Hey Guys,

Hope all you bloggers are well. As you know we are now under the 450nm mile mark and absolutely thrilled to be on the home stretch.  Andy and I are enjoying the rowing conditions which are relatively calm with the weather a big improvement on the storms we have experienced over the last 3 months.

Andy and I have now broken into our last pack of Haribo and have some meals coming up which we have been saving as special treats.  Can’t tell you how much we are looking forward to standing on dry land although we both have some strange feelings and are coming to terms with the journey’s end being in sight.

As ever thank you for the messages of support which keep rolling in.  Particularly of late I would like to mention Gareth [looking forward to meeting Max!] Evans, I’m sure I’ll be popping into Paragon to say hello to you guys. Also, a big thank you to everyone making generous Orchid donations Patricia Law, Mary Pascoe, Michael Fillery, John Leiper, Deirdre Pope, Dione Calnan and Frances Bryan to name a few.  I have asked Mum and Dad to bring my laptop out with them so I hope to be e-mailing as soon as I have it set up.

Better get back to it, although these long stints are not helping our sore bots!

Thanks again and keep the comments coming.

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.

Hello it’s me thought I’d do my bit of the blog today together with my list of things to bring out!

All is good on Flying Ferkins, we’ve been making good ground putting in the hours rowing, we’re burning the miles rowing to the 500 mark as quick as we can and ready to push from there.  The food consumption is around 6000 calories a day and the rations are looking good  and we’ve had some good sleep.  The weather is looking good for the week and our spirits are high.

We heard a whale last night blowing through his blow hole couldn’t see him though but he was very close,  quite eerie it was very calm last night light and variable conditions - so that was quite exciting.  At first we couldn’t work out where he was coming from.

Chorlty I blundered Alan Partridge is not on the iPod - I will make up for it by watching him when I get back!!  Is it really Cowes week soon……………….!

Thank you everyone for all your support it’s really keeping us going especially when the conditions have been awful.  Not a lot else to report so I will give you my list of things to bring - Mum Angel cake please, family size of course, in your hand at the finishing line!!

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.

The 750 mark mentioned in the podcast has been well broken as they have now passed the 600 mile mark.

Bloggers, keep those positive comments, questions, jokes, comments coming!

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.

A fantastic few days as Andrew and Guy work harder than ever. The conditions are now lighter. Overnight the boys rested up well, sleep an important element of the regime onboard Flying Ferkins. Guy under continued pain in his nether regions (bloggers note: please no more ‘balls out’ on the comments! waa ha ‘bit more’). May take a chance to clean the boat as the sea calms.

A big thank you to Jackie at The White Horse Inn in Storrington, David Harding the landlord at the Boars Head Tavern, Horsham and finally to Mark Pav! All have worked hard to promote the boys efforts and generated money towards Orchid.

Distance made West:

Saturday 18th July 49nm

Sunday  19th July 34nm

Please keep those comments coming fellow blog friends.

Tom 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.

Hi everyone, what a tough week it’s been, rowing like bastards!  We’re only getting about 6 hours off at the moment so I need to be quick, I’ve got to sleep.  Hope you are all OK.  Last Friday we saw a Blue Whale - the most incredible thing I have ever seen. The size of a bus, just incredible.  Apart from that just been cracking on with the rowing, really excited about getting to the 1000 miles to go mark and can’t wait to get to Mauritius!  Lots of positive thoughts on board.  Thanks again to everyone for looking at the blog, please keep putting your messages on there - can’t wait to read them all when we get home.  Just a few messages…congratulations to Mike Moss from MSS (our title sponsor) on his newborn - Andy and I are really excited for you. Trumpet- we will keep plodding on, in the style of the Berlin marathon.  Dione - can’t believe you are coming out to see us in Mauritius - hearing that you were coming really put a smile on my face during my last set. Darren from Paragon - thanks for your supportive message.  Fiona and Simon - thank-you again for mentioning the incredible effort our team have been making, we have got a really good group of girls helping us back home. Also thanks to Angus from Architectural Plants for your great guest blog.  Can’t wait to read all of these messages when we get back! Alright guys, time for bed I think.

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 met Guy and Andrew over a year ago now, back in Febuary 2008 from memory. We were very impressed with them both! In fact although they approached us with a view to direct financial sponsorship, we saw a better way to get involved.

