Scots trio to take on three thousand mile charity row
Saltire Tides are raising money for the Archie Foundation
Three Scottish women will take on a gruelling 3,000 mile row, to raise money for a children’s hospital charity.
Ellen Clark, Jenna Volpert and Lauren Wilde-Arnold will set off across the Atlantic from San Sebastián de La Gomera in the Canary Islands, hoping to get to Antigua in just 40 days.
They are taking on the World’s Toughest Row in aid of the Archie Foundation, which offers healthcare and bereavement support to babies, children, and their families.
Ellen, 25, told Greatest Hits Radio: “Particularly for Jenna through her work as a paediatric surgeon, she's worked really closely with the charity members.
“They do an incredible job working with families in terms of bereavement support.
“They provide funding for families of unexpected hospital stays and they need accommodation near the hospitals, funding specialist equipment and services as well, and also creating children friendly hospital environments, so paintings, murals, sensory spaces that make them less clinical and less scary for the kids.
“I think that the impact that they have on families across Scotland is just amazing, and we've all seen that firsthand through our jobs.”
The trio, based in Edinburgh and Dundee, and going by the name Saltire Tides, have been training out of Dalgety Bay Sailing Club, with just one long row to go until their boat is shipped abroad, ready for the start.
Ellen explained how the row will work, saying: “Once we settle into the crossing, we tend to row two up into the day, so on a two hours on, one hour off shift pattern for 12 hours.
“Overnight, there’s a few different options, but most of them involve us rowing periods solo.”
The boat is designed with two cabins, one on either end, both of which have solar panels on top to help charge batteries.
They will have regular contact with the race officials, but Ellen told Greatest Hits Radio a lot of the journey will be on their own.
She said: “There's no restrictions on who you can communicate with, we have kind of daily or every couple of days contact with the race organiser safety team.
“When we first set off, we were in Spanish waters, so if something was to happen within the first couple of days, the Spanish authorities could, in theory, rescue you.
“Once you cross out of that zone, then you're just another vessel on the Atlantic, so any emergency situations, we have a life raft on board, we've got emergency beacons and a radio, you would put out a mayday call and ask for assistance from any other boat that was nearby.
“There is a safety vessel associated with the event that sets off behind all the rowers, but they tend to just follow the fleet across and they could be multiple days away from you.
“So in terms of getting a fast response, that's not guaranteed, and then in terms of communications, we have the radio and we also have a satellite phone and actually Starlink on board as well.”
She hopes the journey will be an inspiration for other people, telling Greatest Hits Radio: “We really just want to use the row, as well as raising money for an amazing charity, just to inspire other people to get out there and say yes to opportunities that come up.
“It would have been really easy for me and Lauren to say, well, we'd love to do that…but.
“I think both of us just went, actually, why not, let's just give it a go and see if we can do it.”
Saltire Tides will be raising money through a GoFundMe, and can be found at their website and social media.