Well, it seems like the gods took a little pity on the crew and gave them just enough power to send this last blog.................

Andy - YES, COME ON!!!!!! We’re nearly there, 25 miles to go, my thoughts are constantly about meeting my family and greeting them with a truly heart felt, if not “slightly stinky” hug. I have thought, dreamt and hallucinated about this time for weeks. My immediate memories of the voyage, the great team work never accepting defeat. Heart felt support when emotionally down…remember “eat your porridge” The fantastic stars and light shows during those wet night shifts, and the contrast of power the Atlantic can show from raging seas to total calm ,mill pond state. I shall also never forget the outstanding support and good wishes from hundreds of supporters over our web page. Thank you so very much. I shall be spending the next few weeks tracking you all down for the beers you have promised.  

Justin - I cannot believe we have arrived at this stage after over 9 weeks at sea. We have been through so much as a team and as individuals and should be very proud of ourselves. I spoke to Raych, my lovely wife, and said something I have been wanting to say for 64 days….”Babes, I’ll see you tomorrow….” I cannot wait to see the family at English Harbour and give them a long awaited cuddle; 2 ½ months away from home is too much for me. This has been a challenge like I never imagined but it will make the homecoming that extra bit special. Thank you to all our supporters for following our every move…backward and forwards, left and right...over the last 66 days. You have helped make this challenge a more bearable and heartfelt experience.

Nick - After 65 days of highs, lows and all the in betweens we are finally bringing this epic adventure to a close.  It has been made possible by many people supporting and believing in us, we as a team will get around to thanking you all in due course but you know who you are.  I would like to thank my crew mates Mark, Andy and Justin for helping me through this adventure, I will never forget it.   Thanks for the messages via our web site; they really helped when we needed it most. Bring on the burgers and beers!  

Mark - All the above for me as well and I would like to take this opportunity to thank a very large, diverse and sometimes crazy group who I will not get round to seeing over the next few months.  You are the ‘blue dot bloggers’, if I can be so bold as to give a bunch of individuals from around the world a group identity.  It never amazed me the depth of variety in the messages we received; they were funny, sad, happy, mad, inane, mundane, not so funny, poignant, moving, encouraging, informative, motivational, humbling, sympathetic, empathetic and unconditional and I read everyone of them.  As a group you fall into several categories and all are as important as the other.  The casual observer, the one messenger, the frequent user, the daily booster and of course ‘Chunky’!  I thank you all for helping me through this ‘little trip’ and of course Chris Hester, the technical whiz that made it all possible and maintained it all with great enthusiasm.  If you get withdrawal symptoms start looking out around the end of 2009 as we may be involved helping two teams who have approached us for advice and support, now they will need help!  Rest assured though I will not be getting on the boat with them unless I wake up with an extreme hangover in the aft cabin.  Thanks to you all, time to finish this row off. 

After 64 days at sea and with only 88 nautical miles left to row, you would have thought that Neptune would have looked at what he had thrown at the lads and thought to himself "You know what, they really are 'The Hardest', I'll give 'em a break from now on in." but no, the tribulations yet continue, albeit in a relatively minor way.

Heffs phoned this evening via satellite to say that the laptop charger had decided that enough was enough and that it had, in an electronic way, shouted "OXO".  As all good Public Order Instructors are expected to do when confronted with a technological problem, they shook it to see how dead it really was and were rewarded with a "sort of rattling sound". The charger is no more; it is an ex charger. 

So then sadly, 'tis the end of the blogs until they reach English Harbour (ETA midday Tuesday 5th Feb) from where they have promised to send a final blog and photos of their arrival.

Please continue to send your emails and messages to the team though, as they will be able to pick them up as soon as they arrive in Antigua. 

4row4cf Support Team

Firstly I must apologies to all our supporters that we haven’t written a blog for a number of days….the reason quiet simply, we were down, gutted, knackered and not as my mum would say “full of the joys of spring”  

The reason is probably quiet evident to all of you who are avid fans of the blue dot, it hardly moved. It’s on the same page as land, and we just weren’t getting any closer. This has been due to believe it or not fantastic sunny, bright weather. The ocean like glass, too be honest, and showing my feminine side again “it was beautiful” all different shades of blue. However! An absolute nightmare to row a boat designed for two rowers and weighing in at nearly a ton. No wind or waves to assist the passage of travel.  

Of all the conditions we were expecting they weren’t them. To show a comparison, when we normally row we each pull at about 2 nk. During those conditions it went to 0.6/8. AND THEN TO CAP IT ALL!!!!! a electrical storm , pushing us back so we had to get the sea anchor out again , 3 rd time in a week , and only once before in 50 odd days.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Ok WE’VE EATEN OUR PORRIDGE THIS MORNING….and we are moving forward, we have at time of writing 218 miles to go, again our brains start computing the figures and times of arrival, well not mine, obviously those of you that know me, know I only have a good head for figures when it comes to booking off the over time!!!!!! bbbbrrrrrr  

We have found out through the satellite phone that many boats are excuse me for this “all in the same boat” we have regular contact with  Jaydubuo Andy and  Jay great lads who themselves have been through the mill, but are striving forward to also meet relatives around the same time as us……few beers sunk then you bet!!!!!!!!  

We have also tried to contact Komale, Niall and James, but they have no communications at least for the last 4 days. This has obviously caused great worry to friends and relatives who have been trying to contact them, as we have on their behalf, but to no avail. I HOPE WOODVALE HAVE ARRANGED FOR A SUPPORT BOAT TO GO TO THEIR LOCATION…BUT YOU NEVER KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Right got to go, we are really pulling out the stops; the weather appears a lot better so hopefully this will be the start of our final push. Speak again soon, AGAIN thanks for support, take a moment to think is there possibly anyone you haven’t told about this venture and the just giving site, if there is then please spread the word one last time.  

Andy

Sorry for not sending a blog yesterday this was down to bad time management by me….. Sorry.

