The Ocean Brothers Have Completed Their Atlantic Row!
Ocean Brothers Greg Bailey and Jude Massey photo by Adam Rowley Creative
53 days, over 3,000 miles, the brothers stepped off their boat and onto the pontoon in Barbados, holding onto each other to stop falling over as they felt the land under their feet for the first time in over 7 weeks.
Arriving on 11th March, Mother’s Day, 19 year-old Jude became the youngest person to row across an ocean in a team of two. It’s also thought that the half-brothers from Lymington are the first to complete the crossing on a vegan diet.
Here’s what they had to say about their incredible journey:
“It has been a wild ride, but to be sat here in Barbados, sipping on an ice cold drink and looking into the ocean’s horizon and looking back on our experience is euphoric – and worth the pain. We’ve raised over £82k for the British Skin Foundation.”
On 9th March – Day 51, Jude had been interviewed on FM Radio. He’d commented that every hour felt like a week as they neared the end of their voyage. They were battling through rough seas with waves pounding the boat every 30 seconds, in blistering heat. Asked about how they knew whether they were going in to right direction, as their GPS was broken, Jude said they were actually using the tiny GPS and Google maps on their mobile phones. As for calories, they were eating about 5,000 per day, but the food was very bland, tasting like cardboard. They’d lost all their condiments, so couldn’t even attempt to make the food taste better. When they allowed themselves to dream friends and food were always high on the list.
“It started off with two oars, then everything broke and we had to use one!
We literally rowed ¾ of the Atlantic with one oar!”
Their arrival was the best Mother’s Day present she could have wished for, for their mother Alexandra Massey. “When I said goodbye to them at the airport in Gran Canaria I walked away thinking ‘will I ever see them again?’” she said.
Euphoria, relief, but also pain! The brothers found that the adrenaline and excitement of their journey blocked out a lot of the body pains from the rowing. Now that they are safe and on dry land they are experiencing excruciating pain in tendons and hips as their bodies get used to a different regime. “The pains are significant, however knowing that we have a clean bed, shower, running water, hydrated food and our family with us, will ease any pain”
Their voyage back to the UK should be much easier. P&O Cruises are bringing the brothers and their boat back to the UK. They will be lowered into the Solent on 30th March (Good Friday) and will row in to Lymington for the final leg of their adventure.
You could be there to welcome them home and congratulate them on their epic voyage. Find out more.