Blog

Please excuse any bad language, rants about the race, boat, equipment, weather or each other, and sorry for any spelling mistakes, grammer errors, lost symbols, or bad code. Please remember we are rowing an ocean!
Blog Courtesy of Emma Hollamby

Click Edit > Find > and type the last date you checked up on us (dd/mm/yyyy), then scroll down to read the latest news.

29/06/09 Mauritius!!!!!

68 days 19 hours and 40 minutes after departing from Australia, Team Row4Charity cross the line as WINNERS OF THE FIRST INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE. Moments before a handful of family and friends were reunited (albeit briefly) by means of support yacht, soon after the countdown begun, with Nick reporting every stroke via sat phone to the Waterfront. The Yacht stayed with us as we rowed the last few strokes across the finish line, North of Mauritius (celebrated by a Parachute flare and impromptu cheering) Although the race was over our journey was not complete, the yacht was there to lead us to our family, friends and loved ones who had been waiting patiently since our original ETA 6hours earlier. Following the Yacht, in the dark, without any points of reference was disorientating to say the least, but combine that with an overpowering sense of urgency as well as an onset of severe nerves, the whole silent approach to Grand Bay Yacht Club was overwhelming. What we were approaching was unknown to us, nor did it matter too much, we knew everyone was there....somewhere. As we closed in on the last 100 meters sounds start (ed to become clear, MUSIC !!!! (from the Godfather Night Club) And the only other instrument to produce such volume.....Lee Midgley’s vocal cords.....BEEEXXXXHIIIILLL!!!!! With that we released a couple more flares, and the whole place ERUPTED, suddenly the night sky lit with flares, fireworks and torches, the music seemed to become more intense, friends & families were hollering and we were SPRINTING to meet them. The sights and sounds of that moment will I’m sure forever live in our memories as I have been told it will in everyone’s who was waiting. That moment couldn’t have been more perfect, it was a true reflection of the support our families have shown us thus far on our journey. The next hour was a true whirl wind of emotion, with hugs, tears, and nakedness (from Nick) I can only speak for myself but I was absolutely filled with emotion. I clambered from the boat as soon as possible, and was met by a surge of hugs and kisses from everyone, from family and friends to adopted Mauritian supporters, and the returning 8 man crew. I returned to the boat briefly to collect an important souvenir which in my rush to exit I had left behind; an engagement ring for Emma. I am unsure whether the words made sense but I believe she said yes anyway (she hasn’t told me otherwise!)
Since that fateful night we have fed, watered and rested to our hearts content as well as straightened out our sea legs. We cleaned our completely rancid boat, with the help of our supporters, especially Flee who really didn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Our equipment and ballast was checked and certified as in order. And the Bexhill Trust Challenger is now on her way home.
I really haven’t the time to thank everyone in this blog so I will not name anyone in particular now, a separate blog will follow.....all i will say now is to everyone involved with Row4Charity, however small or large the part you played was.... WE THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS.

24/06/09 Last minute disaster almost costs race

108miles to go with the race in the bag and family awaiting our arrival in Mauritius, we were once again struck by equipment failure. With only two days left, and being blown nicely to the finish line, that same weather system hindered rather than helped, hitting us with such force that our rudder had seemingly come dislodged from its fixings. After closer inspection and a dramatic midnight dip for poor Nick, we found that the rudder had snapped horizontally around 12 inches from the top (making steering impossible without repair) With wave after wave crashing over us due to our now side on position, the lack of a rust free, working drill or saw, and the complete absence of any spare materials to work with; at first our journey seemed over there and then. But we had not rowed 3000+ miles to go out like that. Knowing that the boat could cope without its dagger board (a centre board which slots through the hull of the boat, underneath the bow seat, helping the boat to travel forward rather than sideways) although this would make the boat unstable I made the decision to use this as our replacement rudder. With only a spanner set, 2 drill bits and a hammer I removed the fixings from the old rudder and fitted them to the dagger board (making some makeshift rudder pins out of a combination of the old broken ones and our spare gates) The new design took shape surprisingly easily and quickly, lining the 2 pins up, in the dark, whilst in 35mph winds and hanging out the stern hatch, 100miles out at sea proved to be slightly harder but after 20min of struggling, swearing, hammering and not to mention a chipped tooth.... I got it in place and once again we were off! This meant that over the course of the journey I had remade the whole steering system; re-rigging the pulleys after the auto helm died, making a geering system for the foot steer, and now making a new rudder all together!
...Matt

