Team Do the Thing: Matthew Redmond and team celebrate half way mark in Atlantic row for Make a Wish Foundation
Dromore adventurer Matthew Redmond and his fellow rowers have celebrated making it halfway across the Atlantic – enjoying incredible highs and challenges as they battle the might of the ocean on their two-month trip.
The team set sail at the end of January to row non-stop for 65 days with barely any sleep to raise £200,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation – enough to grant the wishes of 100 terminally ill children.
Among their highs so far as been coping with the power of the Atlantic Ocean, a huge pod of dolphins and the beautiful night sky.
The 30-year-old Co Down entrepreneur is part of a crew rowing 3,200 miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua – completely unsupported.
The other three members of the team are all from England – skipper Stu King, 43, Paul Clarke, 53, and the lady of the team, Nicky Allan, 44.
Their vessel is only 7.7m long and 1.7m wide.
Speaking of his highs and lows so far, Matthew’s main focus has been on the power of the ocean.
“We've had big five-metre swells which has been just crazy – but it is also crazy how adapted we are to them now,” he told the News Letter by WhatsApp.
“On our first day when we had swells of just a couple of metres we were freaking out. Now there'll be a five-metre swell, and we'll just be making a coffee on the boat as usual.
“The rolling five-metre swells in the middle of the ocean are like something from the National Geographic.”
Because they need to keep moving all the time or be pushed off course, they must row 24/7 in two-hour shifts, which means they are “getting used to running on fumes” in terms of sleep.
Sometimes when there are “periods of big swells just smashing the boat, it gets really hard to have any respite and get some sleep”.
“There are ups and downs mentally, because we just have such a long amount of time left to spend on this boat, like up to 30 days. But you try not to think about it and make little mental strategies to cope.”
Some of the highs have been the wildlife.
“There was a mega pod of dolphins by our boat, about 100 just migrating past our boat.
“Another huge high is just the night sky – it is unbelievable to see.
“We also have dorado fish following our boat all day and night – a beautiful blue, iridescent fish. They're massive.”
However his biggest low has been to hear the news that his 14-year-old springer spaniel Lilly is dying of cancer.
“That hurt me hard, thinking that I might not be able to be home to put her to sleep – but my family are doing an amazing job and have set up a webcam for me to see her.”
In practical terms, they have broken all three of their 'auto-till' steering tools, due to water ingress.
“So now we have to manually steer the boat with a foot-steering mechanism and a compass. So it means you have to really focus on everything you're doing.
“But honestly, the support from everyone back home has been blowing my mind every time we switch our satellite link on.”
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