The One That Got Thrown Away

The One That Got Thrown Away

2008 01 28-By Debbie, RowofLife Land Support

About a week ago……wow, I have been blog absent, which would have continued except for the fabulous little voice in my head telling me, “you need to blog, Deb!”….. Angela told me a little story she wanted me to include in the blog. Those were more jovial times; 60 miles a day, happy times….the days I feared that RowofLife would make it to Antigua, before Angela’s wheelchair and passport and Franck’s credit card and pictures of his kids, and me. That stuff and I would all be in some random airport (this is a low budget team….we will take 5 layovers, if we can go across the country for $100.) whilst Angela and Franck patiently waited in English Harbour for RowofLife Land Support to arrive. But the winds have changed, the pain and physical problems have increased, and now I will surely beat them to English Harbour, Antigua. But I digress….

A week ago, Angela asked me to tell you their fish story. Our team was rowing their hearts out; trying to get to Antigua for Angela’s granddaughter’s birthday (2/2) or John Nunn’s latest calculation of their arrival time (2/1). Just then a beautiful Marlin leapt from the water onto the deck of the boat. Now Angela and her brother, Cliff, went deep sea fishing twice in November, and nothing nearly that lovely graced their poles, let alone hopped upon the deck. Franck and Angela put the fish into a bucket of water, to keep him alive. It was such a beautiful fish; they decided take this moment as a photo opportunity. Both of them took pictures with the beautiful fish in the bucket. Apparently the dehydrated food isn’t that bad, because they decided that the fish needed to be free; off he must go to be with his friends and family, unlike Angela and Franck.

After saying their goodbyes, they tossed the fish back into the ocean. As he was being thrown back, he looked at them with his big dark eyes, as if to say, I jumped on your boat for a reason. He hit the water and Franck and Angela smiled anticipating their fish’s reunion with his family, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside watching the fish swim away, when all of the sudden a bigger fish came and gobbled their fish right up. And then they knew the reason why he had come to them in the first place……..music fading……“The Circle of Life…..”

Row of Life Passes Ocean Summit

Row of Life Passes Ocean Summit

01/16/2008 6PM GMT-By Debbie, RowofLife Land Support

On 01/14/08 at midnight, RowofLife was 67 miles behind Ocean Summit. Today, 01/16/08, at 6PM GMT RowofLife passed Ocean Summit. In 2.5 days RowofLife rowed 69 miles farther than Ocean Summit. Now their sights are on Mission Atlantic. MA is only 5 miles in front of RowofLife as of 6PM today. After Mission Atlantic the next boat is Komale. They are only 47 miles ahead of RowofLife as of 6PM GMT today. Franck and Angela have been rowing their hearts out and it shows. Clearly they are really in a hurry to get to Antigua to partake of the Dinner and Drinks being provided by Christy CF. Thanks for all your support.

Boy About Town http://mysite.verizon.net/resyuj29/fabulousboyabouttown/ has been working tirelessly on getting press releases out. He has reworked the press release and sent it out to lots of different media outlets. If any of you would like to send out the press release to your local media outlets, email me at debmole@sbcglobal.net and I will forward it to you. I think we need to blitz the media as much as possible. This is a fantastic story and it has gotten no press. Maybe if we all email the press release to everyone (Local news, TV, Radio, print media, Oprah, Ellen, The View, Regis, etc) they could not ignore it. Let’s get Angela and Franck the press they deserve to share their inspirational story with other people. It would be nice for Differently-Abled people to realize they can do anything and for Able folks to realize it too.

Piss On You

Piss on You

01/12/08—By Debbie, RowofLife Land Support

The clouds gathered over the RowofLife boat. Angela excited to get a shower, gathered her soap and shampoo and waited…….but it was not to happen. Barely enough water fell to get her wet. She pointed to the clouds and yelled, “Piss on you!” Franck, thinking Angela was teaching him some English, now points upward when he sees clouds and says, “Piss on you!”

Boy About Town was locked out of his blog for many days. Proving that a Boy without his blog is down, but not out, Boy created a new super fabulous website. http://mysite.verizon.net/resyuj29/fabulousboyabouttown/ Boy has done an amazing amount of footwork. He has generated more interest and gotten more publicity for RowofLife and CARP in a couple of weeks, than there has been in months. Thanks Patric!

I also wanted to send out a giant thanks to Julie at the UPS Store #5658 at 7^th and Redondo in Long Beach, CA. Julie has helped RowofLife and CARP with printing, copying, shipping, banners, and moral support. She has risen to the occasion when our poor planning has created rush jobs for her. We couldn’t have done it without Julie!

