a week of mind bending

Rowing the Atlantic , it aint easy ...A round up of the news thats news,, and man,, it comes thick and fast. You think yup.. row the Atlantic , i can do that...arrrh.. but its not just rowing the Atlantic is it... it’s all the “other” stuff that I think is all part of the experience and it is all encompassing. When I first spoke to Sean about joining him in this project the phrase he used was, eyes wide open. But still whatever you can dream up in terms things to do, theres always more. There are of course good and bad in everything, and I wont gloss things up , when you look to people that you think that would give you help and support and that would be a given and its just not there even worse, your met with apathy , that is truly disappointing. But it does not detract from the overall experience of the Talisker race (still have trouble comprehending a 3000 mile Atlantic crossing being described as a race), Ive also been given bucket loads of good will and generosity, and add to that the experience this far. To that end, lets talk about the week down in Teignmouth doing the required course to compete in the Talisker race, the components of the course are VHF radio use and understanding, sea survival, and the `orrid one to try to get your head round in three days , astro navigation (using a sextant to you and me) and finally topping off the week with first aid. Which provided me with one of those memories that will stick in the mind forever.
Tell me more you say, the course pulls in competitors for the 7 days the course runs for. There was 11 of us sharing a house (yes it is a big house) provided by Seasports. So thats 11 virtual strangers thrown together. The roll call went like this, The Row 2 recovery boys.. 3 out of the 4 were attending, it was a real honour to meet these guys and even bigger honour to be in the same event as them, im a huge fan of the military and veterans who have served with selfless distinction and have given huge sacrifices for us all... Paddy had an amazing outlook towards others, willingly accepting hardship so that others didn’t have to, being only a relatively young lad , 30 years old.. but you could tell he wasn’t completely at peace with his injuries or what it meant for his future. Will talk about the others in this team later. There were Freddie and jack from the Atlantic castaways, mine and Seans competitors in the pairs class... young guys,,, very very well spoken, which incurred the attention of Lee`s, from Row 2 recovery, wicked sense of humour, poor Jack did cop for some. Then there was the only girl in the house, Catlin from the good ole US of A and here rowing partner George , who flew in especially to do this course. Catlin coming in on a different flight from George and being stuck in Paddington station on the Friday nite by herself, now theres a baptism of fire. Being that Catlin was the only girl in the house this incurred Lee`s wicked sense of humour (theres a common theme running through this, can you tell) . There was Shane, one half of a pair, Shane, from Western Oz and was in every way a typical oz. Funny, zany , likes a drink, or three. There was Callum,, 20 years old and flying the flag for Britain in the solo class, this youngster has a huge pair of kahunas on him... the folly of youth. Lastly there was Ben, who withdraw from his team for this year due to the old Talisker enemy of funding probs. So there was the runners and riders.
The learning week started gently on the Saturday with VHF verbal and theory exams.. now, I hate exams with every fibre in my body, so like a scared bunny in the headlights, turned the paper over and began ticking boxes and writing a out a mayday call. Traumatised at the time, in hindsight this was a walk in the park... pass mark was 16 out of 25 .. rather disappointed to find out i came last with 22/25.. really ?? damn... and so the competition between the teams starts.
With that out of the way it was down to a hotel swimming pool, wasn’t exactly choppy but for us is where we  learnt the subtities of sea survival, basically, in full wets is getting in and out of lifeboats. One of the excerises was being able to paddle on your back hauling an injured person to the liferaft. I had Paddy... my life hes a big lump. Thoughts racing through my head were, gawd if this was a 20 ft swell , waves lashing you then this is definitely not my idea of fun. One of the things we had to do is make a cup with our hands over our mouth and nose and have a buddy splash water in your face,, object being able to breathe without drinking the ocean,, again....didnt like that one much either.  It was about this time the penny was dropping, this is all very real, we could be up to our necks hundreds of miles from rescue fighting for our lifes. Sent shivers down my spine. One other of the excercises was getting an injured team mate off the side of the pool into the liferaft, easy enough ....three of us standing looking at our casualty , Catlin, wondering what do with with her and her “broken” leg.. ummm I know,, just gently launch her off the side and then jump in after her ....yup .. that was the wrong thing to do. Made me laugh though. Time in the pool bobbing around, clambering in and out of life rafts was a wake up... those lifeboats are not the last word in comfort, the one we were using was a 4 man raft.. with 4 of us in there... it was very intimate.. lets say i know George, Catlin, Ben better than i would have wanted.
