Monday 27th July- Day 33
- dawnysmiff
- Jul 27
- 2 min read
Terry is back!
I’d love to be able to tell you about an incredible wildlife encounter or some dramatic event at sea…
But unfortunately, nothing much happened.
We rowed.
We got wet.
And we saw… absolutely nothing.
Some days on the Atlantic are like that.
The rain started at around 3am this morning and hasn’t really stopped since. One small blessing over the past week has been that, even if a rogue wave completely soaked us, we’d usually get a chance to dry out during the day.
Not this time.
Everything is damp again.
The clothes are damp.
The cabin is damp.
The sleeping bag feels slightly damp.
It’s amazing how much you miss the feeling of putting on completely dry clothes.
Despite the rather uninspiring weather, we did have one milestone to celebrate.
We’re now halfway home to Burnham-on-Crouch.
In reality, we’re already well over halfway to the UK coastline, but our finish line is Burnham, and that’s the milestone that really matters.
The countdown is definitely on.
Our planned arrival date of 29th August is still looking very achievable, and I’m getting more excited every day thinking about what’s waiting for us.
There are plans for an incredible welcome home.
A flotilla of boats coming out to meet us.
Cannons being fired from the yacht clubs.
A brass band playing.
And, all being well, live radio coverage from the water as we make our final few miles home.
If you’re thinking of coming to Burnham, keep an eye on our social media over the coming weeks. We’ll let everyone know where to watch from and how to follow all the live coverage.
A huge thank you has to go to Burnham Town Council, Burnham Week and the Burnham Pirates. They’re all working incredibly hard behind the scenes to make it a very special day, and knowing that’s waiting for us at the end of this journey is a fantastic motivator on the difficult days.
The only other exciting thing to happen today involved an old friend.
Or should I say…
Terry the Tern!
(Recently renamed by popular demand!)
He came back to visit during the final hour of my rowing shift, flying circles around the antennas, repeatedly attempting to land on the wind indicator and, just as before, deciding that my head made a perfectly acceptable perch.
I honestly didn’t mind.
That last hour in the pouring rain could have been painfully monotonous, but Terry provided exactly the distraction I needed.
It’s funny how, after more than a month at sea, something as simple as a friendly little seabird can completely make your day.
Out here, it’s often the smallest things that become the biggest highlights.
Dawn
“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”
Hometown Row
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