THERE WAS ALSO A BIRD, WHICH WE DULY NAMED BOB, THAT FOLLOWED US NEARLY THE ENTIRE 3,000 MILE COURSE FROM THE CANARY ISLANDS TO THE CARIBBEAN
The competition in which the Four Oarsmen were participating – the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge – had drawn some of the world’s most intrepid competitors. “You get communication of how others are coping with the elements, but really all you care about is your own welfare,” explains Robinson. “Sea-sickness was the big one for us, and we were carrying every kind of remedy on board.
“Perhaps the most embarrassing moment, however, wasn’t us being sick over the side of the boat, but when George spotted another ship heading our way – or so he thought. A panicked call over our radio led to one very bemused, and far more experienced, member of the other ship’s crew politely informing us that the closest they were going to come to our little vessel was about two miles away. Still, better safe than sorry I suppose!”
As with any trip into the powerful throes of the ocean, these moments of struggle were healthily balanced by a chance to see some of nature’s wonders up close and personal. For the four Brits, this meant revelling in everything the sea had to offer, from the seemingly banal to the sublimely exotic.
“It was a real privilege to see some of the Atlantic’s wilder residents at such close
quarters,” agrees Biggar. “At one point we were joined for about half an hour by a minky whale and her calf, which was just stunning. Later on, as we neared the end, we saw flying fish for the first time – and a few even tried to hitch a ride with us to Antigua!”
“There was also a bird, which we duly named Bob, that followed us nearly the entire 3,000 mile course from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean,” says Robinson. “At one point he even used to flap down and rest in our seats when we’d got up to check the equipment. It took us a while to work out if he was a hallucination or not.”
Such moments of mental delirium were yet another challenge that the group had to contend with. Although serious in theory, these sleep-deprivation induced hallucinations were often comical in practice, as Robinson soon found out.
“Robbo came up to deck in a proper huff, which was quite out of character,” remembers Biggar. “He was kind of muttering under his breath; not happy at all. After a while I asked him if everything was okay, and he said ‘not really, I’m still annoyed about the shorts’. We had no idea what he was talking about.”
“It transpired that Pete thought he had been talking to former British rugby player, Will Greenwood, who had apparently made him come out and row in cotton rugby shorts rather than his specialised rowing pair. It was about two hours before Pete realised he’d been hallucinating, which was very entertaining for the rest of us, except maybe Stu, who Pete thought was Will Greenwood, and thus was taking the brunt of the abuse for the shorts situation.”
As well as etching their names in the water-borne history books, the group raised £250,000 for charitable causes, and were duly rewarded upon their return to shore with the feast that they had been dreaming of for the past month.
“Together we lost over 38kg during the challenge,” laughs Biggar. “We were all craving food constantly, from bacon sandwiches to custard. When we finished we just ate and ate and ate. We devoured anything we could get our hands on, and we were still hungry! “But really, from the moment we left the Canary Islands, all I wanted was a cup of tea!”
ONBOARD | SPRING 2018 | 79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156