The Tidewaves

One week ago today 💥

The Finish

This is the finish line of the World’s Toughest Row.

Hard to believe a whole week has passed since we arrived in English Harbour! 47 days, 6 hours and 33 minutes after leaving the island of La Gomera, we landed on the island of Antigua on the 29th of January 2024.

Since arriving, we at The Tidewaves have been soaking up life on dry land, spending time with our wonderful families and reflecting on our Atlantic experience.

Whilst being the hardest thing any of us have ever done, it truly was worth it for that finish line feeling. .toughest.row generate an atmosphere at the finish like nothing we’ve felt before. The pure energy, the joy, the relief and the effervescent love from the crowds, our family, the media boat, the yachties and the team at Atlantic Campaigns was indescribable.

On particularly hard days, on days when we hurt the most, when the sun was unwavering or the wind unfavourable, we would visualise our Antigua arrival. The media boat coming alongside, the final row into English Harbour, the hugs with loved ones, the feel of the flares in our hands, the first step of land beneath our feet and the eventual taste of Pina Colada. We could take just one more stroke, do one more hour, go one more shift knowing that there was an end in sight and one day we would be reunited with the things we love.. family, bed, warm showers, food on a plate with cutlery..

The finish did not disappoint. The pride in ourselves, each other and the fleet as a whole, will be one we will feel forever in looking at these incredibly special photos. Thankyou for capturing this moment for us so beautifully.

Thank you .toughest.row, , , , .drew, , for creating and capturing these magical moments.

Many more thank-yous to come, but for now we are marvelling in this achievement of human capabilities, and celebrating the World’s Toughest Row Fleet of 2024. You are all incredible 💪

✨Day 45✨

Less than 100nm to go and the Tidewaves are back on dry land! WHO IS EXCITED????🎉

We have a wee update coming from the girls later on so stay tuned for that 🩷

We would love to get as much donation money in for them as possible before they arrive so if anyone hasn’t had a chance to donate yet you still have time! Just visit www.the-tidewaves.com to find out about why they have done this absolutely crazy, insane, amazing challenge and to donate! 🙏🏽

toughest.row

✨ Day 40 ✨

(delayed)

The girls have eaten their last chocolate orange which means they're under 500nm to go! Only 378nm until Antigua, where they're expected to land on the 28th January. Finishing before February was a big goal of theirs, so they'll be ecstatic to get it done in the next 4 days. 

The wind has turned a few times over the last week, blowing them first towards Antigua and now hitting them from the side. This results in consistent waves that, alongside the frequent rainfall, have ensured all their belongings are unfortunately soaked through.

They're very much looking forward to seeing family and reuniting with fellow crews, many of whom have already completed the monumental journey!

❗Reminder that the competition to guess the Tidewaves arrival time and date in Antigua closes at midnight tomorrow night. The donations towards the girls' charities will be a huge motivation boost for the closing stages of the row.

toughest.row

✨DAY 36✨

Another day on the Atlantic has come and gone and as they head closer to Antigua they have started having a few issues with steering.. not ideal! At points over night they were having to row 3 up waking poor Jordan up from her 4 hour sleep just to keep the boat going in the right direction and stop it from flipping! The safety team are on it though and are giving them good advice to keep them on the right track 🙌🏽

Still smiling and singing away despite the issues and soaking in this incredible experience and challenge. Louise has suffered from a case of sunglasses tan.. she’s come up with a great solution though.. swipe to see 🌝

The Seablings have taken inspiration from the and have opened up a sweepstake for everyone to take part in! To enter head over to www.the-Tidewaves.com and donate £5, in the notes write your estimated date and time of arrival and you will be entered into the competition to win a signed Tidewaves T-Shirt! Closest guess wins!!! Get your guesses in quickly as this competition will shut on at midnight on the 24th January and remember to check out the YB tracker to help get a clue as to when they will arrive! 🕵️

GOOD LUCK

🌊

toughest.row

✨DAY 35✨

The Tidewaves have been making great progress, with now under 800nm to go! With an estimated arrival time of the begging of February and the first crew - HMS Oardacious - finishing earlier today, our excitement of seeing the girls again is growing by the minute and all your support is really helping them on their way!

Those tailwinds have finally come and are helping to push them further towards Antigua and are seeing sightings of seaweed and birds meaning that they are getting close and closer to land!!

Singing, playing games, snack packs and fish facts are keeping morale high when those harder days hit - as I’m sure you have all seen! The donations and support are also helping them keep motivated and focused on the rest of journey so please visit www.the-tidewaves.com to help them cross that finish line!

