Ocean Brothers – The Last Lap Of The Voyage

As The Ocean Brothers are well into the 2nd half of their row across the Atlantic to raise money for Skin Cancer Research, the problems continue. Equipment failure and physical complications have made the journey so far very challenging, but if they are successful Jude will be the youngest man to successfully row across the Atlantic.

Read about their highs and lows:

• Day 34 – 20th Feb. Just when the Ocean Brothers had been doing so well disaster struck again. Greg had been suffering from severe shoulder pain for several days, but then it started getting worse. He is unable to row at all with one arm and has been taking pain killers, but now the pain is so severe that he will have to start taking stronger medication. Being a doctor he has a pretty good idea of the cause of the trouble, which he thinks is a rotor cuff injury – the group of muscles and tendons surrounding the shoulder and keeping the head of the upper arm bone. firmly within the shoulder socket. With three weeks left to go this is not an easy thing to deal with.
   
• Day 39 – 25th Feb. Just 605 miles to go. Unfortunately the wind has dropped and slowed the brothers down. They had been hoping to do 50 miles per day, but the last few days have been no more than 38. This has made them quite despondent as they are desperate to get to the end of their journey. They are keeping their spirits up by beginning to think about their destination and dreaming of pizza, crisps and beer.
   
• Day 41 – 27th Feb. Greg spoke to Vassos Alexander on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show saying that they has about 500 miles to go and hoped to finish their journey in about 2 weeks. They are still surviving on not more than 1 – 1 ½ hours’ sleep at a time and hand pumping every drop of water they use. Greg said that highlights include the unpolluted starry skies at night and the animal life such as the shark that followed them for a few hours just before they capsized. Fortunately they managed to scramble back into the boat in one piece.
   
• Day 47 – 5th March. Very slow and disappointing progress made over the last couple of days. The winds have changed dramatically and now the brothers are rowing into a headwind and doing 5 miles per day instead of the expected 25. They’ve even had to put the para anchor on to stop them from being dragged backwards. They were hoping to get to Barbados by Mother’s Day to meet their Mum – so the pressure is on. They are seeing more wildlife now with pods of dolphins and big blue fish with bright yellow fins.
   
• Day 48 – 6th March. Happy birthday Jude! What a place to spend your 19th birthday.
   
• Day 49 – 7th March. In an interview with the BBC they were relieved that with only 5 days to go they now had winds behind them that were building, so no more being blown backwards. Their position is 275miles East of Barbados and they still hope to get there by Sunday or Monday of next week. They have an annoying bird which has landed on their cabin roof and keeps on attacking them, but maybe that’s a sign that they are nearing landfall. Jude said that he had a swim on his birthday with fish nibbling his toes, just like a spar. During the interview his Mum Alex was able to wish him a surprise Happy Birthday and said she was all set to travel out to Barbados and wait there to welcome the boys when they arrive.

Keep following the brothers’ progress and don’t forget to donate for their charity, the British Skin Foundation.