Last night was a very frustrating one for us. The wind dropped and with it for some reason our ability to control Glenda and steer her in the direction we wanted to go – it would appear she has a mind of her own and if she doesn’t want to go somewhere then she’ll dig her heals in and make a stand...oh joy the only lady we have with us and she’s got attitude! Anyway this meant we spent most of the already difficult night shift meandering our away from side to side without making much headway, having to change the heading every 5-10 mins – something which i must confess i had a bit of a sense of humour failure about after spending a second consecutive shift doing little other than tweaking the steering only to see Glenda completely over react and veer violently off to one side or another. Perhaps the dear girl just wants a little TLC, maybe some flowers r something...or just a little rub of her belly.
Not surprisingly mileage dropped over night but there wasn’t much we could do about it apart from just plug away and hope to goodness the new day brought with it a change in direction...or rather a consistent direction that we could stick to.
Thankfully the day was a little better and whilst we still had problems with the steering we managed to work out a system to overcome Glenda’s sensitivity problems which meant the men at the helm didn’t have such a frustrating day. Temperatures soared to approx 35 degrees and a gentle breeze helped push us SW during the day – whilst we ideally wanted to head north there was no point in fighting the elements and anywhere West was still good in our books at this stage. Big Al had given us a new way point to head to which was further north but on checking with him it was agreed to use the winds and the currents to best effect in the hope that we would be able to head north over the next couple of days.
So all in all a hard night but a more rewarding day and that’s just life out here. Rarely do you seem to get a blissful 24 hours but instead there’s invariably a good stint where you just have to dig deep and battle through it, no matter how soul destroying it may seem. Nothing else that memorable to report, we just rowed a bit, ate a bit, slept a bit and talked a lot of nonsense...oh and Tom and Matt sang to each other with their ipods, all very cute really – Matt can be seen doing his very best  ‘Jacko’ (picture him standing on his rowing seat one hand pointing to the stars the other being stroked through his hair, all the while singing ‘Thriller’) and Tom ‘does’ Coldplay, head rocked back crowing like a dog doing his very best version of ‘Fix Me’... don’t hold your breath for any ‘Oarsome’ chart entry from these two jokers.
Right on to the more interesting stuff with an update on things that are happening elsewhere. Today was the opening day of NZ’s biggest boat show in Auckland where Radio Sport had teamed up with RFP as the feature stand of the Show. You may remember that the big news was that the PM, John Key, was going to open the Show from this stand, all very exciting stuff. Well last night we were tipped off that John Key might well phone us up from the stand to have a chat. Not wanting to get too ahead of ourselves we played this down and talked about how amazing it would be ‘if, and that’s a big ‘if’, he did. We were simply told to have the phone at the ready at approx 8am. Well as you can imagine the excitement in the camp was immense but personally i spent most of the night (when not skitting out over the steering dramas) trying to get my head around how we should address him – was it ‘Your Excellency’, or maybe just ‘Prime Minister’ or even just ‘Sir...and then there’s all that Right Honourable business as well...arrrrrh the head was doing somersaults, i just couldn’t remember what the protocol was, or rather i had never before had a reason to know or care. I was sure an Irish friend (or rather leprechaun) had given me the A-Z on these things during her recent trip to NZ when she met some dignitaries but i couldn’t for the life of me remember what the code of conduct was – and besides who would trust the Irish anyway…
After much deliberation i decided the best thing to do would be to mix it up, speak quickly and hope to goodness reception wasn’t good enough for him to notice any faux pas that i may make. With that in mind i thought a greeting of ‘How Excellent(adding a very quite muffled ‘cy’ at the end) it is to hear from you Prime Minister Sir, it is most honourable of you to call us in the Indian’ – surely that would cover all bases, even if not in the right order. Come 8am the phone rang...it was John key, PM of NZ!! The boys had all agreed that i would take the call, although given my track record for ramblings this was potentially a dangerous call. Anyway all thoughts about how to address the PM were thrown out the window and after an initial ‘hello Mr. Prime Minster’ it became brutally apparent that here was a people’s man and not some person who would be hung up on the airs and graces. Anyway after a quick update report on how things were going on board Glenda he then offered to summon the Air Force to send some supplies out to us (i think i might have mentioned my addiction to chicken and chocolate and i guess he must have felt sorry for me) and then requested that we go and see him on our return to NZ.
