The Boat - Equipment
Equipment On Board
As Pete will be completely self sufficient for the duration of his Atlantic voyage, it is essential that he has all of the right equipment on-board Charmed Life. Outlined below is a list of some of the most important equipment he is taking.
The Water Maker
Being at sea for up to 120 days, Pete will need to consume up to 1000 litres of water. More is required for washing and general hygiene. Charmed Life carries 150 litres of water ballast, but this can only be utilised in an emergency situation. So throughout the crossing, Pete will need to desalinate water. He will be using a Katadyn PUR e electric water maker. The water maker will produce up to 10 litres per hour, but as it draws a lot of power from the batteries, Pete will need to monitor the power consumption carefully, especially on cloudy days.A backup hand held water maker will be carried in his emergency grab bag, but this will only produce a litre or 2 per hour and as such Pete hopes he will not need to use this.
Navigation
Being surrounded by millions of square miles of ocean, with a 3000 mile route and a finish line that is only 0.5 mile wide, Pete will need to be very careful as he navigates his way across the Atlantic. His most important navigational aids will be his GPS units (courtesy of GME/Garmin) which will let him know his position; and his compass, which will help him hold a course.GME/Garmin are assisting Pete with both fixed and hand held GPS units. The fixed unit will be positioned inside the cabin and will have an external aerial on the top of Charmed Life. The hand held units will be carried by Pete while he is rowing on the deck, for occasional updates.Pete will also carry charts of the Atlantic (AC 1869 Gran Canaria to El Hierro, AC 4012 North Atlantic Ocean - Southern Part, AC 4064 Antigua), sextants and other manual navigational aids to help him.
The Oars
As Charmed Life has no sails or engine, she will be propelled across the Atlantic by Pete and his oars. Pete has chosen to use Concept 2 oars for the race following recommendations from experienced ocean rowers. During previous races, many teams have been affected by problems with their oars which can become brittle and break under the pressure of crossing an ocean of 1.2 million strokes or more... Concept 2 oars have gained a reputation as being the hardiest choice of oars for ocean rowers. They are also light in weight and are shaped to ensure that every stroke gains the most propulsion possible.
Clothing
During the crossing Pete will encounter many different weather conditions, from hot/calm/sunny to cool/rough/rainy. As conditions change, he will need to ensure that he is wearing clothing that fits the weather; and that allows him to continue rowing for up to 14 hours a day. Pete has teamed up with the leaders in marine clothing technology SLAM, who are ensuring that he has the latest technology and innovative performance designed apparel. He will be wearing "Racing Evolution" wet weather gear comprising of long johns and jacket during rough or rainy periods. On sunny days, he will be protected from the harsh tropical sun by the SLAMs "Silver Aid" technology which acts as an anti-bacterial, anti-static, thermoregulator! The suns rays are magnified by reflection off of the water and as such ocean rowers need to be very careful that their vision is not impaired especially in the morning when the sun rises behind the boat and directly in their eyes. The glare can be so extreme that rowers have been known to wear two pairs of glasses to counter the effects! As such, Pete has decided to accept nothing but the best when it comes to eye wear. He will be protected by the latest ground breaking sun glass technology coming out of the research labs of the world leaders in this field - Oakley.
Communication
The Atlantic Rowing Race is can take over 100 days to complete. During this time, boats are physically isolated from the outside world. As such, communication systems between race boats and other shipping; and race boats and the shore are vital.To communicate with his wife, shore crew and supporters, Pete will carry a satellite phone. Linked in to the Iridium satellite network (this network has the most complete coverage across the world from pole to pole) Pete should always be able to stay in touch. Also onboard Charmed Life, Pete will carry an Argos beacon. Every 60 seconds this device will send his position to the WoodVale race office via satellite, so you can see how he is tracking along the way!To communicate with other shipping, a number of pieces of equipment will be carried on board. Charmed Life will be fitted with:SeaMe Active Echo Radar Transponder. This unit does two things. Firstly, if Charmed Life is in the range of another ships radar, it will let Pete know by giving an audible signal. When the SeaMe beeps, Pete will know that he is within 25 km of another boat. As the distance between the 2 boats reduces, the beep signal becomes more regular to warn him. As when as the alert, this unit also sends back an amplified signal to the vessel, so that the chances of Charmed Life being visible on the radar are increased.
AIS Receiver. All commercial ships in service today carry equipment that transmits information via very high frequency radio waves including their size, number of crew, location, course over ground, speed and a unique identification number called an MMSI number. Pete will be able to pick up this information using his AIS transceiver, so he when his SeaMe alarm is sounding, he'll know what is causing it. The AIS system plugs into the GPS unit and has a screen, so Pete will be able to see whether the other ship is going to come close enough to cause him any concern. This works like a virtual radar and may make the difference between life and death for Pete, especially as he crosses the Atlantics busy shipping lanes.