Sunday we started on the light subject of rocket science, or astro navigation as its better know. Sean will testify to this creation as an instrument of torture designed to inflict harm to a persons pride whilst they flip around like a fish out water trying to get to grips with it. Ouch. What was even more ouch was the youngsters amongst us got it more or less immediately. This torture went on for three days, myself, Nigel from Row 2 recovery and the eldest at 56 , have to say that because i was NOT the oldest there,, yaaay ! and Paddy all made a right fist of things ... I just couldn’t get my head around what was happening and why, I went to the minds well of intelligence and found it baron. One of the days we all found it tough , apart from Catlin (teachers pet) so when the going got tough and the home work set,, the tough got going,, down the pub.....ohhh that was a messy one.... not me you understand , I find thinking hard at the best of times, let alone on a hangover.. the carnage of the morning wasn’t as bad as what i thought it would be , everyone turned up on time and lying through their collective teeth,, home work,, oh yeah done that.. coughs in hand....
Exams came and went .. least said the better,, but i get it..... I get the subject, usually this part of the course is taught over 6 weeks , not three days ,, so that eased my hurt pride.. but a pass is a pass. The afternoon of Thursday the relief was tangible, Sue, co owner of sea sports came in with bubbly and also Carsten, race owner and Ian Couch, who is part of the race organisers team, and has completed 4 of these types of events,, 4?? Thats just greedy. He chatted to us about some of his experiences, and I have to say that fired me up.... its not all about pain and suffering, he told us of a dead calm nite , pitch black, no artificial light and above the milky way spread like a glittery carpet from horizon to horizon. Also when the boat was visited by an inquisitive whale, who came up for a peek , swam under the boat and then back up the other side.  Its these little glimpses into another world that i look forward to the most.
Thursday nite was curry nite by way of celebration, and of course celebratory drinks.. lots and lots of drinks.. Catlin was classic, being this was her time in the UK and being that she was really very very well oiled , she had a hard time with the british accent,, she has a very distinctive high pitched American accent and her “what” was heard many times that nite,, what to this ,, what to that...I though,, umm wonder how she would get on with Seans accent and vocab...After they finally nerfed us out of the Irish bar back to the house, Now Lee,, Lee has a talent,, guitar playing and song writing,, when i say song writing he takes well known choones and cannibalises them with his own ripe vocals.. Butchers went down well.... a song for Catlin also was hi larious .. You fill up my senses like a ... you know the song...right up to the point the line went,, you fill up my senses like smelly dog (or something like that) .Thinking Lee isn’t known for his charm..it was light hearted banter and damn good fun.
Friday, Friday was first aid,, a chance for the brain to calm down, we were discussing first aid on the boat, and concussion, for solo rowers this is a huge thing. I wanted to make the point for the solo rowers among us of which there was only one.....how would he deal with concussion?? The chat developed, and in the worse case can cause a bleed on the brain, and then pressure build up requiring immediate medical intervention. To wit this nameless solo rower (work it out from earlier paragraphs) piped up about drilling a hole in your head to relieve pressure... err what .. did I hear right,,, yup sure did....damn Callums really hardcore and i cant wait to see his first aid kit,, a drill, handsaw and a sander i shouldn’t wonder, and such a cute team name,, The Persil Waterbabies...but hes proper hardcore.
And that was the week that was....the drive back to Basingstoke was nice to see Ali and the girls ..seemed like a lifetime Id been away, but distance makes the heart grow fonder. With the top down on the bug the cruise home was sweet. Life is good.
Other business, as always life moves on a pace with team Thrift energy, the promo video was released, top job to Emma Mitchell and Sean Usher. We picked up a couple of equipment sponsors here in Basingstoke, so thats big up Harlequin Clothing, and also Nigel of Gosport Adventure golf.. yes we are sponsored by a crazy golf course..... Nigel has bought our liferaft  and is also coming out to La gomera for the big push off.
So thats it for now.. well done for bearing with me.. i do like to ramble.
Till next time

Andy