Rum Party:

Tuesday night had the fleet crowded around Wa’Omoni, the Antiguan team ‘Wadadlis’ boat for a rum (rocket fuel) party. These guys know how to row an ocean, and how to have fun with it! Packed into their R45 you will find pots and pans, a pressure cooker, packets of rice and tons of fishing kit! Based on the taste of their rum punch at the boat party – setting foot on Antigua is set to be bright!

On the water!

Mrs Nelson has been shoved off the harbour wall and is now doing what she does best, gleaming on the water. We have spent several days moored up next to Row2Recovery, and now neatly strung up alongside Team Wadadlis – our more permanent neighbours up until the race start.

Night rowing:

Last night we took Nelly for a twilight spin, shortly after a dinner aboard a friends yacht in the marina. With the Port of San Sebastian up-lighting the hills with an array of twinkling lights…. T’was a beautiful night, full of gleaming stars and moonlit ocean tranquility… then…. “Bleeaaauuuuggghhh” Lauren brought the delicious food we had been cooked but hours before, back up to feed the little fishies. This appears to be Lauren’s strongest demon at sea so far, compassion on board is second to none with each spell of her crippling vomit attacks.

Daytime Rowing:

After several hours of bobbing around on the water today, narrowly avoiding collisions with local ferries, we (touching wood as I type) finally have our water-maker working without any hick-up’s. We have tried to calibrate our second auto-helm but no joy as of yet… More work on this another day as sea sickness prevented us carrying out the circular progression over water needed to fix the right bearings.

Dawn till Dusk

Life on the pontoon is fantastic, each team contently fixing, cleaning, tinkering, chatting, laughing. The faint sounds of the on board stereos playing out over the harbour, film crews buzzing, cigarette smoke wafting and the odd splash as someone gets pushed overboard.