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Barbados Bound

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My boats adventures in our race across the Atlantic
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parasurfer

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2011 04 05 Mini Blog by Aleksa

Via Tomas on Facebook

 

Brother Report: The stench was not Aleksa, it was instead a dead squid that washed up into the boat during the storms they were rowing through!

 

Lots of stuff going down, but her homeland's main newspaper wrote up an article about her: http://www.lrytas.lt/?data=20110205&id=akt05iss110205&p=1&sk_id&view=2Aleksa News Article.

 

And keep in mind, boys in girls, a donation to the foundation she's rowing for! www.rowfor911.org

 

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parasurfer

2011 02 04 Mini Blog from Sylvain

 

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2011 02 04 Mini Blog from Sylvain

Via Suzanne Reid on Facebook

ok, yet another BigBlue update:-). Sylvain called this am...35 knot NE winds have been sending huge waves over the boat, flooding the oar stations and sending the oars flying (one was broken and many oar handles have hit the rowers hard). they had to stop rowing as a result. conditions are tough...they're hoping to be back on the oars soon, hoping the winds will change...

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2011 02 04 Mini Blog from Ryan

 

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2011 02 04 Mini Blog from Ryan

Via Sarah Grady on Facebook

Just talked to the hairy dude via sat phone and the crew is thinking they'll be hitting Barbados the 27th or 28th of this month! They're still having bad weather but at least now it's blowing them in the right direction. 7569706638532213623-6607656102019033645?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 02 04 Big Blue Takes Off by Margaret

 

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2011 02 04 Big Blue Takes Off by Margaret

From www.margaretbowling.wordpress.com

Big Blue is now covering around 100 miles a day and the weather forecast for the next week is very favourable with 20 ? 25 knot winds and waves from the North East. You can leave messages for the crew at the Big Blue Guestbook at http://www.bigbluerow.com/Guestbook.php7569706638532213623-6890795518957018804?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 02 03 Guestbook Hits 150 Entries by Deb

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bi825lyqZEc/TUtriidcokI/AAAAAAAAB1Q/FdYu5n-IW_o/s320/20110112%2528151%2529.JPG2011 02 03 Guestbook Hits 150 Entries by Deb

2/3/11 Latest News from the Website

The Guestbook has hit 150 entries! To send a message to the crew via guestbook, click on the guestbook page on The Big Blue Row Website and fill out the form on the bottom of the page. The Crew likes the messages!

 

Spot has not tracked for hours I sent a message to the boat requesting a battery change.7569706638532213623-1035915904996446680?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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January 29th Update from Big Blue

Steve Roedde called home and asked me to post a blog to update all of you on Big Blue. Transmission by sat. phones are challenging and I could hear the wind that they were dealing with over the line. They've not had any favourable weather thus far and this is impeding their progress. At this point they were expecting to experience the trade windsto help propel them forward, but so far no such luck. Today they are in 15 (or 50) knot winds, mainly headwinds. However, although not what they expected, the crew is for the most part remaining positive, great friendships are being forged, no significant physical problems. The boat is comfortable and roomy, except when they are on sea anchor and all have to fit into the cabin. They are still planning to continue to the Barbados.7569706638532213623-3996534638591300862?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 01 18?Article on Ryan Worth

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2011 01 18?Article on Ryan Worth

Sarah Grady sent a link to a news article written about Big Blue Crew Member, Ryan Worth in the Oak Ridge, TN newspaper.

http://www.oakridger.com/sports/x1799249624/-Worth-doing-right-ORRA-assistant-trying-to-set-record-for-crossing-Atlantic7569706638532213623-8689514954358820768?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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01/18/11?Blog from Aleksa

01/18/11?Blog from Aleksa

via her Brother on Facebook

Brother Report: On the way down to Tarfaya, Aleksa saw a Minke whale breach right by the boat, saw a Finback whale swim by, and was followed by maybe 100ish dolphins, including baby dolphins, who would race ahead of the boat and then watch it go past. Aleksa is now out in the ocean, and reports come in slowly. The Brother will update as news comes in.

