She Did it!

Watch the video of her arrival

Rotary Wickford is so proud to have sponsored Linda Blakely in her attempt to row the Atlantic solo in support of Action Medical Research!

Linda achieved this feat in 54 days and 9 hours insodoing raising over £100,000 for the charity whose aim is to change children’s lives through medical research, developing treatments, vaccinations and cures which she discovered through a member of her staff who has a daughter with a rare genetic condition which results in devastating  epileptic seizures.

Linda's voyage was by no means plain sailing as very early on in the trip her boat was capsized and she lost an oar. The winds and tides were against her so that very early on she was finding it difficult to maintain the course she had intended to take, which would have enabled her to attempt to break the record by completing the row in 40 days. She endured the boat being swamped by huge waves, harsh conditons and risked being run over by oil tankers.

Even when she was within a mile of her destination  in Barbados the weather wasn't kind to he. Strong winds were blowing her off course for the marina where she intended to land and so with a superhuman last effort she rowed as hard as she could to land on a beach somewhat further down the coast. Once she landed she was then able to get a tow to the Marina to meet friends supportes and relatives

Go to Linda's Facebook page for the full story