Back on dry land
So here I am. Back on dry land after 82 days, 8 hours and 40 minutes at sea. It has been a hugely surreal few days since I arrived into Port St Charles, Barbados on Thursday morning, yet as I am sure you can imagine a truly amazing time.
Before I talk about what I have been up to since arriving, I will quickly run through my last 24 hours at sea. On Wednesday morning, day 81, the outline of the Barbadian coast finally came into view as I moved to within about 30 miles of the island. The weather for my last day was perfect rowing conditions, 16-18 knots, 2-3m swell, current following and up until lunchtime I thoroughly enjoyed myself, savouring the feeling of being helped along which I had rarely felt in the previous 6 weeks or so.
At around midday and 25 miles out, I realised that I would not reach land before nightfall and both wanted to make my final approach into North Point during daylight hours and also had agreed with Dad that he and Liz would come out in a boat and meet me at North Point Thursday morning. This meant that the oars were stowed and the rest of the afternoon was sitting in the sunshine listening to the final day of the Windies/Australia test taking place in Bridgetown and prepping the boat for my arrival.
At one point a light aeroplane flew over (not the same plane that did the flypast on Tuesday) and got on the radio to make sure that I was ok and that I was aware that I was still a few miles South of North Point. I explained that I was waiting until first light Thursday to make my final approach and the current was due to turn North later in the evening so I wanted a few miles to play with, rather than get caught out. (This is why it looked like I was heading directly for the centre of the island until early Thursday morning) This flypast also made me realise I was now back to reality and a pair of shorts should probably be worn from then on!
My final sunset came and went and the lights of Barbados shone out in front of me, now only about 15 miles away as I drifted closer towards the island. A few place shifts over the night put me in a great position and by 4am I was within about 4 miles of North Point and right on time for the RV with Dad and Liz and the boat at 0630. I should explain that for an Atlantic crossing, the official end is the longitude of North Point, W59° 37’, and then it is a further 6 miles round to the Port.
Right on time the family (excluding Mum who was busy prepping the Port area for my arrival and making sure half of the UK were watching on the webcam and could see where I was coming into) arrived at North Point as I had half a mile to the position. After a few quick greetings I was back on the oars and at 0659 local time I crossed North Point, completing my Atlantic row. I was very conscious however that the row was not over until I was on dry land and then set about rowing the final 6 miles in with the other boat following me in.
I made good progress over the first hour or so with a couple miles under my belt, but then the conditions changed dramatically. The issue with Barbados is the tides run all the way up and around the island and the wind generally blows offshore, meaning that my about 0830 I was rowing into 1 knot of current and a 12 knot wind was blowing my away from the island. As any ocean rower will tell you, the aim is always to row unsupported from land to land, regardless of where finish lines are etc. However Barbados, in the wrong conditions, can prove impossible to achieve this. In the past teams have taken well over 12 hours to cover the 6 miles from North Point to Port St Charles, as they refuse a tow and want to do it all themselves. Whilst this can just about be achieved by a team row, for solo’s as soon as you stop rowing to rest or eat you are pushed off the island and the whole situation becomes untenable.
But given my stubbornness, probably essential to anyone wanting to row an ocean, I prevailed for 3 hours and made about 3 miles before it got to the point where I wasn’t even moving. We tried coming into the lee of the island to escape the wind and sit over the reef to soften the effect of the current, but the wind was blowing too strong for me to make it close enough into land for this to work. Therefore, with a heavy heart, I through my towline over and proceeded to be towed the final few miles to Port St Charles.
However I did have one final experience to cap it all off. Whilst battling the adverse conditions, 3 humpback whales were spotted about 200m ahead in the shallow waters. Being a pretty quiet vessel in the water I was able to row to their position and witness from less than 20ft a huge humpback and her calf, with the calf actually swimming under the boat. It was very difficult to tell the length of the mother but her tail when it rose out the water was about 12ft wide so a big whale. I had seen none on my crossing and very much hoped that I would, so this was a great way to round things off.
So shortly before 10.40 am I arrived at the entrance to Port St Charles marina, set adrift to row the final few metres into the marina. This almost ended with me on the breakwater at one point with the strong wind against, fortunately I didn’t embarrass myself and steered the boat round the corner to a huge cheer and a load of people standing all around. The customary celebration followed which you can see in the latest pictures on my website and then the row to the pontoon. For the rowers they have set up a plastic floating pontoon in front of the club there, which is a few steps lower than the decking where everyone was. I assumed people would be there to tie me on but I was wrong, the plastic pontoon was empty and almost summing up my crossing, I pulled up, jumped out and tied my own boat up before heading up the stairs to greet the family. Fortunately enough I experienced no problems with walking on land for the first time in 82 days, something that I was shocked at as after only 5 days at sea when I was towed into El Hierro in December I was unsteady on my feet for a few hours!