Over the last few days we have been rowing back up to 17 degrees for the final push to Antigua , this has been quite tough going against the waves and alongside the wind.  The result is us being very tired but eventually we reached our target at about 6 am today.  We decided to carry on up a few more miles north so that we can counteract a weather front that we are going to be faced with over the next few days.  This is the story of our trip so far, just about to make progress and then bad luck with weather.  That said every one is in good spirits and we are looking forward to finishing what has become an epic journey full of ups and plenty of downs.  The last was the fact that we had to take on board food knowing that it would mean disqualification, this was a hard decision to make, but we as a team would like to thank everybody who has sent in a message of support of this decision, it confirmed what we thought, we have great supporters.  We currently are 310 miles from the finish and are hopefully due to finish around the same time Komale (Niall and James) an Jaydubyoo (Andy and Joe) which will be a nice coincidence as they are top blokes who we struck up a good friendship with before we set sail.  We have said that we have had bad luck during this race but don’t think we are alone; lots of teams have had poor luck and have suffered as a consequence.  Our thoughts are with Atlantic Jack (Cathy and Margaret) who are currently struggling with no water after their water maker failed and are rationing their ballast of fresh water to the finish.  They were not wrong when they said this is the toughest rowing race!

Aside from the rowing it struck me the other day whilst I was getting ready at 3am for a rowing stint with Andy, that we are all showing characteristics of dogs!  It is well documented that Andy has lost a fair bit of weight, this is a good thing but it has left him with a side affect, baggy skin! He complained of this when I inadvertently pinched one of his folds of skin while is was getting ready.  So what dog is he?  Obviously a shit su!

Mark aka ewok is rapidly disappearing behind hair and when I look at him I can see a small barrel of brandy around his neck, he is a St Bernard!

Justin is a powerful bloke the real engine of the team but when he sleeps he does have a problem with dribbling, so what sort of pooch is he, a bull dog.  Well as for me, well I can only be one can’t I …..? A red setter!

Thank you for your continued support and messages, please keep them coming and please give generously to CF, it is a very worthwhile cause and the reason we are out here.

Hello to one and all.

Today’s blog is not going to have the same humor you’ve become used too. Partly because I’m writing it but mainly because it has not been that sort of day….initially.

Over night we were hit with dead seas, lack of energy, lethargy and low moral due to several reasons. We were battling against the sea to get back upto17 degrees north which should give us a good westward run into Antigua . We have little energy reserve left which due to the rationing which is taking it toll and zapping our energy. The lack of moral was due to the very slow speed coupled with the knowledge our families arrive in 7 days and we want to be there ASAP!!!

  We awoke to a better sea but the 24 hour mileage of 36 was not good reading but given the circumstances we couldn’t have expected much more... I started my usual mathematical predictions of what we need to achieve to arrive on certain dates, which normally gets the mood up but it was different today as the idea of 45 miles a day suddenly felt unachievable. The daily email send receive took place and we were plagued with potentially more bad news. It appears on first reading that the weather coming in is not good and may hamper our much needed progress. Due to being unintelligent laymen we were struggling to decipher the information and how best to set our course so we sent messages to a couple of people who will hopefully give us the information so we can plan a strategy.

Today there were a lot of messages from family, friends, other team supporters and the much loved unknown MA supporters. These messages were all of the same theme…our decision to take support!! All the messages were very heart felt and bought a tear to us all. It has amazed us how many of you are following our progress, even after 56 days, and what kind words you have to say…well apart from Fred, aka Home Sec. but I wouldn’t expect anything else Freddie.

We would like to thank everyone for reading our blogs, sending us message and donating via www.justgiving.com/4row4cf .

If you are new to reading this blog then send us a message. If you are sending us messages place a small donation to CF.

We are completing this challenge to make a difference…..to do that we need your help.

On a positive note the sea is changing and the speed is increasing so watch this space………..

  We would like to pass on our congratulations to the green flag of Devon aka ‘Go Commando’ and the black flag of Cornwall aka ‘The Reason Why’, who after a very close run in would have finished by the time you read this. “Enjoy the moment lads, you deserve it”

  Laters, Justin

  And just for something different it is now our turn to get our own back on someone who has motivated and annoyed us in equal amounts with relentless enthusiasm… yes Chunky, the tables turn from today.  I bet you had a tear in your eye as you saw your Commando chums reach the end, we asked them in La Gomera if they knew you and they seem to recall someone like you working in the galley… but they were ociffers!

Anyway, I digress.  Some film quotes for you, none of this Yank sh**e.  Three British classics, well 2 and an iffy one.  Easy to start with; just need the film, the character and the actor.  Over to you my little bearded one, you have plenty of time now you have sold out and work in an office!  Of course anyone else can join in.

Do carry on with your mud pies.

Sunk to the nuts they were (Durham Light infantry) 

Come on Streaky we don’t want you to macaroni in your pants again do we.

Seen anything of my Eric flying past your window?

  All for now

Mark

Before I go into how we have progressed over the last 24 hours I need to inform all our readers of a decision we had to make as a team due to our earlier problems in this challenge. As you all know within the first 2 weeks of our challenge we lost a considerable amount of food and other supplies due to our hatches flooding and damaging the contents. With that and the extra days it has taken above our initial planned time scale, we have only 4 days left of food on the boat.

Now the Woodvale Challenge is an unsupported race across the Atlantic, this is where our decision had to be made, if we sought assistance i.e. more food from the support boat, then we would be disqualified from the race, however if we didn’t seek assistance we would need to row for possibly 6 days without food!!!!!

We made the decision for the support boat “kilcullen” to supply us enough emergency rations to last us a total of 10 days. This was not a decision made lightly; however with Pur Vida having successfully won the race, our race had an outcome. This now means that on the race site you may see that we have been disqualified from the race itself, but doesn’t detract from the fact we have still rowed the Atlantic Ocean . We have had to endure many problems along this voyage, leaking hatches, broken steering, broken rudder x 2 but we are still pushing forward and will still be confirmed as rowing across the Atlantic Ocean . We, with our supporters help have raised a fantastic amount of money and raised the profile of Cystic Fibrosis and the plight its sufferers have to endure and the fantastic work being carried out to find a cure and to manage the care of the sufferers. SO THIS CHALLENGE HAS BEEN A SUCCESS! As far as we are concerned and we hope you also feel the same..

But there is still over 400 miles to go, and we are pushing on at a great pace at the moment, we are currently fighting the waves to come North West to find the more direct line into Antigua . In light of this we may find a drop in mileage for the next day or so but directionally it is the best course of action for us.

We will also again tonight be modeling our Justin “Vivien Westwood” Ellis creation, which he designed after a lot of thought and sole searching when after probably the 15^th wave had come over the boats sides and fully soaked the deck and rowers, in pitch black of night and howling wind. (Strange it had that effect) He has basically taken the four submersion suits (all in one nylon, waterproof suits) cut off the feet, rubber gloves and got rid of the salt encrusted zips. Now we row at night fully protected against the elements, all looking like wanna be “tom sawyer” actors.

