IOR 2009 Blog Archive

Fellow bloggers, it's frustrating that their position is not publically known at the moment, but panic ye not, we haven't deliberately gone into stealth mode, although having thought about it, therein could lie a cunning plan...   The support vessel is meeting with them to pass them a spare tracker, which will remain on for the whole race as per the race instructions.  Should this not work, we'll definately find another way of describing it and feeding it back.   Meanwhile, do be reassured that we talk to them every day, I'm sorry that those who have contact are in a bit of an exclusive club, but we're trying to keep it nice an easy for them.  They are fine, and trucking along more or less pacing Southern Cross.  The winds this weekend will abate further and the rowing is what they hoped it would be, fast, comfortable, with some nice waves and some cracking tunes.    As they push themselves for boat speed both their bodies and minds are holding up really well.   The tracker problem will be resolved shortly we hope and meanwhile let's keep pulling for the boys, metaphorically speaking. Support Crew out

Hello Mr Blog - Guy here calling to give you an update on how we are doing. The time is 10:15pm and other than the moonlight its very dark.  Andy and I have slipped into the night time 2 hours on 2 hours off process and finding it tough.  Food wise we were both starving but have just eaten.  Andy had Spag Bol and I had lamb which was OK although we are missing fresh food but getting into the puddings.  The conditons tonight are calm and with the full moon and some awesome stars out it is really quite nice at the moment.  Andy and I are trying to do anything to relieve the boredom and some interesting topics come up for discussion!  To answer the question about what I would write about in a book it would have to be people on land and doing this has made us both think about who we want to spend more time with when we get back.  Anyway better go but we are doing well and will get back in touch in the next couple of days.  Cheers guys. Guy out Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site.

Another day of intense rowing, Andrew and Guy continue to make good steady progress. Weather is going to pick up for the first part of the week but should ease towards the end. The boys are settling into a nice marathon routine and have decided to play the long game. Current depth is 4,500m looking to hit a ridge in the next few days so expect a depth of 2000m. A big thank you to Jo Russell at Absolute radio who mentioned the boys on her Saturday show. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge Tom out

The boys have broken the 600nm mark! They are soon to cross 100 degree's longitude! As we can see from the progress tracker on the Woodvale site, the boys have lost a fair few nautical miles on Southern Cross. It's not easy being back markers. So Andrew & Guy have to pick themselves up physically and mentally and get the pace going again. Instead of taking lunch and afternoon breaks and having a decent sleep, they'll be rowing a little harder to pull back the distance dropped.  Cummon boys! Bloggers please keep those questions/comments coming and thank you again for all your amazing support. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Tom out

Not a lot to report except to say everything is going well we've had calm seas and blue skies so have made some really good progress, this is changing to choppy this week so we could be in for a rough ride again.  We're getting in the mileage and the boat is holding up well the batteries are charging well and power is at optimum level......... Sadly we are getting massive food cravings - this week it's been a downtown double bacon and cheese burger from Smith and Weston followed by a belly buster!  Wish we'd packed more junky snacks in - we've been too healthy! Listening to a whole range of music this week which is getting us through our shifts - the worst bit is the wind chill at night I hate getting out of the cabin. Beard growing is going well all coarse and scratchy - shaving isn't really an option. The support boat is 2 miles from us at the moment we are going to make contact so that they can check out our tracker with us - otherwise not seen any other vessel.... That's about it from me Andrew out Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge

Really good to have completed 3 weeks at sea, Andy and I getting into a good routine. Still enjoying the food, which I thought I would hate. Enjoying the routine of cooking etc, good to get on with something (other than rowing!). As for wildlife, seen nothing still- thought I might have seen something jump out of the water the other day but caught it a bit late. We have been speaking to Sarah Outen recently, nice to hear the opinions of someone else rowing an ocean. Full moon tonight has been nice, very light. Weather starting to pick up, I was out in torrential rain yesterday, never seen rain like it, incredibly peaceful even though there were massive waves. Quite a strange experience with it just being us on our little boat, as you can imagine. Thats about it for today. Guy out. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge  

