The Toby Wallace crew had a FANTASTIC day onboard yesterday with an amazing 92 nm covered in 24 hours…..they had the benefit of current with them for a change – although they did report that they had 4 hours where it was against them.

Today they have already covered an impressive 42 nm at halfway through day 26.  At the moment with the forecast that they have, it is likely that they will be coming in just after the record (boo!) and on day 32 which will be early next Saturday.  They are all pretty philosophical about it onboard and are just going to keep rowing as hard as they can to try and get as close to the record as possible – if the weather and currents are kind they are still in with a chance so fingers crossed!

Onboard they are keen to hear the Six Nations rugby results from this weekend – with English, Welsh (Gav) and Scottish (James) supporters, it makes for some interesting discussions!  James was pleased to have a message from the Scottish team via his sister Lucinda…..

Matt Inglesby is so pleased that his fundraising is now at about £7,500 and is grateful for all the support he has received.  In the past few days he strained himself rowing too hard but is all recovered now and had been making use of the pain relief from the med kit onboard and is feeling much better…..he never stopped rowing though!! Awesome job!

All the families, friends and loved ones who are flying out to Barbados are all ready and will be heading out next week – excitement is mounting for the welcome party!  And the rowers are just as excited to see land, see everyone and have a decent meal….oh yes, and beer!

And just look how close they are to land now – they are under the 600 nm mark now!

Some of the press cuttings from this week below – Oliver in the Helston Packet and James Prior in Woman Magazine:

Today, 5th March 2014, we have had some further inspiration for the crew from a shout-out on Radio 2 with Chris Evans first thing this morning, followed by a message on the website and a tweet from the Duke Of York!  The crew are finding the wind and weather is “patchy” today but are finding the motivation to push on from all the lovely messages they have been receiving……hearing that they are reaching people far and wide is staggering for them, and they are so grateful!

Halfway through day 23, they had covered 38 nm and everyone onboard is well – and all CANNOT WAIT to get to Barbados!

The crew of the Toby Wallace have been battling with wind, waves and current against them for the past few days and unfortunately there is no let up today.  Whilst they are rowing really hard, the boat feels like it is hardly moving and making progress.  Watching from dry land, we can see they have been managing 76 nm days in these conditions and they are on for similar today having done 39 nm halfway through day 22, which is amazing considering the elements against them at the moment.

The heat of the day is scorching (mid 30’s to 40’s) but they do have the breeze to keep the intensity down.  Everyone is well onboard and just trying their best to keep up their momentum and motivation.  Barbados is an overwhelming thought now that they are under the 1000 nm mark and all onboard are very excited to see loved ones; eat non-freeze dried food; sit on seats that don’t move and have a wash!!

Thought everyone might like to see photos below of the guys in port before leaving….practicing their singing is Oliver and Paul, whilst Yaacov and James don’t look that amused!  And as for Gav, posing on the balcony of the apartment – well what can you say!?!

“It’s like rowing through concrete” according to Simon the skipper of the Toby Wallace today.  The current is running against them although the forecast is looking good for the coming week.  They are working hard to row away the miles and although it is a hard slog, everyone is rowing well.

Celebrations at dawn this morning as the crew let off a flare for Matt Mason’s 25th birthday!  Matt enjoyed speaking with his mum yesterday on BBC Lancashire Radio and is having an “interesting” birthday.  Everyone is well onboard and they are all excited to get to Barbados to see their loved ones…..again, they wanted to reiterate how good it’s been to receive and hear all the messages from everyone so thank you.

The record is still in their minds which is why they are slogging away at the miles and whilst they are just behind the record time, they are still within grasp of it so they will keep on rowing!

Happy Birthday Matt – we will all be thinking of you on your birthday whilst you spend your day rowing and then here….in one of the two spacious coffin berths onboard!!

Two years ago today at dawn on the 26th February 2012, Titan 2012 left Puerto de Mogan with a strong crew of 8 men onboard to row to Barbados.  With unfortunate weather setbacks mid Atlantic, they missed out on beating the 32 day record but still managed a hugely respectable time of 34 days, 15 hours and 31 minutes to Barbados.

The crew were Simon Chalk, Paul Williams, Toby Wallace, Noel Watkins, Liam Steevenson, Bryan Fuller, Franck Festor and Patrick Favre.  And two years on, Simon and Paul are mid Atlantic right now, rowing in memory of Toby – rest in peace “our brother ocean” (as Franck would say!).

The crew of Titan 2012 leaving Puerto de Mogan at dawn (0659 GMT 26th February 2012)

Day 16 (26th February 2014) has seen the crew already pull 40 nm halfway through today! The daily call from the boat with Simon Chalk, the skipper, was jovial – they have been having rain showers earlier today which was great after the roasting heat they have been experiencing during the last few days.  Matt Mason stripped off and soaped himself up and allowed the rain to give him a shower much to the amusement of the rest of the crew!

1300 nm to the finish will mark the halfway point for the crew, which will be in the next 24 hours and thoughts are already looking forward to rowing towards land; Barbados; family; friends and beer!  Their speed instrument was mended by Paul but sadly only worked for 12 hours and has given up again…..he is working on it once more.  Simon reported that it was hard going yesterday and they worked so hard to pull an 80 nm daily mileage but they are all keenly aware that they need to keep their daily averages up.

