A COUPLE who have returned to shore after 66 days out at sea say they feel “privileged” to have had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to row across the Atlantic.
Nina Crouchman, 50, and husband Simon, 54, have just completed the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, having set-off on their 3,000-mile expedition in December.
The Colchester pair, who had to raise £110,000 to qualify for the extreme race, arrived in Antigua last Thursday having originally departed from La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
The moment they pulled their boat Kraken into the quay, having battled bad luck, 14ft waves and treacherous weather conditions, is one Nina says they will never forget.
“We are still processing it and it does not feel like we have done it because everything has just been really busy since finishing,” she added.
“But when we arrived there were all these super yachts and the harbour was full of people cheering and shouting – it was just amazing and so special.
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“We feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to do this as an ordinary couple and we both saw even stronger sides of each other through it.
“We would not have wanted to do it with anybody else.”
Unsurprisingly, the adventure was far from plain-sailing and the couple’s ability to finish the face was initially threatened when their boat’s headstock and rudder broke.
Nina added: “We were 300 miles out in the middle of nowhere, isolated with nobody around us, we thought it was game over and we would have to abandon the boat.
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“But after 11 days of being in this tiny 6ft by 6ft cabin, which was like a washing machine at 40 degrees, the safety yacht managed to get us the parts we needed.
“We had every weather condition mother nature could chuck at you but we knew we had to stick it out, and that is exactly what we did.”
Nina and Simon, whose team name was Mr and Mrseas, decided to take on the challenge in aid of Samaritans and have so far raised about £11,000.
“It is absolutely brilliant and we want to say a massive thank you to all our supporters and sponsors because we really do appreciate what they have done,” said Nina.
To donate visit tinyurl.com/ca8xpraw.
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