THE last thing you want, when setting out to row 3,500 miles across the Atlantic, is to find yourself 'becalmed' almost before you start.
That's what happened to York-born paramedic Tom Riley and his crewmates Rob Lucas and Jim Davidson - though 'becalmed' isn't quite the word.
At the start of January, they pushed their 30-foot-long rowing boat the Trilogy into the sea off Portugal, and set course for Kourou in French Guiana.
But after less than two weeks, with more than 3,000 miles still to go, they got caught in strong Atlantic winds which tossed and battered their tiny boat. For nine days, they put out a Para-anchor, battened down the hatches, and couldn't row at all.
A Facebook blog on January 21 described their predicament: "Lying in a small box, being violently rocked around for days ... takes its toll. Our backs and hips are bruised from the hard cabin floor and our legs are weak, having not been stood on for so long."
Those nine days were the hardest part of the whole challenge, admits Tom, now back on dry land in Yorkshire.
"We were so close to the beginning and barely making progress. And we had 3,000 miles to go!"
This crew was made of stern stuff, however.
Tom, 32, and his friend Rob have been mates since they went to Robert Wilkinson Primary in York. And they're no strangers to adventure.
In 2011, the pair took a year out to cycle around the world. Their crewmate Jim Davidson, meanwhile, once walked the length of New Zealand.
The M2M Atlantic 4 team, as they called themselves, had spent two years training for the Atlantic challenge. And they weren't about to give up.
When the winds eased, they bent their backs to the oars again. There were good days, and bad. On February 21, with 1,700 miles still to go, they encountered the trade winds, which gave them a helpful shove.
"(But) the ocean doesn't give away anything for free," they blogged. "With the wind comes big waves that regularly break over the boat."
They encountered whales - two in three days in February. "The first one leapt out of the water and came crashing back down making a huge splash! Then we had another inquisitive whale that circled the boat, occasionally popping its head up."
On March 13, with 400 miles to go, they passed large clumps of yellow-orange sargassum seaweed. "We row through huge patches of the stuff," they noted.
As they neared Kourou their eagerness to finish becomes obvious.
"Hard to believe we will be standing on land soon!" they posted on March 17.
They made landfall on March 19 - 76 days after setting off. They were met by Rob's fiancé Hope and his parents Isobel and Mike, from York - and given a hero's welcome by locals.
Now back home in Northallerton and back at work, Rob admits there are no more challenges planned yet. "I'm getting married in a couple of months!"
But he doesn't regret the adventure.
As a paramedic, he worked through the pandemic. "So it was refreshing to escape. That feeling when you go for a long walk in winter, you come back in, you're cold, and a cup of tea tastes great? Well, this was like that, times 10,000."
- Tom, Rob and Jim have raised more than £10,000 for their two charities, Surfers Against Sewage and Our Blue Light. To donate visit www.m2matlanticfour.com
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