Right I am sitting here in my little coffin watching Guy on his shift. The weather at the moment is less than favourable, but hopefully should be getting better over the weekend. Still no wildlife to be seen and not much else to report. Lots of time on the boat to think and catch up on reading, Bill Bryson at the moment. Good to hear Man United edging ever closer to the title as well, never too far away for football results!!!! Ok so I have decided to answer some of the burning questions that have been asked by you lot. Amelia Watts (aged 2): "Did either of you take a cuddley toy?"    Yes Amelia, Tina got both of us a monkey to take with us, one was ginger and the other was grey. They are hanging above our heads in the cabin. Moses: "There must at least be some accidental spooning going on?!"     Yes Moses regretfully accidental spooning has occurred, though luckily we had sheets over us so no skin to skin contact and is the result of a rocking (in the sea motion sense) boat!!!!!! Neil: "Have either of you had to get into the water yet? Toss a coin for it I guess?"  Guy is on first barnacle duties on the weekend when the weather should be better and the water calmer. I dont get out of it though and it will be my turn in a month. Keep those questions coming and thanks for all the support, Andrew out Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge

Hi guys, just to let you know, thanks alot for all the questions and all the support you have been putting on the website. We have also heard a few people have put donations on the Orchid charity website, keep those coming and tell everyone you can about it. As I'm sure Jeremy has been updating you we are doing relatively well...cracking along on the old rowing and seeing some big mileage coming up. Sorry about the tracker we're going to have to keep updating it every 24 hours- we hope thats good enough. To answer a few questions we have had come through over the last couple of days. Mike Moss asked who we would sub for the day, Andy didn't take long to answer Scarlett Johannson..or his girlfriend...mainly his girlfriend! If you ask Craig Jelly he can send you some photographs to explain why we would want her onboard. I would choose Ben Fogle, a random choice..I'm sure you are aware he did the Atlantic crossing, theres a bit in the book that me and Andy joke about. James (Cracknell) comes out half way through Bens mid afternoon shift, Ben is clearly quite distraught having been rowing all afternoon in big heat.  All James can say to him is "Ben...why aren't you sweating?" I'd love to have him onboard so I could come out in the mid-afternoon and verbally abuse him like that! Someone asked who we would like to be a fly on the wall for , that would be Southern Cross. We'd love to sit on there and see what those 2 boys are up to. Russell thanks alot for trying, as usual, to trick me and Andy and as we didn't do too well in our GCSE or A levels you probably think we'd get this wrong.I think we can both answer that all 6 rungs would be out of the water at high tide as the whole boat would lift up. So we weren't confused about that, we'd say its a very pathetic attempt to confuse us!! In regards to beard length- Andy looks like a cross between Osama Bin Laden and Bill Odie, as you can imagine quite funny!! I'm struggling along, Andy thinks I look like the Sherriff of Nottingham with my wispy tash, absolutely revolting! OK guys thats about it from Andy and I, keep following us. Thanks alot to Mark Watts for his message, Peter and Jenny, Chris Thew (both looking forward to his fry ups!) and everyone else who left a message. PS. Andy and I are looking to do a Smith and Weston challenge when we get back in July...it'll be potato skins for starter, a downtown double with bacon and cheese with a side of onion rings for main and a belly buster (on your own) to follow...more than happy if anyone is up for the challenge (and to sub our meal as we are quite poor at the moment!). If you're interested come to Horsham in July and we'll take you down! Cheers everyone. Guy out. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge

It feels like it's been slow going this past 24 hours and we've been poodling along - the mornings and evenings have been quite rough but it has calmed down this afternoon.  I have just come off my shift and Guy is out there now doing his.  We have been doing some maintenance work while it is calm just checking out the gates,  and we are waiting for another tracker to arrive - surely this one will work! I am reading Bill Bryson Down Under and I have just arrived in Sydney - again - I can now relive Sydney as we stopped over here on the way over to Geraldton. Thank you everyone for all the sponsorship money coming in and the donations to Orchid -  it's fantastic to know that you are all out there gunning for us it really does help us get through the days - some are definitely longer than others! Mum says the video of the start of the race is up on the web site - we are really looking forward to seeing it - I hope it gives you all a chance to share in that moment when we headed off over the horizon. www.indianoceanrace.com/gallery Don't forget to let us have more questions not sure we'll have all the right answers though. That's about it for now Andrew out Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge

Press play to start. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Guy out

Andrew and Guy have hit 850nm!!! The boys are dropping back a little over the weekend as they cross a 2,500m oceanic ridge. The ridge will create some considerable adverse currents. Although the weekend will be a tough ride we expect the boys to get back on the mileage next week. Spirits onboard remain good helped by the Manchester United game today !