🌊

toughest.row

✨ Day 30 ✨

Tomorrow marks the girls being away at sea for a whole month?! We can’t quite believe it… and more importantly we can’t quite believe we’ve kept up a months worth of insta content 📸

The beginning of the week saw very flat water - “like rowing on glass”, however over the past few days the girls have been dealing with strong winds and high waves again… 🌊 whilst this is rocking the boat and caused some near misses on capsizing , the girls have kept their spirits high with lots of singing 🎶 Thank goodness their too far away from human contact for anyone to hear them 🙉

Still no water wildlife- just more flying fish on board, one even flipped itself straight into Jordan’s mouth… as a veggie she wasn’t best pleased 🥦😂🐠

✨ Day 28 ✨

As the girls settle into the second half of their row they're feeling the aches and pains worse than ever. Jordan and Robyn are taking paracetamol every 4 hours to combat the various pains, and is being used by the bucket. 

The girls say the most painful parts are their feet, hands, and butts and despite being warned about the soreness of these areas they're still surprised by the reality of it. The wet, salty conditions and general discomfort on the boat, coupled with the physical exertion of 12 hours of rowing a day with just 4 hours of sleep test the limits of the girls' bodies and minds. 

These sores and blisters are part of what makes this challenge so gruelling and a true test of will and toughness, but make the achievement of arriving in Antigua the incredible feat that it is. 



toughest.row

✨Day 25 ✨

(Delayed)

The Tidewaves officially reached the half way mark around Saturday lunch time and are now powering towards Antigua! They are in a good rhythm doing on average about 50nm a day and with just around 1200nm to the finish line it shouldn’t be long until we are reunited with our siblings’! 💞

With the change in weather the sun hats from are out and saving their faces from those strong UV rays out on the Atlantic! So a big thank you to for the functional but fashionable hats!!! 👒

The girls have sent over some great videos recently documenting their time on board Dotty which we are so excited to share with you over the coming days. The last one we shared was of Robyn showcasing her show alteration services which she has managed to get Jordan on board with as well.. just Louise left now! 🫠

We will also be sharing videos on how much the 3 charities that the girls are doing this for mean to them as they deep dive a little bit more into their reasoning for picking Sports Aid Scotland, Access Sport and London Youth Rowing. If you have any spare pennies post Christmas it would mean the world to them for a donation at the link below. Thank you!!

www.the-tidewaves.com

🌊

toughest.row

This morning, The World’s Toughest row announced the news of the tragic death of Aussie Old Salts crew member Alisdair Putt during their Atlantic crossing. The Tidewaves wanted us to share a few words from them.

“We were lucky enough to get to know Aussie Old Salts during our time in La Gomera, with our boat right next to theirs in the boat park. We regularly experienced Alisdair’s kindness throughout our 2 weeks there, with him and his team helping us repack our boat post inspection, coming back especially to offer a hand. All three of us at The Tidewaves send our condolences to Alisdair’s friends and family, and to the Aussie Old Salts. We are thinking of them with every stroke.”

In honour of Alisdair, The Tidewaves along with the rest of the fleet will be taking 10 minutes off the oars and dimming their navigation lights at 2200 tonight to pay their respects towards Alisdair and the Aussie Old Salts. There is a new brightest star in the sky✨

The World’s Toughest Row safety team is available 24/7 in the case the fleet need some support to deal with the tragedy. The entire Tidewaves family send all our thoughts and love to the crew, Alisdair’s family and friends 🤍

✨ Day 20 ✨

We’re still reflecting on the unique New Year Day the girls had out there in the Atlantic. They even had a sip of whiskey from their little quaich 🥃

For those tidewaves followers who aren’t from bonnie wee Scotland - the quaich is a Scottish friendship cup that was given to them by Robyn’s mum to have a wee drink out of New Year’s Eve to celebrate their friendship, that has only grown on their journey 💚

A few words below from Robyn on their NYE:

“Whisky from the quaich last night. We brought in the new year by sharing what we are grateful for and setting intentions for 2024. We also watched the moon rise and took 5 mins to lie down in the boat with the lights off and look at the stars”

“We also read some more of our letters this morning and shed more tears over the beautiful words and motivational messages from so many people back home. We feel so loved and supported 🩷🩷”

✨Day 18 ✨

It’s official The Tidewaves have rowed 1000 miles! What a way to bring in the New Year. 👏🏽

Amongst the celebrations the weather is testing them.. AGAIN.. and it looks like they are heading a bit South to maybe try and avoid it. They are also having some power issues which explains the lack of pictures and videos we are getting. We did hear that Jordan is practicing The Wild Thornberrys opening monologue so that along with the Love Medley from Moulin Rouge it sounds like we are in for a treat when we meet them in Antigua.. 🙄

When you’re celebrating tonight give a wee toast to The Tidewaves and if you can donate anything at all it will be the best New Year gift they can ask for! ❤️

www.the-tidewaves.com

Have a good one! See you in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ !

🌊

toughest.row