Latest blog from Alex

In the last few days it’s become pretty obvious we’re approaching the UK as the weather has got steadily worse!   Lots of rain, grey skies, and mist, but fortunately the wind gods have finally pulled their finger out and given us consistent westerlies.  Better late than never I suppose.  This has allowed us to smash out some consistently high mileage days and make really great progress towards home. We’re also making the boat lighter by eating all the food – extra breakfasts and lunches are going down well with the crew, especially with Gilly and Guin, and hopefully resulting in extra power on the oars!   I got a bit overexcited by the prospect of an extra granola (my favourite meal) this morning and had such a huge breakfast that I’ve been full for the rest of the day…

After much tinkering Molly and Guin have managed to fix the auto helm which is great as it allows us to continue with everybody rowing rather than needing people to hand steer. This was a big morale boost and will be useful when navigating UK waters.

Whilst we haven’t been able to beat the 43 days New York to Scilly Isles record set by Artemis Investments (I think a few of them are following us – I take my hat off to you guys that is a phenomenal time), we’re still on course for the US to UK mainland record as well as being the first female crew to row this route, which I’m still pretty happy with. The mileage we’ve achieved in the last few days just shows what we can do when the weather plays ball; it was always the one thing we couldn’t control and unfortunately just was constantly against us during the crossing – there was nothing different we could’ve done or didn’t try to increase our speed. We’re still giving it everything we’ve got and will do until we step off the boat in Falmouth!

So all that remains now is a few days; getting past Bishops Rock and navigating up the south coast of Cornwall. We understand preparations for our arrival are forming nicely and are all excited to see family and friends as well as have a shower, some real food and a well deserved drink!

Alex