Row For The Ocean
Ros, Kirsty, Laura and Kate are Row for the Ocean. Rowing 3000 miles for Surfers Against Sewage and Plastic Free Exeter this December.
23/01/2020
A MASSIVE congratulations to Rowhhome who are the first women to reach Antigua in the 2019 Talisker Race!! Brings back lots of emotions seeing them come in ❤️🌊
Atlantic Campaigns
12/06/2019
Drum roll please 🥁🥁🥁, it's finally here! Our very own Kate Salmon is talking about our 3000 mile row across the Atlantic Ocean and the important reason behind why we did it, for a Plastic Free Exeter
We'll let her do the talking:
https://www.tedxexeter.com/speakers/kate-salmon-2/
Woohoo!!! Are you inspired? 🧐🤩
05/04/2019
So proud of you Kate Salmon. Well done. You were just fantastic. Talking about the row and the continuing work of Plastic Free Exeter at TEDx today. ⭐️
05/04/2019
Kate Salmon has taken to the stage to share her fascinating story as part of Row For The Ocean and the team's passionate plea to reduce plastic in our seas.
Met Office Plastic Free Exeter
04/04/2019
Don't forget to tune in TOMORROW at 1400 to hear our own Kate Salmon share our story of rowing an ocean and Plastic Free Exeter.
Register to livestream here: http://tedxexeter.com/livestream-request-2019/ (not essential but better in case of technological issues)
LIVESTREAM LINK: http://fsmevents.com/tedxexeter/
See you there :)
We're very excited to be welcoming Kate Salmon to the stage at this year's .
Kate is an applied scientist at the Met Office, where she uses weather and climate data to help decision-makers plan for climate change. She was part of Row For The Ocean, the fastest all-female team to finish the 2018 Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The crew set up Plastic Free Exeter, which aims to make Exeter the UK's largest 'plastic-free' city by 2020.
To brighten up your mid-week we thought it was about time we shared some of the amazing wildlife we saw during the crossing! 🐬🐳🐢
We luckily had some waterproof GoPros with us so we could see them at their best! The dolphins popped up a few times, usually when we felt a bit low it seemed to give us a much needed morale boost. I remember it wasn’t until day 30 or so that we finally got to see the whales, our chief wildlife spotter Kate was on it again and called us all out so we could enjoy watching them swim around the boat, probably wondering what on earth we were doing! Only a couple of days after this we were treated to seeing an absolutely massive sea turtle just casually bobbing along next to our oars.
Whilst being a massive boost for us, seeing these magnificent animals in their natural environment also hit home the need to change our habits. We’d see plastic in the morning and then only a few hours later a pod of dolphins so it was sadly not surprising to hear the most recent story about the whale with a stomach full of the stuff.
Get involved with your local group if you can, attend the Surfers Against Sewage Big Spring Clean or if you’re in Exeter come to one of Plastic Free Exeter’s cleans every last Sunday of the month. 💙🌊
21/03/2019
For our talk at Flybe today we finally got round to organising all of our photos and videos 💙 We’ll sharing them over the next few weeks to give you a taste of what life was like on the boat and how we’re feeling about it now (we loved it by the way!) Stay tuned! 🌊😍
18/03/2019
How exciting is this! Our very own Kate will be doing a short Ted Talk at this years TEDxExeter at Exeter Uni. They put on an awesome day of talks and we’ll also have a Plastic Free Exeter stand where you can find out what the fantastic team have been up to whilst we’ve been away 💪🏻🌿
We're very excited to be welcoming Kate Salmon to the stage at this year's .
Kate is an applied scientist at the Met Office, where she uses weather and climate data to help decision-makers plan for climate change. She was part of Row For The Ocean, the fastest all-female team to finish the 2018 Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The crew set up Plastic Free Exeter, which aims to make Exeter the UK's largest 'plastic-free' city by 2020.