We now relish what the elements can throw at us mmmmm and liken ourselves to Peter Kays description of dunking biscuits, before we were digestive, take a few, then had enough….but now we are the chocolate hob knob!! Dunk us again, and again come on!!!

Off now for another night shift, thanks for you support and I hope we can rely on it to the end of our challenge.

Andy

Before I go onto the continuing theme that Justin started yesterday an update on a couple of things.  Weather conditions are slowly settling, so the mileage may drop a little and we will be able to start heading back up to 17N as we have been pushed south and are currently heading for St.Lucia!  The reason for going on about numbers the other day was to tell you all of a new record, so significant that I forgot to put it in the blog to cheer your day.  I managed to complete the sports day challenge in no less than 17.8 seconds, once around the deck from stern cabin, along the port side to the bow cabin and then back down the starboard side without touching any fixtures with my hands.  At least we have one for the record books.

Congratulations to Gyuma Challenger, No Fear and Unfinished Business who will have all finished by the time you read this and will no doubt be in various states of euphoria.  It means we are that little bit closer, under 500 miles to go during the night.

Nights we can confirm are 12 hours long and dark.  The rota runs from 9pm to 9am gmt for 3 hour blocks, we have found it easier to move the times of the night than change our watches (very good Nite ones) but I am sure you are not surprised by our logic!  The first on is always ok as you get to see a sunset if there is one, but these have been generally disappointing due to the regular build up of cloud on the horizon at this time, and you haven’t been trying to sleep.  Last night we had a full moon from when the sun set until the sunrise, so bright for most of the time depending on the cloud cover.  If the moon isn’t up then we see plenty of stars, we know at least the plough, Pegasus, Scorpio, Orion, Petre Andre and the rest we just make up depending on how furtive the imagination.  Just as an aside, if you go to Blacksail Hut youth hostel in the Lake District then you can see the stars nearly as well, but only at night, and don’t lay on the grass just out the front!

Other than rowing and sleeping the only other thing that happens is during the change over.  If you are sleeping then you get the 10 minute call and the bun fight starts trying to get dressed while laying down in the dark and trying to assess what the conditions are like so the right clothing is worn.  A few grunts and groans, a check you have your nuts and raisins and a bit of chocolate and then try to remember if you should be rowing or steering.  Then comes the nocturnal dance of the team trying to swap positions whilst keeping control of the boat and keeping safely strapped on, still not perfected in rough conditions even after 53 days, organized chaos.  The team settles in and now the reverse procedure begins but this is much more fun.  Whoever gets to the hatch first has ‘bucket rights’ and goes through the procedure of undressing in the foot spa whilst the other gets into the cosy cabin to do it.  Then the positions are reversed, sea rugs placed out, they are still warm, a little to warm at times!  It is here I must again thank Pete the solo rower from Australia who got us these great bits of kit, if you can get onto the Woodenvale race site and leave him a message, he will be out here for another month or so.  The next part is like a scene out of Pushback Mountain .  Two men lying very close to each other, very, very, very close drying off the salt water and then putting on the arse saving Sudocrem, you just have to make sure your cream goes on your backside.  Then it is a case of wedging yourself into a comfortable position, spoons are a no no and so to sleep, as if!  Like being in a drum getting thrown around and worrying that you have missed the 10 minute call, because the other team are bound to let you have a lie in!  And so it has gone on for 52 nights so far, oh how I will miss this part, maybe only another 12 or so to go. 

My beard is staying until I reach the safety and cleanliness of a barbers, I tried to trim it today… very messy and very dangerous, plus the nest of flying fish needs a home.  Chunky, keep growing yours you will need it in that office, and I guess the caption can stay Chris!

That’s about it, all for now another night beckons but it is a bit calmer and the moon is full, I can sense romance in the air.

Mark

Race Day 52 - 22/01/08

Today I’m going to lead you through a day in the life of 4row4cf….From (0900-1900)

Teams:

Team 1 = Mark & Justin

Team 2 = Nick and Andy

0900-1100

Team 1 = Rowing

Team 2 = Res

While Team 2 bed down in the cabin after completing their 2^nd 3 hour shift, Team 1 take over the oars. The weather is BIG SEAS and STRONG WINDS so a lot of crashing waves over the side and two very wet oarsmen.

Our 1^st wildlife spot of the day: A vulture looking bird circling the vicinity of the boat. It’s has huge bat like wings, a long tail that splits for balance a red pouch under a long white beak. After scanning the area it swoops down and chases a flying fish 2 ft above the waves. It continues for about ½ an hour and it appears to store the fish in the red pouch. Mark grabbed the camera but a bit like a dancing dog; they never perform when you want them too!

1100-1300

Team 1 = Rest

Team 2 = Rowing

This is busy shift of mixed emotions.

As with every day, no matter where you are in the world, starts with a nice cup-a-tea or in our case the option of hot chocolate with extra bromide!

Unfortunately the main attraction has been postponed due to lack of food for the immediate future. This was the infamous food pack draw, when your bag is opened to see what food you have to look forward to…or not!

A good day would include (amoungst other things):

• Porridge with raisin

• Beef and potato casserole

• Custard with berries

• Green & Blacks milk chocolate

A bad day would include (amongst other things)

• Muesli

• Chicken Tikka (taste nice but just not enough)

• Chocolate chip mouse – sounds nice but tastes like s**t

• Green & Blacks dark chocolate with cherry – it’s just not right!

Due to the cancellation it is get what you get!!! Luckily today we all had Porridge!!

The next BIG thing for the shift is the ’12 o’clock scores on the doors.’ This is when we find out how hard we’ve worked over the last 24 hours and how closer we are to Antigua . If you have been following our progress you will know that this has doomed us on too many occasions. Once everyone shouts up their guesses or in Nick ‘Statto’ Young case an educated cheat, the trip mileage is revealed and the daily total announced. Today’s total was BIG……….63 N/M and 615 N/M to Antigua ... This gets everyone in a top mood and soon the calculations start; how many miles a day will it take to get in on the …..? As it stands if we average 45 miles a day we will arrive on 4^th Feb. Our families arrive on 2^nd so you can see how important the mileage is to us….and them.

