Tag Archives: Terre des hommes

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Row diaries: What I learnt from my first 24-hour training row

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A few weeks ago, I did my first 24-hour training indoor row.

First few hours were fine. Then it got dark…

To be clear, the session involves rowing (indoors) for two hours, and then resting for two hours for a 24-hour period. The resting part includes eating, going to the bathroom, fixing injuries, and finding stuff on Netflix to watch.

The training mimics what I’ll experience in my 6,000km row across the Atlantic, planned for March 2021. This row will take anything between 46 and 60 days (current record for that route is just a few hours over 47 days).

My session began at 6pm and ended the same time the next day (actually, the last two hours were rest’ hours, so I really finished at 4pm). The first session was fine as my wife and kids were around, so I could chat with them and had company.

My second on shift began at 10pm, by which time is was getting dark and my wife – who was feeling poorly – had already gone to bed.

I finished my second shift at midnight. After four hours of rowing, my hands were hurting, my bum was sore, and my left elbow was also giving me cause for concern. Nothing serious though.

Silly o’clock in the morning. I’m tired

Dawn broke, and my wife and kids soon made an appearance. That was nice. I virtually didn’t sleep at all during the night. It’s not easy to sleep on a tiny mattress on the floor. I guess I must have had a maximum of two hours actual light sleep the whole night.

After my fifth shift, around midday, I managed to sleep for around 90 minutes of my two hours off period. That was nice.

The rowing itself was quite OK and the aches and sores didn’t get much worse. The only really exception was my bum. That hurt. I was glad it’s

What I learnt from the row is that eating soup right before rowing is a very bad idea, sleeping will be an issue for 24-hours (then I’ll sleep like a rock), and I have to find a way of protecting my backside (we have padding on the real boat, so this should be fine).

I think this was soon after 12pm

My hands also hurt. It seemed like my bones were made or brittle material, and some fingers went numb. It was OK while rowing, but I wonder how they will fare after days of constant rowing in wet conditions.

The most important aspect for me was the message of support I received, even at 2am. They were so vital for me to keep going. On the water, I’ll be able to receive messages, but what will really help is if people donate. Hope that happens.

If you want to know more, or if you intend donating to my causes (aww, thanks), visit www.crossrower.ch (in English and German)

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It’ll be ‘alright’

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It’s been two years since my brother Michael passed away.

Michael (Cuti) spent the last years of his life making sure everything was prepared for his death, fighting hard, giving people hope when there was none, and keeping his spirits high.

It was a struggle, but every time I visited Malta, I was taken aback at how he kept on going despite what he was going through.

In this same spirit, I will be taking on a challenge of my own – I’ll be rowing the Atlantic ocean in exactly a year to raise money for three charities: Hospice (Malta), The Swiss Cancer League, and Terre des hommes.

If he were here, everything would be completely organized, his group of amazing friends would have been roped in to do various tasks, and he would inevitably have lists of all things that have been done, are being done, and others that have to be done in an organized folder that would put the most organized body to shame. It was annoyingly organized.

For me, it’s a bit different – all the above hasn’t been done, my lists are short and incomplete, and my organization is somewhat chaotic.

I guess my brother was the one who got the brain – I obviously got the dashing looks…

OK, now that you have stopped laughing, we need to get serious.

I need your help. No, you don’t need to come and row with me. What I ask is that you visit my website – www.crossrower.ch – and start donating to the three organizations I’m collecting money for on my brother’s behalf.

If you do that, it’ll be ‘alright’.

Another thing – once you’ve done that, share the link and ask your friends and family, colleagues and neighbours, and anyone else you may know to do the same. If you do only one of these two, it’s also cool.

I can’t stress enough that charities get 100% of the money you donate, not 50% or 60% – a full 100%. You will not pay for me to go ‘on holiday’ across the Atlantic (I’m paying that myself).

Who am I rowing for?

The Hospice (Malta) are a bunch of great people who provide palliative care. They help people who have friends or relatives who suffer from cancer and other end-of-life illnesses, such as respiratory, renal, liver and cardiac, and make sure the patient is as comfortable as possible. They also help families get through what is a very difficult time. Seeing them in action was an inspiration for me to do something to help others.

The Swiss Cancer League has centres around Switzerland, my adoptive home, and they provide information, advice and moral support to cancer sufferers and their families. It’s amazing what they do, and both patients and their families benefit immensly from their service, even if it’s just a friendly voice at the other end of a phone call.

Terre des hommes is a Swiss NGO dedicated to helping and protecting children in need worldwide. I’d like to do something to help kids who need help. Specifically, the money raised will help kids in Syrian children displaced by the war and living in the neighbouring countries Lebanon and Jordan. A tiny contribution from many will help these kids have a childhood – like most of us in the west have had. Now, more than ever, is a good time to donate as in the past three months alone, more than half a million kids were displaced because of the violence in Syria.

My goal is to collect €10,000 for each – it may be ambitious, but so is rowing across an ocean. I’ll take care of the rowing – I hope that you help me take care of the donations (don’t make me get down on my knees…).