What a difference this week has made. Michelle has made incredible progress, completing almost 100nm in the last 5 day thanks to favourable conditions and great easterly winds.
As of today, she has just under 400nm to go, with her end point set to Cairns in Queensland. If she continues at the current pace, we are expecting an early April finish.
She is spending over 12 hours on the oars each day with one primary objective in mind, to finish this row as quickly as possible.
Her support crew are activating the arrival plans.
We are ready, excited, and extremely proud to be welcoming this remarkable Australian woman back home.
On Tuesday, she shared her thoughts. This is what she had to say:
I’m so close now, about 500 odd miles away. I’ve rowed, more than 7,500 miles and there’s only 500 to go, but getting to land feels like an eternity away.
We’re going west, heading towards Cairns, which means I’ve got to navigate over the reef.
There’s a lot of things that need to be organized for this, a fair bit of planning, strategy, there’s a plan A, plan B and plan C. It’s super technical for Roger my weather router to get me across the reef at the right time. He’s never let me down so far, I’ve been through the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), crossed the equator, been through 5 hurricanes and 4 cyclones.
After the Great Barrier Reef, there’s a couple of currents that will want to take me north, and then the next stop is Cairns. I’m now just dreaming of stepping on land.
At the moment, it’s some really conscious focused hours on the oars with the finish line now in sight.
Apart from my lack of sweets and fresh produce, I’m doing great, no complaints. Health-wise, all is good. Right now, my options when I land are looking pretty good. That stack of pancakes is going to be so amazing, as is a bunch of celery, some chopped capsicum and cucumber. Randomly, I’ve been thinking about having a can of Sprite, and I don’t ever touch soft drink either.
A bed, with fresh sheets, so divine, and a shower, and to get my hair done as well! The things going through my mind are rampant now. I expect it will take me a week to become a socially acceptable human again. To look after my skin, my feet, everything’s been so neglected.
There’s only a couple of hurdles ahead of me right now, and they’re quite minor in comparison to what I’ve been through… so looking forward to getting to land I am. My patience has been tried and tested, I’m ready to land…
Ends/…
Days at Sea: 221
Current Location: Approximately 740 km from Cairns, Australia.
Distance travelled: Approximately 13,580 km from Mexico
Departed: Ensenada on the West Coast of Mexico 8th August in 2022
Expected Arrival: Early April – Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Click here to see her LIVE Tracker
