Gemma

About Gemma

Posts by Gemma :

Day 14

Video updates on Christmas Eve, the team reflect on their journey so far and it’s getting festive on board Invictus Atlantic.

Day 13

Listening. Becoming.

Sore feet, sore thumbs,

Sore knees, sore bum

Hard to move, hard to nap,

Hard to eat, hard to crap

Inbound goffers from all directions,

A wet slap in the face,

The angry sea’s embrace?

All night rowing. Cold, wet and tired.

Playlists silenced, much contemplation

What the —— am I doing in the middle of this ocean?

A new dawn breaks, the pale light of positivity glows,

Every day is a school day and today I’ve much to know.

Change your shoes or socks and sandles,

Even bare foot and slippers if the feet can handle it

Move your thumb, change your grip

Move your belt buckle so your thumbs don’t get hit.

Crawl don’t walk on the slippery deck

Use the bucket by the door, we don’t want that shit on the floor.

Listen to the boat, it’s not trying to beat you

Learn its ways, it’s trying to teach you.

Look at the waves , their power and their glory,

Listen to their voices, learn their stories.

In the pit of the night with no moon or stars,

The waves will tell you where they are.

Not with a cold wet slap to the chin, more an arm round the shoulder, welcoming in

Leave your old ways behind and your ego at the port, Out here on the ocean they are both worth nought .

Listen to the boat, she will be your teacher,

Feel the ocean, she’s trying to reach you

Become. Become one.

By David Radford-Wilson, Invictus Atlantic.

Day 11

Dave prepares the drogue for tonight’s storm

Blister management

An update from Skipper, Jim on day ten of the row, and an apology for not sending much content. They seem to be having an issue with the BGAN, unable to access data or send as so intermittent. Dust storms and strong seas aren’t much fun in the Atlantic, but they are safe and well. They are about to hit some horrible weather so probably no comms until after Monday. They reported that they are eating well and no sea sickness. Looking forward to calmer seas in the coming weeks.

Day nine

Early morning in the mid-Atlantic ocean and a game of spot the difference. Last night two gate catches broke in the strong seas. With only a reserve gate on board we have some improvisation to do.

Day two

“All good here. Autohelm issues on Day 1 overnight meant we lost some ground I think. But all eating well and only 2 sea sick bouts so far.”

Invictus Atlantic wave goodbye to family at La Gomera

The first 24 hours

From saying goodbye to family and friends to leaving land behind, here’s a snapshot from the first 24 hours of the World’s Toughest Row.

And they’re off…

The day has arrived and team Invictus Atlantic are off, at 8.20am they set sail from La Gomera for their epic 3000 nautical mile row across the Atlantic ocean.

The team will be rowing for two hours on, two hours off non-stop for an estimated six weeks, battling waves up to 40 feet high and consuming the equivalent of 26 Mars bars (around 6,000 calories) each every day. Stay tuned to the Race Diary for daily updated from across the water!

Getting test row ready!

We’ve been given the green light to row! The boat has passed inspection, we’re testing all our kit and getting ready for the test row. All 38 boats are now lined up beautifully here in La Gomera harbour, all doing final admin. We are busy cleansing water bottles with milton tablets, strapping down oars, checking all our fixtures and fittings, and doing the last bits of prep before the test race. Continuing to test all the communications kit to make sure we are all good to go. We’re reorganising the cabin, something we will probably do again and again, finessing the set up before the off!

Testing and tracking…

Now the boat is in the water we tested our BGAN Wifi system, a special terminal that connects devices to earth-orbiting satellites, as long as BGAN terminals have a line of sight to a satellite, they can be used anywhere, allowing us to send messages, images and videos back to our team, friends, and family. You can watch our videos from the row on our Instagram page. The tracker is not fitted to the boat, you can download the Yellow Brick Tracker for iPhone and Android, and follow our journey in real time! Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can add World’s Toughest Row – Atlantic 2024 to your race feed and tap on teams to scroll down and select Invictus Atlantic.

Yellow Brick Tracker - Worlds Toughest Row Map

Yellow Brick Tracker - Invictus Atlantic