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parasurfer

2011 01 15--And They're Off Again by Angela

2011 01 15 And They're Off AgainBy Angela via Sat PhoneBig Blue made a stop in Tarfaya and restarted their Record Breaking Row to Barbados at 8PM GMT

That was quick! Big Blue left Tarfaya at about 8PM GMT tonight. They are on their way to the record. They are moving at 4.7 to 5.1 knots at the moment. They dumped about 1000 pounds worth of stuff and there are some very happy locals. They dumped tools and stainless hardware that they did not need and lots of the heavy drink mix that was on the boat. Angela assures me there is plenty of food on board for the whole crew. She has always been right on with food on her other 3 rows. The quick return to the sea hopefully will keep them all from getting sea sick again.

 

 

To beat the record Big Blue will have to arrive in Port St. Charles Barbados in less than 35 days 6 hours from when they left. My calculations are then 19th of Feb as a arrival.7569706638532213623-4472637633490554607?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 01 12 Day 1 By Angela Via Sat Phone

2011 01 12 Day 1 By Angela Via Sat Phone

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bi825lyqZEc/TS1dtYRAZ8I/AAAAAAAAB0g/Qi1XrLTG0GY/s320/photo-740749.JPGI just spoke to Angela. They did not realize that the Spot had not reported their position. (There is a link onwww.BigBlueRow.com) They are at 29N 20 428 and 101W 38 741 as of 8 pm (I will be reporting in GMT) tonight.

The winds have been against them until tonight. Now they are just slightly favorable for the 1st time. Margaret has not gotten her computer up and running yet, so her daily blog is not daily yet.

Angela said it was a day of Dolphins and Blisters. They had a beautiful sunrise and the clear skies at night allowed them to see millions of stars. No one on the boat is so sick that they are incapacitated. There are a few who are uncomfortable, but it is getting better for most.

The only other thing anyone had to add was that they were involved in a distress call relay from another boat. The good news about that is the VHF is working and they were successful in relaying a call.

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2011 01 11--And we?re on the move By Margaret

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And we?re on the move

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Margaret Bowling| Leave a comment We left at 8am this morning and are making slow progress through sluggish water as we hug the Moroccan coastline. I?ve been rowing all day with Sylvain and Ryan. David the engineer should have been rowing with us but was still making last minute tweaks to thing as we went today. Had lots of fun rowing with the boys. Very tired but good to be back out here. Body holding up well and each shift has been consistent. Nice rowing with people who have many years river rowing experience. Must dash, have a pack of beef jerky to get through.

Don?t forget to donate time or money to the QLD flood relief effort.

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2011 01 10 Blog by Margaret

PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE AN OFFICIAL DEPARTURE TIME FOR OUR OCEAN ROWPosted on January 10, 2011 by Margaret Bowling| Leave a comment Having consulted our weather router Lia and encouraged the crew to work overtime to get things ready we are finally able to announce a final official departure time of 0600 GMT on the 11th of January. We will now be leaving directly from Agadir instead of Tarfeya. The weather couldn?t be better. We have light winds pushing us in more or less the right direction all the way down the Moroccan coast. By the time we?re ready to change course and start heading out to sea the winds will have veered and increased in speed giving us an excellent push in the right direction away from Africa. The trade winds are blowing and conditions as they stand look ideal for a record year. Whilst I am an eternal optimist I am also realistic that over the course of a month things could change. I?m going out there with a record smashing attitude but as always will take it on the chin should it fall from our grasp.

I?ve stepped in last minute to a team of really amazing people. There are usually at least a few pretty ?interesting? types on these expeditions but this time I have the good fortune of landing up with one of the coolest teams I?ve ever met and not an ?interesting? person in sight. I know we?re going to have a lot of fun, that is if they can put up with my bossing! I?ve been made watch commander so will be responsible for half the team. This is essentially a co-skipper or second in command role which is something I?ve thrown myself into and am mostly looking forward to. The increased level of responsibility means I can?t let things slip and I will need to work hard to hide my anger, disappointment, upset and exhaustion from my guys. Fortunately I have my own comms system and lots of you wonderful people will be following the trip so I will be able to share those moments with you instead.

