Team TSR went to La Gomera to see the start of the TWAC 2022. Summarised in 3 words: all the feels. Here’s the full low-down on the jam-packed weekend (sandwiched between some travel chaos!).
After a late train, a frozen plane, delayed flight, and a missed ferry, we finally made it to La Gomera. The sun had truly gone by the time we were on the boat and I took a few minutes to stand outside and stare out into the darkness. No lights on the water at all, just pitch black ocean. That was the first wake-up moment of the weekend. I wouldn’t say I’m hugely afraid of the dark but on the sea that might be a different story.
First stop was the famous Blue Marlin. Anyone who’s been to La Gomera will know it – it’s the only bar in the town and has a long history with the TWAC. We rocked up in our snazzy new kit (massive thanks to Volt&Fast for gifting us the shirts and legend Ana for the design!!) and found the place full of previous rowers. These are my people… next-level adventurers, a little bit nuts, full of grit. They all had so many stories to share; horror stories (I saw the photos of a marlin strike and eek that is terrifying), whale tales, the best bits and the worst bits. So much to learn off these people as well!
Went for a beautiful sunrise run with Viki and a gorgeous dip in the sea – best way to start the day. We popped into the Atlantic Campaigns HQ and picked up our future rower lanyards, giving us access to the boats moored up in an orderly line in the marina. This was my first time seeing an ocean rowing boat in real life! Huge thank you to the Ambrose Buoys and Team Emotive for letting me onboard to have a look!! They're bigger than I was imagining from the outside but very tiny in the cabins. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the exact model we'll be rowing as it's a new one that hadn’t been released in time for this race, but it was still very cool to finally stand on something I've only ever seen in the films and photos! Right now it still feels a bit mad to think I'll be living on a boat like this for 5 weeks next year. We got some great advice about the campaign process from speaking to several teams as they were prepping the last bits. The ocean rowing community is really quite small and it was lovely to be so welcomed and flooded with a wealth of support.
Next on the agenda was the future rowers briefing. This really was a serious wake up call! Chief safety officer Ian ran through basically everything we need to tick off in the next 12 months… it’s a long list. My current thoughts are it's pretty daunting but I'm even more excited to get stuck in! It was also lovely to finally put faces to names of the AC crew. They run something pretty spectacular and their love for it really came through seeing them out there. We had our photos taken by Penny on the beach; dodging the waves and cutting our feet on the rocks to get the perfect lighting!
Sunday evening was another night at the Blue Marlin, this time hanging out with all of the 2023 fleet who’d gone out. There were probably 20 of us from 7 or 8 different teams. Shots and sangrias were flowing … it was a fun time.
12th December: RACE START! I simply cannot describe the feelings of today. There was a calm yet nervous atmosphere around the boats in the minutes leading up to the gun. Nothing like the loudness of triathlons I'm used to! A flare was fired for every team that crossed the start line: 3000 miles to go! I got goosebumps watching them row off the pontoon and around the harbour, very quickly become tiny dots in the distance. Exciting, emotional, inspiring, encouraging, terrifying, huge amount of anticipation. A few tears may have slipped out watching families wave goodbye for an unknown amount of time. It's not something you can comprehend until you do it I think, but seeing it, being there, was a real reality check. This row is mega. And this time next year it's us.
It got me thinking again: as a non-rower with a substantial fear of the ocean, why on earth did I sign up to row the Atlantic?!
I'm doing it for the experience as a whole - the ocean wildlife, the epic skies, the time outdoors, the unique opportunity to push myself mentally and physically more than I ever have, the people we'll meet in the process, the simple life on the water, the adventure, the peace at sea, the freedom to dig deeper into who I really am, the lives I hope we'll be able to touch through our charity fundraising, the chance to achieve something totally incredible with an equally incredible team.
I'm doing it because I can't say no... once I'd had the seed planted in my head I couldn't let go. Its the challenge of a lifetime with a meaningful message that I'm here to share.
Most of all I'm doing it to inspire and to be inspired. I hope to encourage more women to take on their own impossible, however big or small, whatever it may be.
You can read about everything that we stand for on our team website and more about my own reasons for rowing here. 💙
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