I guess for us it wasn’t so much what he said but that he actually went out of his way to call us at all – i mean how many other Prime Ministers/ Heads of State have called any of the other teams? This was a massive moment for us and one that will long stick in our memories as a huge highlight of the campaign. To hear the PM saying he has been following your progress was a huge boost, and such a timely one given the dramas of the week prior. We knew there was gathering momentum both back in NZ and the UK because the volume of messages has been getting bigger and bigger and net of people writing wider and wider – especially complete strangers. However that said we are on a boat miles from anywhere or anyone so trying to understand everything that’s going on the profile it’s getting is very hard to grasp. When we set out to do this challenge the key priority for us was profile – not for us but for the cause and judging by John Key’s words about what a worthy cause it was and how proud he was of us it looks like we’re well on our way to achieving this goal. Oh and he donated as well...
After saying farewell to the PM the phone was then passed on to Lara and Amber, the two promo girls who are running the stand and helping to fundraise on our behalf. Lara took the phone first and opened up by saying, Hi it’s Lara here, I’m working on the stand trying to raise money for you...and I’m wearing a lovely tight lycra outfit’. She then went on to say that both of them were going to betting on the erg machine and rowing up to 10km each per day to help promote the challenge.  What?????? Did i hear that right, did she just say she was wearing a lovely tight lycra outfit and that she was going to row, or was this the first sign of insanity/delusion setting in? Suddenly i was reduced to a jabbering mess i mean how do you respond to that? I thought i had best check just what she had said and my worst fears were confirmed...it was indeed all about tight lycra outfits (black and white i believe) and rowing on our behalf. Now if there’s one thing you don’t want to hear when you’re stuck on a 29ft row boat with 3 other grown men, many thousands of miles from land then that has to be pretty high up on the list.  Suddenly my ability to hold a normal adult conversation disappeared and yes i turned to custard! Anyhow Lara and Amber thanks for bringing a very bright ray of sunshine to my day, but just to let you know it’s not healthy in my current situation!
After day one of the Boat Show Radio Sport had managed to raise approx $1,800 which was an amazing achievement and once again i just want to say another huge heart felt thank you to Stuart Dwight and all The Radio Network team (and lycra) for everything they continue to do to help our cause. Three more days to go and we wish them all the best with the rest of the Show.
Other news comes from Wanaka where the equally incredible efforts of Hamish on the streets of Wanaka have kicked off. Despite freezing cold temperatures Hamo is on day 2 of his campaign to help raise funds for our challenge and cause and he has already amassed an amazing $1,800!!! Ably supported by his very lovely partner in crime, Kim who i believe is doing some kind of ‘spin’ thing to keep him company, together they have taken Wanaka by storm and we’re told a number of the local press have picked up on the story as well as being closely supported by a radio station down there. Hamish we love you mate and thank you so so much for everything you are doing, people like you are what this entire challenge is about and far from it being just about the crossing it’s about the legion of supporters who have got behind it in their own way to help raise much needed funds and awareness for this great cause. Just remember there’s no shame in a daily ‘fous fous’ session, your bottom will thank you in years to come!

Well much like day 24 this was another very forgetful day on the oars. We plodded along as best we could and still had to keep to the same routine with one rowing and one steering – slightly soul destroying when you know you’re already down on power through the lack of legs but once again needs must and we had to respect the elements for what they were and just make the best of it. As it happens we trucked along at pretty good speed, regularly clocking in at over 3-3.5 knots and Pete and I even got it up to a whopping 8 knots as we careered down one of those rogue waves...such a rush.
The big news from the rowing front line today was that we broke the 1,000 mile mark so whilst there’s still a very long way to go it’s another milestone checked off. Next up is when we get to under 2,000 miles to go which should be over the next couple of days. Aside from that we had our first team sing along today as well,more as a kind of therapy post the last 48 hours of semi carnage -  Pete started off with Jerusalem but the lyrics soon dried up and things rapidly  went down hill ending with ‘World In Motion’ and then ‘3 Lions on my shirt, Vindaloo etc etc’...all class this boat, all class. As the singing stopped i then piped up with a little rendition of Mr.Postman – needless to say the rest of the boat was asleep within seconds such is the soothing tone of voice.
