"Shark" the Cleaning Inspector

Nick & John have resolved the issues with their satellite phone, and got back in touch with us.

A couple of days ago they were both under the boat scraping and cleaning the hull. About an hour later a 7ft shark turned up to have a look at what they had done! It seemed please with the cleaning, so they decided to offer it some food. The only thing to hand were dried apricots and the shark decided to give them a miss. The shark would probably have been more interested in a leg or an arm dangled over the side.

The support yacht finally managed to catch up with them and they had a nice chat and took some pics which were in the previous blog entry (the ones with the holey bums). Nick explained that they had actually cut the holes in their shorts themselves to prevent chaffing, and it seems to have worked.

The weather is not what they were expecting at all. The area they are in is supposed to have Trade Winds which should be giving them a helpful push toward the finish, but this year the Trade Winds havent arrived. Looks like they are going to be rowing all the way.

The days are very hot with 36degrees, and the sea is flat. There's about 1knot of current at best.

Overall Nick & Jon are in great spirits and feel fine.

The South African pair currently in 1st place (Gquma Challenge) are watching No Fear's progress on board and have posted this on their website:
"We have it on good authority that No Fear are busting a gut to try and catch Gquma Challenger. Not only that but the 4 in front of them has been getting a hard time for not being able to pull away from a pair. All to the good as at this point of the game it's all about a battle of mental toughness. They guys sounded like they are buzzing and really getting their teeth into it."

Nick also mentioned that they have had a stowaway all the way from the start! Well not so much an onboard but underneath! They've had a fish under the boat for most of the journey which started off at about an inch long and is now about 3.5 inches long and has been eating all the food (and other stuff) they have been dropping off the side. I mentioned that by the time they reached the finish they could have it as a meal, but they said they are pretty loyal to him.

The local Cornish Guardian wrote a story on their journey so far with excerpts from this blog, and more and more people are looking at the website and talking about their efforts.

600miles to go!