So followed a mountain of photos and interviews from the waiting Barbadian media after clearing customs and it was an hour before I was able to have my first beer, which as you can imagine tasted like absolute perfection. Everyone at the Port, obviously having seen all the other rowers arrive, commented on how well I looked and not nearly as thin or gaunt as some had been, obviously didn’t try hard enough or my pre-row weight gain proved effective!
The rest of the afternoon we spent at the marina where I ate my first meal (chicken Caesar salad) and was invited to a residents drinks that evening for the marina development, where I was introduced with a big round of applause spoke to some lovely people.
Thursday night was also the night of the Talisker Whisky race prize giving, something that I was gutted to miss as I obviously haven’t seen any of the rest of the teams since we all left La Gomera on December 5th2011. Simon Chalk did give me a call during though and I was able to say hello to everyone and received a huge applause down the phone which I think was the closest I got all day to getting a bit emotional! Simon asked what it felt like to row an ocean with no wind, able to appreciate my conditions having experienced them himself as part of the Titan 8 man team going for a sub-30 crossing, although finally arriving in Barbados after 35 days.
So it has been a couple days on the island and I can honestly say that I am feeling absolutely fine. I thought I would crash for 24 hours after the row, especially with the lack of sleep over the last 2 weeks, but have slept no longer than as if I was home and no problems sleeping. The various sores and blisters are healing quickly and in no way physically do I feel I have just spent 82 days rowing an ocean. I also have to say that mentally I am in a similar position, within a few hours of arriving and sitting at lunch the family at the marina, it felt like yesterday that I had left them in La Gomera, or rather they had left me, as if nothing had really happened. All of this very contrary to what I expected but obviously no bad thing in any case.
I am now squaring away the boat to be shipped back to the UK and enjoying another few days on the island before we all fly back. I have been to the island a few times before but usually just stayed in the hotel complex and I have loved meeting all the locals here who are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. My arrival on Thursday was on the local radio stations and was in the papers the next day and considering my current look, which everyone seems to think is very much Robinson Crusoe, I’m hard to miss as the rower and receive a lot of congratulations from locals. I can imagine a similar reception will be awaiting me at Gatwick...!
So a truly extraordinary trip has come to a close. I hope you have enjoyed following my progress over the past 4 months or so, through a lot of ups and downs but we are finally here. Confirmed by the Ocean Rowing society but yet to be by Guinness, my row did qualify as the youngest male to row any ocean solo which is an amazing bonus to round it all off, but obviously never set out to row an ocean just for this intention.
The following of my row, along with the huge amounts of messages, comments, tweets and emails I received both during and in the last few days has been humbling. It was always fantastic to hear from people whilst out there and I’m sure was key in keeping my morale high. Along with the many donations, both big and small, to Mind has been unbelievable and for one more time I want to thank everyone past and present who has donated in any way to Mind for my row. My aim was not only to raise money for a very undervalued and underfunded charity, but to also get people talking about mental health are not be scared or embarrassed when they are confronted with the issue. People aren’t embarrassed when asking someone how they are when they break a leg; the same should be true when someone is receiving treatment for a mental health issue.
I have also been truly touched by people who have been following who are experiencing, or have a close relation who is experiencing mental health issues. I hope that my row has gone just a little way to help, even if it just to relieve any shame or embarrassment you may feel. I know that this is a real problem and one that shouldn’t exist in this day and age.
My thank you’s could go on for another few pages so I will be brief and will be sure to thank those who need thanking personally at a later stage. At this time I will just mention all of my sponsors, especially Molyneux Rose and KED consulting Ltd who were pivotal in me reaching the start line. All my sponsors can be seen on the Sponsors page of my website and if you see by Orbana there is a 10% discount code for buying online.
Orbana is without doubt the best energy drink I have ever used and the condition I find myself in now I’m sure is partly down to these guys. I did end up having to ration my food quite heavily over the final few weeks due to the quiet weather, but Orbana always gave me enough energy to keep rowing!
My final thank you for the blog is to my family, who have supported me throughout and did everything they could to help me achieve what I have. I wouldn’t be sitting here today without their support and were an integral part to my success.
So that’s it, Tommy Tippetts, solo ocean rower. Definitely still hasn’t sunk in yet! 2 and a half year concept to completion, it has been one hell of a ride. I will be home in a few days and I know very soon normal life will take over, so in the meantime the rum punches will keep on flowing!
Just finally, I wrote some quotes on the walls of my cabin to keep me going whilst I was out there. Along with the obligatory Churchull ‘never give in’ and ‘victory however long and hard the road may be’ speeches, the two quotes below also appeared. They are both well known and one has appeared in my blog previously. They will sound cliché but personally both sum up why I took on the row and what it meant to me:
Theodore Roosevelt: “Far better it is to dare might things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
That, and in the good old English way, the Atlantic was there and I just wanted to see if I could do it.
