Ola from Portugal!
Welcome to the Atlantic Allies tracking page and combined team blog!
Today is Wed 6th December, we were due to depart on our great expedition today. However, due to the unfavourable weather we are now expecting to depart on Fri 8th December at 1200hrs GMT.
To kick off the blog here’s a short timeline of events so far and a couple of pictures.
Fri 24 Nov: Ralph and Duncan set off driving from Holland to Portugal towing Rose.
Sun 26 Nov: Ralph and Duncan arrive in Porti Nauta, Ferragudo. (This was an adventure and expedition in itself but that’s for another time)
Mon 27 Nov: Duncan’s girlfriend Yeen arrives. Yeen was really helpful in preparing Rose. Not many girls would be happy scrubbing and polishing the bottom of a boat on ‘holiday’.
27 Nov - 1 Dec: Ralph, Duncan and Yeen work on preparing the boat for the expedition. Testing safety kit and equipment, buying new parts and spare parts, packing and repacking supplies etc.
1 Dec: Neal and Neal’s Girlfriend Steph arrive. Chris was due to arrive but missed his flight ... let’s just say it sounds like he had a good leaving do!
2 Dec: Launch Day! Rose is successfully launched into the waters of the Atlantic and rowed to the Portimao Marina.
Chris arrives with 50kg of baggage having brought his and Duncan’s energy gels with him. Who knew they would amount to so much!
3 Dec: Training Day. All 6 of us, Steph, Yeen, Chris, Neal, Duncan and Ralph took Rose out of the Marina into the Atlantic to test and practise with all of the kit and equipment.
4 Dec: Goodbye’s, Weather Updates and Admin Day.
Duncan and Neal both said their goodbyes to their girlfriends and waved them off at Faro Airport.
Ralph made the decision to delay the start date due to the unfavourable weather conditions. The start date eventually got pushed back to Fri 8 Dec.
General boat admin continued at Portimao.
5 Dec: Danny arrives from Argentina!
After judging at the World Freestyle Kayak Championships Danny flew straight to Portugal to meet the rest f the team.
The full Atlantic Allies team is united!
6 Dec: Admin, Training, Waiting. We are ready!
You’re now up to speed! The waiting game continues....
Thanks for reading.
~ Duncan @rowingroy