Plans are well under way for the stand at the NZ Boat Show taking place at the ASB Showgrounds in Geenlane (Auckland) and  Bex confirmed the Prime Minister would be opening the Show in from our stand – well when i say ‘our’ i mean the stand that Radio Sport have constructed and invited us to be a part of. It’s quite difficult to grasp just how big a thing this will be but by the sounds of things we have the feature stand and it’s been headlined in all the marketing leading up to the show – and as this is the biggest show of its kind in NZ that’s real money can’t buy stuff that is just amazing for both the challenge and the cause.
The stand will act as a fundraiser for us and we are very grateful to both Gen-i and RowPro who have put together an amazing interactive display encouraging members of the public to literally row themselves to Mauritius during the 4 days of the Show. This can be done either by literally getting on the Concept 2 machines at the stand or by ‘purchasing’ miles. As the miles are clocked up so an interactive display will show the progress of the Show in making their way across the Indian – all the while our website with the tracking will be beamed on a different big screen along with the ‘story so far’. All very clever stuff and once again we are so so grateful for everything the Radio Network and the organisers are doing to help support this challenge.
That’s about it for today but tomorrow i will have an update on how Hamish is getting on down in Wanaka with his daily row-a-thon on the streets, as well as an update on how day 1 at the boat show went. Final thing to say is that it’s my mum’s B’day today, so happy B’day mum...present is on its way, just as soon as Gary shows his face again.
Right i’m off to fous fous my parts that need fous fousing but will be back with more tomorrow. Happy hump day one and all.
Note:
Thanks to Sally Moyes for pointing out that i should probably refrain from labelling Tom as a ‘fiddler’ and instead may be better referring to him as ‘tinkerer’! The fact of the matter is Sal that fiddler seems to cover all bases, so whilst he does tinker i fear he also fiddles...if you know what i mean.

Ok so yesterday was a bad day, and a blue day for Bills. Fortunately i was not the only one and it soon became apparent that whilst the others hadn’t reached the same level of depression each and everyone of us was suffering. Today started much as last night had finished with Pete and I appearing on the oars in our very fetching immersion suits. To be fair if they looked ridiculous at night they looked positively comical in the day - although by day they looked more like Telly tubby outfits than those chemical warfare suits, especially with the rather lovely cap that came as part of the outfit.
Anyway whether it was the joy of realising that in the immersion suits we had stumbled across some new fancy dress costumes or whether it was just a new day bringing new thoughts i’m not sure but today was a whole lot brighter, even if the weather wasn’t. That said come mid morning the sun poked his head out which provided a welcome lift the crew of sun worshippers.
Today was a big day, not so much in terms of what was happening on the ocean because to be fair it was a very forgetful day – just one of those days that ends up rolling in to so many others where we rowed, ate, slept a bit, rowed, ate, slept a bit blah blah blah. The elements were still too fierce to allow two on the oars so we had to stick to the one rower one driver routine, but currents and winds were good so we still made good progress and the benefit of having the designated ‘driver’ is that your ability to ride each wave is that much greater...or at least that’s what i think and i’m sticking by that theory.
This was a big day because there was a big psychological hurdle to get over and for the first time i had to seek some answers from myself that no one else would be able to provide. The words of the S.A.S man kept coming back to me and i remember he said to keep looking, searching inside for the reason you are doing this and never lose sight of that because if it’s strong enough then you will get through anything. So it was my mind was cast back to the origins behind the challenge, not just the emotional attachment to the cause but the origins of the challenge. Coincidentally a huge part of this story fell on this day one year ago. Today was Mrs.Wigram’s birthday and the very same day last year that Tom, Bex and I went to visit Simon Chalk at Woodvale Events to talk to him about our plans to enter a team in to the inaugural Indian Ocean race. Up to this point it was very much a pipe dream that Tom and I had talked about a lot but without any real substance – the meeting at Woodvale was to be the deciding factor and the reality is that if Simon didn’t think it a good idea then the challenge would probably have stopped there, or at least my challenge would have. As it was he proved to be nothing short of inspirational in his comments and advice, never once did he use the word ‘can’t’ and right from word go he was brutally honest about what was required and the challenges that lay ahead just to get to the start line...infact rowing ability and experience were really secondary concerns.
