Tomorrow We Row...
- dawnysmiff
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
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 experiencing exactly the weather we had been tracking over the last few days... and it certainly confirmed we'd made the right decision to delay.
The wind howled, the rain lashed down, and every now and again we'd make a dash back into the yacht club to dry off and warm up before heading back outside to continue preparing the boat.
I have to say, it was much more enjoyable watching the gale from inside the clubhouse than imagining being out in the middle of the North Atlantic!
We also made one final trip to the local marine store to pick up a few small spare parts. Hopefully they'll never be needed, but experience has taught us that if you don't carry a spare, that's usually the part that breaks!
The rest of the day was spent checking communications, downloading the latest weather forecasts and carrying out all those last-minute jobs that somehow always appear just before departure.
One particularly important addition was fitting our Echomax radar reflector.
It's a lightweight device fitted high on the boat that reflects radar signals from ships, making us appear much more clearly on their radar screens. Out on the open ocean, where we're only a tiny rowing boat amongst enormous commercial vessels, anything that helps us be seen is well worth having.
A huge thank you goes to Keith, who very kindly gave up his entire afternoon in the pouring rain to fit it for us. Keith lives locally, is retired, and simply wanted to help.
Acts of kindness like that never cease to amaze me.
Thank you, Keith. We really do appreciate everything you did for us. (Pictured here!)
Today is my actual birthday.
Although, if I'm honest, I feel like I've been celebrating it for about a month already!
It's certainly not how I imagined spending my birthday, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Today will be all about the final checks.
Going through every system one last time.
Checking every hatch.
Every line.
Every battery.
Every safety item.
And hopefully... dealing with nothing too exciting.
Then it will be an early night before the alarm goes off long before sunrise.
Despite this being my seventh ocean row, the excitement is still there.
So are the nerves.
I don't think that ever changes.
In fact, I hope it never does.
Those nerves are a reminder of the respect I have for the ocean and the challenge that lies ahead.
Tomorrow morning we'll untie the lines, wave goodbye to land and point Penny B east.
The next time I write, it will hopefully be from somewhere out on the North Atlantic.
See you at sea.
---
Dawn
“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”
Hometown Row
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