Big thank you to Neil Tutton and Kat Knight for sorting out the message kindly sent by Ben Fogle (thank you Ben if you are reading this blog!!) it has really motivated them, knowing he is willing them on.

Once again 'bloggers' thank you for all your comments, the boys love getting them each day.

Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Tom out

So Guy and Andrew reach one month on the Indian Ocean. Whoo hooo! I'm sure you all agree this is a fantastic achievement in itself!!!! Presently the boys are playing cat and mouse with the currents. It is fair to say that sometimes we know what is going on with the current and sometimes we don’t. Great to see the last podcast (day 26) making the news section on the Woodvale site. Please keep your supportive comments coming as we relay them all to the boys. Big thank you to all the sponsors and our very own support (Jem & Tim) crew Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Tom out

The last couple of days have been shoddy haven't really got anywhere.  We had the para anchor out last night which was not the greatest but then we had time to get down in the cabin watching films which we really enjoyed. Today has been slow but we are still making some sort of headway which can't be all bad but there is a storm coming in so we are preparing for that.  Apart from that spirits are good and we are tracking along - now for my podcast.......................... Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Andrew out Press play to start.

It's Tuesday here, just to let you all know that we've heard news that there is heavy weather coming in. I thought I'd let you know how we prepare for a storm on a boat of this size. Firstly we make sure there are no leaks, double checking everything is tied down correctly and making sure we know where the safety equipment is. We also put the para anchor out, I'm just checking the lines on that now. This will hold our position and prevent us from drifting in an adverse way i.e. East towards Australia.  We are looking to see some quite serious conditions but we are both fine, looking forward to getting through that and starting to head west again. Looking forward to leaving a blog later this week to let you know how its all going. Thanks again for your support. Thanks again for the message from Ben Fogle, Ashley and Craig. Craig we've just been listening to your song, thanks for that. Take care guys. Guy out. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site.

Press play to start. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Guy out (A chance the boys will get a shout out on Capital Radio (Roberto) tomorrow between 1-4pm)

Bonjourno from Flying Ferkins. A quick blog to say that Andy and I have just gone through a horiffic night yet Flying Ferkins is still above water and so are we! Just to thank again everyone for the messages of support. Especially to James Bird for reminding us about Mr Spackman unfortunately he didn't come on board but if James can sort that out for the next trip we would love to have him onboard. We had a question about laundry. As you are all aware we lost our laundry bucket so we have to do it with fresh water, soap and dry it all on the deck...bit of a nightmare to do to be honest! We've been wondering why James is going to Columbia, hope hes not doing any drug trafficking as he is that sort of character! Let us know about that James. Hope everyone has heard about the sweepstake, hopefully as many people as possible can get involved with that and help us support our causes. Quick film update. During the storm me and Andy have been going through the Bourne series, I'm about to hit number 3, Andy is about to hit number 2. Making use of the limited power that we have! Music wise, Im listening to Enya and Clannad at the moment, trying to chill myself out, bit homosexual admittedly. A bit of U2 and Sting too....Thats about it at the moment... Guy....out. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site.

We've done a few miles today it's calmer but still 20 knot winds to contend with, but we're moving again and in the right direction.  We have had plenty of time to think about all the things we want bought out to Mauritius - including Haribo and CHOCOLATE - we miss chocolate - we've eaten the Haribo and didn't think about packing the chocolate being far too healthy! So the sky is still blue and the so is the sea and we've seen some really colourful fish and seabirds to keep us company. I deny listening to Enya and Clannad.......! So that's about it from me -  Andrew out Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site.

Press play to start. Press play to start. Andrew recorded this short interview lastweek which went out on Radio Mercury (FM 102.7) Tuesday 19th May! Apologies for it was cut short before it could be completed. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Andrew & Guy out

Press play to start. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Guy out

Andrew and Guy continue to sit under para anchor today as weather blows through. Unfortunately little progress towards Mauritius. Mood onboard is good however countdown to 1000nm is ticking away. Weather to improve over the next few days. Please keep your comments and importantly your questions coming. Thank you to everyone for your support. Click here to donate money for the fight against the spread of male cancers and support Orchid, the boys chosen charity. To follow our progress please go to the official Woodvale Challenge site. Tom out