The Oardinary Boys

One day to go until they set off for this year and conditions are looking okay. If anyone's still got the Yellow Brick tracker app these fellas are the ones to watch this year- Max was rowing in the year of our race and was only stopped by a cabin fire to his boat in the middle of a storm. Give em a like or a follow.

Just over a year ago since we crossed over the line in Antigua after 3000 miles and 37 days at sea. What a moment - thanks again to all those that made this possible.

After giving many talks on our experiences, we have now closed our charity fundraising drive, and are pleased to have raised £65,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK and The Against Malaria Foundation.

Cheers!

The second fastest pair IN HISTORY to row the Atlantic! THEY DID IT💥💥💥

Hello everyone- really excited to confirm the date and location of our talk. Come to hear about our adventure on the evening of Thursday 18th October at the Chelsea Academy on Lots Road. We'll create an event in the next couple of days- hope you'll be able to come, please bring along friends and family!

HELLO AGAIN!

We have had a great time over the last few months giving talks at various schools, companies, dinners, and most recently Seaview Yacht Club.

We'll be doing a talk in London within the next month for friends, family and others who are interested to hear a few yarns.

Great article, awkward photo. Thanks Richard Lofthouse for chatting to us in Oxford Today! http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/features/rowing-atlantic

Rowing the Atlantic | Oxford Today

Big shout out to Calum Matthews Ralph Weir and Ed Hill who are smashing their cycle down Africa for The Against Malaria Foundation

Check out their page and donate!

Cycling Against Malaria Here comes the sun… leaving Egypt for Sudan It seems odd to cross a border between two countries which are better known for their deserts… on a boat. Yet our ferry to Sudan leaves in an hour, or at least when it fills up, hopefully some point today! If we manage to successfully navigate the pap...

Some of the amazing pictures drawn by Mrs Croome's class at Oak Creek (in Oregon!). We look forward to answering all your great questions guys

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05tv7qy

We were interviewed at BBC Radio Oxford during their drivetime show. Great to hear direct from ARUK about their research at Oxford University, and more info about AMF's effectiveness on such a large scale.

Rowing the Atlantic, Howard Bentham - BBC Radio Oxford Howard meets the Oxford Uni graduate duo who rowed across the Atlantic for charity.

Tune in to London Live tonight @ 18.15 (GMT) to watch us chatting about the row.

Tune in tomorrow at 18:20 to London Live TV- channel 8 on Freeview, Sky 117 - for our next interview. Expect more stories from the high seas, including the miracles of Elizabeth Arden and the beauty of cryptic crosswords.

Atlantic Campaigns Rannoch Adventure

Jo Good - BBC Radio London Jo Good in the afternoon on BBC Radio London.

We are being interviewed on BBC Radio London TODAY @ 2pm. Tune in to hear us give our first post-race interview back in the UK & share stories from the high seas. Listen online here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p011nd8m

Touchdown back in the UK (greeted by rain)!
Strange to think that a 7 hour trans-Atlantic flight took us 37 days of rowing. The wonders of modern travel...although we had more legroom.
Fantastic that we rowed quick enough to catch the first weekend of the 6 nations too.

The second fastest pair IN HISTORY to row the Atlantic! THEY DID IT💥💥💥

**THE FINAL PUSH - UPDATE FROM THE BOYS**

"We have just ticked off over 31 days at sea - a whole month. A month in a 24 foot boat, with habitable space of a 10 foot rowing deck/bathing salon and a cabin/sauna with just enough space inside to sleep. Nuts.

Looking back on it, though, we can't really remember where the time has gone. 31 nights of sleeping for less than 1.5 hours at a time- just enough time to sip at a dream and carry it into hallucinating it seems. 31 days of eating freeze-dried food. 31 days of just each others' company, terrible chat, and a lot of time alone with your thoughts.

Being out here is amazing all the same, though. Mid way through writing this we are interrupted by the sound of a big old whale surfacing next to our boat- almost double the size of our boat. And yesterday bizarrely a squid flew into George's face too. Weird things happen at sea! Whilst these last days seem longer than ever, we are slowly realising that these are the last few whispers of what has been over a year in the making.

At the moment, we are trudging on at around 2.5-3 knots with a tropical system overhead and quite fickle winds. Lots of squalls (intense wind and rain like you have never seen) and lightning that provides an interesting backdrop to a night shift. Our backs, hands and legs are slowly arguing back when asked a little too much, and are making themselves heard more and more. However, looking at the chart plotter, seeing our tiny dot move ever closer to Antigua, and seeing just how far we have come (2400 miles!) is huge.

On to more pressing matters- George and I are discussing what our ideal first meal back is, and what delicacies our parents could bring out in an ideal world. As we can't think straight anymore, we need your help! What would you have/have brought out?"

We'll send any comments from this post straight over to the boys, so please do share any words of encouragement and/or first meal inspiration! Please also keep donating to support them on the very last stretch towards Antigua: https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker Atlantic Campaigns Rannoch Adventure Alzheimer's Research UK The Against Malaria Foundation Oliver Glanville George Randell

The Oardinary Boys take on the Talisker | Pledgit

**ONE MONTH AT SEA - AN UPDATE FROM THE ATLANTIC**

"Although the end is in sight, a week is a big chunk of time and we're still mentally dividing and subdividing the days, shifts, hours and minutes as you would for a tough session on a rowing machine.

Night shifts have been hardest on Oli, who has regularly hallucinated, and distractions are few and far between as iPods bite the dust. Who knew the humble iPod touch would be the last survivor? Physically though, we're both still holding up. The Special K diet is slowly working to shed those christmas pounds, and questionable facial hair abounds, with Oli looking like a victorian gent and George like an infinite eyebrow.