The first email ‘send/receive’ is completed to see how the Woodvale standings are and what the weather has in store courtesy of Chris Hester (cheers mate) and a whole host of messages to keep the spirits high. Including a joke courtesy of Jon Walklin:

A crusty old Marine Sergeant Major found himself at a gala event hosted by a local liberal arts college. There was no shortage of extremely young idealistic ladies in attendance, one of whom approached the Sergeant Major for conversation. "Excuse me, Sergeant Major, but you seem to be a very serious man. Is something bothering you?" "Negative, ma'am. Just serious by nature." The young lady looked at his awards and decorations and said, "It looks like you have seen a lot of action." "Yes, ma'am, a lot of action." The young lady, tiring of trying to start up a conversation, said, "You know, you should lighten up a little. Relax and enjoy yourself." The Sergeant Major just stared at her in his serious manner. Finally the young lady said, "You know, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but when is the last time you had sex?" “1955, ma'am." "Well, there you are. You really need to chill out and quit taking everything so seriously! I mean, no sex since 1955! She took his hand and led him to a private room where she proceeded to "relax" him several times. Afterwards, panting for breath, she leaned against his bare chest and said, "Wow, you sure didn't forget much since 1955!" The Sergeant Major, glancing at his watch, said in his serious voice, "I hope not, it's only 2130 now."  

The big seas die down slightly and the rowing is good. 

1300-1500

Team 1 = Rowing

Team 2 = Rest  

Pretty uneventful as shifts go...until we get a photo call from Lorraine via an email from Mark requesting natural rowing shots. Taking the photo is not a problem it’s the getting us to be natural…..easier said than done. Heffs sporting a beard is just not natural. Ehrhart loves a pose and once it taken will say “I wasn’t ready; take another…now (as he breaths in and does a full body tense). Youngie is just soooo photogenic he poses looking natural…..with a gleaming white Hollywood teeth. And I am a combination of the above…without the beard!!

A Chicken Tikka dinner is prepared and served in its pouch…….nice!

1500-1700

Team 1 = Rest

Team 2 Rowing

  This is time for team 1 to catch up on some much needed sleep…the only problem is the cabin. There are two hatches, one leads onto the deck and the other out the stern. Unfortunately due to the big waves the stern hatch has to remain shut. We are traveling west with an easterly wind and the deck hatch faces west…hence we get no through air. The outside temperature is 85 degrees so the heat in the cabin is sauna like. Add two hot rowers after a 2 hour shift and you get an unbearable cabin with nowhere else to go…….I would like to add the stern hatch hasn’t been opened or the contents airs for 5 days so i’ll leave the smell to your imagination!!!!

The rowers are still putting the miles in.

1700-1900

Team 1 = Rowing

Team 2 = Rest

This is a role reversal of the above with the only difference of the added cabin smell……nice

1900 – 2100

Team 1 = Rest

Team 2 = Rowing  

Dinner time……again a bit of an anti climax as it’s just a main meal, No pudding or night time snacks. It’s a bit of extreme eating tonight as the weather has picked up with waves crashing over and the rain has started to come down. So again it’s add the water, stir and drink ASAP before you get a soaking.  

The night shift beckons ……….To be continued….  

Were less than 600 miles to Antigua with 1 man rowing a one ton 4 man boat…has that ever been done before???

Keep the messages coming, hopefully only 2 weeks to go?

Cheers, Justin

Race Day 51 - 21/01/08

69 NM

Our biggest day’s mileage so far, not bad for one person pulling a boat designed to be rowed by two. Ok I have admit it wasn’t down to WTH or who had the biggest guns but good old fashioned Mother Nature. She was at her best or worst (depends on your viewpoint0 with 40 ft waves and winds of 25kts. We all got soaked to the skin and very cold but we knew we were doing good speeds for us and went with it. There are going to be a few gongs dished out for bravery during the night, with one going to nick for gallantly throwing himself in harms way after Andy ‘the salmon’ was hit full in the face by a large wave. He went down quicker than when Dave Shorter said ‘right pocket’ just as Andy was abut to give evidence at court! He was floundering on the deck complaining of various injuries whilst other waves came crashing down on top of him. Nick jumped to his feet and gave Andy to tissue! Dried his eyes and put him back in the rowing seat. Not to be out done Justin saved mark in a similar fashion when mark was rowing and he was struck by a wave, this sent him tumbling backwards landing on the deck, he went down in installments! and had turned turtle. Justin reached into the bow cabin and pulled out a sense of humour and gave it to mark, this had the desired affect and he was soon rowing again mumbling something in ewok! In the morning we assessed the situation and although tired from being thrown around all night we were quite happy. We also found that we had been blown a little off course and are a little too far south for our liking but we will make that up on the way in. So we are slowly picking up pace and starting to look ahead to Antigua, hopefully the weather will continue to favour us and we can get to see all our families.

Thank you for your continued support, it really means a lot to us and please visit just giving and donate to CF, after all that’s why we are doing this.

Nick

Race Day 50 - 20/01/08

Yippee!! That’s what rufty tufty Public Order Instructors say when they are happy…the reason we finally clocked really good mileage last night 55, but what a night. It basically rained all night with gale force winds and BIG waves but it propelled us along at a good pace so we dug in , held on and are now closer to our final destination. And the good news, this weather front is supposed to be with us for another 4 or 5 days mmmmmmmm We have set ourselves a target of 42 miles a day, this will get us to Antigua beginning of Feb, when the families are booked to arrive so any bonus mileage we can bank, put in the back pocket of our farahs!

(Come on you must remember Bull’s-eye; with Jim Bowen if you don’t Stuart Tracy has a pair of Farah slacks!!!Which he could model for you if need be)

  Anyway I digress, last night was like being at an Amusement park, with a number of top attractions, like……..

The Big Dipper ….Everyone sitting comfortable, the boat moves off, and starts to climb, up it goes higher and higher into the night sky. The view at the top under the moon light bid breathtaking, like white topped mountains in the Alps . Just as your getting comfortable with the height, around 40 feet the wave drops away and down you come with your stomach following a short distance behind, bank left , get smashed in the face with ice cold water, cork screw right have some more water, this time in your lap, this is great fun??? Feel the rush of speed as you move forward, leaning in your seat then up and up and we’re off again.

This was made even funnier, during the day seeing Justin trying to drink his morning hot chocolate whilst on the dipper and Nick trying to make the hot chocolate with boiling water on the dipper, splashing and spraying everywhere, again anyone remember seeing Jim’ll Fix it and the cubs trying to each their pack lunch on a big dipper?

