Our flight departed on Saturday, November 30, 2024, from Stuttgart to Tenerife. From there, we continued by rental car to the ferry to La Gomera, where we arrived at our small vacation home in Lepe after a stormy crossing in the evening.

Since, as Future Rowers, we were only scheduled to be on site on December 3, 2024, we had two days to explore the island and go hiking.

On Tuesday morning, we drove to the harbor in San Sebastián, specifically to the race venue there.

For the teams, there were alternating briefings and checks of all necessary items required for the crossing, which were systematically laid out.

We met our course instructor, Dawn Smith, with her Ocean Empower team, as well as fellow course participants from Team Invictus Atlantic, who were also starting this year, and Lizzie Brown from Rannach Adventure – our boat builder. It was a joyful reunion with plenty of laughter and excitement.

We were warmly welcomed into this rowing community, received valuable tips for the boat and equipment, and had the opportunity to inspect everything closely. All questions were answered immediately, and whenever possible, demonstrated and explained in practice.

The camera was constantly in use. Countless pictures were taken over several days of every little detail, as reviewing the photos each evening often raised questions that we needed to follow up on.

We also participated in two events offered: one was an introduction for future rowers covering the entire process on-site and arrival in Antigua. The other was an event for family members, where they could meet the local contacts and were given an engaging explanation of the process to ensure no one felt overwhelmed.

After completing the checks, the boats were launched into the water, where the desalination systems, navigation, and satellite phones were tested outside the harbor. Unfortunately, we could only observe the boats entering and exiting from the beach, but even this provided many useful insights.

Due to bad weather in the Atlantic, the start was brought forward by one day to enhance the safety of the teams.

At dawn on December 11, 2024, there was a flurry of activity, nervousness, and emotional farewells among participants, families, and spectators. The pier was packed, and the atmosphere was incredible from the first to the last start. Goosebumps. Every two minutes, each boat was sent off with applause, well-wishes, and cheers – pure emotion.

We observed the participants: some crying, some laughing to mask their nervousness, while others openly displayed their anxiety.

We’re curious to see how it will be for us next year.

This journey and experience were the best preparation we could have for our start in December 2025.