01/02/2019
There’s only two of us left on the island now 😭 but before Ros and LT left we made sure to have a massive celebration with our friends and family!! Jerk chicken, steel drums and an awesome band made the night one to remember at Shirley Heights 💃🏼☀️
28/01/2019
We did it! Thank you to everyone for the support, it's been a whirlwind and are so happy to have made it!
24/01/2019
I may have cried a bit when I saw them finish, but can you blame me? They did so well! :')
The moment they finished!
24/01/2019
With the finish line tantalisingly close, the girls sped up overnight! Check out the Atlantic Campaigns page through the link below for the live feed - they could be here in as little as an hour!
Please excuse me if I don't update for a little while as I'll be busy giving them all a massive hug
ABSAR on its way with our media team🤙🏼
Team Row For The Ocean welcome to Antigua🤙🏼. ETA at the finish line: 09:25-ish local time
(13:25-ish UTC).
Stay tuned for our LIVE FEED🎤🎥📸
23/01/2019
It's nearly time!! (Note that the time of arrival is local time: Antigua is 4 hours behind the UK).
Greetings from Antigua! The friends and family of the team are all either here or on their way now and I'm happy to say we've had an update from the team:
Scrap that. Had another email with more text:
UNDER 100 MILES TO GO!! The finish is so close we can almost taste the fresh food and cold drinks. The past 400miles have been in many ways the toughest so far, a feeling of being so close yet so far combined with low winds, currents, soaring temperatures, flying fish and even a jellyfish to the face (Kate), has tested us to the limit.
We're aiming for a late evening finish tomorrow (GMT), and should be able to see Antigua by the morning. You can catch us coming in live on the Atlantic Campaigns page and can still donate to Surfers Against Sewage via our website or JustGiving pages. Thank you so much for all of the support, it's gotten us through some very tough times knowing the amazing cause we've been rowing for.
See you all on dry land, we can't wait!!
22/01/2019
The team are so close to the finish line now! 2520 nautical miles rowed so far and only 176 to go ('only'). A bunch of the team's friends and family are either already in Antigua or are on their way - we'll share some of their posts once we've all assembled together :)
Please keep sharing and donating what you can to support the cause and get plastics out of our oceans - every little helps
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
18/01/2019
The team is so close to finishing now! They have been pushing really hard with extra shifts to stay ahead of Atlantic Seaman and Row Row Row our boat, both of which are all-male teams of four. It has not helped that the wind has not been favourable, leading to slow progress. This has exhausted them so they have decided to revert back to normal shifts, chill out a bit and not compete with the men. In reality coming 7th 8th or 9th does not really matter, what the history books will show is Row for the Ocean were the winning female team. I am sure we can all agree that they've been fantastic!
Please like and share and contribute what you can to support their amazing fundraising efforts: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
Read Row for's story Row for is raising money to help Surfers Against Sewage
11/01/2019
We've had a pretty special update from the girls!
Wow, wow, wow! Yesterday afternoon we were visited by these beauties. We were just minding our own business and yep, you guessed it, rowing, when they suddenly surfaced next to the boat. They were interested in what we were up to and followed us for a good 30 mins, swimming around and under the boat, and making us feel tiny! We managed to get some footage of them underwater which we'll share when we're back, it's amazing!
Seeing the whales in their natural environment really hit home the importance of what Surfers Against Sewage (tag) are doing to protect our oceans. We've seen plastic everyday on our crossing, bottles, bags, nets and more have been visible, but that doesn't include the smaller items that sit just below the surface. If you want to donate to SAS our Just Giving page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
09/01/2019
Our team are in the last 1000 Nautical miles of the race! Their anticipated finish is currently some time between the 24th and 25th January. They're putting their all into the final push, with three of them rowing at any one time. Truly incredible!
Help show your support by sharing the team's fundraising link - every little goes towards making our oceans less polluted with plastic https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
Read Row for's story Row for is raising money to help Surfers Against Sewage
We've had an update from the crew:
Happy 2019 from the team! We saw the new year in with Kate serenading us with a recorder she snuck onto the boat. We're also due to hit halfway today! We've got a couple more days of low wind slog but things are looking good for a return of the winds later this week to help us come into Antigua within our 40day target. Best thing we've seen this week? A huge pod of dolphins came and said hello, swimming and playing around the boat...amazing!