All three of us left Woodvale fully pumped and with enormous amounts of hope, excitement and of course no little nervousness...for now it was all on, and we never looked back from that day on. That it was Mrs Wiggers B’day meant we could also have a glass of champers to celebrate – the location was the Oyster Catcher which coincidentally just so happened to be the name of the boat Simon Chalk had attempt to break the Atlantic crossing record in some years before.
I could still remember exactly how i felt that day and recalling that feeling provided a real boost to morale today. Also remembering all the hurdles we’ve encountered and highs and lows all helped re fuel the heart and reignite the desire to go on.
The reason i make particular mention to it being Tom’s mother’s b’day is that for both of us one of our first and toughest hurdles was to tell our mothers. I suspect the news of our planned adventure was and will remain the worst B’day present Mrs.Wigram has ever received but luckily for Tom his bro, Will, was there who managed to deflect most of the attention on to himself as only Will can do...amazing coincidence how you were then struck down by a 24 hour bug William the very next day!
That night/afternoon i then told mum and if truth be known it didn’t go swimmingly, infact had i said i was off to join the troops on the front line in Afghanistan then i think that would have been more welcome news than the fact i was planning to row the Indian...and with hindsight i can hardly blame her, i mean it took me until about the age of 7 to even dip my toe in the water and even then i had be bribed with cash despite wearing head to toe arm bands and being in water that only came up to my ankles – yup i was one tough kid (i actually was but also quietly manipulative with an early appetite for money).
Anyway i can’t under estimate just how important it has been to secure the support from not just our mothers but our families and friends throughout this challenge and i want to reiterate just how often we all draw upon this during the daily grind on the boat. Some days are simply magnificent but when the chips (chups to all those in NZ) are down you all provide us with so much inspiration and drive and i/we cannot and will never be able to thank you enough for this – no matter how long or short your words of support they all mean so much to us (mum i have read that letter you sent me about a dozen times since leaving and Mrs.Wiggers your letter nearly instigated the first group man hug but at the time Gary the albatross was in the vicinity and we didn’t think it appropriate to drop our guard.
Other news...
Sadly Gary has disappeared and we’ve not seen or heard from him for days – no emails, letters or anything. We’ve been reliably informed by Jo from Team Moose (hello Moose) that they only ever have one mate and o our thoughts are that he may have flown ahead on hearing us talk about the Angels to see if there is any potential catch. Failing that we’re at a loss as to know where or what has happened to him so PLEASE if you his whereabouts please phone the missing persons helpline.
As far as the rowing goes we heard from Bex that we notched up our pb yesterday, clocking in well over 60miles – although these stats seem to change depending on when you look at the computer, but regardless the darkest day yet has reaped the greatest rewards!
Before i sign off, a big Happy Birthday to Mrs.W from all aboard Glenda.

Well the hunch, or should i call it intuition about the weather has come true, and not in a good way. King Neptune has obviously returned from his hols to Auckland in a rage after  realising that 4 ‘kiwi’ rowers have broken in to his back yard and with it been enjoying 4 or 5 days of undiluted sunshine while he’s been subjected to the wrath of an early NZ winter. King Neptune is not a man to be angered but alas we can do nothing but wear it and hope to goodness his Monday blues pass and peace\is restored on the Indian.
Last night was lively but good with an assisting breeze and rolling waves helping to push us on our merry way averaging consistently over 3 knots. However come the break of the day also came the break in the weather. What a difference 24 hours can make – one minute there we were basking in glorious sunshine concerned about little else other than replacing the lost liquids in our bodies with more water. Fast forward the clock and here we w ere smack bang in the middle of crashing waves, howling winds and torrential rain...all at once. With winds pumping at around the 35 knots and swells of 5-6 metres it was a crash back to reality for Glenda and the RFP team.
This was what ocean rowing was all about – one minute paradise cruising along at comfortable speeds, tops off basking in the blue skies and sun in the company of whales and other wonderful creatures of the sea, the next hunched up in Baltic temperatures all the while being hurled around the deck by the brutal forces of mother nature. Whilst i obviously prefer the former it’s hard to explain the exhilarating feeling of surfing down some of these towering waves and seeing the GPS reading notch up 8-9 knots. There is something desperately appealing not to mention satisfying about coming up against these elements and coming out the other side unscathed...although i appreciate this is no given and there are moments when the heart is in the mouth and the whites of the eyes bulging at the seam as fear and excitement fight it out.
