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| 76 days, 11 hours and 12 minutes |
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| Written by Gordon Smith | |
| Sunday, 17 February 2008 | |
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At 11.12pm (GMT) on 16th February 2008, Ocean rowing boat Barbara Ivy crossed the official finish line at Cape Shirley, Antigua - winning the women's pairs class of the race!
After all the trials and tribulations of our final weeks at sea, our last night was perfect. Clear skies, with the moon and stars lighting our way and for once, the wind and waves helping us go in the right direction. As dawn broke, the glow disappeared and despite straining eyes at every opportunity, we didn't see land until around lunch time. On this last day, we rowed through a couple of squalls and saw some of the calmest water. We even managed to both wash our hair. In due course, we reached the 20nm to go point and radioed ABSAR to let them know that we (along with 2 solo rowers) were on our final approach! On we rowed, with excitement building. At 10nm to go, we made our next call to ABSAR and fixed in the second rowing position so that we could both row together for the final few miles.  We put on our special 'homecoming' outfits, kept clean and dry especially for the occasion, set our waterproof speakers on deck and set off together, singing away to the music. Shortly after, the sky clouded over and our jackets were back on as the rain fell, and fell and fell some more! Antigua disappeared from view and we just used the GPS co-ordinates to guide us to the 1nm long finish line, South of Cape Shirley lighthouse. At 5nm to go, we made our final call to ABSAR, who cheerfully said they would see us in a while. Excitement was reaching fever pitch and as the sky cleared, Rachel turned around to see if Antigua was back in view. With a squawk, she dropped the oars and Lin turned around too. Antigua was there, and now very close indeed as we could see beaches, breaking waves and houses and smell the land, green and tropical. The wind turned NE again and we were blown a little too much South, which meant a final push across the waves to maintain our position as close to shore as we dared. As it got darker and see the mass of Cape Shirley. With a mile to go, we were singing away when the ABSAR Rib boat appeared out of nowhere with a roar and scared the bejeebers out of us! Everyone was cheering and shouting, and they had a special visitor on board. Liam, Lin's 13 year old son stepped out to the bow from the shadowy figures, a very special moment for us all as she hadn't seen him for 3 months. With a cry of 'Oh my God, it's my boy!' happy tears followed! The finish line was marked with a chorus of horns and hooters, laughing and crying we stopped rowing and hugged tightly. We'd only gone and blooming done it! English Harbour is a mile further on and we followed the ABSAR boat round the headland and into the channel. By now it was completely dark and a photographer in a tiny dinghy made us jump as he came up alongside. As we rowed past the Fort supporters lit up flares, which allowed us to see the whole harbour. There were dozens of yachts now in view with their crews on deck, all cheering and sounding horns and hooters. Slowly we made our way to the quayside where what seemed like hundreds of people were waiting with more flares lighting our way. We passed a waterside bar who, when they realised that we were a women's crew, set off a massive cheer to welcome us in. We navigated round some boats and pulled up (perfectly parked!). It was hard to make out faces in the light of the flares, but we eventually picked out our families and other familiar people. As we got covered in champagne, there was another surprise too as Lin spotted Rachel's brother and his partner in the crowd, and pointed them out - we had no idea that they were going to be there!  We set off our own flares and Lin cracked open a very special bottle of champagne - the one that we won on Ready Steady Cook! Finally it was time to step onto dry land again, slightly easier said than done, but there were plenty of helping hands as we stepped up, wobbled, and nearly fell over!! More champagne was pushed towards us as the happy tears flowed amidst laughter and the best hugs we've ever experienced!  After more photo's we had to get back on the boat to collect our belongings and found it much easier to stand again! Eventually, we were able to make it back to the villa to enjoy the luxury of a first meal - consisting of tea and buttered toast! Next we were able to reacquaint ourselves with the miracles of showers, flushing toilets, running water, plates and cutlery, clean, dry sheets and beds that don't move!!It's been an emotional and overwhelming few days, especially now that you know the full story of our adventures at sea! But it's the best feeling to be back on land, with loved ones around us again.  We'll have to spend a few days sorting out the boat, but will keep you updated on what we're up to and will continue our blogs while we're here and back in the UK. So please keep reading and we hope you enjoy them.  As ever, love and hugs, Rachel & Lin xx |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 February 2008 ) |