As always thanks for all your support, here's to a great start to 2019!!
01/01/2019
Happy new year!
We’ll ring in 2019 on the Atlantic Ocean to raise awareness of plastic pollution We’ve seen some amazing wildlife – like when a whale visited our boat.
27/12/2018
Our girls just SMASHED through 1000 Nautical miles! Time to celebrate 🍾🍾🍾
We had a call from Kirsty - it's such a hard slog that she's been falling asleep whilst rowing! Talk about multitasking. Let's show our support of this outstanding effort and dig deep to sponsor their cause:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
Read Row for's story Row for is raising money to help Surfers Against Sewage
25/12/2018
Merry Christmas everyone! We've heard from the ladies: they had no idea that strong winds have caused some of the teams to get stopped in their tracks. They didn't realise because they were too busy powering on through to notice! They're currently 7th overall and maintaining excellent speed.
Spirits are high and they're enjoying their festive treats today. Check out the serene photo they sent through - they're having a great time! Thanks to everyone for the support - it means the world.
22/12/2018
Our intrepid team are growing in confidence and capability daily, overcoming difficult conditions overnight with plenty of support on the phone from the safety officer Ian Couch. Excellent to hear!
We've had a question from one of our younger supporters who was concerned about whether Santa will be able to deliver presents to the team. Worry not!
Santa is following the race on the YB Races app, so he'll know exactly where each team is on Christmas day! Not only will their presents be delivered, but he will drop them off at the team members' houses after they've opened them, so they won't have to row extra weight and be slowed down. How great is that?!
Of course, the present they would like best is extra sponsorship for their row, so do share the link if you can:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
Read Row for's story Row for is raising money to help Surfers Against Sewage
"We've just got to get it done!" said Kate just before the race began. Cool as a cucumber!
We have had a message from the team: "Hard going but all is good. x"
These ladies are masters of understatement. Having already rowed a whopping 264 nautical miles in a 2 hour shift pattern, and with a couple of thousand more nautical miles to go... spare a thought for them while you enjoy your Sunday dinner!
Ian Couch, Atlantic Challenge safety officer says “though all the crews may find it hard to believe, it has been a great start!”
In case you missed the start of the race earlier this week, check out our video.
Those of you tracking the race progress will have seen 3 broad groups - those taking a Northern (and shorter) route, a more eastern push to the south by Team Antigua, and the rest of the fleet in a broad corridor between them. Tactics are beginning to become apparent, with larger crews being more able to risk the northern route and power through what can be slower conditions. The Antiguan team are pushing south for a longer route, but will maximise on the faster conditions from currents and trade winds. Row for the Ocean have kept the best of both worlds, staying in a more central route.
What we see now in positions might end up completely changing in as little as a week’s time from now! Keep updated on progress through the YB Races app, and don't forget to spread the word of the fundraising campaign far and wide to help remove plastics from our seas: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean
Massive thanks once again to TravelUp for coming on board as a Platinum sponsor - your support means so much, and is helping the team speed them on their way across the
Get set!!!
12/12/2018
Hello followers! Now that the race is about to start, the ladies have handed over their social media accounts to trusted friends and relatives back on dry land. We will keep you all updated on their progress.
The moment we've all been waiting for is approaching! Take your marks...
12/12/2018
Today’s the day!! Words can’t really describe how we’re feeling, nervous, excited, relief we’ve made it to this amazing point! A 2 year project that has already changed our lives in so many ways is about to begin 💪🏻
Whilst we’re out there we will continue raising money for Surfers Against Sewage through our Just Giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rowfortheocean) so please do spread the word for us 🙌🏻
Wish us luck and see you all in Antigua 🌊❤️
There’s just 1 day to go....
You can follow our progress using the YB Races app!
Videos (show all)