In  a nut shell today the weather was filthy and totally unrelenting – so much so only one person per shift could row while the other had the task of guiding Glenda, so powerful were the waves and forceful the wind. Approach one of these bad boy waves the wrong way and it could be trouble, although rest assured Glenda is tough as old boots and would take some knocking to see her fall.Many of the other boats have hydraulic steering so you can just set your course and off you go but RFP being the purist rowers that we are have full manual steering – it’s a bit like the difference between those who like automatic cars and those ‘real’ drivers who prefer the real driving experience you get from having a manual...to be honest that’s a load of old rubbish and if we could have afforded hydraulic then we would have leapt at it! 
All day was spent in perpetual wetness and there was literally noting you could do to stay dry – not the best for our tender bottoms that had just started to heal during the warm dry spell. Anyway shift after shift we would just change, ‘fous fous’ and hope that was the last wet one of the day...but sadly it never was and the carnage carried on right through the night. With the wet obviously comes the cold, and it was so cold that Pete and I resorted to what can only be described as one of the greatest fashion disasters in marine attire...welcome to the immersion suit. Yes indeed drastic times require drastic measures and the night shifts were perishing so there was only one thong for it! For those of you who don’t know what an immersion suit is well let me just say the only comparison i can think of is a giant condom – excuse the slightly crass nature of this comparison but if you see one you’ll know what i mean. Infact if you were to cross a condom with a chemical warfare suit you would be pretty much there – and no this was not FRP’s very own fetish party. These are giant all in one yellow latex numbers that are usually used for emergency situations to keep you warm in the water if for example you have capsized or having to jump ship. You certainly wouldn’t see these on the cat walk in Paris but you could have been forgiven for thinking we were there when i got out the cabin to be greeted by a barrage of camera flashes form the gloating Hampel and Wigram – mmm laugh they might but at least i was going to be warm. Anyway Pete and I set about our 2 hour shift in these lovely new suits quietly quite pleased with our decision,  but then after about 45 mins i noticed something was up...that something was that i had literally blown up like a balloon rendering any attempt to row impossible. Pete had forgotten to tell me that you need to expel all the air every now again by adopting the ‘brace race’ position and letting it out the rubber sealing so i had literally turned in to the Michelin man wallowing on my backside incapable of moving anywhere. How very humiliating and thank goodness Tom and Matt didn’t witness that bit. Two shifts later and a regular air release in place i was an immersion suit pro but i hope to goodness this doesn’t become a regular requirement because this is so not the Indian I had signed up for!
So all in all the night wasn’t pleasant,  none of us slept a wink being hurled  from side to side in the cabin during our cherished down time – which when you’re crammed in like 2 sardines can make for some pretty uncomfortable scenarios...and no it’s not called man love, quite the opposite! For the first time the tiredness and constant soul destroying battering was starting to take its toll. I don’t know if the other lads felt the same way but for me this was unquestionably  the biggest low of the journey so far and thoughts drifted back home and to family, friends and all the things you take for granted on a daily basis – warm, dry clothes, a comfortable bed and wholesome home cooked meals. Whether this was the result of the gradual build up of sleep deprivation, coupled with hunger and now topped off by uncontrollable shivering and anxiety i’m not sure but for the first time i actually began to question what the hell i was doing out there – yes we had probably had worse days but for some reason everything seemed like it had come to a head. Everything seemed so distant and so hard, and the mind was, like the S.A.S man said it would, playing games. Whatever the reason for this mental blip i definitely went through a dark moment and had to do some soul searching to get to grips with it. Here’s hoping tomorrow is a brighter day...
Sea life update: SHARK SHARK SHARK! Oh yes just when we thought the day had thrown up enough excitement for one day there appeared behind the boat the much anticipated grey fin...lining us up like they do all their prey! Pete & I were on shift and had spent much of the past 3 weeks discussing just how much we were looking forward to seeing a shark, and then from nowhere one appeared. Suddenly the macho beating of the chest and tough talk about how we would each tackle a shark was replaced by nervous whispering as we both sat there motionless in awe of this magnificent creature. Why we were whispering i’m not quite sure but it seemed the right thing to do as if we didn’t he almost certainly would have attacked us...yeah right. Anyway as quickly as he arrived he then disappeared clearly not impressed with the fare on offer and chat about how Pete & I were about to dive in and wrestle him resumed!