"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life which is less than the one you are capable of living."                                           Nelson Mandela

Welcome to the final newsletter before we set off to La Gomera. And we thank every single one of you from the bottom of our hearts - without your incredible generositey and suupport we would not have been able to make it this far and take the opportunity to line up with the other boats at the start. But more importantly than that, your donations really will change peoples' lives.

Making it to the start line ia a major acheivement in itself. It has taken 3 years of hard work and planning, over 30,000 miles of travel and fundraising of nearly £30,000 for Breast Cancer Care to date. Plus we've raised all our costs (or convinced people to part with goods!) to get this far. We've also put in a significant amount of our own money and spent literally thousands of hours preparing for the race.

The last 3 years have been a rollercoaster for us and there have been many highs and lows along the way. Often the barriers encountered have made us question our motivation and ability to put the project together. There's been a lot of laughter and more tha a few tears, but our friendship is stronger han evver as we approach the next test - rowing the Ocean!

Our Bon Voyage party on the Thames went extremely well and generated a good donation to the challenge. It was a fitting way to celebrate as the boat took us and our guests on a night time tour of London, seeing all the landmarks lit up. Thanks must go to Jo McKelvey who managed the whole party for us. Without her, it would never have happened and we are extremely grateful for her support.

The following Monday (22nd Oct) it was time for us to say goodbye to the boat. Taking her to the shipping agent in Newark was a slightly traumatic experience - towing 3 years of hard work and dreams, and then leaving her in the hands of a stranger was pretty tough. You develop a strong emotional attachment to your boat and it was hard to see her swinging across, 20 feet up in the air, form the trailer to cradle. 

But the shipping company went to great lengths to set her correctly on the cradle and ensure that her sleek curves were accommodated safely! We then had fun and games with the trailer as the light board seemed determined to work its way loose on the way back to Salop Leisure where it will be stored. A few swift kicks (in place of a hammer) each of the 3 times we had to pull over made all the difference though and we dropped the trailer off safely at the end of our 12 hour round trip.

At the moment we're both being besieged by comments like 'not long now' and 'are you scared/excited yet?'. To be completely honest, I don't think it's really sunk in yet and it's only when we talk about it together that it seems real. Both of us have had an extremely busy period at work, with handovers, restructures and some heavy duty projects on the go. There hasn't really been much time to sit and think about the next few months - and perhaps it's just as well!

But it's also similar to how we normally feel before big events like World or European Championships. The nerves only really kickin on the day of the event and our training to 'control the controllables' means that you are prepared enought o deal with what you know is coming up, and will probably be in a better position to deal with anything unexpected without too much trauma!

We did think that life might calm down somewhat after the boat had left. How foolishof us to imagine that we would have time to ourselves and be able to take a breath before hte next stage. Instead it's been a frantic time making arrangements for the Earls Court Boat Show stand, chasing up a few more sponsors and making time for hte many friends and family members who want to spend a few hours with us before saying 'arrivederci' (bye for now!).

Being so busy has also prevented us from spending too much itme reflecting - which could be a good thing! But the awareness of how our decision to race is making family and friends feel is a great concern. It probably makes us play down the dangers a little and focus on the positives, for their sakes more than anything. But all the time we have to accept responsibility, for it is our actions that are causing this distress. That's difficult to live with.

As we face the biggest challenge of our lives head-on, the overwhelming feeling is excitement and anticipation. We've worked so hard for this, for so long, without knowing wheter we would even make the start. Now that we're there, we are quite naturally nervous too, but we firmly believe that we have what it takes and will make it to the finish in Antigua.

We'll be posting messages and pictures on the website blog as often as we can, and you will be able to follow our progress by going to 'the route' on our site. Woodvale Challenge will also be launching a race website for anyone who would like to follow the teams www.atlanticrowingrace2007.co.uk.

So all that remains now is to say thank you again for all your help and support. As we paddle out into the unknown for the experience of a lifetime, rest assured that you'll all be there with us in spirit. WE hope you get as much out of the race as we're hoping to.

Arrivederci, Rachel & Lin

PS. We'd also like to send our thoughts to Dave Martin and his family. Dave completed the crossing in our boat as part of Atlantic 4, but has recently been seriously injured in a car crash. This brings home to us the importance of 'do things today, because you don't know what the future will bring' and we hope that some of Dave's determination to succeed has rubbed off on us. You'll be with us all the way Dave!

This month's photo's:
The start of the challenge, our first fundraising event, the Great River Race 2005. This was also our first time in an Ocean Rowing boat!

And more recently at the end of our 48 hours onboard.

Question of the month - who writes your newsletters?
We often get asked this question, and the clue is in the first part of the newsletter which has been written in a slightly different style this month. Although most people think that we have a PR type person tapping away for us every month, we actually write the newsletter ourselves.

How it normally works is that we agree the subjects and focus for the news, and then I (Rachel) write the piece. The litmus test is when it's sent to Lin for proofing - if the words make her laugh, cry or both, then the newsletter is good for publishing! She also corrects all my mistakes!

It's a tried and tested method -when I used to write for Canoeist magazine about dragon boat racing, we did the same thing. Sometimes it's hard to judge whether what you've written is any good, but Lin looks at it with a fresh eye and can add in any bits that I've mised.

We also wrote all the copy for the website and any other material that's been produced in relation to the challenge, plus some of the magazine pieces that you'll have seen. It takes up a huge amoutn of time, keeping us both on PC's into the small hours on numberous occasions, but it's really important as a way of keeping in touch with our supporters and we hope you enjoy it.