Everything* you want to know about rowing the Atlantic

The Atlantic Dash is a life changing, life affirming, ocean experience. It is not designed to be a race. However, we are not your mum, if you want to be the first to Antigua – race on!

Atlantic Dash entry fee is £14,000 per boat plus £1,000 per person:

Solo: £15,000
Pair: £16,000
Trio: £17,000
Four: £18,000

Ocean rowing is expensive, but there are plenty of people who row oceans who don’t have any money. If you work hard most of your costs can be covered by sponsors. Your biggest expenses will be: the boat, food, shipping and communications.

The co-founders of Monkey Fist Adventures have previously put together 3 independent crossings which have been funded through corporate sponsorship.

Contact us hello@monkeyfistadventures.com for further advice on costs.

Get in touch right now at hello@monkeyfistadventures.com

Getting in touch does not tie you into anything, but it’s important to take that first step!

We will then arrange a phone call to make sure you have all the information you need to make a decision.

The short answer is yes, with the caveat that you have to be prepared to prepare! To give you an idea, the youngest person to row an ocean is 16, the oldest is 72. There have also been successful paraplegic, amputee and registered blind ocean rowers.

Ocean rowing is predominantly about having the right mindset – if you believe you can row an ocean….you probably can.

It’s likely to take between 30 to 80 days depending on weather conditions and crew size.

There is a “season” to cross the Atlantic which is governed by the arrival of the trade winds which help you get across and the start of the hurricane season in the Caribbean, which does not help you get across.

The “best” time to cross is between mid November and March when the long range forecast is good and the trade winds are more stable.

We have opted for an early January start as this enables those taking part to have the opportunity to spend Christmas and New Year with their family and still have plenty of time to get to Antigua.

Not directly, but we can help by giving you the tools you need to approach sponsors.

The best thing you can do is talk to everyone and anyone about what you are doing because support can often come from the unlikeliest of places.

As the popularity of ocean rowing increases, more and more boat builders are cropping up.

A good place to start is “The Ocean Rowing Society” group on facebook where there are often crew looking to sell their boats.

You can also contact teams making a crossing before you, and ask them if they will be selling their boat after their crossing.

We also have a list of boats for sale on our website which can be found here.

Absolutely! We are committed to making ocean rowing accessible to as many people as we can – we’d love to have the opportunity to support future ocean rowers from all around the globe.

Any extreme endurance event has the potential to be dangerous in the same way that driving a car or crossing the road can be dangerous. If you don’t pay attention, have the correct training and constantly risk assess you will find yourself in trouble…

To take part in the Atlantic Dash you will have to pass a selection of mandatory courses and have a fully comprehensive list of safety equipment on board the boat before you are permitted to leave Lanzarote. The combination of kit and training vastly reduces the risks inherent with ocean rowing.

The good news – a lavatory landscape to rival all others. A poo with a view, if you will!

The bad news – it’s a bucket.

A very common question which we provide an in-depth answer to In this blog post: How do I manage my period while rowing across an ocean?

Ocean rowing is almost entirely about having the right mindset – if you think you can row an ocean… you probably can.

From a fitness perspective – both founders of the Atlantic Dash Adventures have rowed oceans with absolutely no training – although it’s not something we recommend!

As with all endurance endeavours, ocean rowing is an eating challenge.

You will mostly be eating rehydrated meals – and lots of them. We recommend consuming 6,000Kcal per day, and even then you will lose weight…

We work with several companies who offer a discount to participants of the Atlantic Dash.

You will get wet.

That said, all boats that enter the Atlantic Dash must have the ability to self right; i.e. if they go over, they will roll all the way around and land back on their ‘feet’ without assistance from the rower(s).

As a rower, the two things to remember are to keep the cabin door sealed, and clip yourself on to the boat when you are not in the cabin. That way the cabins won’t flood, you’ll self right nicely, and you won’t be separated from the boat!

Each rower will drink around 3 litres of water and use another 1.5 litres to rehydrate their food every day – so a crew of four will need around 810 litres for a 45 day crossing.

If you were carrying that on board it would the like carrying an extra eleven humans – we thought you’d prefer not to do that, so instead you’ll use a desalination unit that converts sea water into drinking water.

The washing situation is…unorthodox.

It essentially relies on the crew becoming nose-blind! That said, it is essential to clean your body of salt water with a baby wipe or two after each shift. Dried on salt crystals are a shortcut to extreme chafing – and that’s a recipe for infections, which can be expedition ending.

You will have to make friends with being uncomfortable!

There are no rules on shift patterns. A common way of rowing is 2 hours on, 2 hours off, 24 hours a day. But you can choose to do shorter or longer shifts. You may even want to row all day and sleep in the night (non-soloists require someone on watch at night).

We require all crews to be in Lanzarote from the 15th of December at the latest. There will be a series of mandatory checks and seminars to attend before launch.

You will need to find your own accommodation.

When you reach land, you will have a medical check and after that you are free to do with your time as you please. You may need to get straight back to work, or you may want to add a week or two of holiday to relax and decompress before getting back to real life.

Absolutely.