The blisters on my butt were so bad that they reached all the way to my flesh, and the oar felt like molten lead in my blistered hands. As my body used up all of its fat and glucose stores, it began to break down all of the muscle that I didn’t use in the ocean. My calves and buttocks were first. (As an aside, it’s getting better. I’ve had digestive issues for years, probably stress-related. Eating regularly and drinking 10 liters of water a day does wonders.) It had a great effect. I was cured!)
It’s impossible to talk about Atlantic rowing fitness without talking about mindset. I think he already had one. If someone tells me something is impossible, I will find a way to make it happen. My mother always told me, “There’s no saying you can’t do it, just do your best.” Both of my parents are great doers and role models for getting things done.
I regained my composure. While rowing the Atlantic Ocean, despair is a luxury you cannot afford. I managed to put together three of his broken tillers that had been out of action for several hundred miles. disaster. I had to time myself by 4 minutes and sleep for 48 hours so I wouldn’t go off course. This was in high winds with 15-25 foot swells and when you looked up it felt like houses were chasing you from the mountains. You go down one side of the wave and then back up again so your feet are in the air. At this point, I didn’t have a tiller, and for the first time since I left La Gomera, 3,000 miles away, on December 13, I really thought, I’m going to die. game over. “