All the best from Captain Super Pants at the start of Aussie domination attempt number 2. It seems I have a whole nation to make it up to following the Ashes. 7569706638532213623-7849880404271961355?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 01 09 Update by Deb

2011 01 09 Update by Deb

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Well we did not leave yesterday as planned. We are hoping to leave tomorrow. It really depends on the weather, but for now...Hopefully tomorrow.

 

The boat was launched yesterday. I put up some pictures on Photobucket http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u196/debmole/Big%20Blue%20Row%202011/Big%20Blue%20Agadir%20Morocco/

 

I also put up a short video on you tube of the launch

 

Margaret did a voice blog on her site. http://margaretbowling.wordpress.com/

 

Luisa-Tom's wife shared this news article:

 

Check out this Globe and Mail article "Toronto Islands resident to row across the Atlantic" at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/globe-to/toronto-islands-resident-to-row-across-the-atlantic/article1862444/?service=email&utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail%3A+Newsletters+%2F+E-Blasts+%2F+etc.&utm_content=1862444&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links.

 

More when I know it!

 

Debs7569706638532213623-1042314867385378946?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2010 01 07?Mini Blog By Aleksa

010 01 07?Mini Blog By Aleksa

Via Facebook

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hungover as all hell. Things I learned last night - Aussies and "ammercans" should not drink together. scotch and shady liquor from the moroccan walmart and beer do not mix. Things we taught - how to shotgun beer. I may also be married to Ryan by the Moroccan paralympic team. Oh lord let me be able to eat by the end of the day.....

Aleksa Klimas-Mikalauskas7569706638532213623-5152253487201585753?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2010 01 06 Blog by Margaret

2010 01 06 Blog by Margaret

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But rowing an ocean is never that simple. You have to get to the start line first. We had hoped to leave on Saturday but today the authorities threw a spanner in the works and said we would need 48hrs to turn around some sort of permit to get the boat out on the water. On a plus note the bag containing survival suits which was lost in the New York blizzard ?travel chaos? may not have turned up but an appeal on US TV has led to replacements being donated which are due to arrive by DHL tomorrow. With a crew of 16 there is a lot to think about and I already find myself main list maker, party planner, tequila buyer and bestower of ocean rowing advice. Suits me! The party has just started so I better put down my laptop and get going. Winds looking good for imminent departure. Can?t wait to get going.7569706638532213623-4417144338990641773?l=bigbluerow.blogspot.com

 

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2011 01 05 RATS by Angela Madsen

Yesterday we arrived at the boat and began the chore of food preparation. I opened my box to find rats had ravaged it and I had lost 20 days of my food supply. Forty meals at about $5.00 a pop. Liz lost about six meals. I was so angry I had to go outside the gate of the boat yard and let out a big yell. What a waste. Deb and I paid a great deal of money to have a space big enough to sort the food at the house but the authorities would not allow us to move food from the boat to the house so our grand plan was offended and extra costs incurred to us by customs and port authorities. Last night we loaded the food onto the boat and sealed it up. We cannot afford any more loss of provisions as there is no place to purchase or replace expedition food here.

 

They could make it easy for us here because we do not fall into pre-established category so they are making the rules. I do not think we have enough money to make it go our way and they do not see past our pocketbooks into the future. Ocean rowers can contribute greatly to their economy in the future as we have this project. Future ocean rowers will not choose to come here when made aware of these circumstances. It would be better for them in the long run to welcome us and ensure our safety and success of our rowing projects. There are other places in the world to row from. They may have us here now but never again. I will take my business elsewhere.

