Frightening Times on Go Commando July 4, 2010

Frightening Times on Go Commando

By Angela via Text to Deb, July 4, 2010

The SeaGals have been dealing with dangerous weather the last couple of days. Angela sent me info about their ordeal via text message a couple of hours ago. She said, “tg (thank God, the) anchor held today otherwise (we) would be coming home in casket (s.) 3-4 meter waves hail (gale) force winds and too close to smashing on rocks for my taste.” She explained on the phone that she had hoped they would anchor in the next “posh” bay over with “no rocks”. When she woke for her shift she found that they were anchored in this bay which is full of rocks. ”Could have died out here today, no surviving in this water just rock cliffs around with 12-20ft waves crashing into them, it would have made toothpicks of our boat and cast us to the sea. Rogue wave flooded bow cabin. It is still windy and choppy but we moved farther away from rocks. We were just at the wave break barely getting over the top of them, maybe. It's my break now and it's been tough day. I am going to sleep.”

She also wanted me to let everyone that they are all fine. They gave Laura and Bev a dry sleeping bag from the back cabin, while they dry out their things. During her next shift, she hopes to be allowed to make it to the next bay without the rocks; but we shall see.

Medical bulletin from nurse Laura Thomasson on Go Commando 7 1

Medical bulletin from nurse Laura Thomasson on Go Commando


05.15 July 1


After four weeks at sea you can imagine that the medical issues on the boat have been varied and sometimes a bit of a challenge for me as the medic, but as you know I like a good challenge!

Initial blisters on hands and heels have now hardened up, although the 'claw hand' effect has provided constant pain for the crew, for some more than others.

We use anti-inflammatory tablets and gels to improve the range of movement in our hands and to reduce swelling and pain, but after sleeping we have found that our hands seize up and it can make little tasks like doing up zips and grasping the oars painful until our hands warm up.

I'm not embarrassed to tell you that my bottom has been particularly sore, not helped by my personal padding gradually wasting away!

Luckily, Angela has been able to provide me with some brilliant antibiotic powder that has helped to heal my poor bottom and I feel that it has literally saved my ass!

Some crew members are suffering from bottom problems of another type, while the rest of the crew suffer the after effects of the noxious fumes wafting passed!

Angela affectionately names them 'barking spiders' while I am genuinely worried about their insides.

Now that I have let you all know the secret behind our new record breaking speed I better go, but please be assured that despite general wear and tear we are all holding up well and battling on, determined to come home and get some well-earned rest.

Near Point of Stoer Blog from Laura June 27

Blog from Laura near Point of Stoer

June 27 0725


Wow! Our Saturday night was brilliant! Angela and I initially took on the 2300-0200 shift with little enthusiasm but we were soon to be kept awake by a huge pod of dolphins, both in number and size.

Up to 20 dolphins gradually surrounded our boat, with the biggest looking to be around 10 foot in length, if not longer. The amazing pod performed synchronised jumps out of the water and swirled around our boat, with their sonar clicks and noises clearly audible.

We were amazed by their closeness, which could have been quite intimidating but it was clear that they were harmlessly curious of our strange yellow boat.

After several minutes they gradually dissipated and we were left in awe- stricken silence. It was then that the beauty of our surroundings began to sink in, we had been able to see the dolphins so clearly due to the dusky light that continues through the night here in the highlands, coupled with a moon that glowed orange and pink and framed with clouds.

The stretch of coast between the headlands of Rubha Coigeach and the Point of Stoer was spectacular in itself, having several jagged headlands within that provided a dramatic backdrop for our eventful night.

Now the sun has risen we can see our next headland across the calm waters as we progress to the ominously named Cape Wrath.


If we continue at this rate we should be there by tonight.

Come on SeaGals!

Isle of Mull by Bev 6 24

BLOG from Bev on Go Commando near the Isle of Mull, reflecting on the land of her fathers...


June 24 17.25

Although I was brought up in Gateshead, my father’s family are from John o’Groats and I have lots of relatives in the north of Scotland but I don’t know a great deal about Scotland.

So it’s been especially nice for me to see this wonderful country from the sea. In the mornings the islands and the peak of the mountains are shrouded in mist and the countryside looks magical.

I really must come back and visit the west coast of Scotland when I have more time to explore – especially the whisky islands.

We’d rowed constantly for 80 hours before we had to anchor today to wait until the tide turned to our advantage.