23/06/09 Sausage Rolls and Sandy Beaches

Another update here from Mauritius. For the last couple of days the weather has been pour for our boys. They have not let the 15 ft waves get them down though, they are all thrilled at the thought of seeing their loved ones AND stepping onto dry land in a few days time. They have successfully rowed past Rodrigrez Island, which was the first bit of land they have seen since Australia. Matt said they were very tempted to stop off for a beer! Keep your hair on Geoff-they did not actually STOP! So no disqualification! Team row4charity had a 5th crew mate this week in the form of a 35ft whale. He happily swam alongside the boat and did not cause them any trouble, luckily. A large cargo ship went past them about 100 yards away and the boys could see it spilling rubbish out of the back. In amongst the debris they spotted banana skins which set them all off feeling hungry again. Less than a week until the team can feast on fresh fruit and veg, fresh bread, cold drinks, and for Ian- his much dreamed about sausage roll. When the Bexhill Trust Challenger is 100 miles off of land the team will see fishing boats and Mauritius, a sight they have been waiting for for over 60 days now! What a prize! - Emma xx

20/06/09 300 Nmiles to Go, The Final Countdown

Hi Bexhill Trust Fans! I have managed to find a WiFi connection here in sunny Mauritius! As you may know the guys had an unexpected phone call from David Cameron on Thursday. With 330 miles to go everyone who has spoken to the boys reports high spirits and rumbley tummies. I have enlisted the help of the hotels Public Relations Manager, Siddick, who has been rallying round and arranged local Tv and Newspaper coverage here in Mauritius. The Mauritians are very excited to see the guys come in and all agree what they have done is amazing. It took them a while to get their heads around the fact that they had rowed here from Australia! Yesterday Philippa and I went to Grand Baie Yatch Club to meet the staff and find out the arrangements for next week. Everyone here is preparing now to meet them at the finish line. Mums and Dads are bring plenty of clothes, Ian has asked Philippa to bring him some sausage rolls and I know I am coming armed with scissors and beard trimmers! As John Foxs message on the Woodvale site said- Lets hope these boys remember that they are river rowers and this is the final stretch, no one claws back a 66 mile lead from a bunch of river rowers...no matter how many miles you have left. THIS last stint is the biggest race of your lives. RISE TO IT. - Emma xx

15/6/2009 Final Word from Emma

Only 500 Nm left to go now row4charity fans! That is the equivalent to rowing from Bexhill to Ireland! As you may know, friends and family are flying out this week in anticipation of the boys arrival in Mauritius. The next time this blog is updated it will be by the boys themselves, so please excuse any delay. Hope this blog has passed on enough relevant news to everyone out there. On behalf of Team Row4Charity, I would like to thank you for your support, donations and messages over the 18 months. So as I will be handing the blog back the boys who deserve to put their story across, my most challenging decision is which Mauritian cocktail to try first!! - Emma xx

8/6/09 Take That Tickets and Grand Prix Tickets up for grabs!

To the supporters of The Bexhill Trust Challenger We are still accepting bids for Take That tickets in excess of £100. We have generously been given to auction; Two x three-day spectator passes to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 21st June. These gain you entry to practicing on the 19th, qualifying on the 20th & the race itself on the 21st. The face value for these tickets is over £240 each. You can bid for either of these at indianocean2009@live.co.uk Closing date for Take That tickets 22nd June Closing date for Grand Prix tickets 15th June Please keep the donations coming in at www.row4charity.co.uk
- Geoff

7/6/2009 Homeward Bound.....

Team Row4Charity have whizzed through the 1000miles to go mark and are maintaining their 200mile lead over Ocean Angels and the Prostate Boys. Now for some news.... A couple of nights ago Ian and Matt were rowing along minding their own business when they spotted a white light, thinking it to be an emergency flare, the boys contacted the Australian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard suggested strongly that the boys turn around and go and help, but after explaining that they were only in a rowing boat and the current was against them, they we excused. The Coast Guard then contacted a cargo ship in the area to go check it out. The rowing seats have been causing problems again; one is now making a horrible grinding sound on every stroke. On Saturday the wind was strong and it pushed them 8 miles further north than they wanted to be, Matt says it was really frustrating because no matter how hard they tried they could not pull south. They have managed to get back on track nicely now and have covered an amazing 65 miles in 24 hours! Matt got fed up with his beard going in his mouth so has given it a trim...with his nail clippers. Once he start (ed he got a bit over zealous and has now trimmed the whole beard off. He has no idea what it looks like as there is no mirrors on board! All the sponsors names are still intact on the boat, Nick even went underwater to take photos as proof as well as some well needed barnacle scraping. The crew all feel they are rowing for home now so the spirits are high and they really seem to be enjoying the adventure. The boys were really excited to confirm that families and supporters are flying out to Mauritius next week to great them in at the finishing line!
- Emma xx

