DAY 6 BLOG - SCOTT

Sunday was the best day of the row so far. Brilliant. Nice weather and a good wind behind us. But things changed early on Monday morning when James woke me up at 1am and told me to get the para-anchor out of my cabin. It is a massive parachute which you chuck into the sea to hold your position. We need it because the wind is so strong now it is physically impossible to row against it. We have had to drop our para-anchor to stop ourselves from drifting back towards the start!

The highs so far have been 1) the good rowing conditions on Sunday, and 2) our new visitor, some kind of locust which is sitting by the teddy bear on our the stern cabin and 3) making a call home. Lows are 1) weather, 2) missing home.

The weather has been so unpredictable I have not managed to get used to it. You get into the cabin and it’s sunny and then when you come out again it’s pouring with rain, windy or totally different. I have never seen waves as big as this in my life. Crazy big waves, quite scary at times. James and Cayle seem to be more used to it but I think everyone is keeping a lid on their fears. We have stopped rowing and now have to sit here and ride it out until the weather improves. Our routine has changed to 1 hour shifts on deck to monitor the boat’s safety and check that para-anchor does not get tangled or damaged. The weather is not going to improve much until Thursday so we could be on this bloody thing for 3 days. Hopefully we can get going sooner. At the moment we just need to hang in there.

However bad it gets I can’t let it get to me. I just I think of the guys who are more injured and worse off than me and that gets me through it. I am doing this for my mates and the guys that did not make it.