Location:

UPS STORE

3350 E 7TH ST LONG BEACH, CA 90804 Phone: (562) 434-8595 Fax: (562) 434-8325 E-mail The UPS Store #5658

http://www.theupsstore.com/locations/locdet.asp?strCenterNum=MBE5658

Green Sea Pringles

Green Sea Pringles

01/10/2008 (well that is when I started it) By Debbie-Land support

It is never good when an expensive Satellite phone call starts out, “Mommy Margo (my mother who went to La Gomera and helped pack the food for the trip) conspired with Franck to fill this boat with Junk Food!” Angela followed with a short rant providing evidence that there was a conspiracy but that it had now been foiled by the powers that be. That was followed by an evil laugh. Confused? Well I was. So I shall start from the beginning, which is what Angela did after I got her to stop laughing.

At the beginning of January, Franck had “cracked” the hatch for air and a large wave subsequently flooded the cabin. Angela had him take all the things out of the cabin and hung them to dry. The cabin was mopped up and all was well, or so it seemed….. Franck decided to get into his secret stash of Junk Food about a week later. Angela says that Franck and Mommy Margo, sneaked (actually I believe the word was conspired) a stash of junk food in one of the deck hatches in the cabin, without Angela’s knowledge. (It should be noted that my mom denies any knowledge of said junk food being placed in the deck hatch, further, she denies that she ever stepped foot on the boat.) Franck decided that he would break into to his stash, and much to his surprise the deck hatch had leaked. Boxes of Kleenex and Franck’s cookies, Pringles, etc. were soaked. Not recently, put them out to dry kind of soaked, but the green sea water mold soaked. Franck, desperate for junk food, decided that green mold with sea salt flavored Pringles, might just do the trick. The consensus on the new flavor…..Not Bad! Clearly they have been on the water too long.

On the upside….Angela says the boat is much lighter with the wet Kleenex and cardboard junk food cans gone.

Fish like Raisins

Fish like Raisins

RowofLife has past the Half Way Point and are on the downhill slide into Antigua. Well, at least they are more than half way to Antigua. On 1/8/08 as of 6PM GMT (10am PST) Angela and Franck had rowed 1279 Nautical Miles of the 2552 nm it will take them to get to Antigua. As timing would have it they called on the Sat Phone just after Woodvale posted the mileage on the website. When I told them they could be heard hooting and howling!

They have been rowing 7 shifts of one hour together every day, adding an extra shift or two when they could. They row an hour, take a 15 minute break, and then row another hour….. They have been putting out the sea anchor and sleeping at night, hope that the sleep will help them heal their bodies and stay healthy for the rest of the row. On 1/7/08 they rowed 5 extra shifts (clearly neither of them are good at moderation) to make some ground on the boats in front of them and to keep the boats behind them at bay. The 12 hours of rowing made a difference as they logged 54 miles on that day. They are both competitive so my plan is to tell them that a boat is catching them or they are catching up to a boat, so they row faster and get to Antigua quicker. Just kidding…..I just report the facts to them.

Franck took a swim on the 6^th to check out the barnacle situation on the bottom of the boat. They were pleasantly surprised that the anti-fouling paint they painted with seems to be working and they had very few hitchhikers.

They saw lots of 30 lb Dorado swimming below the boat. Angela said they did not want to stop rowing to try and catch them. Dehydrated food for 39 days and you don’t want to stop and catch a 30 lb Dorado, HUM. I will warn you that Angela does fish, so this may just be a fish tale to make her brother, Cliff, jealous. Angela says that she did learn something about fish; they like raisins but not so much the nuts of the stale trail mix.

On the home front, Boy About Town, http://fab-boy-about-town.blogspot.com/ , has been working diligently to get Angela and CARP (California Adaptive Rowing Program, www.carplb.net ) some publicity. He has arranged to have a link to CARP put on Long Beach Online (http://www.locallongbeachonline.com/ ) and Local Huntington Beach (http://www.thelocalhb.com/ ) They are also running this blog on the “Local Blogs” sections. Both are excellent websites for locals and visitors alike. They give restaurant suggestions, local events and hotels. Take a look and see all these towns have to offer. Boy About Town also got the Center in Long Beach to feature Angela’s crossing in the next newsletter. Boy’s blog is side splitting funny. You should take a gander, he is really a talent. Follow him now and you can say sometime in the future, I knew him when…….. This Boy is going places.