Thanks everybody, see you soon.
Before I talk about what I have been up to since arriving, I will quickly run through my last 24 hours at sea. On Wednesday morning, day 81, the outline of the Barbadian coast finally came into view as I moved to within about 30 miles of the island. The weather for my last day was perfect rowing conditions, 16-18 knots, 2-3m swell, current following and up until lunchtime I thoroughly enjoyed myself, savouring the feeling of being helped along which I had rarely felt in the previous 6 weeks or so.
At around midday and 25 miles out, I realised that I would not reach land before nightfall and both wanted to make my final approach into North Point during daylight hours and also had agreed with Dad that he and Liz would come out in a boat and meet me at North Point Thursday morning. This meant that the oars were stowed and the rest of the afternoon was sitting in the sunshine listening to the final day of the Windies/Australia test taking place in Bridgetown and prepping the boat for my arrival.
At one point a light aeroplane flew over (not the same plane that did the flypast on Tuesday) and got on the radio to make sure that I was ok and that I was aware that I was still a few miles South of North Point. I explained that I was waiting until first light Thursday to make my final approach and the current was due to turn North later in the evening so I wanted a few miles to play with, rather than get caught out. (This is why it looked like I was heading directly for the centre of the island until early Thursday morning) This flypast also made me realise I was now back to reality and a pair of shorts should probably be worn from then on!
My final sunset came and went and the lights of Barbados shone out in front of me, now only about 15 miles away as I drifted closer towards the island. A few place shifts over the night put me in a great position and by 4am I was within about 4 miles of North Point and right on time for the RV with Dad and Liz and the boat at 0630. I should explain that for an Atlantic crossing, the official end is the longitude of North Point, W59° 37’, and then it is a further 6 miles round to the Port.
Right on time the family (excluding Mum who was busy prepping the Port area for my arrival and making sure half of the UK were watching on the webcam and could see where I was coming into) arrived at North Point as I had half a mile to the position. After a few quick greetings I was back on the oars and at 0659 local time I crossed North Point, completing my Atlantic row. I was very conscious however that the row was not over until I was on dry land and then set about rowing the final 6 miles in with the other boat following me in.
I made good progress over the first hour or so with a couple miles under my belt, but then the conditions changed dramatically. The issue with Barbados is the tides run all the way up and around the island and the wind generally blows offshore, meaning that my about 0830 I was rowing into 1 knot of current and a 12 knot wind was blowing my away from the island. As any ocean rower will tell you, the aim is always to row unsupported from land to land, regardless of where finish lines are etc. However Barbados, in the wrong conditions, can prove impossible to achieve this. In the past teams have taken well over 12 hours to cover the 6 miles from North Point to Port St Charles, as they refuse a tow and want to do it all themselves. Whilst this can just about be achieved by a team row, for solo’s as soon as you stop rowing to rest or eat you are pushed off the island and the whole situation becomes untenable.
But given my stubbornness, probably essential to anyone wanting to row an ocean, I prevailed for 3 hours and made about 3 miles before it got to the point where I wasn’t even moving. We tried coming into the lee of the island to escape the wind and sit over the reef to soften the effect of the current, but the wind was blowing too strong for me to make it close enough into land for this to work. Therefore, with a heavy heart, I through my towline over and proceeded to be towed the final few miles to Port St Charles.
However I did have one final experience to cap it all off. Whilst battling the adverse conditions, 3 humpback whales were spotted about 200m ahead in the shallow waters. Being a pretty quiet vessel in the water I was able to row to their position and witness from less than 20ft a huge humpback and her calf, with the calf actually swimming under the boat. It was very difficult to tell the length of the mother but her tail when it rose out the water was about 12ft wide so a big whale. I had seen none on my crossing and very much hoped that I would, so this was a great way to round things off.
So shortly before 10.40 am I arrived at the entrance to Port St Charles marina, set adrift to row the final few metres into the marina. This almost ended with me on the breakwater at one point with the strong wind against, fortunately I didn’t embarrass myself and steered the boat round the corner to a huge cheer and a load of people standing all around. The customary celebration followed which you can see in the latest pictures on my website and then the row to the pontoon. For the rowers they have set up a plastic floating pontoon in front of the club there, which is a few steps lower than the decking where everyone was. I assumed people would be there to tie me on but I was wrong, the plastic pontoon was empty and almost summing up my crossing, I pulled up, jumped out and tied my own boat up before heading up the stairs to greet the family. Fortunately enough I experienced no problems with walking on land for the first time in 82 days, something that I was shocked at as after only 5 days at sea when I was towed into El Hierro in December I was unsteady on my feet for a few hours!