There is the Crooked House….this is where you start  from climbing out of the cabin via the hatch a metre square, you then try to make your way along the boat to the other end. Whist your doing this the water will drop away from the boat throwing you off balance right, the wave comes and lifts opposite you stumble to your left, goodness this is fun! Stand up tall get you balance bosch! have a smack in the face with cold water now move forward nearly there, mind the others rowing and steering but you can use their heads for balance, ok push off from the face it involves everyone more , nearly there remember to sit down at the end facing where you came. Made it, now turn bosch ! In your lap 4 gallons of water before you have to sit in the puddle for half an hour. Justin particularly enjoys this ride especially with the grand finally of water in the lap.  Yippee!

The wall of death….Remember Bembon Brothers in Margate , the idea is you stood against a wall, the room rotates at fast speed, faster and faster and the floor gives way and gravity keeps you sticking to the wall. If you don’t remember and are one of our younger blog readers picture a hamster on its running wheel in its cage. Well this is what I see when Mark goes into the cabin and closes the hatch in rough weather, you see his furry whiskered cheeks pressing at the window and the boat moves from side to side at a fast rate getting faster as we move through the water. All you can see is his face turning from left to right, left to right the colour draining from his once chubby cheeks. The weather calms down and the hatch is opened and out steps a dazed and giddy ewok.

Who needs Thorpe Park ????

As a side issue, it’s only right that you should know, during evening meal the other day mark settled down with his chocolate moose after carrying it across the crooked house. ( now our food is eaten from its packet, you pour boiling water into the food, rehydrate the contentents the package goes stiff andf you are able to drink from it, saves on plates, cutlery etc.) So Heffs has made it across the boat to his seating position. He lifts the carton to his lips and begins to pour the contents all down himself. Mark being the oldest and me not far behind I can also sympathise that things don’t stay stiff as long as they should or used too and its very embarrassing when that happens!!!!!!!!!??????????????

  We’ve been informed how well the just giving site is going, THANKYOU SO VERY MUCH!!! It is making this all worthwhile, please keep mentioning us to friends, relatives and work colleagues we need as much support we can get. It is such a worthy cause, as to be honest all charities are.

  Night duty beckons must dash want to get the front seat on the big dipper.

  Andy.

  p.s Remember as they said on Z Cars “Keep ‘em peeled “for those snipers

49 days in and Pura Vida have finished the race, so congratulations to them and we are envious of the fact that they are now with their families and have showers, fresh food and most importantly beer on an endless supply.

49 days was our projected time to finish, but that was before we had put MA on the water!

763 is the mileage left as I type this and our constant thoughts are the finish line and how long it is going to take us.

2 knots is our average speed today.

96 hours for the current weather pattern.

58 minutes until I am back rowing with Nick and Justin and Andy get to sleep for the first night duty shift.

7 boats to finish between Pura Vida and us… at the moment

Numbers, numbers, numbers… it occupies our whole time out here.

All for now, 45 minutes to snatch some sleep and dream of the luxuries Pura Vida are now enjoying. Once again congratulations to them.

Mark

Race Day 48 - 18/01/08

Day 48….yes day 48  

`It has been an extraordinary couple of days; firstly the weather has been as forecast, secondly it has been favorable and lastly we are making good progress in the right direction. No we can’t believe it either…..we were struggling to answer our two main questions on the cabin wall:

• What is luck?

• What is speed?

But on day 48 we may have found the answer…  

So what have we been up to today in the middle of the Atlantic ?  

I was flicking through the TV guide to see what sporting delights lay ahead for tomorrow.  

930            Soccer AM ……. Where we’ll see Andy got through the audition to be a soccerette. He hoped his black leather crutch less chaps would swing the vote!!!

      1200        World of sport hosted by Mark ‘Dicky Davis’ Hefford. A full day of sport featuring:  

·         Saturday afternoon wrestling where Old Ehrhart aka Big Daddy will take on New Ehrhart aka Cat Weasel. Will it be ‘Easy Easy’ for Big daddy or will Cat Weasel win it with his trade mark trombone followed by a reach around and finishing with a goosing. We will see.

·         ‘Nick the Bilge’ will endeavor to beat the world bilge challenge. Faced with a full well of water he will have to empty it dry with only a bilge handle and sponge. Nick will need a strong forearm and a quick wrist…….no problem I here you say for a class 1……….

·         Mark Captainovski will try to walk unaided from the stern cabin to bow. After 48 weeks you may feel this to be an easy feat but with his wasting away legs, lack of stabilizing muscles and with the coordination of Bambi this will be entertaining viewing. 

·         Lastly we will be entertained by Justin the Steer. Who, with only a 30ft boat, a compass, two pieces of rope and a rudder, will attempt to steer a bearing of 270 degrees and try and visit all 4 points of the compass…..a trick he has mastered during his 48 days at boat camp.

  So as you can see a fun packed day…………

  Keep in touch,

  Ta ta for now, Justin.

Well we are still here slowly drifting across the Atlantic cursing our bad luck with regards the steering, rudder and weather, thinking that life sucks when yesterday evening we experienced something very special. I was rowing and Mark was steering and at about our ‘ten o’clock’ we saw a large shape in the water at least the same length as our boat and only about 30 metres away. Was it a whale? Was it a shark? Well the answer to that is we don’t know but it circled the boat for about 30 minutes before leaving. All we know it was very big and was silver on top with a white underbelly and made us feel very small indeed.

That’s the exciting stuff out of the way; I will now update you with life on the boat. As mentioned on previous blogs, we have been dealt a series of blows during our crossing that are well documented and are seriously slowing our progress. Because of this we have had to constantly alter our arrival date putting it back so that we can meet the families in Antigua. During one of these daily chats we were working out how many days until we finally made land at our current rate of travel. During these calculations Andy came out with an arrival date that differed from the rest of us by two days. When asked he casually explained that ‘January only has 29 days’. What a clown! This follows up nicely the fact that every day he looks at other teams progress via the web site and compares mileage, alas he often gets this wrong making us think teams are either doing better or worse than they actually are. No wonder Mark, Justin and I always go to him to sign off the overtime!

Today we did some admin on the boat now the rough seas have died for a while, we inventoried our remaining food which leaves us a little short (another story) re trimmed the balance and Andy got off and removed all the barnacles from the hull, resulting in a better feel to the boat which might make a difference, you never know. We are trying hard to make the final push and hope that some favourable weather comes our way, I think we deserve it by now, don’t you!?