Sharing the story with the folks back home...
Trying to keep in touch and send the story back to dry land is a tough thing to do from any boat, let alone a rowing boat. Pete has sought advice from around the globe and has decided to use the latest pocket pc technology to send e-mails and photos back home. Trimble make the most rugged pocket pcs in the world and have lent Pete a waterproof, shockproof, ocean rowing proof Recon unit for the race! This should mean that he will be able to give his supporters an insight into the journey!
Grab Bag
A grab bag is within an arms reach of a rower whenever they are on deck. If the worst case scenario happens and they need to evacuate the boat, the grab bag can be quickly collected and taken with them. The grab bag will then become the rowers lifeline while he/she waits to be rescued.Contents include: Personal EPIRB, Strobe Flashing Light, Signalling Mirror, Signalling Whistle, Silver foil blanket, 2 red hand held flares, 6 breakable light sticks, Knife (Swiss army pocket knife or similar), Small compass, Sealed torch with batteries, 4 Small bottles water, 4 chocolate bars, glucose sweets, seasick tablets/mini first aid kit and emergency fishing kit.
Life Raft
If a rower needs to abandon ship, they will need to launch their life raft. Pete will be carrying a 4 man life raft onboard Charmed Life, which will be designed for use in the open ocean. This will be stored on deck at all times and will have an auto inflate mechanism for quick launchingThe liferaft forms a vital part of Petes emergency equipment inventory, which also includes: * Survival suits * Life jackets * Safety harness * Flares
Sea Anchor
A sea anchor is used if the wind starts to push a rowing boat in the wrong direction. A sea anchor is like a parachute that is deployed overboard and which is attached to the boat on the end of a 50 foot line. By deploying this, Pete will be able to stop the boat from getting blown backwards or off course.
Searug
As ocean rowing boats tend to be rather wet both inside and out, it's important to make sure that all the equipment is suitable for the environment. A regular sleeping bag for example would get wet very quickly and would become useless in a matter of days if not hours. The solution is to try to avoid getting too much water into the cabin and to use products that are not affected by the water. A perfect example of this is the SeaRug! Pete has used these for years and swears by them. They keep you warm if you are cold; cool if you are warm; help to dry you if you are wet; are made in super safe day glow orange; and if they get soggy, can simply be wrung out and used straight away.Recent tests in the UK by other crews in the race re-affirmed the strengths of the searug which will be a prized piece of kit by a few lucky boats in the race
Waterproof cases
A lot of Pete's electrical and medical equipment must be kept bone dry at sea to ensure it's in perfect working order when needed. Regular cases and containers that are used on land or regular boating trips cannot be trusted! Advice from the sailing world led Pete to Pelican Products Australia. Pelican cases are both watertight and unbreakable. Pete has two Pelican cases - one for his medical supplies and one for his electrical equipment.
Repair Kit/Tools
What if things break? They undoubtably will, so a full tool kit and repair kit will be carried on board. Pete is lucky enough to have a Kolision Kit on board from EIS. This kit has 2 significant features. Firstly, it is very easy to use, with forgiving mix ratios of 50:50. It can be mixed and applied underwater for a quick rapid seal within minutes . The epoxy cures to a solid, long-lasting protective coating under water and adheres to glassfibre, metal, wood, and concrete. In more extreme damage cases a polymat sheet can be utilised in the repair. The resin BIO999 is a highly modified '5 minute' type repair compound which includes Kevlarš micro fibres for reinforcement and strength. Ideally some preparation of the surface is required, by hand scraping to remove fouling, and scrubbing with 3M type abrasive pads to clean and abraid the surface. Secondly, unlike other epoxy products currently available, this new product is completely safe in use. It is solvent free and contains NO carcinogens or toxins and does not harm marine life. It is also non-flammable. It is 100% safe and 100% solids (no solvents).
Emergency Water production
With 2 or 3 water makers on board and 160 litres of water ballast, Pete is hoping he will not run out of things to drink. But what if something breaks? What if he has to abandon ship quickly and is in a life raft? Extreme conditions call for extreme products and the Sea Pack from Fleetwater Marine in the UK is just one such product! SeaPack is the world's first osmotic seawater desalination kit. Intended for emergency use, the SeaPack desalination kit produces a life-saving drink directly from seawater. Perfect for use on your off shore boat, sea kayak or for use in your life raft. The filtered drink is very similar to the juice from pressed grapes and provides 480 calories from each half liter - an important energy source during emergencies. The tight osmotic membrane rejects a full 97% of the salt.Because the SeaPack is passive, there is no pumping involved, unlike other water makers or desalination systems. This is obviously an advantage if the user has been injured or exhausted and would have difficulty operating a pump-style system.
