There have been a few developments since the last blogpost. Firstly, I have finally towed the boat into a specialist boatyard in Suffolk where an important stability work will be undertaken. Secondly, I have completed my Yachtmaster Ocean qualification and passed my final assessment. Thirdly, I have undergone a laser eye surgery which will allow me to see a small GPS navigation screen while on deck and not to be dependent on glasses in the middle of the ocean during my Atlantic solo row.

I have finally towed the boat to a specialist boatyard in Alderburgh in Suffolk where it is now undergoing an important stability work. The boat has quite a history which includes some highs, but also some lows, like being left drifting at sea after one of its previous owners had to be rescued near the Portuguese coast (it was later found near the Irish coast 93 days later). Its next owner and my project manager Lia Ditton rebuild its hull in carbon fibre in preparation for a Pacific race, which she won beating the World Record by 12 days! However, due to its lightweight the boat had a few capsizes without self-righting which is obviously a problem and is the main reason for the boat work at the Suffolk boatyard with an expertise and experience in building and repairing ocean rowing boats.

The boat is finally being prepared for my Atlantic solo row!

It was the first time I had to tow a trailer and it was going to be a long journey – about five hours of driving across the southern counties. Since about a year ago, there is no legal requirement in the UK to have an endorsement on one’s driving license to be able to tow a trailer - a fact that has made me even more nervous following some of caravans on small country lanes since I learned about it. I did not want to try my luck and took a couple of lessons at a local place that trains lorry drivers. I learned basics of how to reverse a car with a trailer in tow (rotate the steering wheel to the opposite side that you want the trailer to go while reversing, do not oversteer and go forward if you do as the trailer would start irreversibly jack-knifing past a point of no return).

I also learned about the correct weight distribution and tied a 20-kg kettlebell to the front of the trailer to avoid “snaking”. I was reassured by the fact that driving forward with a trailer was not that different from driving without – just don’t go fast and take wider turns (a little voice inside my head was whispering). I was lucky that my boat is fairly narrow, albeit long and was visible in my rearview mirrors most of the time. I also did end up going forward…most of the time, except when I took a wrong turn on a roundabout in a small town that led me into a very narrow street. I kept driving until I hit a rather big parking lot at the end of it and managed to do a U-turn using my previously acquired skills. I did have to come out of the car to check where my “tail” was to avoid hitting parked cars and probably made more turns than necessary, but it worked and that was all that counted!

The boat is now at the boatyard - weights need to be put in the right places to make it self-right after capsizing which will most likely happen during my upcoming row. After the stability issue is sorted out, it will need to undergo a series of roll-over tests with me inside, which is as close as I am going to get to experience the real thing as it could get. I am really looking forward to that one!

After the boat is ready, there is going to be an overall of its electrical set-up – new solar panels, new batteries and re-wiring of the whole thing will take place. Then, the boat will be wrapped in a Leo’s Row campaign design which I am yet to come up with. I am really hoping to get it into the water in July!

Apart from organising the boat work I have been working towards my Yachtmaster Ocean qualification. I was inspired by Tom McClean the original solo rower who had rowed the Atlantic West to East in a fishing skiff with very basic equipment using celestial navigation in 1969. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to the legend and one of his wise advice for me was to learn to navigate by stars in case my GPS breaks. As Yachtmaster Ocean is heavily based on Celestial Navigation I immediately signed up and have never regretted it! It has been quite difficult, but immensely rewarding and interesting to be able to learn the mathematical basis and technicalities of taking the sights of the Sun, planets and stars with a sextant, as well as to acquire a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude. I have just passed the theory assessment and am preparing to go out into the Solent with experienced Yachtmasters at the end of June to practice taking the sights with a sextant.

I have started working with Juliet Wilson’s team and am making changes to my diet already! After assessing my nutrition it has become evident that my carbohydrate intake is too low in relation to my energy expenditure. This has been always a challenge to me - because of gluten intolerance I have been relying on “healthy” fats to make sure that I have enough energy substrates for my training. Juliet has given me some good advice on healthy sources of carbs and I am already implementing them into my everyday nutritional plans. No more daily omellettes for breakfast - instead, I have two egg-free days a week with gluten-free porridge and smoked mackerel. I am also introducing healthy snacks throughout the day to make sure there is a steady flow of macronutrients rather than spikes and troughs.