2/6/2009 Rain and Repairs all Round

Firstly a huge WELL DONE for passing the 2000Nm point in their journey this week. The Bexhill trust Challenger is still leading the pack and really giving Aud Eamus a run for its money!The weather has turned against them again slightly now, with a lot of rain, especially at night. The rowing seats packed up on them too adding more pressure to the boys, Matt and Ian had to stop rowing to do a maintenance session. Using eyehooks and cable ties and anything else they could find, repairs were made to the seats. The foot steering went again, which caused more frustrations but again these clever boys have managed yet another repair on it. Part of successfully rowing an ocean is about being able to make repairs. Team row4charity have defiantly had their fair share of problems. There is a quiz night being held at The Waterfront tomorrow night in aid of the The Stroke Association. Hope to see you all there.
- Emma xx

30/5/2009 Catching some Indian Ocean Rays

This week has been a good week for team Row4Charity. They are still maintaining a substantial lead of around 180Nm. Southern Counties Radio managed a live link up with them on Friday morning. It was great to hear Matt and Nick talking about their adventure so far. Sunday was too rough for the boys team shower so they had to postpone it until Tuesday. The current is neither with or against them now and Ian said its like rowing through syrup! The boat feels very heavy but the boys are really enjoying the weather they are getting at the moment. The team are taking regular dips to cool off and start (ed up a few rounds of Indian Ocean Olympics! All in all they are in good spirits and taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine. Phil had a swim yesterday and managed to film some the Bexhill Trust Challenger rowing away. On Wednesday they put their skills to the test and had to spend the night navigating by the stars as the compass light went out. When morning came Matt managed to fix the light. Nick said it was great to speak to everyone down at the Bexhill Rowing Club, but was very disappointed with the football results! The team wanted me to pass on to everyone their thanks for all the messages and the donations.
- Emma xx

24/5/2009 First Attack of the Flying Fish

On Friday 22nd May The Bexhill Trust Challenger was the first boat in the Indian Ocean to cross the halfway milestone. Excellent news for the four men on board and everyone here at home! The boys have been making very good progress the last couple of days and are pleased to have a lead of around 150 nautical miles. Yet again Team Row4Charity are experiencing power problems. Ever since they left Australia, the solar panel has never charged both patches as it should have, but on Saturday the solar panel was not charging at all and the boys had a shortage of drinking water. Phil remembered the hand operated water maker and set to work purifying some water for him and his team mates. Phil obviously underestimated his own strength because after ten pumps on the hand pump it snapped in half and that was the end of that! Desperate to rectify the situation a phone call was made to Tony at Woodvale for some advice. Matt then rewired the solar panel straight to the batteries and power was luckily resumed. After hitting a few choppy waves on Saturday Matt watched helplessly as Phil stumbled on deck. Matt thought he had regained his balance until he disappeared backwards over the side! Matt said one minute he was the there, then he was gone! Luckily Phil was unharmed and could see the funny side! Everyone had a good giggle about it too. Matt and Ian are now rowing partners, and with Ians poor eyesight he cannot see the compass when he is rowing at night. You can imagine his surprise when he was the first team member to get the famous flying fish in the face!! He did not see that one coming! Matt has built himself a custom made rowing seat now, with patches cut out in the shape of his bum sores, which is seemingly helping the problem. Now we eagerly await the next milestone of 2000 miles!
- Emma xx

20/5/2009 Nautical Night Times and JAWS Sighted!

