You may remember us cheering on the four Royal Marine Commandosback in February (original article below)who plan to row the 3,700 mile Atlantic crossing from New York to Tower Bridge next year. Taking on the challenge to raise money and awareness for Plastic Oceans UK to help rid our oceans of plastic and the Royal Marines Charity, the Alpkit Foundation were happy to provide support and help to get the project going.Well, 6 months on and it's safe to say the boys have been busy, we've had a recent update from the team and wanted to share with you the great work they've already been carrying out.
It has been an incredibly busy six months for the team, working arduously to get the expedition to where it is now.
The Boat
We now have an Ocean rowing Boat and, as pure class Ocean Rowing boats go, she is the top of her game. She was a custom build for a team rowing across the Indian Ocean and is set up for long expedition rows such as the Ocean Revival 2020 row. This means that a lot of the systems on board are already set up exactly how we want them. She is a fiber glass boat, large and quite heavy, meaning she will be sturdy enough for the North Atlantic weather and storms we will inevitably come across. Our priority has been getting the boat ready for a summer and winter of hard training, and I am pleased to saythat very soon, she will be ready to put into the water and begin our rowing training!
Here she is pre and post 'spa' treatment
Royal Marines 30 Mile Commando March
The team organised a 30 mile march covering the exact route of the Royal Marines 30 Mile march. The team gave participants the opportunity to sleep at Okehampton Camp and thenmarch the 30 miles in under 8 hours, with the same conditions (minus the heavy weighted back packs). It was hugely successful and raised over £10,000 for the RM Charity.
Education Programme
A big part of raising awareness about our plastic use, the effects plastic is having on our oceans, marine environments and ecosystems is educating future generations and the young people of today.
Enacting our education program engaging with year groups and entire schools over the last 6 months has been a real highlight for the team. With a fantastic reaction from parents, kids and the teachers, real relationships have been formed for future visits. All the schools have pledged to hold a non-uniform day for the charities. We have many more booked in during the winter and we are really looking forward to engaging with more year groups and kids.
English Channel Swim
The team left Dover at 01:11 hrs on Saturday 22nd June and swam for 15 hours and 3 minutes before they reached France. The team raised £4000 for Plastic Oceans UK.
Roseberry Topping
Joel and Ian rowed from Sunrise to sunset on Roseberry Topping, an iconic local setting in North Yorkshire. They rowed for 17 hours and raised over £540 for Plastic Oceans UK, engaging with walkers, friends and family.
Joel and Ian rowing on top of Roseberry topping as sunset approaches
Ilfracombe Gig Regatta
The team spent the day chatting with over 5,000 members of the public and showcased their Ocean Rowing Boat at the Regatta. The team were visited by the Mayor and the Town Crier and also featured in the local paper. They raised over £600 for the Royal Marines Charity with the help of the Royal Marines Association North Devon Branch.
What's Next?.
In the coming few months we have a number of events lined up including;
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Lots of training rows
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Braunton Summer Big Summer Bash (Aug)
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Continuingschool visits (Several in the new school year)
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Multiple Supermarket weekend rows (Several over the remaining year)
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Lake district relay swim (September)
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3 Day exhibit supported by the Royal Marines in Princesshay shopping Centre, Exeter City Centre (Nov)
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North East Charity Race Night (Nov)
It has been a fantastic start to Ocean Revival 2020, the education program has been a fantastic success and is growing from strength to strength. The boat will soon be sea worthy, after all the compulsory maintenance and will be taking to the seas in mid-August for a three day training row.
Finally, a huge thank-you for your continued support!
Ocean Revival 2020
Ocean Revival 2020 (2nd Feb 2019)
In May 2020, four Royal Marine Commandos, both serving and former will be stepping into a 29ft, four-man ocean rowing boat in New York and attempting to be the first team ever to ROW straight to Tower Bridge, London. A 3,700-mile ocean row that is statistically the most dangerous you can endure. One that will see the Royal Marine team battling the tough and unforgiving North Atlantic Ocean and its unpredictable weather systems, whilst maintaining a disciplined 2 hours on and 2 hours off rowing routine, for over 70 days at sea.
So, I know exactly what you’re thinking, “Why on earth would anyone want to do that?”
Royal Marines are a weird breed of people, from the day you choose to join the ‘Corps’ you immediately choose a mind-set that is different to most others. Before you even set foot into the infamous Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, you have chosen the hard route. You can join any branch of the UK armed forces, but you have chosen to do the longest and most arduous route there is, and this I think, immediately highlights the state of mind every serving or former Royal Marine has. This is a mind-set that craves a challenge, one that has to be tested and forced out of its comfort zone and one that will appreciate and respect the challenge of the North Atlantic.
The challenge isn’t the only reason that the Ocean Revival 2020 Royal Marines team are risking their lives to row the North Atlantic; the team, who fought along-side each other in Afghanistan, now wantto take up the fight against the plastic suffocating our oceans. Our plastic use and consumption is out of control. Our oceans, the life and lungs of our planet, are being crippled by our inaction and reluctance to change. The team wants to raise awareness of the effects our plastic addiction is having and offer people a solution to their lifestyle choices. Through various events in the build-up to the row itself, as well as an education programme pushed out in partnership with Plastic Oceans UK, the Ocean Revival 2020 team hopes to raise awareness of this pressing issue and shift habits towards a more sustainable system.
Although our Oceans are very much out of sight, out of mind for the vast majority of humans, they are vital to our future. Our oceans are interconnected with every aspect of planet earths biosphere and if we don’t treat our oceans with the caution and life-giving respect they deserve, then we are heading down a hard and devastating road that only we can be blamed for walking down.
We invite anyone and everyone to get involved by following Ocean Revival 2020’s progress, by donating and changing your own habits for a better and more sustainable future. We are excited to be working with the Alpkit Foundation and look forward to giving you regular updates about our training, challenges, charity fundraising and of course, the row! You can follow us on facebook and Instagram under Ocean Revival 2020 and twitter @revivalocean.
Cheers
Team Ocean Revival 2020
