Passage planning, pan-pans and preparations
To take part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, Atlantic Campaigns require all rowers to undertake five mandatory courses:
RYA First Aid - all the usual first aid subjects, but from a boating perspective
RYA Marine Radio - for anyone who owns a fixed or handheld marine VHF radio
RYA Sea Survival - to prepare us to stay alive in an emergency
RYA Essential Navigation and Seamanship - introduction to navigation and safety for anyone new to boating
Ocean Rowing Course - delivered by an Atlantic Campaigns Safety Officer and covering all aspects of the row, including training and preparation and what to expect before, during and after the race
One of the targets we set ourselves was to complete all of these courses by the end of 2022.
Luckily for us, a couple of training providers have developed close ties with Atlantic Campaigns, and so the four of us headed down to SeaSports Southwest, in Teignmouth. We cosied up in a two-bedroom flat for a full 7 days - no point in being precious about personal space now!
Tim Cox of SeaSports Southwest did a superb job of guiding us through all of the RYA courses. With years of working closely with Atlantic Campaigns and numerous TWAC teams, he’s able to provide additional information that made the content of the courses relevant to ocean rowing. At the end of the day, the vessels we will be in are very different to those usually covered by the RYA courses, with the added dimension of taking part in an unsupported race.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Lizz, Laura and Kit during the Sea Survival course
Members of any team will have their strengths and weaknesses, and for us these courses were no different.
With a background in healthcare, Lizz felt most at ease with First Aid and would like to develop her knowledge in this area to be as prepared as possible at sea. More of a ‘wordy’ person, initially she found some of the navigation hard to grasp, but the lightbulb moments kept on coming and she is enjoying practising bearings, waypoints and positions.
Grace found the navigation course useful for refreshing her skills, and appreciated receiving the charts for the North Atlantic that we will use to plan our passage. The Ocean Rowing Course was her favourite as it presented all aspects of the row in a single day, including what is expected of us, what we can expect from the race organisers, and how they can support our friends and families.
Laura practicing bearings and positions
Everything we covered throughout the week was new to Laura - and she enjoyed all of it! She found sea survival and navigation particularly informative. However, the Ocean Rowing Course was a highlight for her. Although it showed the whole journey, warts (or bum sores) and all, it made her feel more confident that we have what it takes to complete this massive challenge, provided we train and prepare properly.
For Kit, the navigation course and learning about the passage across The Atlantic, wind roses and tidal streams made our endeavour more real and tangible. Although the Ocean Rowing Course made the task at hand seem huge, the safety net offered by participating in an Atlantic Campaigns event makes it easier to handle. It has also given her some ideas on how to better communicate the safety aspects of the challenge to family and friends.
Everyone in the team will be practising everything we learnt on these courses, so that we all have a good baseline ability in every aspect. However, as our campaign progresses and we head out to sea, each crew member will take ownership of specific aspects: project management, medical, navigation, technology, logistics, performance, nutrition and, of course, acting as skipper.
Learning from others
A (very) quick dip with some 2022 rowers
A real highlight was attending the courses with several TWAC 2022 teams: solo rower Mike of Atlantic Grappler, Steve and Pete of Dragonfish Row, and Millie, Frankie, Katy and Laura of The Atlantic Girls. The deeper into our campaign we get, the more we’re learning that the ocean rowing community is a close and friendly one: everyone is willing to share their knowledge and experiences. And while there are many similarities in the challenges teams face, rowers come from many different backgrounds and have varying motivations, so everyone has something new to bring to the table.
Spending time with these 2022 rowers was wonderful and we felt quite emotional saying goodbye and the end of the week. However, we’re planning on travelling to La Gomera in December, so we’ll see them all in the lead up to the race, and we can’t wait to hear how the final months of their campaigns have been.
Preparation is key
With our boat, Shelby, arriving in spring and plenty of time to go over our new-found skills, we’ve put ourselves in the best position possible for our first venture out on the water. But with the safety of the crew and other people on the water as our priority, before we ride the waves we’ll be spending our time getting to know the boat inside out, including all of our comms equipment and electronics.
With this in mind, by the end of 2022 we hope to have completed additional courses on marine electronics, advanced first aid and using our watermaker. However, with these five courses in the bag we are well on our way to achieving this milestone (or ‘waypoint’ 😉).