All the crew are fit and well although a lot slimmer than when we left La Gomera. Mark is talking about shaving off his beard soon to mark 50 days at sea, Justin has stopped rattling now and is looking better, Andy is still Andy and me, well I am no longer ginger! Well, three out of four isn’t bad!

Keep reading the blogs, tell your friends but more importantly please donate to CF via the just giving page on our website.

Asta la pasta Nick

Race Day 45 - 15/01/08

Firstly an update, the illusive trade winds attempt to arrive and then die away….causing us great distress and an emotional rollercoaster, cheering and getting excited like a group of kids to then having the strop when it dies away like a group of hormonal teenagers!

We have set ourselves mileage targets to reach each day, which would give us a date to meet the families in Antigua and at present we are on track to meeting that! We’ll see?

  So there I was rowing during the night thinking what am I going to talk about in my blog tomorrow. You see, you all thought this drivel was just thrown together; oh no we really are mad and actually think about these blogs!!!!!

  Anyway, strange as it may seem being on a small boat with 4, far slimmer than when they started blokes, can at times be lonely. “.EAT YOUR PORRIDGE EHRHART” I hear you shout, but no this isn’t a moment, its at times and there have been times I expect the boys would rather be somewhere else and with other people……”TOO BLOOMIN  RIGHT!” I hear Mark and Nick shout whilst rowing. Only snoring is the reply from Justin.

  Anyway it got me thinking that actually the waves and sea condition actually reminds me of people at home in normal! Life. Now there will be no names, as I could not afford the law courts.

  There is “the big one” it commands respect. It’s powerful.   You’re rowing at night and in front of you the light goes dark, and you find yourself rowing up hill! You know you’re going up as the numbers of stars you see are disappearing and the ones you can see are getting brighter. But although powerful it takes you back down with a push and a lead forward.

  There is the “sniper” This is the wave that you know is always there; ready to have a go when it see’s the opportunity. No particular reason, just irritating and has a go whatever!!! While you’re rowing making good progress, happy and content you hear a sudden rush of noise and you’re struck in the side by this fast moving weight of water, determined to knock you off balance. But it’s usually not effective and you dismiss it with the contempt it deserves!!

  “Your mates” is next, these are the strong rolling waves keeping both sides of you, keeping you going and supporting you when that nasty “sniper” shows up

  “The Joker" This is the one where the wave behaves like a mate, travels along side the boat  then when it feels the timing is right it hops over the boat side and lands into the lap of the rower .mmmmm This has happened to all us rowers at some time during this epic voyage. Usually met with the resounding cry of “oh good one, you cad, you got me there!!” …or words to that effect but sound like “duck it!!!!”

  The “Train” comes next now you hear the train gathering speed two or three stops down the line. Its pitch black and you moving at a steady pace, all seem to be going in same direction, you, “your mates” and the wind. But the train has other ideas this thing is fast, powerful and isn’t stopping for no one (reminds me of a game of rugby I played once!!!!) The noise is deafening, louder and louder until you then see either side of cabin the white water acting as the train’s lights so it doesn’t miss its target. This gives you just enough time to shout “hold on everybody, I think this might be big and powerful and may throw us off balance a little” or words to that effect???????????????? It then crashes right up your rear mmmm, smashing over the top and down the sides of the boat, swamping everything in it’s way , which at 0400 hrs is I must say is delightful???!!!!

  The last wave condition is when you see all the different systems coming together, white water all over the place, waves coming in all directions, some old waves some new, joining together and pushing the boat forward to its rightful destination. This system I’m going to name after you blog readers, our supporters who keep us going with all your emails and good wishes.

There that should convince the Doctor’s that I really have lost it! 

Must go now, I can actually hear Justin, Nick and Mark getting excited again, the waves have genuinely picked up. Good mileage to be had, Thanks for support keep it coming , soon the blue dot will be on land, then what will you all do with your days , so enjoy them whilst its still moving all be it slowly.

Andy

Firstly I must apologize for missing my slot the other day, a bit of writers block… it could be argued that I always have it!  But after an extra session in my isolation tank listening to Peter Andre I am now back with you.

Good luck at last… no, not the weather, we have given up on that as we seem to be in a different ocean to all the predictions.  Yesterday morning we got penguins in three out of the four meal bags.

After reading Nick’s blog yesterday we have sent him off to the funny fish farm.  He became obsessed with being ‘torchy torchy the battery boy’ and ‘tufty the squirrel’ so we had to take drastic action and pack him off like Britney Spears.  We wish him well and hope he gets over wanting to be a Duracell AA and we are sure Lulu will be there for his every need.

In the mean time Justin is determined to get value for money out of our reassuringly expensive medical kit that was a must according to Woodevale.  He has moved onto the laxatives as he has had a blockage for a few days now.  We need Dave to contact ‘one text Tony’ at Woodenvale to see if it is permitted within the rules to use this to our adavantage!  When the blockage clears we want to use the power generated from Justin’s massive delivery system to give us a boost in the right direction.

A message mentioned a spirtle for porridge stirring; do you know where we can buy one?  When our entire cutlery broke after about 4 hours we managed to make something similar but it had to multi task.  A simple bit of plastic tube gaffer taped to a funnel allows us to pour water into the kettle and stir the food, easy.  The only problem is that you get blockages whilst stiring the food, this is normally cleared by banging the tube on the side of the boat or rinsing it in the sea.  If that doesn’t work then you have to blow through from the funnel end.  We all seem to manage this with a bit of puff except Nick; he obviously hasn’t been doing his CV as much as he claims.  He will put the hydrator in the position and then blow and blow and blow until he looks like Dizzy Gillespie.  It seems he has problems at both ends and the expressions and contortions are very similar.  So, a simple bit of DIY has helped us solve a number of problems I hope it does for you if you can’t get to the spirtle shop!

Late yesterday afternoon in between squalls the sea went purple, no I wasn’t hallucinating.  The cloud broke for 5 minutes and I thought my eyes were playing me up, Andy and Justin were ‘resting’ so I turned to Nick who looked just like the mad professor from Back to the Future and was muttering ‘purple haze, purple, haze, club Tropicana, purple haze, Copacabana, purple haze’.  I think it was at this stage that he needed to get some help and the story of the purple sea will forever remain unverified..

