Three south London cab drivers are facing “waves as big as bungalows” in their transatlantic rowing expedition.
One month into their 3,200 mile charity voyage, Stuart Lockhart, from Rotherhithe, and fellow cabbies Daren Parr from Backheath, and Bob Barber from Sidcup, are finally halfway to Antigua.
The intrepid trio have been sharing their journey on Facebook, each video documenting their unending battle with physical and mental exhaustion.
They’ve dealt with dehydration, blisters and a “ground hog day” of relentless rowing and choppy seas that feel like you’re being “t-boned by a Ford Escort”.
The team wrote: “We’re not going to lie but there’s not much enjoyment out here at the moment. The relentless rowing regime that we have made up for ourselves is taking its toll.
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“Trying to rest on your time off is an ordeal in itself. The thin mattress, one inch thick, lies on a hard surface. Combined with the violent rocking of the boat, it makes it very hard to relax and sleep. In the end, exhaustion takes over and you just switch off.
“Muscles that don’t usually get used a fraction of the way they have been are screaming out for a rest but, deep down, we know that rest means more days at sea so you just keep going.”
They set off from Lanzarote on January 3 in their ocean rowing boat in aid of the Stroke Association, the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, and the Huruma Orphanage in Tanzania.
Since then, they’ve travelled over 1,600 miles, heaving their oars against giant swells and waves that “block out the skyline”.
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On January 16, the team wrote: “The waves are the biggest we’ve seen yet, blocking the skyline. When you are at the foot of the swell, when one of those breaks just at the wrong time, it’s like a transit van rear-ending the boat.”
“Get the wave wrong and it hits from the side like being t boned by a Ford Focus. But get them right and it’s like being on a roller coaster but with no rails or brakes. Your heart is pumping full of adrenaline. It scares you, but you sort of like it.”
On January 22, they had a close shave when they almost collided with a 229-metre cargo ship, narrowly avoiding a watery fate thanks to the onboard alarm system.
While they’ve been fantasising about “double pie and mash with chilli vinegar”, dehydrated food and protein shakes provide sustenance.
The team is doing the voyage ‘unsupported’ meaning they are alone in the ocean, with emergency medical support sometimes a five-day wait away.
Possible dangers include capsizing if the boat’s self-righting system doesn’t work, injuries and ‘marlin strikes’.
Marlins are 16ft-long fish with spear-like snouts that can pierce hulls with their bills while hunting fish, skewering sleeping crew members at 80mph.
In one video, a particularly wild-eyed Daren said if anybody asked him why he did it, he’d say “because it makes me feel alive”.
To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cabbiesdoatlanticrow
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