As a standard, they normally speed up in the second half of the row if the weather remains consistent in the right direction with them, as they get lighter (less food and body weight!) towards the finish so although they are running about 14 hours behind the current 32 day record, it is all still to row for!!

They are LOVING all the messages and so grateful for all the support – the main message from the boat today was from James to Archie, Fergus, Max & Henry “Hi boys. The poo bucket is going well but it’s tricky to sit still on, a bit like a baboon on ice! Love you lots and missing you lots, Daddy”.

Come on Toby Wallace crew….row, row, row!!

Photo below of Matt Mason who was “nominated” to do the man overboard drill in port – complete with pink cowboy hat and rubber ring of course!

The Toby Wallace crew have reported in after another great 85nm covered on day 13.  They have been struggling to see how fast they are going as their speed instrument onboard has stopped working – Paul has been tasked with trying to fix it but as we all know, these sensitive instruments hate water and well….there is no getting away from it out there!

Matt Mason kicked off this morning with an interview on BFBS Radio on the sat phone.  He talked about sore bums and tiredness but that morale is high.

The crew have been experiencing some cloudless days, which means it’s absolutely roasting when rowing in the heat of the day – really tough going!  They are also still persevering with the sea state being choppy making it hard to row a full stroke.  Most of the crew managed to ring loved ones over the weekend and this has lifted spirits too.  They are very grateful for all the messages and donations to their various charities – keep it up!

They should be reaching the halfway mark later this week which is exciting for everyone onboard and those at home watching.  Simon the skipper is also pleased as this will hopefully mark the halfway mark around the same time for Fedor Konyukhov who is currently rowing the Pacific solo and whom Simon helped to project manage his row.  They will be sending him a message when he reaches halfway (http://www.konyukhov.ru/eng/).

Having covered 42nm by 10am this morning, the crew are on target for another good days mileage and are just keen to keep their average daily mileage high to keep on track with the record.  Weathers looking favourable for the coming week so everything crossed!

Photo of Simon Chalk the skipper packing his personal kit into the bow cabin coffin the night before they left port – not much baggage allowance allowed!!

The Toby Wallace crew have called in earlier to report that they have good conditions with them but the sea is still “messy” and rowing a full stroke is tricky.  They resemble an octopus with tentacles as oars – up and down and out of time and sequence – but they are trying hard and are still managing to put the power down and eat away at those miles.

At 1000hrs this morning they had already done 42 nm into day 11.  Although the record holding boat, Sara G, was 40 nm ahead of the Toby Wallace on day 10, based on the average mileage of the Toby Wallace crew so far, it brings them in half a day ahead of the record….so still all to play for!  They are keenly aware of this onboard and everyone is working really hard every rowing shift.

Oliver wanted to say hi to everyone who has been sending him messages and in particular to his dad Mick, his mum Elodie and Tamsyn….he’s been suffering with a sore heel but this hasn’t stopped him rowing – awesome effort Ollie!  And James had a message for his boys, Archie, Fergus, Max and Henry: “Good news, I’m losing some weight.  No great white sharks yet!  Missing you lots, Daddy”.

Photo below of Oliver & James in port before leaving – they will be much leaner in Barbados!

On 19th February 2013, the 6 man crew of Titan 2013 arrived into Port St Charles, Barbados with a respectable crossing time of 35 days, 13 hours and 50 minutes.  The Toby Wallace crew are lying ahead of this crossing time and on record pace with favourable weather for the coming week so fingers crossed!!  News from the boat is that they are rowing hard today with rain showers and a cross current making the sea choppy, which means it is hard to pull a full stroke!  However they are still doing well and at halfway through day 9 at 1000hrs today, they had already covered 40 nm.

Photo from Titan 2013 – arriving one year ago today into Barbados!

Crew shot (from l to r) : Mike Buckley; Simon Chalk (skipper); Kez Bostock; Andrew Berry; Paul Gerritsen; Rufus Gordon-Dean.

Day 8, 18th February 2014: Today is Gav Emmerson’s Birthday!  However on the daily call from the boat, it was clear that he had decided not to mention this little fact to any of the crew…….so after all the birthday wishes and messages were passed on, the crew started singing!  There was even talk about making sure he got some extra chicken tikka expedition food in substitute of a birthday cake – certainly a birthday to remember!

Matt Mason sends his best to the Fort Arms and has been working on his dolphin impressions while rowing – which are dreadful apparently.  They also had their first flying fish onboard this morning……hitting Yaacov right in the face!  Yaacov has been putting some thought to his new tattoo for when he arrives – currently his right arm is adorned with a macabre skull, oars and anchor with a blood red background.  This was done after he was rescued in his last attempt to row the Atlantic, to sum up how he felt at the time.  It was suggested in port that he should get a tattoo on completion of a successful crossing to sum up happiness – he feels his younger daughter Savannah could come up with some good suggestions, so Savannah get sketching for Barbados!

James has noted that all his four boys sign off their messages with “your favourite son” and would like to formally say that his favourite son is…..all of you!

The current has been against them in the past 12 hours so they feel that they have slowed a little, although with an impressive 90nm covered in day 7 and with 40nm already covered halfway through day 8, this crew are pushing on.  Sore feet, sore bums and tiredness aside they are in great spirits and with now a birthday to celebrate today, the Toby Wallace crew are rowing happy.  Happy Birthday Gav!

Photo of Gav Emmerson, courtesy of Ben Clayton – with thanks.