Falmouth to
Scilly
If you have read
my blog about our ocean row you will know that we spent a great deal of time
preparing and training for the challenge. We felt that the best sort of training
we could do would be to get out in our boat and row it. This would make us
proficient at rowing, but also get us used operating within the confines of the
boat and give us an understanding of life on board. So as soon as our boat was
anything like seaworthy, we got her in the water and started practicing.
Our first big
outing was from Falmouth to the Scilly Isles. We set off with a support boat
just in case we ran into trouble. The support boat was piloted by Simon who was
actually the organiser of the Atlantic Race, he had done a few crossings of his
own so was able to provide some good tips as we went along.
Although the
boat we not fully finished and none of the electrics, nav, radio etc had yet
been fitted she was perfectly seaworthy and was fine for the trip.
The trip took
16hrs and was very enjoyable. It was a really hot day with very little wind so
we were able to make pretty good progress. It was great testing the boat out
properly for the first time and seeing how she felt. We practiced rowing 2hrs
on and 2hrs off, made a bit off food and even used the bucket, just to help us
understand how difficult things would be when we eventually began our Atlantic
Crossing.
It was great
approaching the island, they’re beautiful and surrounded by birds and wildlife.
We arrived in St
Mary’s to find we had timed our trip with the Gig World Championships, so the
tiny island was full of massive, drunk men from Cornwall and Devon. We spent a
great weekend on the island and had arguably one of our best team drinking
sessions before returning home on the rib (the boat came back on the ferry).
As a training
weekend I would highly recommend this to anyone.
