Four years ago, and nearing the age of 40, I took up rowing for the first time. I never rowed at University or even gave it much thought in my youth, apart from maybe a pootle around a duck pond on holiday. Living by the sea in North Berwick is great and there are loads of amazing opportunities to get out on the water. After my first outing in a St Ayles skiff (a four-oared wooden rowing boat), I was hooked. What started as the odd social row soon became competitive training, racing at regattas and even taking home a bronze medal from the Skiffie World Championships.
Fast forward four years and I am now part of a 5-man crew aiming to race across the Atlantic Ocean!
The countdown is now on until our big day and pushing off in La Gomera on 12th December for the start of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The last 2 years of planning and preparations have been hard work and we have yet to even start the race.
Only 12 months ago my daughter Eliza was fighting for her life in hospital due to the cruel side effects of living with Rett Syndrome. She has come a long way since then and thankfully back in good health. Our crew has also come a long way in this time and we can now look forward with excitement to getting stuck into the challenge and helping Reverse Rett. This charity is working hard with medical research teams to find a cure for Eliza and all the others out there who have to endure the effects of Rett.
Eliza is 10 years old and I barely remember her voice. Although born seemingly perfectly healthy, she lost the ability to talk before she was 3 years old, and we then watched her slowly lose the ability to do almost everything else. She is mostly confined to a wheelchair and unable to participate in almost all of the activities that her three siblings enjoy. Her diagnosis of Rett Syndrome was followed by the complications of epilepsy and at one point she was having more than 10 severe seizures every day. Her life is far from easy and she relies on 1:1 support to do the simplest of tasks. My family and I are dedicated to fundraising for Reverse Rett until a cure is found for Eliza and others like her.
Eliza is my inspiration for this challenge; my rock to turn to when the going gets tough at sea (which it will for sure). There are so many scenarios that play out in my head when planning this challenge….what if I get chronic seasickness, what if I get injured, what if the boat gets damaged, what if there is conflict on the boat and the crew are not speaking………I keep telling myself that whatever hardship I find myself in, it is only going to be temporary and it can’t be as bad as the 24/7 hardship that Eliza has to endure. I will need her resilience to get through this challenge….
The last few months have seen us complete our final training sessions on our boat before she was sent off to La Gomera (in a much bigger ship). She was laden with all our kit for the crossing and mountains of food rations to sustain us on the journey. We are unsupported in the race and must be self-sufficient, so the preparations have been meticulous to ensure we have everything we need and also all the tools to complete running repairs on the boat if we need to do so at sea.
With our boat away we are continuing physical training on land using rowing machines at home and gym sessions to keep our bodies in good shape and ready for 12 hours rowing per day. We will be aiming to get into a routine of 2 hours on the oars and 2 hours rest; and keep that going 24/7 until we reach Antigua some 5-6 weeks later.
At this stage we are also putting a lot more emphases on metal preparations and making sure that we are in the right mind set to cope with the shock to our systems of living on a cramped boat, in damp conditions and surviving on minimal sleep. We are also planning for scenarios which might pan out on the boat and understanding how we want to respond to them to make sure we are ready for what lies ahead of us.
We can’t wait now to get out to La Gomera and get ourselves and the boat ready to start the race. Our supporters will be able to follow our progress on the race tracker app (YB Tracking) and we will also be sending out updates via social media during the crossing @five.row
If you would like to find out more about our challenge or support us in any way, please contact me on ross@fiveinarow.co.uk. Costs for the boat, navigation equipment, training, food and transport are £115,000 and thanks to donations we have received these are all now covered. Funds being raised now are all going to Reverse Rett, plus what we raise from the sale of the boat and equipment after the race. As well as corporate sponsorship, we also have a page for personal donations: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising-edit/ross-mckinney6
Ross
Website: www.fiveinarow.co.uk
Instagram: @five.row
Talisker Whiskey Challenge: www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com