If we can make this sort of progress up the rest of the west coast we might be in time to take advantage of the spring tides in the Pentland Firth between the top of the mainland, near John O’Groats and the island of Orkney, and get a flying start to the last leg of our journey, down the east coast.

We have sent in a couple of new videos from Jura and the Sound of Luing in Argyll and Bute, taken on our Samsung Wave phone.

Mystical,Magic Unicorns and Dreams of 80-mile Days by Angela June 21

BLOG from Angela Madsen on Go Commando


June 21 14.25

Mystical, magic unicorns and dreams of 80-mile days.
Blog Called into Race Media Person, Mike Ridley, by Angela

Life on Go Commando is good at the moment.  We’re getting on well and I’m really getting to know Laura and Bev, who have the front cabin. They both have a great sense of humour.

After days of frustration sat at anchor in northerly headwinds, the wind has dropped and we can start to row for long periods.  If you look at our track on the interactive map on the website, you might wonder why we appear to be zig-zagging across the Irish Sea. The answer is that the tides here run from east to west and we’re taking advantage of them, rather than spend any more time at anchor.  And we’re just where we want to be on the western side of the Isle of Man, the perfect position to head for Scotland.

The wind has dropped and it’s so hot in the sun. We normally row two hours on-two hours off during the day and in three-hour shifts at night.  But without the wind to cool us down, we’re thinking about switching to one-hour shifts during the heat of the day so we get a chance of shade in the cabin.  We’re all waiting for the wind to flip direction to a southerly, which will be behind us as we go north to Scotland.  Then it will be back to following winds and seas, mystical, magic unicorns… and dreams of 80-mile days, when we can start to make up for all the time we’ve spent at anchor.

I’m also thinking of my dear Dad, who hasn’t been too well lately, who’s following our every move on the websites…

Watermaker On Board By Angela via Deb June 21

“They must have to carry a lot of water”…….

Watermaker On Board.

By Angela via Deb June 21, 2010

Ocean Rowing boats are very small, especially when you have 4 people and their gear on a boat that is the size of a pair’s boat (24 feet long, 6 feet wide—nearly a ton loaded). There is no way that they could carry enough water to sustain 4 people for 45 days. There is a watermaker on board the boat. Solar charged batteries run the watermaker. It is an essential piece of equipment, but often one that is a struggle to keep working. Sometimes there is not enough power to run the watermaker and sometimes there are mechanical problems. They carry a back up hand pump watermaker as well. If they are not getting enough exercise rowing, they can always hand pump water.

The Haigh Lyon SeaGals had watermaker problems early on in the Virgin GB Row 2010. Angela worked to fix the clogged intake valve. She details the fix in this text message to me:

Spare hose inboard, lol, no way. I took a piece off a manual pump. They are two different size hoses so I used a reducer. Now there is plenty of hose to go into the water and we can now make water and row at the same time. Malcome suggested I put a weight on it and I had remembered that Belinda had purchased a plumb? A weight with a string on it. I cut off the lenght of string I needed and attached it to the end of the new intake for the watermaker. The watermaker hatch has to be open enough to run the hose out so best not to make water on super splashy days.

They pump water into containers to use for the day. They use the water to drink, rehydrate food, and wash. We talked about buckets in the last blog. There are actually 3 buckets on an ocean rowing boat-1 for clothes washing, 1 for dishwashing and 1 for the potty palace. On anchor due to tides, Angela filled the water containers and a bucket for her to wash her clothes in. I bet Belinda (she shares the back cabin with Angela) is happy it is washday for Angela!

Blog By Bev June 20

"BLOG from Bev on board Go Commando
Sunday June 20
The Anchor

We're spending a lot more time on anchor than we'd like, partly due to the weather and partly due to being in an area of strong currents

We're developing a love-hate relationship with our anchor, it’s a 15lb plough anchor with 10metres of chain and 150m of rope.

LOVE - our anchor holds and does so well, it’s easy to deploy and stops us losing valuable ground.

HATE - it has to be pulled back in manually, it holds so well that this is exhausting when anchored at greater depths, which recently we often are.

And, of course, after pulling in the anchor we then have to row!"

Blog from Belinda June 19th

Blog from Belinda


12.30 Saturday June 19

On Sat phone as no mobile coverage - fighting against 20knot gusting winds as we force our way round Holy Island (Holyhead peninsula, NW Wales). We are desperate to move on and get to Isle of Man, knowing that the Western Isles and Inner Hebrides will be beautiful scenery before the squalls expected around Cape Wrath! Spirits high, determined as ever, just frustrated at being pushed back by wind all the time!

