Previously speaking to the Advertiser, Karl said he and Ed had family members living with the conditions. The fish have been known to spear through the hull with their razor-sharp bills, mistaking the silhouette of rowing boats on the ocean surface for prey. Speaking in a broadcast earlier this month, Ed said he was disappointed […]
Previously speaking to the Advertiser, Karl said he and Ed had family members living with the conditions.
The fish have been known to spear through the hull with their razor-sharp bills, mistaking the silhouette of rowing boats on the ocean surface for prey.
Speaking in a broadcast earlier this month, Ed said he was disappointed they hadn’t seen more wildlife.
And added: “If you want to row fast, that [drum and bass] is the sort of tune you need on.”
On their ninth night, a powerful wave caused Pegasus to capsize and cast both men into the Atlantic.
Soon after leaving the safety of the Canary Islands, the pair hit choppy waters.
“You’ve got to take your opportunities and make your mark.”
An Atlantic Blue Marlin (credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Caught in strong currents and winds, which they likened to being ‘thrown around like we’re in a washing machine’, Ed and Karl were blown 35 miles off course.
“We’re feeling trapped,” he added. “There is no escaping the relentlessness and we are ready for a walk.”
Marlin, which can grow up to five metres long, have caused problems for World’s Toughest Rowers in the past.
You can follow Karl and Ed’s journey on Instagram and Facebook via @2stroke.team.
“We’ve had a number of flying fish who have boarded us at various times through the night, and we had one ordinary looking fish and a number of birds, and that’s it really,” he said.
The intrepid pair – so far having endured capsizing in ocean swells; salt sores; and a gruelling diet of pre-packed meals – are on the home stretch with less than 1,000 miles to go.
Ed and Karl have been recording their progress on social media, and give updates via their self-styled radio station Radio Pegasus.
By Christmas, ocean conditions had calmed and Ed and Karl were able to push on with their journey – now ongoing for more than a month.
But it wasn’t long before the pair did encounter more wildlife when an Atlantic Blue Marlin began to stalk the boat.
Ed and Karl at Maidenhead Rowing Club
Ed and Karl recovered, but Pegasus suffered water damage to one of its two solar batteries, and lost one of its rowing seats.
The pair are raising money for Dementia UK and Prostate Cancer UK which they said helped ‘drive’ them forward.
Two friends currently battling the Atlantic Ocean as part of an enormous 3,000-mile challenge for charity have passed the halfway point.
Brothers in oars Karl Austen and Ed Shaw, who trained at Maidenhead Rowing Club, set out from the Canary Islands for the Caribbean as part of the World’s Toughest Row in December.
Karl, 53, said he and Ed, 50, were both ‘ready to get off the boat now’.
Karl and Ed are using a specialised seven-metre long ocean-going rowing boat called Pegasus.
“My favourites are probably country and western and possibly classical, but I’ve been through the 70s, 80s, 90s, a little bit of brit pop and even some drum and bass,” he said.
He said: “I think that sort of thing sort of shakes you up a bit and makes you think: ‘You know what? You do only live once.’
In another broadcast, Ed discussed the music that had been their accompaniment for the voyage.
