Leaving on Sunday!

Yes it's almost here. I am flying out to Australia on Sunday to start the preparation for the row which should start on the 19th/20th. It's has come around incredibly quickly and there is so much to do and get ready! It's been a hectic couple of weeks with training and racing in London at the women's and men's head of the rivers plus the Boat Race yesterday. I had the honour of being the guest speaker at the Oxford Alumni Association pre-Boat Race lunch and apart from talking about the race managed to squeeze in a few references to my row. It was a great day made even better by an Oxford victory and getting to see so many from uni in the pub afterwards! I am trying to see as many people as i can before i leave so lots of social events and enjoying the company of friends and family whilst i can. It's going to be a long 2 months without seeing them.

On other news the race website is now up and running at www.indianoceanrowingrace09.com and has more information on the other crews competing and a message wall. Whilst we are out on the ocean we will have a sat phone and (very slow) internet access so will be able to keep in contact with the outside world. You can send text messages to the crew for free so PLEASE take advantage of this to keep us motivated. Even if it's just to say what you have been up to or what you ate for lunch, it will be great to be kept in the loop.

Also a couple of sponsors have joined the cause. Swedish Orphan International, a pharmaceuticals company near Newmarket specialising in rare diseases, have generously donated towards my cause and OverBoard, a dry bag and waterproof company, have donated kit for the crew. Thank you!

http://www.swedishorphan.com/
http://www.over-board.co.uk/catalog/index.php

Helx

The Boat

Here are a couple of photos of the boat!

I'm back

Sorry for the long period of absence. No excuse except for being busy getting everything ready for the trip and trying to get the last portion of sponsorship (still looking by the way!). From now on though i will try to update whenever i can and let you know about the run up to the race.

Flights are booked so i am officially, 100% going to Australia at least! leaving on the 5th April so only 3 weeks away and it's getting incredibly exciting. Can't wait to leave and get out on the boat and meet the rest of the crew. Peter form the crew is going to be joining me on the Yachtmaster Ocean Theory course i'm doing this week so it will be great to get to meet him and get to know each other before the many weeks at sea.

On other news, there has been so much! I have hopefully gained £2000 more sponsorship in the last week or so but i am still about £5000 short. I am already funding a lot of the trip myself and have resigned myself to the fact that i won't be able to afford to go back to university to persue my dream career. Well at least not for the moment. Instead i will be looking for a full-time job wen i get back to help repay the many loans i have had to get from family. It's going to be a hard slog but well worth it. Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith, grasp the opportunity and deal with the fall-out afterwards!