Ben Mann Blog -It's not always "beer and skittles"

It's not always "beer and skittles" onboard our little sanctuary. With the highs come the equivalent lows. Yesterday I (Ben) was victim to one of those moments. Conversation usually ends up talking about the finish, and numbers start to get thrown around, date of arrival, miles done for the day, miles to the finish, all of these help occupy our brain while rowing, but for me they create a constantly moving goal post. And yesterday it broke me. I lashed out and it was definitely uncalled for, it didn't help one bit. After a short reflection, I realised just how ridiculous and childish my outburst was and apologised. The numbers are what they are, we just need to keep positive and row this little boat, it takes as long as it takes.

One thing it did prove was just how resilient and thick skinned all four of us are. We can't believe how lucky we are to all get along as well as we all do. Like most families we have our differences but by the end of the shift we've all moved on and continue with the good times and rowing.

The weather seems to be starting to play the game a little more than what it has been over the last few days, with the breeze beginning to come into the East more and more. As for the sea state, the word confused needs a photo of the Indian Ocean next to it. But if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. I would hate to have finished this without a challenge.

Morale onboard is fairly chipper, we all have our little routines that help get us through the day. We haven't seen much of anything but water for this past week, the odd bird soaring by occasionally but that's about it. It's like we're in a water logged desert.