So followed a mountain of photos and interviews from the waiting Barbadian media after clearing customs and it was an hour before I was able to have my first beer, which as you can imagine tasted like absolute perfection. Everyone at the Port, obviously having seen all the other rowers arrive, commented on how well I looked and not nearly as thin or gaunt as some had been, obviously didn’t try hard enough or my pre-row weight gain proved effective!
The rest of the afternoon we spent at the marina where I ate my first meal (chicken Caesar salad) and was invited to a residents drinks that evening for the marina development, where I was introduced with a big round of applause spoke to some lovely people.
Thursday night was also the night of the Talisker Whisky race prize giving, something that I was gutted to miss as I obviously haven’t seen any of the rest of the teams since we all left La Gomera on December 5th2011. Simon Chalk did give me a call during though and I was able to say hello to everyone and received a huge applause down the phone which I think was the closest I got all day to getting a bit emotional! Simon asked what it felt like to row an ocean with no wind, able to appreciate my conditions having experienced them himself as part of the Titan 8 man team going for a sub-30 crossing, although finally arriving in Barbados after 35 days.
So it has been a couple days on the island and I can honestly say that I am feeling absolutely fine. I thought I would crash for 24 hours after the row, especially with the lack of sleep over the last 2 weeks, but have slept no longer than as if I was home and no problems sleeping. The various sores and blisters are healing quickly and in no way physically do I feel I have just spent 82 days rowing an ocean. I also have to say that mentally I am in a similar position, within a few hours of arriving and sitting at lunch the family at the marina, it felt like yesterday that I had left them in La Gomera, or rather they had left me, as if nothing had really happened. All of this very contrary to what I expected but obviously no bad thing in any case.
I am now squaring away the boat to be shipped back to the UK and enjoying another few days on the island before we all fly back. I have been to the island a few times before but usually just stayed in the hotel complex and I have loved meeting all the locals here who are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. My arrival on Thursday was on the local radio stations and was in the papers the next day and considering my current look, which everyone seems to think is very much Robinson Crusoe, I’m hard to miss as the rower and receive a lot of congratulations from locals. I can imagine a similar reception will be awaiting me at Gatwick...!
So a truly extraordinary trip has come to a close. I hope you have enjoyed following my progress over the past 4 months or so, through a lot of ups and downs but we are finally here. Confirmed by the Ocean Rowing society but yet to be by Guinness, my row did qualify as the youngest male to row any ocean solo which is an amazing bonus to round it all off, but obviously never set out to row an ocean just for this intention.
The following of my row, along with the huge amounts of messages, comments, tweets and emails I received both during and in the last few days has been humbling. It was always fantastic to hear from people whilst out there and I’m sure was key in keeping my morale high. Along with the many donations, both big and small, to Mind has been unbelievable and for one more time I want to thank everyone past and present who has donated in any way to Mind for my row. My aim was not only to raise money for a very undervalued and underfunded charity, but to also get people talking about mental health are not be scared or embarrassed when they are confronted with the issue. People aren’t embarrassed when asking someone how they are when they break a leg; the same should be true when someone is receiving treatment for a mental health issue.
I have also been truly touched by people who have been following who are experiencing, or have a close relation who is experiencing mental health issues. I hope that my row has gone just a little way to help, even if it just to relieve any shame or embarrassment you may feel. I know that this is a real problem and one that shouldn’t exist in this day and age.
My thank you’s could go on for another few pages so I will be brief and will be sure to thank those who need thanking personally at a later stage. At this time I will just mention all of my sponsors, especially Molyneux Rose and KED consulting Ltd who were pivotal in me reaching the start line. All my sponsors can be seen on the Sponsors page of my website and if you see by Orbana there is a 10% discount code for buying online.
Orbana is without doubt the best energy drink I have ever used and the condition I find myself in now I’m sure is partly down to these guys. I did end up having to ration my food quite heavily over the final few weeks due to the quiet weather, but Orbana always gave me enough energy to keep rowing!
My final thank you for the blog is to my family, who have supported me throughout and did everything they could to help me achieve what I have. I wouldn’t be sitting here today without their support and were an integral part to my success.
So that’s it, Tommy Tippetts, solo ocean rower. Definitely still hasn’t sunk in yet! 2 and a half year concept to completion, it has been one hell of a ride. I will be home in a few days and I know very soon normal life will take over, so in the meantime the rum punches will keep on flowing!
Just finally, I wrote some quotes on the walls of my cabin to keep me going whilst I was out there. Along with the obligatory Churchull ‘never give in’ and ‘victory however long and hard the road may be’ speeches, the two quotes below also appeared. They are both well known and one has appeared in my blog previously. They will sound cliché but personally both sum up why I took on the row and what it meant to me:
Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do that by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Theodore Roosevelt: “Far better it is to dare might things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
That, and in the good old English way, the Atlantic was there and I just wanted to see if I could do it.
Thanks everybody, see you soon.
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