ANTIGUANICE YACHTING INSIDER NEWSLETTER

Dr. Nick Fuller provides an update on Team Wadadli's progress in preparation for taking on the Atlantic Challenge for Rowers.

'For years we in Antigua have watched sunburned and weary Atlantic rowers slowly row into our beautiful and historic Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbour, Antigua, as they have completed their Atlantic Campaign's biannual Atlantic Challenge.  After watching for years, some of us have decided that it is now time that an Antiguan team should be put together as a fours entry and then give it a go.

Being a small twin-island nation (a beach for every day of the year and that is only the beginning!) many of us naturally have turned to the sea to make a living and, as such, many Antiguans are good seafarers, not only as divers and fishermen but also as sailors - just think of Antigua Sailing Week.  There are no real rowers in Antigua but we are 'comfortable' out on the ocean and once the effort is made and we get focussed, the necessary skills will come smoothly on stream.

Team Wadadli has therefore entered the Atlantic Challenge and four rowers will set off from the La Gomera in the Canary Islands heading for Antigua on December 15, 2015 in a boat design known as an R45.  Team members for the rowing race have not been fully chosen yet.  There is a short list of some eight individuals so far who are 'chomping on the bit' to go but the final decision will not be made until early next year.

The team name - Team Wadadli - comes from the colloquial local version of the pre-Columbian Amerindian name for Antigua.  Team Wadadli's charity is the St. John Hospice, a non-profit privately operated and funded palliative institution for the needy who are terminally ill in Antigua.  Many have already been given the opportunity to live out their final days at the Hospice with first class care and dignity which they otherwise would not have been able to do.

We are all looking forward to the adventure and camaraderie associated with this row.  For our competitors who we will be meeting in the Canary Islands next year and who are so inclined, we'll be bringing some of our special English Harbour 5 Year Old Rum for them to sample!

I look forward to sharing our adventure with you all through our blogs and videos as we cross this 2,800 mile wide 'pond'.

With warm regards,
Dr. Nick Fuller'