This week Oli got a chance to take on a much needed cleaning of the hull. Turns out Row2Recovery, the race's youngest pair (by mental age) put their team sticker on our hull back in La Gomera...

Our clear highlight has been a visit from a pod of whales yesterday on an otherwise tough day. The admittedly nail biting contest with R2R had got us a bit short sighted - it's important to remember that to spend over a month doing something completely different in spectacular surroundings is a privilege!"

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The final push towards the Caribbean is well underway, with the boys racing Row2Recovery to the finish line. If you haven't already, please donate to support them in the final stages of this incredible adventure. We will be sending the list & comments of all donations this weekend - why not give them a final morale boost! https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker

Oliver Glanville George Randell Atlantic Campaigns Rannoch Adventure Alzheimer's Research UK The Against Malaria Foundation

The Oardinary Boys take on the Talisker | Pledgit

The boys are back in the lead! The race to Antigua continues with under 900 miles to go

**UPDATE JUST IN FROM THE BOYS**

"The race is hotting up! We're clearly better in fair weather as Row2Recovery have clawed their way back into the lead. Our hope is that the extra miles south we've put in over the last few days will give us a boost in the long term. Only time will tell...

Although we're making speedy progress, the high winds make for really tough days and nights psychologically. Routine jobs around the boat take twice as much time, and energy, as usual. Running the water maker is still a Hail Mary moment each day. Freeze dried food has started to become more palatable, and as we realise we have fewer days (all things going to plan) to ration for, we've clung to the boat's mantra, 'greed is good', and got stuck into extra snacks. Double deckers don't hold up well in hot conditions. Crunchies are absolute winners.

While the moon is still around, rowing at night is okay. However, overcast nights mean not knowing where the waves are coming from and being battered about in the wee small hours. not fun. All the same, in the conditions, what we fear the most is losing our last seat pads; the only thing keeping our football-heat-map bums from the brink of unbearable pain.

Those who have written letters or messages of support continue to give us great joy, as does the growing charity pot. We get sent Facebook comments every few days which really helps us push on. Please keep donating if you can!"

Help cheer the boys on (it's incredibly close at the moment!) & donate to their causes here: https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker Atlantic Campaigns Alzheimer's Research UK The Against Malaria Foundation Rannoch Adventure

Straight from the boat! A snap of Oliver Glanville on one of his shifts. The boys have rowed 2 hours on, 2 hours off, 24 hours a day since leaving La Gomera. They're now over halfway to the Caribbean!

Please keep donating to support them through their gruelling routine: https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker Atlantic Campaigns

*UPDATE FROM THE BOYS* (And a very blurry photo!)

"Another day another dollar! As the days, and now weeks, roll into one blue haze, we thought it we would give you the ins and outs of life at sea. First of all, and perhaps most obviously, we are along with all of our kit, permanently wet. Everything is damp. Our hands now resemble well established prunes with the deep lines of tree bark (alongside the blisters/calluses). What is not damp has been lost over the side, including all cutlery. This has caused much distress within the ranks, nearly thwarting the whole trip & has made the already mighty task of attempting to eat even mightier. Then there is the routine. 2 hours rowing and 2 hours rest, one at a time until we arrive. Lots of time to chat, read, take photos? Not at the moment! The constant weather has taken its toll, and all we can do is grab a bit of shut eye or do a task on the boat when off the oars. A 10 foot shark came and said hello yesterday, and the two birds keep visiting us. We have named them Andre and Dave. Plenty of flying fish too!

This is proving a tough old task, and is an emotional rollercoaster indeed. One minute you are sh*te scared on your solo shift surfing down a wave at 12 knots, and the other you wonder how it is possible to live in this space, doing what we are doing for the time it is meant to take us. We are certainly so privileged to be out here. It is so encouraging to hear of the amazing support back home, so thank you!"

The boys are currently still leading the pairs. Support them & two incredible causes (Alzheimer's Research UK, The Against Malaria Foundation) here:

https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker

Happy Birthday to George Randell who is currently in the middle of the Atlantic, 1st in the pairs! George's family will be speaking to him today, so if you haven't yet donated now's a great time! https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker

1st in the pairs! The boys have overtaken Row 2 Recovery overnight and are now leading! Only 1600 miles til Antigua...

Neck & neck at the front of the pairs. Quite the race developing!

*NOT YOUR OARDINARY BIRTHDAY BOY*

In 3 days, George Randell will celebrate his 23rd birthday mid-Atlantic. Help the boys get their charity total to £35,000 to give him the best present he could ask for.

George's family will be ringing the boat on the day and would love to give him news to celebrate!

Please donate to two incredibly worthy causes Alzheimer's Research UK & The Against Malaria Foundation here: https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker Atlantic Campaigns

An incredibly close race developing at the front of the pairs with Row 2 Recovery, who became the boys' great friends in La Gomera. The main question from the boat on Christmas day was about the charity amount raised so far - so please keep donating to push them forward! https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker

If you missed it, catch the boys & the build-up to the race start here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruRvKweMEg Oliver Glanville George Randell

Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2017 - Race Start And after a two delay caused by unforgiving weather conditions, they are finally off! After months and sometimes years of intensive preparation, the 27 crews...

Please keep donating to support our two amazing charities Alzheimer's Research UK & The Against Malaria Foundation. The boys ask for weekly reports on the total raised and it definitely motivates them to push harder across the Atlantic! https://pledgit.net/campaign/0f79f0/the-oardinary-boys-take-on-the-talisker

The Oardinary Boys take on the Talisker | Pledgit