Pea soup anyone? We covered 55 nautical miles in the past 24 hours, our best day's mileage so far, so we're really pleased with that. The conditions have certainly been helping us over the last 12 hours, with a nice following current giving us a helping hand. At times we even saw 3 knots on the speed display, which is a lovely sight after the slog of the first few days. The morning greeted us with bright blue skies and sunshine. It actually started to feel... dare I say it...

It was still what I call a pea souper yesterday. The thick fog stayed with us all day until about 1pm, when it finally lifted… only to reveal cloud. I’ve no idea where the expression pea souper actually comes from, but I’ve always used it to describe fog so thick you can barely see a thing. There’s still no wind, so it continues to be a real slog. Progress is slow, but mentally and physically I feel great. The biggest challenge at the moment is the cold. It’s not just being c

The North Atlantic continues to surprise us. Yesterday started with beautifully clear blue skies. The sun was shining from morning until evening, making a welcome change from the damp, grey conditions we'd experienced previously. It may still be cold, but when the sun is out it lifts your spirits enormously. We had a visit from a fishing vessel during the day. They called us on the radio to ask where we were heading. "England," we replied. There was a short pause, followed by

The last 24 hours have been a real reminder that the North Atlantic likes to keep you guessing. For most of the day it was cold, wet and grey. Low cloud hung over us and, at times, we genuinely wondered if we were ever going to see the sun again for the rest of the crossing! Everything felt damp, from our clothes to the cabins, and with the chilly wind blowing it wasn't exactly tropical. Then, almost as if someone had flicked a switch, the afternoon transformed. The clouds br

Well... after all the planning, preparation, delays and weather watchinge, we're finally back where we belong. At sea. Yesterday (25th did I mention my birthday) was, thankfully, a reasonably stress-free day. It was all about those final system checks, making sure everything was exactly as it should be before committing ourselves to the North Atlantic. One particularly special moment before we left was exchanging yacht club flags. We proudly presented the Royal Burnham Yacht

Well... we've finally made it. After weeks of planning, preparing, fixing, checking, delaying and waiting, we now have a new departure time. Friday 26th June 2026 ⏰ 0600 Newfoundland time ⏰ 0930 UK time ⏰ 0430 Florida time If all goes to plan, I'll try to do a Facebook Live from the dock before we leave, so hopefully you'll be able to join us as we push away from the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club and begin the next chapter of the Hometown Row. Yesterday was spent experienci

If you've been following our social media over the last few days, you'll know it's been a bit of a rollercoaster. The good news is that Penny B is ready. The less good news is that Mother Nature isn't. Our original plan was to leave on 25th June — which also happens to be my birthday. Unfortunately, the weather has other ideas. Current forecasts show gale and high sea warnings beginning around 1am Thursday morning and continuing through much of Thursday afternoon. Could we le

I am finally in St John’s, Newfoundland. The journey here was made even better by sharing the flight with Emma and Charlie Pitcher. Charlie owns Rannoch Adventure, the company that not only builds many of the world’s ocean rowing boats, including Penny B, but also supports countless expeditions around the globe. Ocean rowing is a surprisingly small community, and it’s always reassuring to have experienced people around who understand exactly what goes into getting a tiny rowi

The adventure is gathering pace! After an absolutely epic road trip, Paul and Scott arrived safely at the Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club on Thursday. They left Fernandina Beach at 4:30am on Monday morning, spending four long days towing Penny B north through the United States and Canada to get her to the start line. Having done plenty of long journeys myself, I know how tiring they can be, but this one was on another level. Thousands of miles, multiple states and provinces, bo

11 Days to Launch! 🚣‍♀️🌊 The countdown is on — just 11 days until launch. It’s amazing how quickly the time has gone. After months of planning, route changes, weather discussions, logistics headaches and boat preparation, we are now entering that exciting phase where everything starts to feel very real. Today, Paul is spending the day packing Penny B and preparing for a very early 4:30am departure from Fernandina Beach tomorrow morning. His destination is the Royal Newfound

