Monday 6th July- Day 11

Another day, another blanket of cloud.

We're still yet to see the sun, the moon or even a proper night sky. It's beginning to feel like we're living inside a giant grey bubble. Other than the occasional seabird, there's been very little sign of life. Even our feathered friend that seems to have declared war on the VHF aerial is still at it, swooping in every now and again for another peck before flying off, seemingly very pleased with itself.

The good news is that the wind has finally picked up, and thankfully it's largely in the right direction. That has given us a welcome boost in boat speed. The downside is that stronger winds, combined with the still-cold sea temperatures, mean it's back to wearing every layer we own. By the time you've got everything on, you feel more like you're climbing Everest than rowing across the Atlantic!

There is, however, a noticeable change.

Now we've passed the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap, we've both noticed the air temperature creeping up by a few degrees. It isn't exactly tropical yet, but after the cold, damp start to the crossing, we'll happily take every degree we can get. Hopefully it's a sign of warmer days ahead.

Congratulations to England on winning their football match! Obviously we didn't get to watch it—we're a little too far from the nearest television—but word soon reached us from home. It's always nice to receive little snippets of news from the outside world.

Quite a few people have asked how we're able to send blogs, photos and videos from the middle of the Atlantic.

The answer is Starlink, kindly supplied by the amazing Terry at Range Global.

Once a day we switch it on for around an hour. During that time I download the latest weather forecasts, update our route, send this blog, upload photos and videos, and send everything back to the equally amazing Lauren, who is doing a fantastic job keeping all our social media updated while we're out here.

It's an incredible bit of kit and has completely changed ocean rowing communications.

The downside is that it uses a fair bit of power.

With so little sunshine over the past few days, our solar panels haven't had much opportunity to recharge the batteries, so we're being careful with every watt we use. That means no scrolling through social media, no watching videos and definitely no doom-scrolling!

Everything we do online has a purpose.

Then it's switched straight back off again.

Today's culinary delight is... scrambled egg!

Which, for once, is actually something that resembles a proper breakfast.

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Dawn

“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”

Hometown Row

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