The Great Branding Company agreed to support their ocean rowing attempt by using our expertise in clothing and merchandise. Having worked on some of the largest sporting events worldwide, such as World Cups [Football], UEFA Champions League finals, rugby, cricket, basketball and music events! For these events the Great Branding Company create merchandise that is desirable and comfortable to both event organisers and fanwear sold to the end consumer.

We have helped Guy and Andrew by providing: A selection of Quality Clothing for performances activity (training wear), Leisurewear and Promotional merchandise to be sold for fund raising.

All the clothing we have provided has been branded with the Indian Ocean Rowing logo and sponsor branding where possible as this would raise the profile / awareness when Guy and Andrew were out and about.

We discussed with them that they should create a strong brand identity and so look into creating a unique logo for the “Indian Ocean Race”, this they did and we assisted with the interpretation of the logo to be transferred onto garments.

Guy and Andrew are an inspiration to us all! They somehow continued to do their day job and trained to take on such a feat! We were delighted to contribute to helping these lads achieve their goal! I did think they were MAD to attempt such a gruelling challenge. But I think in this world a little madness goes a LONG WAY in our business so why NOT play our part in their SUCCESS !!!

Pino Grillo, Managing Director, Great Branding Company out.

Another cracking day of rowing as Andrew and Guy continue to push hard. Massive leap as the boys break the 70 longitude [wooohooo]. A South Easterly wind holding until the weekend. Flying Ferkins is traversing the Central Indian Ridge at a depth ranging from 3,500m to 1,900m. Eating really well and consequently the boat getting lighter (final beer gone down well! hehe).

Distance made West:

Wednesday 15th July 49nm
Thursday 16th July 50nm

Please keep those comments coming fellow blog friends.

Tom 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.

Not as sunny today but the conditions are still generally good.  We are counting down the days and are pleased to be moving steadily west.

We haven’t seen any more wild life, we are still swooning over seeing the Blue Whale - which we believe could well have been the Pygmy Blue Whale that hangs out in the Indian Ocean,  apparently smaller than the more commonly seen ones though at 26m average we wonder what it would have been like to see a bigger one!! Flying Ferkins is only just over 7m long!!

Thank you to you all for the continued support - we are both happy and chilled, Flying Ferkins is doing us proud and we hope this ‘downhill’ run is a speedy one!

One last thing - Happy Birthday Grannie!  Nice to be able to talk to you this morning……………….!

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.

Finally some good news. Ferkins is Flying in a Westerly direction. Para anchor currently stowed [phew]! The current and now wind are finally in Andrew and Guys favour. Presently enjoying the rowing and making 3kn in quite a strong South Easterly wind. Conditions looking favourable for the next few days.

Please keep those comments coming fellow bloggers.

Distance made West:

Mon 13th July   5nm
Tues 14th July  13nm

Tom 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.

Andrew and Guy are experiencing so many “once in a lifetime” experiences whilst undertaking this epic journey to row the Indian Ocean and undoubtedly uncovering aspects about themselves they never knew before the 19th April 2009.  

But the two years plus of preparation work has also been a journey of discovery for them, for family, friends and supporters.

Guy and I were aware that my father was one of seven children and that one of his elder brothers had “run away to sea”. Guy’s Great Uncle Captain Oswald M Watts died within a year of Guy’s birth and we knew a limited amount about his life.

Guy and I with the help of my brother Peter undertook some research and after contacting the current compilers of Reeds Nautical Almanac a chapter of his great uncle’s life began to unfold.

Captain OM Watts was one of the youngest Merchant Navy officers ever to hold a Master’s certificate, aged 23. He was the first editor of Reeds Nautical Almanac with the first edition being published on 1 January 1932 costing two shillings and six pence (12.5p). The early Almanac’s provide all the knowledge a navigator needs to pilot a vessel in the Home Trade Waters around the British Isles. Oswald continued to edit the Almanac until his retirement in 1981 and thereafter as a consultant until his death in 1985.

During the 1930’s he set up a chandlery off Piccadilly in London. Oswald also started a sea school where yachtsman could learn what they needed to know to serve in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve during the build up to the Second World War. In addition he ran correspondence courses for people who could not attend these courses. He wrote books on the use of the Sextant and supervised the preparation of maps in conjunction with Stanfords.

It seems unlikely that this part of Guy’s family history would have been revealed in as much detail if Guy and Andrew had not embarked on their Indian Ocean rowing challenge.

Here’s to the Flying Ferkins and Captain OM Watts!

Nigel (Guy’s dad) 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.