My Adventure: by Chantale Begin
On December 13th, 2023, I set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands in a 28ft long rowing boat with three other women and all the equipment and provisions we’d need to make it to Antigua, in the Caribbean, some 3000 miles away. We did this as part of the World’s Toughest Row, a yearly rowing race across the Atlantic. After 38 days at sea, we arrived in Antigua as the fastest women’s team and the winners of the Murden Trophy.
In some ways, our success may seem surprising. None of us had ever rowed before signing up to row across an ocean and our preparation differed from many other teams. But looking back, it’s clear that some of these differences helped make us a strong team for this unusual challenge.
When Lauren suggested out of the blue that we sign up for this race, the rest of us all had the same reaction: a quick “YES!!!!”. From there, the enormity of the challenge really dawned on us: finding a suitable ocean rowing boat, preparing that boat and our team for up to 55 days offshore and all possible eventualities we might encounter, learning to row properly, going through intense physical training, finding sponsors to support the costs associated with the race, raising money for marine conservation (the ultimate cause we rowed for), working on team dynamics. All of it became essentially a second full time job.
After three years of preparation we finally set out from La Gomera, and the Atlantic sure delivered a good adventure—with loads of challenges and many scary times! But we also had some amazing sunrises and other delights, and the kind of sentiment of accomplishment that only comes from being far out of your comfort zone and getting through it in a good way.
Some of hardest days in this challenge came very early on, as we had very big weather very soon after leaving La Gomera. Within a few days, we were in 20-30ft waves that were very close and steep. Our autopilot struggled to keep up with the strong forces required to keep us on track. By day five, we had broken an oar, fried the electrical components of our 12volt water maker after that compartment flooded, and had our middle rowing station made unusable after severe bending of the metal rigger plate. The rate at which things were breaking felt unsustainable, and the weather remained really intense. It was so common to be called up on deck in the middle of our off shifts to help with some mayhem that we started going to bed in our foul-weather gear and harnesses, which means our mattresses became soaked with salt water. Yet those early hard days were also key in that we quickly learned to trust our boat, and with every challenge that we rose up to, we felt that much more confident in our individual and collective abilities. We found our groove and learned to enjoy the good times while making the best out of the tough situations we were dealt with at various points throughout the crossing. And after 38 days we rowed into English Harbor in Antigua, giddy with excitement about finishing the crossing in such a great way—and ready to jump on the dock and hug our loved ones!
I’m proud of how my teammates and I handled this challenge, and there are many lessons from this Atlantic crossing that we can apply to other facets of life.
Advice to Others:
Keep hard skills and safety on the forefront. We sure spend a lot of time on physical training, but when it comes down to it, staying safe to make it across with minimal hiccups were more important skills for us. And when you’re well prepared with the hard skills it’s easier to stay calm in the scary conditions and trust that you’re making the best decisions to have the best outcome, which brings us to #2.
Trust yourself and your teammates! I think our offshore experience and our ability to trust ourselves is one of the elements that really helped us. We rowed on a different watch schedule than what most of the fleet did. We set out our drogue when conditions felt like they warranted it, even though none of our competitors did (which folks on shore pointed out!). At points, we rowed for days at an uncomfortable angle and less direct route to the finish, trusting it would pay off later given the weather forecast.
Prioritize team dynamics. It’s a pretty crazy thing to be in a tiny boat with only three other people for 5+ weeks in a sometimes stressful and scary environment. Disagreements on board can fester into bad situations! We were very purposeful as a team to discuss loads of potential situations ahead of time (while on land and well-rested) so that we could agree on a general plan for various situations. We agreed to always assume good intentions from each other. We also made a point to leave our egos back at the dock and come together to make the best decisions for the team overall.
Surround yourself with the best support from home. While of course it’s just the four of us who were physically on the boat rowing, these kinds of adventures aren’t possible without a lot of support. We had a ton of support from so many people during the preparations and the crossing, and that made all the difference. We’re super grateful for that.