Karin Falcone of Able News (http://ablenews.com/ ) also published an article on RowofLife. Thanks Karin! Also, World Rowing wrote an article about Angela and Franck in their news section. I cannot find the name of the author, or the email that she sent me, so I apologize for that. If she emails me again I will credit her in a future blog. (http://www.worldrowing.com/display/modules/news/dspNews.php?newid=324299 )

Thanks for reading, Debbie debmole@sbcglobal.net

Angela's Story

Angela’s Story

I have met so many new people who are supporting RowofLife. Many of them knew nothing of RowofLife until after Angela and Franck were on their journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Many people have never actually met Angela or Franck, which is really a shame because they are both AMAZING, INSPIRING people. I am often asked what happened that caused Angela to be in a wheelchair. Because of that, I think I might be worth a little look back at who they are and where they have been. So I am putting Angela’s story on this blog, exactly as it was written by her:

Angela Madsen Vita mutatur, non tollitur: Latin translated: Life is changed, not taken away

In September of 1993, I underwent back surgery for an injury I sustained while on duty in the military. My goal was to be walking and surfing within one year. The Surgery went very badly and many mistakes were made. I was to have a spinal fusion of two levels of the lumbar spine. They were to be installing bone graft (from my hip) replacements of the discs and Herrington rods with pedicle screws. The hardware was ordered for the two levels and was ready. The doctors mistakenly started at the wrong level making it necessary to fuse an additional level. They had to go to the bone bank for more bone graft for the additional level. This also changed the hardware. The procedure that was to take 4 hours took 10 and ½ hours. When they were installing the hardware, they reportedly installed the rods and crossbars out of numeric sequence and had to take it all apart and start over. The bone grafts were installed improperly and all three are left side wedged with the upper one protruding outward, impinging on the descending aorta. Sometime during the procedure, they also compromised my spinal cord by either drilling or placing one of the screws through the dural sac and into the spinal cord. None of these conditions was repaired and I was just left to suffer. I am in extreme amounts of pain constantly. One of the physicians at the hospital at one time said, "My physical condition was a waste of human life" I received very little if any physical therapy or rehab. I had to do it on my own. I had to revise my goals. I did not give up!

I am a Spinal Cord Injury L1 incomplete. I have had a bilateral mastectomy for breast cancer and have had to undergo surgery for carpal tunnel and ulnar nerve. I have been diagnosed with myasthenia Gravis but seem to have it under control with medication. No matter what seems to come my way in the way of challenges, God gives me the strength to overcome. I have managed to be successful and I have increased my competition times in rowing and have made many improvements in my surfing in spite of everything that presents obstacles and physical barriers. I have grown and continue to grow stronger physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

I have used my athletic abilities and gifts to become a strong advocate for human rights and rights of people with disabilities. I do some public speaking at large human rights events as well as small local schools and events. I was in the mechanical engineering field designing high-speed pneumatic labeling machines before my surgery. During my hospitalization, I lost everything.

Since my failed back surgery, I have the most fantastic life!

I have continued on my journey utilizing my gifts. I have excelled at wheelchair and adaptive sports. Through wheelchair Basketball and Casa Colina Rehab Center in Pomona, I was introduced to the sport of rowing. I excelled at adaptive rowing with equal passion and as much natural ability as in my PWC life (pre-wheelchair).

I became a rowing coach and started an adaptive rowing program. I began teaching other differently abled people to row. I work with all abilities and ages. I discovered that they learn much more than how to row. As I did, they learn how to live through sport, how to set and accomplish goals, on and off the water in their every day lives, how to be more outgoing and social, more confident, How to be winners, how to accept losses, they grow and move on with a more positive and enthusiastic outlook for the future. How to live to accept and take on the challenges of life and not be challenged by living. I get to be a part of the good that transpires in lives of the people I work with. I love this life. If I could go back in time and change it, I would not.

I used my mechanical engineering background and problem solving skills to properly rig boats and position adaptive fixed seat rowers in boats so they could safely participate in the sport. I determined how to rig the boats not only for regular adaptive rowers but also for elite fixed seat rowers. I developed rigging methods to make the boats go faster.