As we well know team row4charity have been surviving on a pattern of two hour sleeping slots followed with two hours intensive ocean rowing. Lately the guys have reported that the thin line between sleeping and rowing is becoming very blurred! Nick frequently pops out of his cabin to start ( rowing an hour before he is due........whilst completely asleep! Phil talks in his sleep about seeing green strobe lights. Matt and Ian dream they are rowing the whole time they are asleep. When Matt is woken up to row he argues that he has already been rowing! In light of all the disturbed night time activity, the guys have decided to try three hour shift patterns through the night. For them this is a huge luxury- three hours continuous sleep- hopefully will help to recharge everyones batteries. The team were sorry to hear that many of the boats have had to put out their Para Anchors. Matt said there is a very strong wind that is pushing them north at the moment, so every stroke is a battle. The team are very nearly at the Half Way mark and have taken the decision to swap rowing pairs so for the time being. Ian is rowing with Matt and Phil is rowing with Nick. Fresh on the oars Ian and new partner Matt spotted something in the distance. Matt initially thought it was a dead body! But as the shape got closer he realised and shouted "SHARK!!". Squinting Ian, useless without his specs, could not see the new friend until he was literally 20 yards from the boat. Matt said the shark was around 6ft long and very chunky! Probably been following the Bexhill Trust Challenger having a nice feast of survival food, equipment and PANTS! He stayed about a meter under the blades, had a look up at Matt and Ian then swam off. Phil tried to tempt him back by peeing over the side but to no avail. It kept the boys amused for a while anyway. The team are continuing to pull hard through this harder wind, with view to a calmer ride in a few days time. The onshore team are arranging an Auction of Promises, so if anyone can help us out ie donate a promise/service/something amazing, to help us to continue to support the Stroke Association, we would be most grateful. Many thanks.
- Emma xx

17/5/2009 Bexhill Buoys Back Out In Front!

The rumours are true! Boat number 7- The one and only Bexhill Trust Challenger is finally up in first place again! The boys plan to take a more northerly path seems to have finally paid off in the last 48 hours. They have managed to avoid some nasty currents that have unfortunately hit Pura Vida. Matt said even though the hatches are full of water, nothing could dampen their spirits as they took up that pole position. The team have got into their routine nicely now, consistent strokes and settled sleeping patterns all contributing to their new found speed. Ian confirmed he enjoyed his birthday onboard the boat and celebrated it with two hours of rowing, two hours of sleeping.... The team also had one of their infamous Group Showers today and it was such a success that they have decided that every Sunday will be Group Shower Sunday. Not that I would call a quick squirt from a sports bottle much of a shower but its working for our boys. Phil got himself into a sticky situation earlier when he managed to pick up his energy drink instead of his shower water. I am betting he smelt the nicest though. Dont forget it is Phils birthday on Tuesday 19th May but he wanted to wish Happy Birthday to Sarah, Victoria and Claire from ESCC. The team also want to say a big hello to all the people at Sidley Depot. The weather is very hot out there on the Indian Ocean today, but the guys are looking forward to hitting some faster current and the huge Milestone of the Halfway Mark in the next couple of days. On a serious note keep your messages and donations coming in http://www.justgiving.com/indianoceanrow2009. These boys are out there with a vision to raise a huge sum for The Stroke Association. Please give generously.
- Emma xx

14/5/2009 Ian gets in a Spin

Picture the scene... It is the middle of the night on the Bexhill Trust Challenger. Phil and Ian are tucking themselves in for their two hour rest, Matt and Nick at the oars, when all of a sudden out of nowhere; a monstrous wave hits the boat! Matt and Nick almost go overboard as they are thrown from their seats. Ian, in his disoriented upside down state, thinks the boat has capsized. When the crew manage to regroup, Phil does a quick head count and luckily all four are present. Nick could not say how big the wave was as it came as quite a surprise, even more surprisingly the wave helpfully carried off Nicks Knickers, along with other vital items of clothing! Look out Mauritius, naked crew ahoy! In other news, you may have noticed the boys seemed to slow down two days ago, this was due to the damaged foot steering unit meaning the team were back to the old hand steering. This eats into sleeping and rowing patterns. They only managed ten miles that day so Matt set to work repairing the foot steering. This made a huge improvement and the guys went onto row thirty miles that night! Their speed has reached 2.79 knots today so they are well on track now. Row4Charity dvds are available at £2.50 each. It is a thank you the crazy, lovely people who have helped bring this dream to life for these four boys. Grab a copy today; you may just spot a familiar face! Available from The Retreat, The Waterfront and Bexhill Rowing Club. Alternatively email Geoff on Indianocean2009@live.co.uk .
- Emma xx

10/5/09 1000 Nautical Miles down....

