It’s been a busy couple of weeks, moving quickly from my first ever sighting of an ocean rowing boat to looking at one that I’m considering buying.

New website, promotional video and sponsorship brochure are all on their way, ready for a big sponsorship push in September. Things are feeling exciting and very, very busy.

To get some good photos for sponsorship (and to show that I’m actually training), last week saw me setting a 3.30 am alarm for a dawn photoshoot, joined by the heroic Steve and Guthrie. We took an ergo (indoor rowing machine) around Bristol, stopping at various points to get a good variety of shots. First stop: a floating pontoon, covered in duck poo, that rocked if I rowed too fast. Whilst waiting for sunrise, we took lots of dawn photos, watching the sky get pinker and pinker and the water lighten as night slipped away. Unfortunately, we had miscalculated the precise spot that the sun would be rising from, so ended up missing it, as it was blocked by some big trees.

The next waterfront photo spot was great though, giving us some really lovely, sunny, orangey-tinted pictures. After that we rattled around Bristol, making sure to get some good landmarks behind me as I rowed.

We dropped the ergo back off at the University of Bristol gym (they had kindly lent it to me overnight), and dropped the car back off before 8.30. Then we went home for a second breakfast!

Yesterday Steve and I took another road trip – this time to go and look at a boat in Essex! It felt a bit mad to be going so far, and to be boat-shopping at all, but was also really good to see the boat I’ve been considering taking across the Pacific with me. More news and details to follow if she does become ‘the one’, but in the meantime, here I am checking her out.

The weeks are slipping by in a haze of busyness, punctuated by welcome microadventures full of cycling and wild swimming. Preparation continues. Sponsorship ideas are flying around. I’ve been talking to the local newspaper. I keep adding names to the list of ‘important people to contact.’ Past ocean rowers are some of those people – it’s especially exciting to talk to someone who has actually done something similar. I’m sounding out the obligatory RYA courses, working out where I will be able to complete them. Physical training is underway – I’ve signed up for the Bristol Half Marathon in September so as to have a smaller milestone to aim for. Running is NOT my forte, so completing the half-marathon is a good short-term goal. I’ll update my (painful) progress over the next couple of months.

Yesterday was 11 months until the start of the row. I’m aware of how very little time there is, and how much everything hangs on gaining sponsorship, but I’m also really happy with how much has already happened. For a non-techie person, I’m excessively excited to have the website, Twitter and Facebook all talking to each other (I had a little bit of help with this J). The sponsorship documents are ready and waiting to approach businesses both big and small. The Indiegogo campaign is nearly ready to launch – more news on that to follow!

I’ve been really touched at how many people have come forward with suggestions, ideas and contacts. It reminds me how little the word ‘solo’ means when talking about an expedition of this size. There is no way I could even contemplate doing it without the help and support of so many others – people I haven’t even met are already helping out in all sorts of ways. Thank you everyone!

More to follow soon on training, sponsorship, and past expeditions (including the unicycle ride across England!)…

In a year’s time – if all goes to plan – I’ll be four days away from Monterey Bay, alone on the open ocean and rowing towards Hawaii. The reality of actually having undertaken this challenge has finally crept up on me.

I’ve wanted to row an ocean for about seven years, since I first read an email from Sarah Outen looking for other rowers to row the Indian Ocean with her. I was in my second year at Oxford and it didn’t feel like quite the right time yet, despite the appeal. In the end Sarah made the decision to row solo anyway, which she went on to do in 2009. For me though, the idea would not go away, and for the last couple of years it has been becoming ever more present, reinforced by my reading about other ocean rows – from Harbo and Samuelsson, the first ocean rowers back in 1896, to modern women such as Roz Savage and Sarah Outen.  Both Roz and Sarah have been kind enough to answer my questions and give me advice over the last two years, something for which I am really grateful – Sarah even spent an hour on Skype to me from Japan, midway through her own latest expedition!

About a month ago I finally made the decision that the time to row that ocean was now, rather than ‘someday.’ I entered the Great Pacific Race as a solo competitor and began telling a few people, while quietly putting together a website (with a lot of help!). I joined Twitter, spoke to an accountant, set up a separate bank account specifically for the row, contacted my chosen charity, discussed fundraising ideas, and began to prepare myself for telling more people.

Today is when I finally told most people I know. I put together a Facebook page and invited everyone I know on Facebook. I am soon to do the same via email. The moment I started inviting all those people was the moment it really became real to me – the moment I could no longer back out.

Today I am excited, and want to thank all of you who have taken the time to visit this site, to like my Facebook page, to follow me on Twitter, to send me messages of support, to suggest contacts, and to help in all the ways that I have already stared to see happen. A solo venture can feel lonely and overwhelming at times, but knowing that I have all of you on board makes all the difference!

Competing in The Great Pacific Race 2014, rowing from California to Hawaii.