1) Schedule: Most pairs/fours do 2/2 sleep/row schedule 24×7. How can you improve that? Did you test other time periods; why did you stick w/ 2on/2off?

We did that schedule. It’s all about not-very-ideal compromise. The 2-hour schedule means that you don’t get to sleep for very long (90 mins max), but it is approximately two full ‘sleep cycles’. It is grim and tough. But we got very used to it and after a couple of weeks we actually were functioning without feeling too tired. We experimented with different lengths. Longer than two hours and your rowing suffers, as does the concentration of the guy steering. When it got ridiculously hot we did a few 1-hour shifts in the middle of the day. (A good chance to mention I would have paid a LOT of money to have some sort of fan inside the cabin – it was SO hot in the cabin that I came to prefer rowing!! I’md DEFINITELY recommend that.)

2) Butt & hands: From your own painful experience, what’s the optimal routine to save skin and health w/ both? Clothes, gear, oil, wash, etc.?

I don’t really know. We experimented with removable sheepskin seats (so they wouldn’t get wet and salt caked so fast). They were nice at first. But when our butts began to hurt we preferred the specialist gel rowing pads. They were good for a while but wore out really, really fast. Then we tried bundled up clothes. All in all – we didn’t really succeed. Not a very sensible tactic but eating large amounts of very powerful painkillers became a popular tactic!

After every rowing shift we took off our rowing clothes, used a baby wipe to remove the salt on our buttocks, and smeared Sudocrem around. We changed into our cabin clothes (loose soft shorts) to sleep.

3) Skills: What non-rowing skill, if any, would you train a lot in advance to prepare?

Guitar playing, singing, joke-telling. I’mm not entirely jesting here, either… Someone on the boat needs to be able to fix everything on board. Our skipper Marin was a genius at fixing electrical things (salted up USB slots, broken water makers etc.). The water maker caused us more stress and hassle than anything else. Make sure you know exactly how it works before it gets buried in an impossibly-hard-place-to-reach…

I’d take a load of podcasts and audio books – I preferred them to music. (My favourites: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/find-a-castaway#/occupation_group/travel%2Band%2Bexploration and http://www.howstuffworks.com/hsw-podcast.htm)

It would be good to know a bit about fishing. A bit about photography. As much about medicine / dentistry as your pessimistic nature thinks you should learn. But mostly you just need to be a calm, kind person willing to laugh at themselves. That trumps rowing any day.

4) Rowing training: I hear the entire range “just general fitness” vs. “lots of rowing” vs. “lots of ocean rowing” –> what would you recommend in last 6 mnths?

I’d say general fitness and a good amount of rowing. Also stretch a lot. Your hamstrings get so short on the boat – when I got off the boat my back went into spasm from this and I had to spend 3 days flat on my back! I’d also try to get as fat as you possibly can before you go – really important.

5) Sun and salt: How did you protect against both and what would you improve?

I am an expert at this being very pale! We had UV clothing. Take very big sunhats (and several of them as you’ll lose a couple). I use P20 brand suncream on all my trips: fabulous stuff.

Salt – our watermaker was really good so we had water to spare for freshwater rinses. Try really hard to keep the cabin as dry and salt-free as possible (impossible once the storms come and you are soaked to the skin!). Realistically though you are fighting a losing battle against salt! It will eat and destroy everything and make all your bedding feel damp and horrible.

6) Home crew: What “land support” team member is most critical while rowing? And how would you set it up? (pr, web, information filter, family, doc, etc.?)

I would recommend one person who gets an update and then is tasked with passing it on to whoever you want to be informed. It doesn’t matter who this is so long as they are reliable, committed to doing it every day for two months, and is trustworthy in the unlikely event that something serious happens.

Definitely find a doctor who is happy for you to phone them 24/7. Very reassuring to have.

We sent and received emails on board and it was a lovely morale boost.

7) Food: Any surprises with food packaging, ability to prepare or protect from salt water that would make you change selection/packaging the second time?

We used a jetboil on a homemade gimbal. It worked well. I’d rather have had a kettle though. A funnel is good for pouring boiling water. Take more spoons / forks than you need – we lost 3 overboard! Take good food and as varied as you can manage. Variety of food is crucial. I would have paid a fortune for a more varied diet! Get a real mix of sweet, savoury, spicy food and also really boring bland stuff that you can eat when you are seasick. We were all seasick even with those patches behind the ears. I was vomiting on and off for 10 days (I kept 5 whole meals down in 5 days) – truly awful!!

We had a 4mm slice of salami and 1 olive each time we did 100 miles. This began halfway across and was a surprise treat from one of the guys. It tasted so good and was so kind that I burst into tears the first time we did it!!

Take plenty of pillows / fans / sharpies to doodle on the cabin / surprises / treats etc: small touches of luxury, small gestures of kindness, small breaks from routine – these are what will really improve your trip.