Well, what can I say? 1000 miles under their belts and the boys are flying along. The milestone has given them a push as in the last 3 days they have rowed over 280 miles! Pretty impressive stuff! It is amazing with all the little problems that the team are experiencing; they are still putting in the time and shear power on the oars. They still cannot repair The Bexhill Trust Challengers auto tracking so Woodvale are keeping in regular contact with them in order to bring the updates. The broken auto helm is still not resolved and Matt said that the foot steering is also a little dodgy but they are working through it. The main problem is the metal on the foot steering plate is cracked and does not look like it will hold out much longer! Luckily for Nick there have been no sharks spotted as he was the lucky team member that got to go overboard! Nick had the task of scraping the barnacles off of the bottom of the boat. It is very important as the extra weight of the barnacles will slow the speed down. Nick was very brave and the others kept a keen eye out for Jaws! If rowing 1000 miles isnt enough excitement for the team they also have Ians Birthday to celebrate on Wednesday (13th) and Phils the following week. The half way marker is also only round the corner too so lots to celebrate on board! The ocean is expected to get very choppy on Tuesday but the wind should still be in their favour.
- Emma xx

7/05/09 Woodvale- where is our updates??

Just spoken with Woodvale who admit there is a problem with the boats tracking beacon which they are hoping to fix. This is no cause for alarm & both Andy Bristow & Woodvale have spoken to the lads today who are still upbeat, well & in good spirits. Woodvale are talking them through a number of fault finding procedures which may take a few days to rectify if it is possible. If the problem with the Beacon proves terminal then Woodvale will arrange to ring them 4 times a day for a position update & enter the information manually onto the web site progress page. Apparently there is only one satellite over the Indian Ocean as compared with three over the Atlantic so if a weak signal is emitted it may not pick it up. A fault with the satellite has been reported but as this is not affecting most of the boats they think the problem is onboard. The tracking beacon is just that, a device that tracks your course & gives your position & is not needed as an item of safety equipment. They have a separate emergency SOS beacon that when activated emits a signal to every frequency & satellite available giving the boats position. I agree it is frustrating but lets hope it gets sorted but if not we will still be updated as to their progress. Just to let you know so you can plot it yourself on a marine chart the boys position at 10:00hrs GMT was 22 deg South 100 deg East, if you are unsure how to do this go to www.marinechartreadingfordummies.com
- Geoff

6/05/09 Watch out for the Flying Pants

A busy couple of days for the boys! Reaching speeds of 2.71 and covering a staggering 66 miles in 24 hours, Team Row4Charity have really picked up the pace. The weather has calmed down a little which has allowed more progress. Between them, they have managed to get the foot steering working so it is much easier than having one of them hand steering. All four of them are feeling the strain on their bums and they have had to cut up the bedding to make more padding for the seats. Matt and Phil decided today was the perfect day to do their dirty laundry, much to their horror, it blew away! Matt lost a jumper, all his socks and all his pants and Phil lost all his pants! Commando for those two from now on....unless they fancy borrowing some from Nick! The boys are wearing their survival suits at night to keep them warm and dry from the waves and during the day they are finally NAKED! Naked rowers obviously appeals to the dolphins as they had a group of them swimming alongside them, about a blades length away. Even though the laptop is still not working, keep the messages up on the Woodvale site as the team will get them eventually.
- Emmax

4/05/09 Team Bonding and Ship Spotting

Only 2500 miles to go now! Team row4charity are feeling very upbeat today. They are getting a little bit more sun to charge the solar panels which is a huge boost for them. They have set up a new routine now as they are hand steering. So during the day they are doing 2hours on the oars then 2 hours sleeping, and someone steering. During the night they are managing to have 4 hours sleep per pair, whilst the two on the oars are taking it in turns to row and steer. I think this has had a positive effect on them as they sounded more rested today. Matt was really excited that they had seen six ships today after days of seeing nothing but ocean! But the most exciting news of the day- they anchored down this morning so that they could have a GROUP SHOWER! Yes girls, a group shower! The first wash they have been able to have in 2 weeks! The ultimate team bonding exercise! All four boys have immensely sore bottoms and even though they are finding it hard to row, they are positive about their progress. The team know that after this hard period they will hit slightly easier currents to give them a much needed speed boost. Keep your messages coming to them as they are getting them through the hard times.
- Emmax

1/05/09 The Demise of the Auto Helm

I got a little update from a very exhausted sounding Matt this morning! The weather has been against them for the last couple of days, making it difficult to row as they are sitting in very soggy clothes. After their little detour a few days ago they are now following Andys advice and heading north. This will hopefully find them more favourable currents to push them across quicker! It is a huge ocean out there and it is not about going the straightest route, it is about using the currents and the winds. So dont panic that they are not showing up in first place. They are learning every day. Another huge problem which has come to light is that the auto helm has now stopped working. This unfortunately means that the crew are having to hand steer the boat. This eats into the sleeping and rowing patterns as someone has to be steering at all times. It is not known whether they will be able to right this problem soon, if at all, but knowing these boys they will soon settle into the new pattern and overcome it. The spirits seemed a little low on the boat this morning but i reassured them that everyone is behind them. I passed on the amount of support coming through personal messages and on the Woodvale website, so keep it up guys!
- Emmax

Row4Charitys final day in Australia. Received via email from Peter Mills who helped the guys out of a tight spot.....