The fun bit will start about three months before the row when we will be gradually switching to the nutritional programme that I will have onboard during my row. The key is to prevent an excessive weight loss, something that I cannot afford. According to studies, an ocean rower looses about 12 kg on average during a transatlantic row. I am very keen to loose much less!

I have also decided to undergo a laser eye surgery in order to get rid of my glasses and not depend on them in the middle of the Ocean. Finally, this has been done by Mr Anderson, a very experienced and highly regarded surgeon I work with at the University Hospital Southampton. The operation has been a success and I am now able to see the lowest line on the chart! My right dominant eye is corrected for distance and the left one – for reading the GPS monitor at a distance of about 1.5 metres on deck of my ocean rowing boat. It is early days, and my brain is still adjusting to the discrepancy but I can already drive without glasses on Day 2 after my surgery!

Physical training

I am continuing with my physical training programmes under the guidance of my online coach Lee Boyce whom we have collaborated with in the past five years. My current programme consists of 4 days of “weight training”, and that includes classic compound lifts like squats and deadlifts, as well as accessory exercises with free weights, bands and bodyweight aimed at the muscle groups that will help get me get across the Ocean in a rowing boat - low extremities, back and shoulders. There is also a lot of emphasis on the core muscles, and that includes exercising on unstable surfaces, for example doing classic lifts like bench press, but with a “twist” - on the Bosu ball. The more I could simulate and ready myself for living on a small boat which will be constantly moving up and down as well as sideways - the better my chances of minimising the risk of serious injuries will be. I am also training my neck three times per week in preparation for those days when it will be impossible to row against strong headwinds and big waves, when I will have to get my para-anchor out, lock myself inside my little cabin and experience those capsizes (and hope that the boat will roll over and self-right!).

I also spend increasing amount of time on my Concept2 on my days off from weight training. This is not to simulate, or replace the actual on-the-water training - the techniques could not be more different. Rather, this is to improve my endurance, cardio-pulmonary health and VO2max. During my workouts I spend time both in Zone 2 Cardio (can still talk, but would rather not!) as well as going all in to get my heart rate to 220 minus my age for a few minutes at a time. I have just spent 1.5 hours on the erg this morning, which is my PB so far. My aim is to get that to 2 hours…twice a day by September. To be continued…

I have also managed to send a few more shipments of medical equipment with the help of my friends at the Medical Life Lines Ukraine to my Ukrainian colleagues. This included a donation of 100 boxes of anaesthetic disposables generously donated to our Charity by the Intersurgical medical company which have already been delivered to the Feofania Clinic in Kyiv, and also disposable bronchoscopes and monitors donated by the Ambu company. Also, a rapid intravenous transfusion pump called Level 1 has been donated by the Spire Southampton Hospital and is now on its way to a frontline hospital in the Eastern Ukraine. This is a vital piece of equipment when dealing with a major bleeding – it allows rapid transfusion of warm fluids and blood products at the rates of up to 1 litre/minute, which is life-saving as surgeons are trying to control the source of the haemorrhage. It has saved a few lives from bleeding out, including in my own hands and it will undoubtedly save more in Ukraine!

So, in spite of some delays in my on-the-water training, there has been quite a lot going on underneath the surface, the surface being my (more than) full time job as an NHS Consultant Anaesthetist. And we have not even started on the fundraising path properly yet! More exciting news about that is coming soon. Please keep supporting us and most importantly – Ukrainian medics who are really struggling at the moment. The hospitals are absolutely full because of the Russian offensive near Kharkiv. Last night, I spoke to a friend working at a Kyiv hospital and he just came out of an operating theatre having spent 12 hours doing 20 operations in that theatre alone. Please do not forget about them, because they think that we have…