Saturday 27th December
- dawnysmiff
- Dec 27, 2025
- 2 min read
(Covering the last 24 hours)
Yesterday brought us some new visitors — I think they’re long-tailed tropical birds. Beautiful white birds with long, pointed tail feathers, gliding effortlessly around the boat for a while.
Other than that, there’s been very little wildlife, which is a bit disappointing, especially as reports are coming in from other crews seeing whales and all sorts. Our turn will come… hopefully!
⚙️ Checking the Hull
We dropped the GoPro over the side yesterday to check the bottom of the boat. It’s not horrendous, but you can definitely see some growth building up.
Now that the conditions are flatter, we’ll pick our moment to get in the water and give her a clean. Every bit of drag counts out here.
😂 Afternoon Deck Time
Our afternoon on-deck session was, as always, full of laughs. We even did a bit of fancy dress as a famous band — check out our social media for the photo and see if you can guess who we’re meant to be!
🌙 Two Very Different Night shifts
The first night shift (7pm–10pm) was absolutely mesmerising. The moon is getting brighter each night now, and it was setting directly in front of the boat, giving us light we haven’t really had yet. Combined with a sky full of stars, it felt pretty magical.
My second night shift (1am–4am) was a completely different story. The moon had set, cloud thickened, and intermittent showers rolled through. With no wind at all to add to the mix, it was a long, slow shift that really tested patience.
The following shift wasn’t much better. The alarm went off at 06:50, waking me with a start as it always does — those few seconds of confusion where it takes a moment to remember where you are. The sky was still completely black.
Although the sun technically rose around 9am, you honestly wouldn’t have known it. Everything was grey, wet, and flat.
🔋 Power & Water
We’re hoping it clears later to help charge the boat batteries. That said, we’ve got enough water for today, so we shouldn’t need to use too much power if it stays gloomy.
Sending love to you all from on board Penny B.
Dawn
“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”
Hometown Row
Leg 1 – La Gomera to Antigua
Leg 2 – Antigua to Florida
Leg 3 – Canada to the UK
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