14 Mar 2006, ANTIGUA!
Arriving to an amazing welcome in Antigua yesterday -
see the size of that grin!
14th March
Hello from one very happy ocean rower, now chilling out in Antigua, enjoying good food and warm hospitality... and wishing the ground would stop swaying.
Yesterday I got up at 4am to start rowing. With the finish line finally in sight I rowed nonstop for 10 hours to make sure I got to Antigua before sunset. If only I'd realised earlier I was capable of such rowing feats I might have got here weeks ago!
I had no idea what kind of a welcome awaited me. I'd envisaged pulling in at a jetty, giving my mum a hug, and then pottering off for a bite to eat. I certainly hadn't expected a flotilla of boats coming out to greet me, hundreds of people standing on the quayside, a choir of schoolchildren singing to me, and presentations from a series of local dignitaries. After months of solitude and silence it was pretty overwhelming. And really, really good.
There's so much to catch up on since I last wrote, but my laptop battery is about to go flat, so it will have to wait. I'll try to post some photos later today - I've never been so skinny or so brown so I'm going to show it off while it lasts!
Thank you for all the messages of congratulations that I've received so far, and thanks also for all the messages of support that were sent to my mother, especially during my 'Space Oddity' phase since the satphone packed up. All very much appreciated.
| Atlantic Row Part 4 |
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Comments [0]
13 Mar 2006
13th March
Excitement! It is 8am in Antigua. I have just had a phone call from Teresa at Woodvale. Aurora is with Roz. Her sea-anchor was giving problems, she could not haul it in. Aurora kept watch while Roz cut it free. She is now still rowing, quite unassisted, and only 27 miles to go! Isn't that6 marvellous!
There are loads of emails this morning, I wonder if I can read them all before I need to do something else?
There is free wireless internet access at a restaurant just down the hill from where I am staying. A barrier was still across the entrance when I came down this morning, but I sneaked in, and am sitting up on a balcony, under the trees, looking over the harbour, and enjoying another sunny warm morning. Sorry folks in England, having to look at snow instead - and I can't even send you a picture.
This may be my last dispatch - then over to Roz. Thanks for your support. Rita.
| Atlantic Row Part 4 |
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12 Mar 2006
12th March
1643.01N,6049.01W,0M
Roz really has been unfortunate with the weather. Once again she has been stuck because of adverse winds -1 mile yesterday. Jonathan, here on the Island, and part of the sea rescue team, guesses that Aurora the support yacht will offer Roz a pair of oars, and if she still can't make headway, a tow. The forecast shows that winds won't change before Wednesday. Other boats had similar problems on the approach to Antigua.
It does mean that she would lose her unsupported status in the race, but nothing can take away her achievement in crossing the Atlantic Ocean. It will be a disappointment after struggling for so long, but Roz did start out not as a competitor, but with the aim of making the crossing.
I feel awfully frustrated waiting here for her -especially as I just cannot get the technology to work as I would wish - and a friendly expert was no more successful! Roz must be feeling even more frustrated and disappointed just sitting there and trying to not be blown backwards or southwards.
We are both due to fly back to the UK on Sunday, and time is running out.
Thank you so much for your sympathetic messages, so sorry I can't answer them individually.
| Atlantic Row Part 4 |
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11 Mar 2006
11th March
Today, Saturday, the support yacht Aurora has set out to meet Roz and accompany her back to English Harbour, Antigua. The weather has decided to unkind again. How frustrating to be so near, 70 miles away, and not be able to move because the wind wants to blow Sedna Solo further south. Roz has probably put out Sid the para-anchor and has to just sit and wait.
Meanwhile back here in Antigua I am making arrangements for a video film to be made of her arrival, and also for me to go out on a boat to meet her when she is within ten miles of the harbour. We won't try to exchange hugs at that point!
Today has been very wet so far, and even if Roz was within binocular-spotting distance, the horizon is hidden in rain squalls. I have been equally frustrated by technology - sorry there is no picture again. What a (technology) wash-out.
I have been able to print out a lot of wonderful messages that have come in for Roz to read at her leisure. I think that she will be deeply moved by them, as I have been.
Sponsored miles: Mary Malinsky 2929 - n umbers with special meaning for her.
2934 India Pearey, and 2935 Sailing Unlimited. These last two seem to represent the short walk Roz will have from the dock to Admiral's Inn where she is booked in for a few nights, in Nelson's Dockyard.
| Atlantic Row Part 4 |
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