 A few people go, yeah, but surely there's a boat that you get on to and you sleep on that and then you get back on the rowing boat and I'm like, no. The first six miles I was like, I've got this in the bag, you know. And then people always go, oh, what was the hardest bit, the third mile? Or I always go the last 24 miles. No one can go, you took the easy route, you know. And you know, you've got to work for them, you've got to get after them. But then, you know, the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory they say. Jack, how are you brother? Yeah, really good Chris. Thank you so much for having me on. Absolute pleasure. I'm just in awe of what you're about to do. So Jack Jarvis, Jack Jarvis, our friends at home, a fellow commando is going to be the first person to row from mainland Europe to mainland USA. Jack, just explain to us, because obviously we've had two Atlantic or should I say two teams of Atlantic rowers on the show. Lee Spencer who rode solo with one leg. Yeah, I know Lee Spencer, really good guy, isn't it? Yes, and he smashed a load of records. Yeah, have you seen his upcoming challenge? Yes, he's going to do this. Is it the triathlon of Great Britain? Yes, it's mad. I was speaking to him the other day and he was like, I was like, mate, you've done enough fundraising, I mean, but no, he's a cool guy. Yes, I guess the issue there is, and it's going to be the issue with yourself, isn't it? If the currents are in your favour. Yeah, yeah, a big one. So I'll tell everyone a little bit about your challenge. Like you said, first person to go from mainland Europe to mainland North America, non-stop, solo, unsupported. So that just means, you know, can't can't stop anywhere. So in the Canaries or, you know, in the Caribbean on my way to North America, unsupported means once I set off from Portugal, that is me completely on my own. A few people go, yeah, but surely there's a boat that you get on to and you sleep on that and then you get back on the rowing boat. And I'm like, no, on that boat, I can't so much as take a Mars bar off a sailing boat if I pass one. And obviously people sometimes get mixed up. People have obviously rode the Atlantic solo like Lee Spence, but we just did different routes. So Lee Spence went from mainland Europe to South America. A lot of people go from the Canaries to the Caribbean. So yeah, that's what makes my route unique. I'm going mainland to mainland Europe to North America. And I start this December. Yes. And I'm guessing it's the trade winds, isn't it? It's quite, because they get cropped clockwise. Exactly that. Exactly that. So, you know, it's funny how people say, oh, you know, you're mad, you know, you're brave doing something that no one's ever done before. And I said, oh, no, I'm just, I'm smart, you know, because if you try and beat someone's record, if you have no wind, you know, or no assistance, no assistance from the elements, and they add, you know, 40 not winds on their aft for two months, you're not going to be there. So, you know, smart, rather, I would think. But yeah, that's exactly right. You know, it is weather dependent, how quick. So that's why I've got quite a wide left and right of arcs. So 90 anywhere between 90 to 140 days on planning for its sake. So tell us about being an all arms commander, then, because we've had Rusty Furman on the show, and I believe he was five nine, was he not? Yeah, so I was so exactly that. So I'm guessing probably you've got a lot of Royal Marine followers. So it's a little bit different. So obviously, you join the you join the corps and everyone in the Royal Marines is a commander, whether you're a chef or a driver or, you know, heavy weapons or, you know, an ML, but it's not like that. So I joined the engineers. And then once you finish your basic training, your combat engineer training and then your trade training, you have the option to go. There's multiple options. So obviously, Commando P company, you can go amphibious, search stuff like that. So lots of options. And my dad was was five nine. Oh, my God, father's worse. I didn't really have a choice. You know, I always remember thinking like, you know, in dark days on the commando, but Jesus, how was he gonna look me in the eye across the Christmas dinner table if I go back and I couldn't do something that he could do. So yeah, so I volunteered for that when I was past training to about 18, went down to limestone, well, volunteer, volunteered originally, you know, and always try and say some, I now train phase two recruits. And I remember when I first volunteered, you know, I could do two pull ups, couldn't climb the 30 meter rope straight in the tank of the regain, adjust about got around the bottom field because I was a whip, it was about 70 kilos, piss, wet throat, like four minutes, 58 or something. But I went away, worked it for six months. And yeah, then ended up going down passing, passing first attempt. And then I passed out in July, no, I think July, August of 2012, and then joined five nine commando, spent seven and a half years with them and loved it. And yeah, and then now I got posted and now I've been posted to our phase two establishment. So a very brief history there, Chris, with my military career. I always like to ask people what was your nemesis and when it comes to the commando tests? Yeah, so I wouldn't say I had a had a nemesis as such like I was, I was like I said, I trained because I went on that fan visit, you know, when I was still sort of four or no, probably six months away from finishing my trade course. So I, you know, I knew what I had to work on and I turned up quite, quite well prepared. But the test I found the hardest was actually a 30 mile. And it's funny, I remember, I remember starting, you