2) Scary Sleep-Rowing

“With out-of-the-blue encounters like that whale, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. Because you’re just so sleep-deprived all the time. Our shift patterns were two hours and fifteen minutes on the oars, and ninety minutes off. Functioning just doesn’t come naturally in those conditions. Your body is so desperate to shut down. People talk about hallucinations with that level of sleeplessness, but we found that lucid dreaming was the issue. I wouldn’t realise, but all of a sudden I’d be dreaming, begin trying to communicate this apparently really important issue to my crew, and they’d start laughing, making me super frustrated that they weren’t taking me seriously… in my sleep.

“A good example was when I thought [adventure-swimmer] Ross Edgley was swimming behind us to come and talk about snacks, or when I thought a parrot had landed on our mast. We didn’t have a mast. It’s scary, because you’re just not yourself. You’re between worlds. And yeah, it can be funny, but it can be dangerous, too. One of our crew, Big Paul, started changing the autohelms – our automatic steering units – in his sleep. What that meant was, all of a sudden we’d be side-on to a wave. It was terrifying. We’d have to bang on the cabin door to wake him up.”

5) Protein Shake Catastrophe

“At one point, someone dropped a protein shake in the cabin. Even better, he didn’t tell anybody for two days. Old protein shakes stink and mould up at the best of times, but couple that with the intense heat we were in, and you can probably understand why we had to pull absolutely everything out of there and scrub every inch of it clean. Dear God, it was horrendous.”

6) Crazy Waves

“You want big storms and winds, so that you can get to your destination faster. Unfortunately, a lot of our weather was – we didn’t have tremendous wind and rain, but we also didn’t have to go to sleep absolutely soaking wet. We only had six storms, but when they kicked off, you’d be looking at a wall of rain coming towards you. And the waves! When you’re rowing, you can actually surf down the waves – it’s a big boost to your speed, and it’s pretty fun. But if you catch them even slightly wrong, you’ll capsize immediately. Especially when you’re riding down 30-footers. In those moments, you have to be so so careful. It’s super terrifying.”

7) Night Frights

“I’ve got very pale skin, so I had concerns about rowing during the day. I thought rowing at night would be better for me, but also a really peaceful and tranquil experience. Actually, it’s constantly tense and insanely scary. There would be these side waves coming out of nowhere to wipe out the boat, crashing all over me and smashing us so hard that everything rocks.

“My first night row was really bad. A couple of the boys got sea sick really badly, so they were completely out of action. Meanwhile, we were experiencing extremely high winds for the first time, and those side waves trying to roll us over. I remember thinking, ‘Shit boys, we’re not in Kansas anymore.’ The scary thing wasn’t so much the weather, but the realisation of exactly what we’d got ourselves into.”

8) Losing Your Shit

“If I’d lost my phone overboard, it would have been game over. Obviously, I didn’t have any signal out there, but it’s what I used to record my diary, and dip into photos and messages that my family had left me, when I needed them. Not only that, but my music was on there too. Music was absolutely vital – as much as I like the guys and as funny as they all are, the banter died after about three days.

“You’ll laugh, but we listened to a lot of Disney songs. A lot. When things were going to shit, I’d put on ‘Hakuna Matata’ and we’d have a sing-along. ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ by Blue Swede worked well, too. In that respect, a mini speaker was one of the best, most motivational bits of kit I brought out there. Funnily enough, it survived the crossing across the Atlantic, but died shortly after when I dropped and lost it in half a metre of water, off my paddleboard. She’d served her purpose well, though.”

For more information on Hector, his team, and their record-breaking row, check out thenautibouys.com

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