My first trip to the World Championships of Rowing was Seville, Spain in 2002. There were few women in the sport then and none in fixed seats at the event so we canceled the double rowing event and I went on to participate in the event in singles. I competed against the men in the event. My double rowing partner Scott Brown won the Gold, I won a silver medal, and Australian won the bronze medal. I have been to five World Championships of rowing and am a four time gold medalist. 2003 was Milan Italy, 2004 Banyoles Spain, 2005 Gifu Japan, and 2006 Eton England. Adaptive rowing had submitted the application for full inclusion in the Paralympics and has since been approved. My long forgotten aspirations of becoming an elite athlete and dreaming of one day competing in the Olympics are once again realized with Adaptive Rowing Inclusion into the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008.

I know what it is to suffer. I know what it is to feel hopeless. I know what it feels like to give up on dreams and goals. I also know what a mistake it is to give up on dreams and goals.

I know what it is to be as that doctor described my physical condition “a Waste of human life.” At that particular time in my life, his description fit. I was truly a waste of human life. I was not doing anything to improve my situation and I definitely was not doing anything for anyone else either.

I was only being angry, questioning why me, being pathetic and hopeless. It was so easy to give up and give in to despair. The only thing I could count was my losses and not my blessings. At the time, the losses were so much greater and I never could see how what had happened to me could actually be a blessing until I began moving on with my new and different life. It is not easy to move on into such an uncertain future. I was not seeing hope for anything positive and meaningful, just anticipating a life of pain and suffering. When I began participating in sports again, it was familiar. It was different, yet the same. A vehicle to restore me, to restore hope, Arise the competitive spirit. I have never looked back or ever felt as completely hopeless as I did back then. I cannot imagine ever feeling like that again. I have many more blessings now to count than I will ever suffer losses. I have had the most fantastic life.

There is still great pain and suffering and through aging and degeneration, my physical condition is sure to deteriorate. Sooner than I would like, I am sure to require another surgery. The thought of going back to that place physically, being dependent on others and being at the mercy of others, not being as mobile or independent, being less able to participate in sports as I do now or not being able to participate at all absolutely terrifies me but I know I will never again be a waste of human life.

I am sure to come full circle and blessed to have not had to stay in one place.

REFRESH

Refresh!!

Wednesday, 1/2/08, the weather continued to be bad for Row of Life. They had 2 meter (6ft) waves coming from one side and then a 3 meter (9ft) waves from the other side. The waves coming from the different directions made it very hard to row. It also did not make it easy to surf either; although they apparently did surf Row of Life on a really gnarly 4 meter (12 foot) wave. At one point the waves had gotten so big, they were washing over the top of the boat. Franck was rowing and got doused with a huge wave over the top of him. He just smiled and shouted, “refresh!” Franck has had a consistently wonderful attitude for the whole race. He is very easy going and that is important, since communication between Angela and Franck is tentative at best with the language difference. Franck also did not like how hot the cabin was and decided to leave it open a crack. Well, when waves are breaking over the top of the boat, even a crack can be too much. Franck received a big wet wave kiss from the sea. When he appeared from the wet cabin, he smiled and shouted, “refresh.”

Row of Life got another visit from the Woodvale Support Yacht on 1/03/08. It the surfing spirit, Angela cranked some surf music over the radio for the support yacht. I am very grateful for the new picture, taken 01/03/08 that Woodvale posted on the website. The picture is above.

The support yacht asked Row of Life to turn on their See Me (maybe seame). Franck went into the cabin to fiddle with some red thingy, but apparently that is not the see me. Angela said she is not sure that they have one. My understanding of the see me is that it sends a signal to allow other boats to know they are there. Hum, maybe that is why they were nearly hit by a tanker. Is that why they painted the teeth on the boat? If you can’t be seen, maybe you can scare the other boats away with your teeth when they get close. I vote for the see me.

Franck still has a sore on his leg, and is not able to wear his prosthesis. They are still being banged around by the rough seas. Angela said they could not row much one day because of the weather, but that she had high hopes for more progress. Their boat is rigged for the bad weather, and they have two sets of bigger oars for those times. She is hoping to make up more ground during the rough seas. Franck tried to send a picture via the satellite phone, but it took a really long time and the quality was poor. The picture is on Franck’s blog. http://rowoflife.skyrock.com/1.html Franck’s is blogging in French. I have read it by copying it into Babel Fish and translating it. The translation is not perfect, but you will get the jest of it.

I just want to shout out to Boy About Town http://fab-boy-about-town.blogspot.com/ . He has been working non-stop to get the word out about RowofLife. I have received many emails from people who heard about RowofLife and the California Adaptive Rowing Program (CARP) due to Boy’s efforts. I also want to thank Kris, the RowofLife.net Web Godess, for making all the changes needed on the website. We still have some stuff to change, but that is because I have been slow in getting Kris the information that she needs. And to Vicki and Tom who make sure that all is running smoothly with CARP. Thanks for all the people leaving messages of support and humor for Angela and Franck. It has helped to keep their spirits up. Last, but not least, to Amanda and Woodvale for working tirelessly to keep the Race website up to date and well balanced with information.