## Well... It's Been a While! Firstly, apologies for the radio silence! When you're at sea, writing the daily blogs becomes part of the routine. Once back on land, life has a habit of speeding up and suddenly weeks disappear before you've sat down to write an update. A lot has happened since the last blog, so here's a bit of a catch-up. ### The End of Leg 1 The Atlantic crossing now feels both a lifetime ago and like it happened yesterday. We arrived into Antigua to an incred

If there is one thing this expedition keeps teaching us, it’s flexibility. The goalposts continue to move — which is exactly what happens when parts of the plan are outside your control. Leaving Antigua 💙 Dawn left Antigua on Monday 16th, and it was far more emotional than expected. What was meant to be a short stopover became a truly special chapter of the journey. Over the past weeks we made incredible new friends, reconnected with old ones, and built memories that will st

It’s been just over two weeks since we landed in beautiful Antigua, and what a couple of weeks they’ve been. The first few days were pretty full-on — unloading, logistics, media, cleaning the boat, and getting our heads around what we’d just achieved. Then came a welcome week of downtime, meeting some truly wonderful people who are all on adventures of their own. That space to pause, reflect, and connect has been really special. But now… it’s time to get our heads back in the

Wow. We are still pinching ourselves. We didn’t set out chasing records — in fact, because we weren’t racing, we hadn’t even thought to check the previous mixed pairs times. But after a few days of verification, it’s now official: 👉 Paul and I are the fastest mixed pair to row the Atlantic Ocean East–West. 👉 We beat the previous record by over a full day. That alone would be incredible — but this crossing has also made me: the female with the most ocean rowing crossings, an

Since arriving into Antigua, the work hasn’t stopped — but the oars have been replaced with logistics, spreadsheets, phone calls, and contingency planning. After a lot of careful thought, Paul and I have made the decision to change the plan for the next leg of the Hometown Row. Why the plan changed Forecasts across our intended route began showing developing low-pressure systems. At best, this would have meant an unprecedentedly long passage — island hopping, extended stops,

Where did I leave you? Oh yes — with just over 16 nautical miles to go. As the sun rose and we crept closer, the land slowly shifted from a hazy outline into something with shape, colour, and depth. Force Horizon were just ahead of us — visible on AIS but not yet to the naked eye — a reminder that landfall was really happening. What hit us first wasn’t sight at all — it was smell. For more than a month, the only scent we’d known was the ocean itself: salt, wind, rain, and som

(Covering the last 24 hours) Hopefully this is the penultimate blog of this leg. By tomorrow evening, if all goes to plan, we should be sipping rum punches on the dockside in Antigua 🍹. The first 12 hours of the last 24 were almost perfect — aside from the now very familiar rain showers that seem to have haunted this crossing. We had lovely surfing waves, fast conditions, and were genuinely enjoying ourselves, the only real debate being whether or not to slow down to guarant

(Covering the last 24 hours) We are now just two days away from Antigua. I won’t lie — we are really looking forward to land and, more specifically, a proper shower. It’s been so relentlessly rainy that stripping off and tipping a cold bucket of water over yourself is not the most enjoyable experience. Invigorating? Yes. Pleasant? Absolutely not. I am dreaming of a warm shower, for at least ten minutes, with loads of soap. Ohhhh… bliss. In fact, during one of the recent rain

(Covering the last 24 hours) Last night was, thankfully, a bit less hectic. Apologies for the short update yesterday — one of the downsides of having no sun is that there’s very little power going into the ship’s batteries via the solar panels. To get Wi-Fi onboard we have to turn the Starlink on, which is very power-hungry. We only use it for about an hour a day, and I think I’ve mentioned before that most of that time is taken up looking at weather charts and route planning

Wednesday 21st January (Covering the last 24 hours) Oh, what a night. A full lightning storm came straight through us. You always know it’s coming — first the temperature drops, then the rain turns torrential, and finally the wind arrives with real intent. At its peak, the wind must have been around 35 knots, all while lightning cracked across the sky around us. The flashes lit up the ocean in stark, frozen moments — boat, waves, horizon — then back to black again. There’s no