At 11.00am Friday 17th April, I met two guys on a push bike (Matt and Phil) asking about a track to suit their boat. For a non boating person this was a real eye opener. What an experience that has turned out to be. After quite an hour chasing round it was off to manufacture parts for an auto steer unit for the Bexhill Trust Challenger & fit it for them (they had been riding around for a day and a half already). Many hours later & into Saturday afternoon (2.00pm) fit out was complete. They still had issues at this time with their electrics. I left them to it for some rest time. Arriving at the marina 8.00am race morning they were out on the water circling around (they were trying to calibrate the auto steer). They re docked & still had not been able to set it up. Hasty discussions with race officials ensued about how to get it to work. They reckoned they had it figured out now. Last minute checks were being done by the boy's & at about 9.00am it was found the solar charging system was not function again! OUCH ! Dismantling of the panel system rapidly began. I raced off to get a couple of parts for them. The problem turned out to be in the diodes. 10.10am they were underway. I must say they left cheerful & happy, but they had the messiest deck of all, plus they had silastic glue everywhere, faces, hands clothing, what a sight! I went & watched the start ( from the end of a local break wall. They left in fine form with the main group, pulling hard. A couple of the boats were still milling around 10 minutes after. . I spoke with Matt about 2 hours after start ( & they had their steering working & were all laughing & joking. I will watch their progress with interest via the web. I wish them a winning run & fair weather It was great to meet the guys & help them out.
- Peter Mills

22/04/09 Problems, Problems...

Hi there, just to let you all know the boys are safe and well and now almost four days into their epic row. There was always going to be some teething problems with such a big challenge as this and they have certainly had their fair share. For start (ers their laptop is not working at all so they are receiving and sending NO EMAILS. So do not worry if they have not responded to you. Matt says - five minutes before we were due on the start ( line, the solar panels were not even on board the boat as we still could not get them to charge up, even though we had replaced the batteries the day before. We rowed to the start ( line with the deck covered in tools, still trying to configure the steering arm.- Nice to know everything was well organised then boys! Due to Ians poor steering (apparently) 3-4 minutes into the race they caught onto a crab line and got stuck. But they managed to get loose and pulled hard to gain first place within the first hour, a position they have held ever since. They are all feeling slightly sea sick, with Matt physically throwing up left right and centre on the first day although its settled down now. It was lovely to hear Nick and Ian on the news on Monday night, even though they wrongly told the team they were in 4th place. Until they get the solar panels fully charged they are trying to use as little energy as possible. As I wont be receiving email blogs at present all I can do is update the best I can from what I hear, But keep tracking the progress online,
- Emmax

6/4/2009 Seen The Boat

Hi everyone, so we have been in Geraldton a few days now it is so so hot! We saw the boat for the first time on saturday and i can tell you all it arrived here in one piece! We have been working on it for the last few days as a bit of work still needs to be done. We are hoping to get out on the water on Thursday so we're really looking forward to that. We have met the other crews which has been good, everyone seems to have things to do on their boats and all want to get on the boat asap. We have been taking lots of pictures and hope to get this up loaded soon, so watch theis space! Sorry this is a brief update but got to dash to the shop to buy some things for the boat before it closes, talk to you all again soon.
- Phil

31/03/2009 Finally Here

Wow! How the last 2 years have flown by for us. But we are here in race courtesy of Etihad Airways and of course courtesy of you guys, you have got us this far and I guess now its down to us to get to Mauritius. We are in Melbourne today but fly over to Perth tomorow morning and then a couple of days there then on to Geraldton. We have just been relaxing after a long stint of traveling, although it took only 13 hours to cross the same stretch of water that is going to take us 2 months in our boat, so not bad. Picked up a waterproof digital camera for the trip so we will try and upload a few photos as we go along with that, and we also bumped in to David Coulthard who invited us to have a drink with him and a few friends so that we could tell them all about what we are doing, they were all very impressed, and we got a photo and some sign row4charity key rings out of it! Anyway talk to you in Perth!
- Matt

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