Still no sign of my wheelchair and negative symptoms of life without it are becoming evident with more back, shoulder and wrist pain. The crew are trying to help me out as much as possible and do not mind pushing me around nearly as much as I do. Accepting assistance is a difficult thing for me. We leave the boathouse at dark so avoiding all of the obstacles becomes more difficult. Abrupt stopping when hitting an obstacle can injure the person pushing and can eject me from the wheelchair. We are trying to be cautionary as any injury now could be detrimental to the success of the project. The wheelchair footplates keep falling off and the wheel has fallen off once. Cabbies still don?t want to give me rides and want to charge more money. I have to use cabs because I cannot possibly push this chair where I need to go and I don?t go in cabs alone since being robbed. Just 3 more days. 3 MORE DAYS.

The weather reports are looking good, progress with boat is good, progress with food is good. So far we are on schedule for Jan 8 departure.Angela

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2011 01 03 Agadir by Angela

2011 01 03 Agadir by Angela

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All of the crew have their own stories about this place , some good, some bad. Its not all bad here. They have a lovely surf beach. Some people are being helpful and some only helpful for money or dh. They hold things hostage for money so even if there is an agreed price it will always be renegotiated. The boat has cost more money, the crane cost more money. Everything about this has cost more and added more difficulty to the project. It has been eight days now since they chose not to bring me my wheelchair and subsequently lost it at JFK terminal 1. We are debating as to whether or not to place a Royal Air Moroc decal on the boat. David had spoke to them about waiving luggage overages for the crew and that was to be a value equal to minimum sponsor package but no one on the crew received luggage overage waiver except David which does not make it to the level of sponsorship required. So they are just like everyone else in the world and want something for nothing and we are still not sure who is responsible for the lost luggage and lost wheelchair. Searching for both and being without is being positively dealt with by the crew who are trying to make other arrangements to get the rowing kit items that they will need on the boat. The loss of my wheelchair was never due to weather or blizzard. It would not be lost if they had not refused to put a gate check tag on it and refused to bring it to me when they took me off the plane. When they knew we were not going, they had employees there who could have easily brought it to me. Instead, they chose to tell me to ?suck it up?I think I have done a fabulous job of Sucking it up but as it has been 8 days I can honestly say they have not done so well at doing their part. It does not really matter the who?s, whens and whys of it all or who is at fault, it?s a matter of who will be the most competent at finding it and getting it to me. Airport wheelchairs are not made for independent use any place in the world. It is better than not having a chair at all but I have to allow someone to push me, something that is extremely difficult for me. I know the time will come when I will need assistance, but this is not the time! Here in Morocco the taxi drivers won?t pick you up in a chair. A couple of times we got in the cab while the drivers were taking payment by previous fare and their backs were turned. I took my suitcase with boat kit to the boat unloaded it and was returning to the apartment with empty bags. One of my crew haled the cab then the cab driver began protesting as he saw that I was the passenger, then he complained about the luggage. He refused to turn on the meter and wanted an agreed upon fare because of the wheelchair and luggage so Sylvain who speaks French arranged price of 25 dh. I was in cab, crappy chair on top, bags inside- no room for anyone to go with me, so I go alone. Made it up the road out of eyesight of my crew and the cab driver pulled over and asked me for all the money I had in my hand as if he would dump me if I did not make that advanced payment of 40dh. I thought he would give me change of 15dh when I got to the apartment. At the apartment Deb, Liz and Aleksa got the luggage and the cabbie made a hand gesture at me and drove off. I have not been in a cab since. If I had my wheelchair I would be able to push to the other side of the port safely. It is what it is.David is making a lot of progress with the boat and the crew is working on food as planned. We hope to be putting the boat in the water on Wednesday. Logistically our apartment is located at the Marina so it will be much easier for me to access and once I am on the boat, all will be well with the world. The Veterans Affairs Department had been arranging for me to get a new wheelchair and I don?t bring my wheelchair on the boat just to sit and row so it will all be ok. I worry more that the crew won?t get luggage items that they need on the boat. It will be ok and we will row on the 8th hopefully with no delaysAngelahttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bi825lyqZEc/TSNmYXqXHsI/AAAAAAAABz4/1-YYU1O6WRA/s320/20110103%2528152%2529.JPG

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