Well stay tuned for the next installment of the RowofLife blog…..Will Angela make Franck walk the plank for constantly singing French Army tunes? Will Franck learn enough English to tell Angela that speaking louder in English, when he doesn’t understand, does not make him understand English any better? Will another shark attempt to romance the RowofLife boat because of its winning smile and pretty white teeth? Find out the answers to these questions and others in the next RowofLife Blog.

Debra debmole@sbcglobal.net

I have been out of touch lately, Sorry! I have been in the hurricane type wind and rain in Sacramento, CA. I was helping my daughter and her husband to look for a house to buy, while she is attending McGeorge Law School for the next 2.5 years. We found some wonderful homes in their price range and hopefully they will be putting in an offer soon. They did not lose their electricity during the storm but they did lose their internet. It was tragic.

RowofLife Surfing the Mid-Atlantic

RowofLife Surfing the Mid-Atlantic—01/01/08

RowofLife has hit the 1000 mile mark on Day 31 of the Atlantic Rowing Race. That just leaves about 1552 to go; No Problem! They are really turning it on now. They have increased their load to move along faster. They can’t make a full side because they lack legs. Franck has an infected stump and is not able to wear his prosthesis. Angela’s back is not exactly happy, but when is it ever. Atlantic Jack said in their blog “The next boat to catch is Angela & Frank(sic) in "Row of Life", this will be a tough one as although they only have one fully functional leg between the 2 of them, they are complete rowing animals.” Atlantic Jack is moving at an unbelievable pace. I just wish we could figure out what is coming out of their water maker, so we could have some too. Maybe if they catch us, they will share the secret to their speed.

Surfing is Angela’s first love. On New Year’s Day she is usually out surfing in Huntington Beach with all her surfing buddies. She would like to thank all her surfing buddies, the Huntington Beach Long Board Crew, and the Surf Museum in Huntington Beach, for the support they have given her. Well what would New Years be without surfing? Well apparently the powers that be also thought Angela should surf today. The wind was blowing the wrong way today. The water was choppy and not good for rowing. Then it happened….the wind created big waves, excellent for Ocean Rowing Boat Surfing. Angela and Franck guided themselves with their oars and were able to catch a dozen or so good waves. They did not get long rides, but it was fun. Franck caught on to the English surf logo. Soon after the first wave, he kept asking if the next wave was a good one for surfing. We are going to work on him saying, “Dude.” Both Angela and Franck seemed exhilarated by their morning session of surfing the 2/3 meter waves. So, while the rowing completely sucked today….the surfing was EXCELLENT.

The weather has been very rough and the winds not good for rowing. They are hoping for the winds to start blowing back in the westerly direction so they can take advantage of the winds and the equatorial currents. It has been tough to make progress and Angela and Franck have been rowing together many hours a day. It has taken a physical toll, but their spirits remain high. I just found out at the beginning of the race Angela fell off her seat and bruised her back very badly on Franck’s foot stretchers. She was unable to do anything but crawl out onto the deck. She was not able to row. That was one of the reasons for their slow start. Also Franck was very sea sick at first and not able to row. So compared to the start, they are doing well now, but it is still not a picnic. They are trying to make sure they take the time to get rest so they can heal and stay healthy. It is a long race and they are ready for the long haul.

Angela is the Founder and Director of the California Adaptive Rowing Program in Long Beach, CA www.carplb.net . It is a free program where differently-abled people learn row with the help of dedicated volunteers. It is part Long Beach Rowing Association and they row out of the Pete Archer Rowing Center. Boy About Town, Patric, of Long Beach found out about the program and was very excited. He took the time to come down with his partner and 2 friends to check out the program on Saturday. He gave CARP a Super-Fabulous rating. Boy is amazing and so very funny! He wrote about it in his blog, which Angela found very entertaining when I read it to her. His blog is at http://fab-boy-about-town.blogspot.com/ and his visit to the rowing program is called “Boy gets a new outlook” http://fab-boy-about-town.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=21 . Vicki, Tom and the volunteers are doing a wonderful job with CARP. It is running as smoothly as ever and Angela is so proud. Angela and Franck called the dock while Boy was there and was able to talk to him as well as Vicki, Tom, Kurt, Ron, Nahu, Loren, Wanda, Christian and some others. The spirit of the CARPies filled Angela and Franck with new energy! They rowed 52 miles that day. Boy About Town is apparently well read and I have received many messages from people who found out about Row of Life from Boy’s Blog. Angela is looking forward to meeting Boy in person and doing some events together, when she returns. Boy also writes a weekly newsletter.