know, you do the first up at the cracker door and leave on campus and the first six miles, I was like, I've got this in the bag, you know, and then people always go, well, what was the hardest bit, the third night or I was going the last 24 miles, I was in clip, like, you know, but yeah, made it round really good. You know, my Godfather turned up tail. So it was really cool to see him as we come over the bridge and then had a point and fell straight a sleeve, cramped up on the coach back to limestone. And then the worst, you've obviously got to put your cap comfort on and then run around company. Yes, there's no letting up. Jack, can I just say, can you try not to touch the table because it's it's coming over really loud and people on iTunes and that will just be like, oh, yeah, sorry, I can't listen to it. Yeah, it's, um, mate, I've done this a while now and it's, um, um, you, you, I learned to rain in all my bad habits. I'm so like everywhere. Yes. And, um, was it your first time in Plymouth or, or had you been there before? No, so, so we've, we've five, nine of moves from Plymouth. We're now based, um, with CLR up in Banstall. Oh, bad luck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's nice in the summer, obviously, you know, with the beaches and the surf and that, but in the winter it's bloody grim. Um, but no, yeah, uh, so I got posted there seven and a half years, you know, did all the brigade deployments, um, you know, Norway's, America's, Scotland's, maybe not as good, um, Albania's. Yeah, so it was really, really good time. Really enjoyed myself. I like it. You got, um, some telemarks skis behind you. Yeah. I was wondering if you'd clock them. Yes. We've got a little, um, uh, come on. Oh, it's actually, it's actually the shelf for you. Yeah. Oh, that's the first. Yeah, pretty cool. Does that mean when the snow comes, you have to take all your drinks off and well, to be fair, we used to have them just loose in the bar or we used to like try and put them on like ski down the stairs, like obviously tank top and that. And then Smudge was like, let's put these to good use and stop someone breaking a bloody ankle. They're actually really good skis. We called them Puss's Planks, which was a bit of a slur, but to be honest, um, you know, they're not like obviously racing skis, but robust. They've got new ones now. Have they really? Yeah, I've got new ones. Yeah, I hear they're, um, they're better, but I haven't had the pleasure of trying them out yet. Oh, just, I love Cross Country. I want to plan a trip, one of my next adventures or upcoming adventures to just ski somewhere and, and, you know, have my tent and everything like, like in Norway and just, I don't know, across Greenland or maybe, um, maybe just go to the north of Norway and ski down to Oslo or something. Yeah. Um, it's just, it's, it's just incredible, incredible. Yes, I think it's epic. I was going to say, have you heard about that race in Switzerland? Um, it's a mad ski race that they do over the mountains. That's, that looks quite punchy. It's not probably what you're looking for, because it's over sort of like three or four days and then it's done. Or it might be short of it. Yes, but it's pretty epic. I consider anything. There's one in Sweden. It's called that all Swedish people listen and forgive my pronunciation, but it's something like the Vasa Loppet, Vasa Loppet. Um, and it's, uh, it's, I think it's done in a day and it's over a hundred miles or something, but of course, because of all this, I, and I put in for it or I was just about to put in for it. And then, of course, all this stuff happened and, um, that was, that was game over. Yeah. It's been a very crap sort of, but we seem to be coming out sort of the back of it now, which is good, but it's been a really, you know, crap 18 months. And then, you know, yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't hold your breath, mate. There'll be more of this to come. Yeah. Well, I think it's crossed. People are not broken down enough yet and not enough people have committed suicide and lost their whole, whole livelihoods. And yet people are still going to support it because they do the one thing I ask my subs not to, which is watch mainstream media. Yeah. Till you turn that shit off, you, you're never going to blossom in your life, you know? Yeah. No, I, I do, you know, I'm not, I don't think we need to go down the COVID rabbit hole. Um, but certainly cause I don't have a thing as well, Chris. Are you sick of talking about it? Um, let's just say as far as the podcast goes, I always ask my guests, just let's not go there simply because everyone comes on so upset. Yeah. Instead of talking about their wonderful bought the t-shirt life story, you know, trying to make sense of the world. Um, I'm involved. I don't, I won't talk too much about it, but I'm involved with a wonderful group of veterans now who, who are questioning like what happened to the freedom that our buddies died for. What happened to the freedom that all those bloody teenagers in the first world war went over the top and got sliced down by machine gun fire. You know, we, they died for freedom, freedom of choice, freedom of information. Yeah. Freedom over your, your own body. And all of that has just been handed away. Yeah. And as far as this, the veterans, it's unacceptable. It's just, it's just unacceptable. Um, but let's, let's get back to your wonderful story. Otherwise we're going to get kicked, kicked off some of the platforms that we're on. You know, there's a clue there in itself, isn't it? If you can't talk about stuff, then it raises a red flag, but yeah, exactly. Exactly. So why, you did some rowing in a military and I heard you were quite good at it. Yeah. I mean, quite good. Chris