And finally; last night we had a bit of moon light and good conditions for rowing for about 5 hours.  This must have been playing on Justin and Andy’s minds.  I could just see into the cabin hatch that was lit by the moon light and I saw Justin’s hand reach out, move around and then go back in.  10 minutes later Andy reached out with both hands and continued to try to pull something.  Nothing was heard and I put it down to not seeing moonlight for a week or so and they were just trying to grab the moment.  When we swapped around I asked what it was all about and Justin couldn’t remember anything but Andy thought he was pulling on the steering ropes!  Who knows what went on in the murky depths of the cabin with both of them dreaming about pulling each other’s ropes?

That is about it.  Did anyone get through to Robert Elms or is this a little too far off the London beat?

All for now

Mark

Race Day 43 - 13/01/08

For those of you who have been regular readers of the blogs will undoubtedly remember the New Year’s resolution that I made about not digging my fellow crew mates out and having cheap shot.  Well after reading a few of the things that they have been slinging in my direction, I now feel it’s time for recourse……..the gloves are coming off!

No offence to the gingers in the world, I love you all, but alas I am not one of your clan.  I can assure you all it’s just too much seawater and sunshine and not washing it for7 weeks, a heady combination I would not recommend to anybody. Also, with regard to being battery monitor, I am just trying to be careful about power conservation and want to make sure that all the boys have enough power available for the various electrical appliances that they have each brought with them. I will detail them and how they are used.

Andy - as we can all see he has lost a lot of weight on this trip and he greatly appreciates he kind and not so kind words about his on the website.  However his weight loss is not all down to rowing and not eating too much.  Andy has brought with him one of those electrical abdominal machines, you know the ones, you put the pads on you turn it on and it tenses your muscles for you whilst you are doing something else.  So as you can see he needs quite a lot of power to get that puppy moving and make a difference!

Justin – it would be too easy to say some thing about his backside so I won’t.  Justin spends a lot of time on the computer e mailing loads of different people and he gets by far the most mail coming in so to help him in this cause he has brought with him his own paper shredder and fax/photocopier machine so he can keep on top of his office work!

Mark – well it’s fair to say mark likes his own space and company and those things are sadly lacking on a 29 foot boat with four men, so thinking ahead mark wisely brought with him an isolation tank complete with whale music so he can have his ‘own’ time.

Nick – well I am missing loads of things from home but I just had to bring with me my running machine.  Sometimes between rows we have two hours off, so you’ve got to keep yourself busy haven’t you!

So as you can see battery monitoring is very important and shouldn’t be poo pooed!  Anyway on the rowing front the great weather that has been predicted two days ago STILL hasn’t turned up and we have wind and waves going in the wrong direction trying to push us north, the sea state is messy making progress for us tough.  We should at some stage today pass the 1000 miles to go which will be nice and we can start focusing on pushing for Antigua, arriving at some time in Feb.   That’s all for now…………………Oi Andy turn that off!

Nick. 

We heard some good news that the families had booked their flights and accommodation for Antigua which gave us a certain incentive, although we’ve had that since day 1 it’s just lady luck hasn’t been kind to us. But since the good news the weather has started to change as promised and we are starting to get some mileage back on the board which has been lacking since Christmas Eve. Throughout the day the weather has been ever changing and, as I type, it’s not quite in our favour but we are being optimistic that it will revert back to the way it was and the way it’s supposed to be for the next week!!!

As a crew we have been upbeat and positive listening to a wide range of music; from Sinatra to Green Day, from the Arctic Monkeys to David Bowie. Time just flies by!!!!

We have been posed several questions on the email and I will endeavour to answer some now.

Question 1. What useful skill do you bring to the boat?

Andy:  Prior to departure Andy was the self elected power house of the team BUT after the first week he realized his BIG GUNS were shot so he needed to bring something else to the party. After the first rudder problem Andy has become very innovative in finding resolutions to the problems and practical in fixing them. This is a skill he hopes to retain for the jobs he wants to sort out back home!!

Nick:  During the build up to the challenge Nick was one for making a list and then tasking us to deal with them and then panic like mad if someone posed a problem. He would awake in a cold sweat and then turn to his note book write down the problem and then worry about it till it was resolved…since Gomera he has obviously taken a chill pill. But there is one job that he takes very seriously, and that is Battery Monitor. Nick will determine what can be used and for how long and is continually asking “how are the batteries are doing?” or “how many chunks has battery 2 got?” But he is easily persuaded and NO doesn’t always mean No.

Mark:  As Captain elect Mark has a lot of weight on his shoulders, he was carrying them around his waist but they have moved up…. Mark makes a lot of the decisions that the rest of the crew don’t want to make and also plots and plans the route on the map…sorry chart and will do so with great expertise. About 6 months ago we all passed a 2 week yacht masters course but some studied, some copied and some may have cheated but either may Mark retained it…luckily for us!

Justin:  This is when I get an opportunity to big myself up into a someone the crew could not do without but I just can’t think of what useful skill I bring to the boat; I can’t read a chart, cook or steer but I’m still here and row when asked and I have the only bag of Jelly Babies courtesy of Santa.

Question 2. What have you done or said that you wish no-one heard or witnessed?

Andy:   We were all sitting around eating our dinner and talking about fireworks and NYE. Nick stated that he wanted to have fireworks at his wedding but luckily he didn’t as it was raining. To which Andy chirped in “what outside”….what a Plonker.

Nick:  On a daily basis Nick will put us through his repertoire of bad jokes. For those that know him have probably heard them on many occasions namely “I’m a prawn again Christian” and “his in a Korma” to name but a few. But on one occasion Nick and I were talking about our arrival date in Antigua and Nick turned around and said “ I don’t want to think about, in fact I don’t want to mention it again……but we won’t get there till the 8^th Feb, maybe earlier a lot depends on the weather!!!!

Mark:  Being Captain, the boat is his number 1 priority and ensuring everything is ‘ship shape and Bristol fashion’ (just ask Nick and he’ll bore you with its meaning) But he has got a clumsy nature that I didn’t think he had…. He as a tendency to throw things over the side. His 1^st is actually the opposite when he wanted to throw-up outside but missed and chundered all over Nicks clothes. The 2^nd was while cleaning his thermos mug he dropped his lid into the Ocean. The 3^rd was the large funnel we used to fill the kettle again thrown overboard, although on this occasion he redeemed himself with the invention of the ‘Hefford Hydrator” buts that another story!! And the 4^th and hopefully the last was the top of our cabin vent, again in a moment of madness launched overboard with no explanation….