Life on the Boat in Bad Weather June 16

Life on the Boat in Bad Weather

By Deb for Angela June 16, 2010

This is information that I have received over several days. If it seems a little disjointed that is why.

They have had lots of bad weather for about the last week. They have spent more time on anchor than they would have liked. The boat is a 24-foot long, 6 foot wide. It is the same size as RowofLife, which is a pair’s boat. Go Commando was actually made with slightly bigger cabins to accommodate 4 rowers. The row around Great Britain is about half as long as each of the rows across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It would be difficult to put enough food and supplies on the boat for a longer row. There is not enough room in the cabins for both rowers to be inside at the same time. When the SeaGals are on anchor, the still change watches every 2 hours (3 hours at night) and the people that would be rowing are out on the deck in the weather. Angela says in a text message, “On deck on anchor in piss down rain cold is just try and stay warm and during day is do chores fix things clean things tidy up the boat and ourselves.” A couple of nights ago she said in a text, “Storm last night big waves crashing over the deck. Nearly rolled over. Still on anchor waiting for change in weather. It is miserable here.” The weather sometimes makes it difficult to sleep. Angela texts, with the “turbulent waters” it is “like trying to sleep on a bucking horse”

I asked if they used the jet boil for a bon fire on the deck and started singing camp songs. Angela texted, “We do jetboil hot beverages at night but no songs. Not really a singing bunch.”

When they started their trip, almost everything was “fend for yourself”. They were not much of a team and definitely not as organized as they could have been. They did not have prior experience ocean rowing; they did not seem to understand the importance of having chores of cooking etc. assigned to a team members. With the time on anchor, they have done better with the food. There is some shared cooking instead of everyone fending for themselves. The clothes washing, however is still fend for yourself. If there is no hanging room left, you have to wait for another day to wash. There is 3 to 4 weeks of tough rowing left. As there are more challenges, we hope that there will be more team and less of an individual focus.

Bel Says Something Nice About Angela

BLOG from Belinda Kirk skipper of the Seagals on Go Commando



Captain Kirk's log 11th June 2100hrs

50*14.071n 005*24.605w

Currently sat in beautiful St Ives bay with the sun setting over the sea. So idyllic. This has been one of the best days and we were expecting it to be one of the worst.

It’s amazing how things can change so rapidly. Having thought we were stranded at Land’s End for maybe another two days suddenly a window in the weather opened up this morning and we grabbed it. 36 hrs off the oars meant the crew were rested and were ready to go!

After we negotiated Longships and Brisons rocks at Land’s End we rocketed along the stunning Cornish coastline. The headwind was still making life difficult for us but it was manageable and with the tide we got up to 4 knots!

The sun was shining and the coast so stunning that fighting the 15ft waves rodeo style was a total pleasure. I absolutely love rodeo riding those waves!

St Ives is such a special place. It’s such a perfect chocolate box bay you almost can't believe it’s real. Artists flock here to soak up the views and the special 'St Ives light'. We spotted the St Ives Tate gallery overlooking the bay.

We're now on anchor waiting for the tide to change back in our favour. We'll leave at midnight and row til 6/7am hopefully ending up at Padstow for tea and breakfast and a final look at the weather so we can finalize our route to South Wales...

Nb we are finding our niches on the boat. Everyone is indispensable. I'm absolutely loving navigating and planning the routes using the tides and weather. Bev and Laura take it turn as the 2ic navigator discussing our route and improving on it.

Angela is the powerhouse on the oars and she's Mrs Fix it. She's amazing and can pull apart and put back together everything on the boat. Yesterday she sorted the electrics, today the watermaker.

Laura continues to hope for strange medical ailments she can 'have a go at' and Bev is keeping us all sensible and on the straight and narrow.

Mini Blog by Angela 06/11/10

Virgin Row Around Great Britain

Mini blog from Angela Madsen on Go Commando nr St Ives

June 11 21.10

The watermaker intake valve is broken and will not open. Mounts directly to hull of boat and do not have spare. Will just have to use hose over side. Not convieniant but still makes water. It is tough going out here. Thanks for all your support.

Angela

Virgin Great Britain Row Challenge 2010

The race began on June 1st. The race website http://www.gbrowchallenge.com/index.php is doing a fabulous job of putting up news every few hours. My debate is whether or not to repost their blogs or just send everyone there or to http://www.rowoflife.com/. For now I am very busy but will try and keep photos up on Facebook and here.