that’s why it’s hanging around? ๐ŸŽ
The ancient Chamorro people from the Mariana islands believed that when this striking bird screamed over a house, it meant that someone would soon die or that an unmarried girl was pregnant. And if you dared not believe in that…it’s call would kill you! ๐Ÿ˜ต
Thankfully this one has been very quiet when it’s been overhead so it seems neither Guy nor David are pregnant, but they’re enjoying this birds companionship all the same! โ˜บ๏ธ
A much better day for the team so far – achieving 10 nautical miles more in the last 24 hours than they did in the previous 24! ๐Ÿ’ช

David & Guy left La Gomera in the Canaries on 12th December. They hope to arrive in Antigua by the middle of February. Please give generously at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-entrepreneur-ship