Justin: At the beginning of your night shift you get a 10 minute warning from the crew rowing. This is enough time to wake up, unfold yourself and get dressed. All carried out lying down in the cabin. I was dress putting my shoes on when I couldn’t find one; I asked Nick who proceeded to search the cabin. I was getting frustrated how I could loose something in such a small space but it was nowhere to be seen. So, not wanting to be late I rushed outside and as I climbed through the hatch Nick said “I’ve found your shoe you plum…..your wearing it!” I looked down and there it was…..what a doughnut...

Well I’d love to answer all you questions but its too hot in the cabin and the sweat is running in my eyes and the screen is now a blur. So I’ll bid you farewell and keep track on the blue dot, its getting closer

Laters, Justin 

Well…………….. We have wind and waves! Only not as they should be, sure the waves are big but they are going in the wrong direction! Still beggars can’t be choosers and we are getting on with it. The crew is in good spirits even though this is turning into the longest crossing ever. We are estimated to get in at current progress in the first week or so in Feb, which is a nightmare, luckily our loved ones are very understanding and are putting up with the delay although I am sure it will cost us all in the long run! Work have been excellent and even my tailor is going to put my fitting on hold.

Every one is getting on well and we are comfortable with little or no personal space. This was tested however yesterday when I was sitting on the throne and Mark (Chewbacca) decided to come outside for a wash. There we were within a foot of each other starkers, him cleaning his giblets and me attempting a turnout. This proved a little too much for me when Mark said “we are having a bonding moment” with that it seemed to me that I was in a scene from Caligula and had to leave!

Andy is over the moon that the nation is talking about ‘porridge’ and is busy trying to trademark it. Justin is now a walking pharmacy as he is taking pain killers for his sore bum and is now starting to rattle! Mark now has a daily routine of having breakfast and then spending the next five minutes combing the excess out of his beard. All I do is pout about my funny coloured hair (which I am putting down to not washing it for six weeks and lots of sun)

Well that’s about it for now, hopefully the blue dot will edging its way closer to Antigua soon (we really do want to get there, honest) keep the emails coming and don’t forget to donate via the just giving site every little helps.

Asta la pasta. Nick

How we have found time to write a blog I really don’t know, captain Hefford has kept our noses to the rowlocks!( thank goodness for spell check)for the last 48 hrs, we’re a tad tired but hopefully it  will all be worth it in the grand scheme of things. As you know we made our dash?! South to reach the great weather system coming in today which would give us the easterly winds we so desperately need……Guess what? They haven’t turned up! Is it us? even Mother Nature and King Neptune are suspicious of coppers!!!

 To be perfectly honest, it’s better than what we had, we have made good mileage yesterday and early part of today keeping up with the lighter boats in our vicinity, so WTH, all eating porridge tonight and getting ready for a hard night shift, we’ll let you know tomorrow if there was any change during the night.

 Now for something a bit cheerful, yesterday just after lunch I saw SOMETHING WITH A FIN!  Let me explain, firstly we need to `talk JOB! For a quick moment.As you need to know the extensive training we have been through.When we all worked on 4TSG (Premier unit) we used to patrol the streets of the Metropolis keeping the good citizens safe from the naughty people?????!!!!!!(Sorry still in the police so cannot give any further details of those responsible, please read my book when I retire and I’ll tell all)

Anyway, we’d patrol in a carrier full of eager eyed, work conscious officers looking for crime. To assist the passing of information as to what has been seen we used to use the clock face. The bonnet of the vehicle would be 12, rear of vehicle 6 nearside windows 9 and offside 3, hopefully you get the picture. Anyone who saw anything suspicious!!??? Would give a time and we’d all look in that direction to assist with understanding what is actually taking place. (Hopefully I’m not giving away any trade secrets,)

 Anyway AGAIN! We had just finished dinner I was rowing along with Justin. Mark was steering and Nick was making himself beautiful AGAIN, (well night shift was approaching, mmmmm) I then saw something, long Big and dark, with a fin about 30 metres from our boat glide effortlessly up and over in the water. All I had to do was give concise directions as to where it was….

 “WHALE! “ I shouted, (do you get whales with fins?)

Heffs immediately dived into the cabin to get the camera, to be met with Nick applying sudocream on his bits, but looked like he was having a private face pack, for those of you who know sudocream it does get everywhere!!!

 ‘WHAT TIME?” shouted Justin

 “Now!” I said,  DERRRRRR!!!!!!!

 “Where?”

 “Over there!” I said pointing directly at it, but I was sitting behind everybody else derrrrr!

 Well needless to say by the time I explained what I had seen, exactly where? The mammal had gone, to be honest all the tricks he was doing I think it must have been Free Willy. That’s one of the reasons I’m in the training centre.

Well I cannot drag this out any longer, I’m being shouted at to get back with the oars!!!!!

Thanks we’ll let you know how things progress,

 Andy

Welcome everyone and hope you are all well.

Today is yet another hot cloudless day which is great for a cruise not so for us who are desperate to get some miles under our belt. The waves and wind have yet to change to be completely in our favor so this morning we decided to put an hour aside to sort out the cabin. Nick self nominated himself and in he went to throw out the mattresses and other items which had got slightly wet due to a rouge wave coming through the stern hatch. Once empty it was not a good site and if it wasn’t for the three of us holding the hatch shut I think nick may have wanted to leave. If you imagine the floor of a swimming pool changing room, leave it for a month and then sweep and empty it into a 6ft x 3 ft coffin and that is what Nick faced. On his hands and knees he sponged it to a brilliant white and the only time he got a rest bite was when he handed the bucket and sponge out for a freshen up…..

So how with this now our 6^th week at sea……Mark is looking more like a salty sea dog every day as he sits there in his captains hat with a pondering look on his face stroking his ever growing beard. The beard is now getting to a stage when it collects food during the day ready for him to snack on it during the night. Due to Nick’s ear and nose grooming yesterday Mark has put the cuttings to good use as hair extensions for his mullet. This is in honor of Stuart Tracey who has elected to grow his hair for the duration of our ‘trip’ but I don’t think he thought we would be gone this long (sorry Sharon )

Nick is looking nicely tanned although he still craves a visit to TanFX. He is still a bit touchy about his hair and is forever asking “is it really going ginger”. He is now blaming it on an old mate who he fell out with, who also happened to be ginger, and he has made his hair change!!!

Andy is looking very well; a little different but well….it now appears that he has bones holding his body in shape and not just the hot air we