Solo Atlantic Row 2011

This last week has been the longest and most tiring of the crossing so far, not just because of the inevitable effect of 50 days rowing taking its toll on the body, more that the weather has made for some testing rowing conditions. For the most part of this last week I have had between 10-14 knots of wind and swell of 0.5-1.5m. Often the wind has all but disappeared and along with ever increasing temperatures, one day last week it reached 36°C on deck, it has been heavy going. While most would see these as very idyllic conditions to be in, I can assure you that rowing in them is tough. At times I have also found myself fighting against a swell pushing me north, just to add to the fun and games of it all! It would seem that these are the sorts of conditions I can expect now...

For the last 36 hours I have been in the middle of a col, or low pressure system between two high pressure systems over the Azores and Bermuda. This has meant that the wind has all but died and I am once again rowing in a millpond. The swell and local currents have been sending me all over the place and whist having covered about 50 miles in the last two days, I have made just over 25 towards Barbados. I am currently on 876 to go and with these conditions set to last for another 24 hours, I am not going to be going anywhere fast. The drop in the swell gave me the opportunity to get over the side this morning and give the hull another clean. There was a fair bit of growth so it took a bit of time but the hull is now once again good and...

The weather this week has been up and down, with decent winds at the start of the week then the last 48 hours have provided the calmest weather I have experienced on the trip. I made over 40 miles on Monday whilst yesterday I made just over 20, so you can see the mix in conditions. Yesterday was surreal, I never realised how calm it could get in the middle of the ocean, you could have heard a pin drop as there was not a breath of wind and the sea was silent. Things were so calm that I was able to leave the cabin hatch open when I got my head down which made for a much cooler cabin. With the weather having dropped it provided a good chance to make some more headway South, and I am very happy with my progress, with the best part of a degree...

Not much to report in the last 5 days so I will keep this short. Since passing the halfway mark the winds have stayed fairly constant in the NE and over the past few days have made some fair progress. Today the conditions did turn back into the South which made for another hard, slow day, but fortunately the conditions have come back round this evening and the outlook for the next few days is fairly good. As I write I have 1097 miles to go, which means that in these next few days I will be getting to less than 1000 to go, all going well, which is fantastic. All good on board, looking forward to getting into these next 600 miles or so then with them out the way it will be very much closing in on Barbados. The weather has not disappointed, although an overcast day yesterday did...

Shortly after sunrise this morning I reached 1275 miles rowed which means I am now halfway! All downhill from here now...! Although the weather over the last 10 days has slightly hindered progress, it’s great to have reached where I am. Now no longer leaving the Canaries but starting to work my way down towards Barbados, I will be hoping to catch some days up with the more stable weather and the challenge is to row the second half faster! Since my last blog the weather has picked up and moved into the NE/ENE which has been good, although it has dropped again over the last 24 hours. The N swell that I was expecting from the storm near to the Azores never materialised which I am thankful for as it would have made for a fairly uncomfortable time and the winds turned meaning I was able to make some good...