After weeks of cloud, rain squalls, high seas, wind and currents, there is calm! Not nice calm, although beautiful @ASEA blue ocean, clear sky and sun, it is blistering hot and we have an adverse subtle side wind that tends to push us south west. We don’t want to go there! So rowing is really tough right now as we push harder with one leg and arm to gain leverage ‘up hill’. We must push west/north west to make any headway. The going is slow as we average 2.4 knots an hour.

Psychologically, it’s equally tough because Rio seems more illusive as the days, and particularly nights, tick over incredibly slowly.

I have lost all body fat and, like with racing to the South Pole in 2012, the body begins to cannibalize itself. The muscles begin to breakdown to feed the body. No matter how much I eat, the 10 or 11 hours that I row in each 24, are too much for the body to recover adequately. Add severe sleep deprivation into the mix and the body must start to give in. The body, but not the mind! Whilst I have lost in excess of 7kgs at least in 43 days, my mind and heart remain positive and focussed on the end point.

There are regular moments of self-doubt, but, like all things truly worthwhile,

like all things truly worthwhile, the doubt is replaced by positive thoughts and a knew energy charges my heart.

I am often asked ‘how much is physical and how much is mental in this expedition?’ My reply, with each expedition I have undertaken, is the same: 80 to 90% mental.

Dream big, plan well, and nothing is impossible.