Sunday 28th December

dawnysmiff
3 days ago
2 min read

(Covering the last 24 hours)

Wow. What an epic 12 hours we’ve just had.

The wind was hard on the beam — coming straight in from the side — pushing us relentlessly off course. We were trying to hold 245°, but kept getting shoved out to 270–280°. The beam waves didn’t help either, rocking the boat violently from side to side and making it almost impossible to get the oars in cleanly for a decent stroke.

So, I put the daggerboard in.

For anyone not familiar, it’s a board that drops down through the bottom of the boat, creating a fin that helps hold a straighter line and stabilise the boat.

And it did exactly that. The rocking settled and our course came down slightly.

But the downside? Drag.

Suddenly I was pulling with everything I had just to make 1.0 knot. It was utterly exhausting. I carried on like that for another hour before having to concede defeat — out came the daggerboard and we accepted a higher course, running more with the wind.

That worked for a while. Still a slog — but much better than before.

Then the wind shifted… straight onto the nose.

At first, I genuinely wondered whether I’d be able to row against it at all. I could — just — but it was painfully slow. The biggest issue in headwinds is what happens when you stop. Every time you pause for a drink or quick snack, the boat immediately drifts off course. The auto-tiller won’t hold, and when you start again you have to haul the boat and all its contents through several strokes just to get it moving before any momentum builds.

Water stops had to be lightning-fast. Changeovers had to be slick and efficient.

Paul had a very similar night. We both said this morning that if the next few days are like this, we’re going to have to dig extremely deep to keep going.

🌅 A Slight Improvement

At sunrise, we still had a bit of a headwind, but it had eased. It’s still tough going — but nothing like last night.

Paul drew the short straw and will be getting in the water later to clean the bottom of the boat. We’ll report back tomorrow on how that goes.

For now, it’s time for a rest before the next slog shift begins.

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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