Keep the messages of support coming. I read them to Angela and Franck when I talk to them on the Satellite phone, and they need them now more than ever.

Thanks,

Debmole

http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u196/debmole/Mid%20Atlantic%20and%20Boy%20Photos/?action=view&current=43e433c0.pbw

Turtles, Sharks and Whales, OH MY!!

As of 12/28/07 4am PST, Franck and Angela are at 18.898N-31.520W, which for those of you who are not familiar with Longitude and Latitude, they are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. LOL Actually they are 822 miles from La Gomera and 1730 miles from Antigua. They have been gone nearly 4 weeks. They have consistently averaged 50 miles a day for the last 8 days. They are in 8th place in the pairs class.

I put pictures of the race start on Angela's MySpace in an album and a slide show. There are 4 pictures of them on the water on www.atlanticrowingrace2007.co.uk Two of those pictures were taken by Coral Millepora. According to the Atlantic Rowing Race 2007 Website: "On 11^th December 2007, at 10:05, Row of life were met by the Coral Millepora, a Liquefied Gas Carrier (LPG) from the Netherlands. The vessel has a net tonnage of 1,216 and a gross tonnage of 4,054." As you can see by the pictures, the Coral Millepora got too close to their boat for my comfort. The other two were taken by the support yacht a couple of days before Christmas.

The wind and seas have been rough. Angela described is as feeling like constantly riding a bucking bronco. It occured to me days later how difficult it would be to stay on a bucking bronco when you can't feel your legs or feet. Franck described rowing south as a "shit row"(Didn't need to translate that). But they did move south to catch the current to the west. In the last couple of days they have been rowing together, because the seas have been too rough for one person rowing alone to make progress. Today, there is an area of Cyclonic winds to their north, so rowing will be tough the next couple of days, unless of course they can catch a ride on an awesome westward wind.

Angela and Franck have seen amazing marine life. There was the time Angela was rowing and noticed something off the back of the boat. She thought she had left the Para anchor out (a parachute type device that keeps the boat from drifting aimlessly), until she saw the fin. It turned out she had secured the para anchor, and was actually being stalked by a 12 foot shark.

They also had an encounter with a sea turtle. He swam to the side of the boat and looked to say something to Franck. Franck spoke back and the sea turtle had an odd look on his face. Angela determined that the sea turtle did not understand French any better than she does.

They have seen schools of dolphin and been hit by flying fish. Angela says that flying fish cannot be used as a meal because they turn to mush as soon as the hit. The pieces have to be scraped up.

Many of the rowers have been rowing naked. Angela did try this one night, but it was a choice not a necessity. The JL Rowing clothes that Angela had made are working perfectly. No chaffing! They made clean water and wash their clothes. Angela has a tip for clothes drying....put the clothes through the unused oars for drying. Franck washed his clothes and hung them over the oars. DOH! Now there are some nicely outfitted marine animals wearing the striking navy, powder blue and purple Row of Life Gear.

Angela and Franck had a wonderful Christmas. Angela gave Franck the presents that his family had sent with her in September, and he was touched. Angela talked to her daughter, Jenn and grandkids, Amanda, Angel and Chyenne, as well as her Dad and mom, Ronald and Betty Madsen. They ate their dehydrated food and Franck drank a beer (I don't understand why the boat is so heavy). Angela decorated the boat with solar Christmas lights.

Keep sending messages of support on www.atlanticrowingrace2007.co.uk I read them to Franck and Angela when I get the chance to talk to them. The support has been an inspiration to them both so keep those messages coming.

This is really an amazing journey. Two differently- abled(Angela is not fond of the term, disabled) people, from two different countries, two different languages, two different ages, can come together and get the job done. They are doing the United Nations Flag that they are flying, PROUD

Well, that is all I have for now. I will try to do this more often, now that I am home and back on a regular schedule. Angela has pictures and movies, but we have no way to send them to me from the boat. So we will have to rely on Woodvale's support yacht pics for on the water shots (hopefully there will be no more near misses that result in anything more than pictures.)

Now, take 3 minutes of your day to check out the RowofLife green dot and send a message of support. Thanks!

Debmole