A 40+ hour row: thunder and lightning storms, Alan the seal and Navionics art…
By Miriam Payne
What a weekend it was aboard the good ship Velocity, during the May bank holiday! With thunder and lightning storms, Alan the seal, thick fog and attempts at Navionics art, we had quite the adventure packed into over 40 hours of rowing.
Our plan was simple: head to Hartlepool after work on Thursday for a weekend filled with rowing. But, as always, simplicity escapes us. In true Jess fashion, our journey kicked off with a series of travel hiccups. It all began when we discovered on Wednesday afternoon that all trains south of London were cancelled. Jess, ever the problem-solver, proposed driving up in her trusty campervan, Gethin. However, Lottie quickly vetoed the idea with a resounding 'No! It’ll take you two weeks to arrive!'. Jess' knack for travel mishaps isn't limited to trains—cars aren't safe either. With Lottie’s brother to the rescue, kindly lending his car, we could trust that Lottie would get Jess to Hartlepool in a timely fashion.
Continuous weather checks had dashed our hopes of hitting the sea until Friday evening at the earliest. We resigned ourselves to getting as much shut-eye as possible, knowing we’d need every ounce of energy for the coming days.
After a good night's sleep, we made a beeline for our go-to breakfast spot, The Lock Gates. Then, it was time to rendezvous with the legendary Duncan Roy to borrow his anchor and lend a hand in getting Fortitude, his ocean rowing boat into the water.
As we caught up on all things ocean rowing, our conversation naturally drifted to our objectives for the weekend. You've likely heard of Strava art, but have you ventured into the world of Navionics art? Our ambitious plan involved sketching shapes with the track of our course in Navionics. We'd already mapped out a shark, and at Duncan's request, a 'Watts' lightning bolt was set to follow.
With the weather refusing to cooperate, we found ourselves at a loss for activities until conditions improved. So, we decided to take a stroll around the Royal Naval Museum, where we had the opportunity to explore the magnificent HMS Trincomalee. As Britain's oldest floating warship, boasting over 200 years of history and more than 100,000 nautical miles at sea, she was a sight to behold. Exiting through the gift shop, our inner children couldn't resist the novelty pirate flags. Naturally, we purchased one to mount on Velocity.
At 10pm, with the pirate flag proudly flying on Velocity, we were up again, energised and ready to tackle our Navionics art mission, starting with the lightning bolt. However, as is often the case in the unpredictable North Sea, the weather had other plans. Upon clearing the lock gate, we were met with winds blowing a good 5-10 knots faster than forecasted. While winds are welcome on the ocean, coastal navigation requires caution, especially when manoeuvring in and out of marinas.
Despite our best efforts with the autohelm, which seemed to have a mind of its own (likely user error, ha!), we found ourselves spinning in circles. Deciding it best not to tempt fate, we turned back, to which the heavens opened. The moment we reentered the lock gates, a tremendous thunderclap followed by spectacular lightning. It seemed our attempts at a Navionics art lightning bolt had somehow jinxed the weather. Grateful for our Zhik foul weather gear, we tied up Velocity and headed for a hot shower.
At the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, we got underway once more. Having figured out the autohelm error, we embarked on our lightning bolt course. This time, our efforts were blessed with calm seas and clear skies—a definite win! Opting for shifts of 3 hours on and 3 hours off for the first day, we found this rhythm to be quite manageable, affording us longer breaks during the night.
Of course, no rowing expedition would be complete without frequent visits to the snack hatch. Our chocolate stash disappeared faster than we could row, accompanied by the rapid dwindling of our supply of hula hoops. In a stroke of culinary genius, I even concocted a new snack combination, with the jammy dodger and salt and vinegar crisp wrap —a delicacy that can only be truly appreciated in the unique setting of an ocean rowing boat. Alas, its messy aftermath led to its prompt ban from being eaten in the cabin, courtesy of the copious crumbs it left behind.
After completing our lightning bolt masterpiece, we set our sights northward, aiming to reach Newcastle before midnight. With the darkness setting in, so did the tiredness and Jess and I even managed to row in sync whilst sleeping on the oars for a short period! This was followed by Lottie nearly choking on a percy pig at 3am in eagerness to get a sugar fix during a solo stint. Dawn came and we enjoyed a quiet moment bobbing along, eating breakfast and soaking in the morning sea air. It was very calm, almost like a millpond, which always makes for a peaceful wake up.
During my solo row training in Hartlepool, I often spotted a seal in the same area every outing, and I'd like to think it was the same little fella each time. His curious presence was always a welcome sight. So, it brought us great joy to see him (or perhaps one of his mates) return this time around. We have affectionately named him Alan!
With Alan keeping us company, our next mission was to create a shark shape. Settling into our new shift pattern of 2 hours on 1 hour off, we enjoyed basking in the sunlight between bouts of rowing, punctuated by enthusiastic shouts of "It's Alan!" The fog then descended, enveloping us in a thick haze reminiscent of pea soup. It turned out to be a great simulation for losing sight of shore. The fog brought with it a drop in temperature and we layered up, looking forward to the day that British summer finally makes an appearance.
Another weather check revealed that we needed to cut our row short and return by midnight on the Tuesday morning. This gave us just enough time to put the finishing touches on our shark creation before dropping anchor for a few hours and indulging in a hot drink. Despite facing stronger-than-expected winds and some of the biggest waves we'd encountered during coastal training, we were impressed by Velocity's resilience in adverse conditions.
Upon docking up in the marina, we couldn’t resist another pilgrimage to the snack hatch. However, with a meeting scheduled that afternoon with our wonderful supporter, BetterYou, we would have to fast for 12 hours beforehand as we were having blood tests taken so that they can craft personalised vitamin sprays for our crossing. I’d argue there’s few challenges greater than that for a rower. Echoes of ‘quick we’ve got 32 minutes, pass me some hula hoops’ rang round velocity before we settled down for the night into an almost comatose sleep.
It was so great to finally meet Andy (CEO) from BetterYou in person and soak up all of his knowledge. His treat of fish and chips was the perfect end to our weekend escapades—a meal devoured with the enthusiasm of hungry gannets.