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Day 67 - We are Home! First part written by Ian 'Lastmony we lost the sea anchor and we were still heading too far south - unable to head further north due to the winds and current. For the last 1,200 miles we had just one good blade the other blades had all been repaired so as we headed towards Antigua we new we had to head North. On Wednesday our tracking beacon stopped working and until 7.15 am Saturday morning it did look like we would end up in Guadeloupe. A squal blew up and the wind direction totally changed - I was determined to row in unaided and put on a great spurt arriving at the entrance to English harbour at 11.0 nearly catching my shore team out' Ian - received a call that Andrew would be arriving in one hour - we quickly commandered a small vessel and arrived in choppy seas (millpond - andrew quote) With loud screams we approached Charmed Life who had just crossed the line unaided after 62 days we think her race position will be confirmed at around 7 out of 26 starting 7 days after the rest of the fleet. 'An amazing reception with horns and flares going off all across this famous Bay - with Mick still rowing I was able to take it all in - as we approached Nelson's dockyard I was amazed to see such a reception - very moving. We stepped ashore and Ian immediately announced that we were now going to be interviewed for the BBC East midlands today - For those following the story; Food - had plenty of food but craved flap jacks and cereal bars - had too much chocolate on board. Ran out of powdered milk 5 weeks ago - so put water on breakfast cereals Water maker worked very well producing 5 litres and hour - never had to break into seals for emergency water Swam only twice during the trip - a very intensive 2 hours on and 2 hours off did not allow for this First request - for a nice cup of tea and a large bowl of chips Andrew Morris - the real one; Hi Guys this is me Mos , sitting at an internet place in beautiful Antigua...I truely cannot believe we have done it ... still in never -never land.... ..The welcome party yesterday in nelsons Dockyard was amazing with support boats coming out to accompany us in ,then loads of hugs and kisses from all sorts of peole who are suddenly our long lost best friends with Champagne flowing! My newly aquired beard is obviously working on the females ,as several have tossed their room keys in my direction.. sadly my fingers are bent over in the rowing position , so I missed all the keys !!!!! WOW ! what a welcome !.. the most emotional day in my memory .. comes close to Nigel Mansel winning the 92 F1 championships... I kept dreaming whilst rowing of his come back !.. A sincere thank you from Mick and myself to everyone who has followed our progress... We cannot descibe the row , the highs ad lows just i an e mail.. so when the boat isback in Nottingham ,lets have a party and we will do a 1/2 hours film for everyone .. so we wil keep you posted on this web site!! We need to send the message now because of the probs here with the computer . so just for now Good bye , send another e mail shortly and with a lot more stories that will be sure to entertain you....! Lolst of love to everone Mos xxx and last but not least ... a big than uuou to the great almighty , who i have had a lot of daily talks to to get us through this on the edge experience bye for now Day 64 - February 1- Final update before the finish line The arrival of the local Nottingham crew - 'Atlantic Warrior' was shown on BBC East Midlands news earlier this morning. I have been contacted by Mike O’Sullivan from the BBC who are interested in covering the arrival of Mick and Andrew. The support yacht Aurora is currently on it's way to Rowgirls who have asked for 'assistance' - I have no more infor on this developing story. Aurora, who are keeping an eye out for 'Charmed Life' due to the fact that the current course is so southerly will be making a visit to Charmed Life sometime tomorrow. They are making good daily progress averaging well over 50 miles a day with an arrival across the 'atlantic finish line' expected late Sunday evening unless we see a change of course after the Aurora visit tomorrow - Guadeloupe looks good for me. The next boat expected in later today is Mayabrit who have recently experienced an attack by a 12 foot shark - could this be the nasty beast who attacked Sun Latte 5 weeks ago or do they just not like rowing boats. I would like to thank James at DefaultBlue for keeping the web site updated, and all sponsors, family and friends on behalf of Andrew and Mick for all the help and support they have given in raising money for the Whale and Dolphin Society. My next and final report will be from the finish line - providing we have no unexpected problems... then Andrew and Mick will take over with some of their exciting stories... Watch the BBC Friday 17th February - James and Ben - 'Two men in a boat' - with live footage of their adventure as they crossed the Atlantic. We will all then appreciate how epic this has been. Monday 13th January - 1 week after returning to shore Dear All! Well its now one week after arriving to the safety of Historic Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua. Fantastic welcome here, and to see so many friends who also made the journey out here, meant an awful lot to myself. In addition to the Sunday arrival, my girlfriend arrived on the following Wednesday, after being refused to fly out the previous Saturday due to Visa complications, but after persevering in London she finaly obtained a Visa to fly and enjoy the excitement here. That wasn't all, as I collected Terez from the ~`STICKY WICKET AIRPORT`!!!! (YES THATS CORRECT!), I was approached by a tramp as we sat down having a drink in the Airport...., this smelly tramp, with long uncombed hair, no shoes and clothes in tatters sat down beside me, anyway just as the bar staff were about to say something, I barely recognized Mr Simon Shipside no less, had he fallen on hard times, NO, he was as usual up to another prank by pretending to be Wilson, the castaway.... Great effort Simon! Brilliant mate and thanks for coming (he promptly got changed and stayed until Sunday the 12th of Feb). This last week has been one of relaxing , eating loads , jet skiing - and water skiing and mainly mixing tales with all the other Ocean Rowers that have stayed here. Mick and I thought we had had a terrible time of it.....little did we realise the horrors of other boats ... really, we were so lucky....other teams with shark attacks, many, many capsizes, etc.... Philip, my Dad is producing a semi- prof video which will be shown in the UK on my return...please can anyone interested in coming to the party where the video will be viewed contact myself on andrew@pafreight.co.uk, and we will include you on the invite list! Lastly for now, many thanks to everone who has helped over the last two years, Its been a great achievement by all, and everyone who has been invloved should feel part of this experience, its been a team effort and in the end , despite many set backs the boat made it in 61 days. Special thoughts go out to Stephane, who I fully understand was extremely disappointed not to row, we kept his name on the boat as a statement of his involvement. Take care to everyone, there will be a lot of photos to be put onto the website before it closes down...I am due back w/20th of Feb after we have shipped the rowing boats back to the UK (PA Freight) Best wishes and XXX Mos

FROM: Jo Hi Ian, I'm getting a little worried for your boys. Hope Aurora are on their way to them to tell them to get north or slow down a bit before they overshoot Antigua. I suspect the Guadaloupe Tourist Ministry have a hand in this latest bout of weather! You should ask Teresa at Woodvale (if you haven't already) to make sure they do visit them to let them know what's been happening with the other teams that have been too far south. It's only fair that they have the same amount of info as all the others who still have comms so they can make a decision in good time. Might see you in Antigua next week? Regards, Jo FROM: Ian Adams Hope everything is going ok have just come back from a holiday on la gomerra vissited the cafe bar and saw all the writeing on the wall plus a picky of someone sitting on the loo asleep?anyway was looking to see how mick is doing give him my regards if you hapen to speak with them marion. FROM: Murray Architectural Services Keep the chins up and keep going. Good luck with the rest of the race. Keep safe is the main thing.