is maybe general. So I'd like to describe myself as a bit of an ergo monkey. So not much technique, but just a lot of brute monk strength. I like to call it. But yeah, it did pretty well. So I think it was in 2019, um, two four. So we won the indoor rowing league. Um, so really, really good achievement. You know, again, I'm not sure if it was down to finesse, you know, skill, technique, maybe just good group of lads getting after it. Um, you know, so did that. And then, uh, one of my friends, Duncan Roy, um, he got MD from the military, uh, with an injury and he went and rode the Atlantic and he came back to our unit and he gave a brief Chris. And you know, when you just hear someone speak and he just like, wow. And instantly it was just like that light bulb moment. Something clicked and I was inspired. You know, I was like, right, I need to do something like this. Um, so, you know, got in, start putting the feelers out. Um, you know, found about the ocean rowing society and got called Chris Martin, not the lead singer of Coldplay. Um, just to clear that up and, uh, sort of come in and came about with this idea and you know, started planning in it. And it's sort of, it's Chris, it's something like this, these expeditions that plan are so far away from like the instant gratification. Um, that we're so accustomed to now. I always say, you know, with that lazy now, you know, 10, 15 years ago, you had to get off your arse, go to your kitchen drawer and get your takeaway menu. Like now you don't even have to bloody, you know, you don't even have to get off the sofa because it's sitting around. Um, so yeah. I remember, mate, I remember the days you actually had to freaking cook food. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah. So it's so far away from that. And, um, and then so that's, you know, what's inspired me to do, why ocean rowing. Um, and then, you know, sort of another reason was like, well, I'm gonna do this. I love, I want to raise some money for charity because I ran the new forest marathon again in the back end of 2019. I think it was back into 2019. And, uh, people were grudged. I was raising money for brain tumor research. Charity really pushed my heart because my granddad passed away with brain tumor and people were like, yeah, but chat, why should we give you, you know, 20 quid? We know you can, you know, run a marathon. I remember thinking I was like, hang on a minute, hang on a minute. I'm, it's not going in my skyrocket. Do you know what I mean? Like he's going to the charity. So that's why then the row developed. I was like, right, if I row the Atlantic and then not only do something that's never been done before, no one can go, you took the easy route, you know, and again, I love that, you know, that dogged, tenacious, you know, pick the hard way, you know, don't, you know, don't take the easy way, find the hard way and, you know, earn it through grind and determination. I'll tell you an interesting thing. I was on ship for a year and one of the experience had been on 12 Marines on an aircraft carrier and we did a charity row in the middle of the Atlantic or that might have been the Mediterranean or something, right? They just got the row of machines up on the deck and it was bootnecks against the mat loads against the air moon or something like this. And I got on that thing. I've never been particularly fit, you know, I'll get by, you know, but of course, I'm up against these and I can't, we can't lose. So I'm on this machine and I don't know, it was maybe just a mile or something we had to row. It wasn't a lot and I just gave it my all. And afterwards, either what you could describe as a funny turn, yeah, I started to feel really strange. You know, I've run 100 miles nonstop. I've run 200 miles in six days. I've run 1000 miles the length of the country sleeping at the side of the road and none of that. Yeah, different intent, different intensity though, Chris, you know, when you get on that Erg and you, you know, you really throw down like, it's just like just falling off it, you know, and that's the thing that my row will be sort of away from that two, that two minute 2k best effort. You know, it'll be more like what you're saying, you know, those big 100 mile races, you know, you know, I described the planning of this like a grind, you know, having meetings, you know, dead ends that go nowhere and, you know, like this, I had a message as such, a little bit corny that, you know, good things are out to come, like, you know, they don't come easy. And, you know, you've got to work for them, you've got to get after them. But then, you know, the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory, they say. Yes. You know, it's, you know, it'd be like those runs, it'd be more of a grind. Yeah, those runs are just, you just keep cracking on it. This bloody little row, I went to my bunk bed and I crawled in it and I was in there for two days. I couldn't get out of it just for a mile row. I was absolutely, I was feeling sick, nauseous. Yeah. Just, you know, just absolute, it was the most I think I've ever pushed myself. Yeah. Did you win though? No. It's not even worth it. I think the Stoker's one or something. I don't know. Maybe we did. My claim to fame is that we had an internship football match. So I represented the Royal Marines. Yeah. And so my claim to fame is, is that I represent the Royal Marines at football. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Famous threats. Yeah, you've got to sell it, you know, like before I joined the army, I was an underwater ceramic technician. I just used to wash up plates in a pub, you know, like just to tell how you, how you package it, mate, how you package it. Another little one that I pulled is I was on, I did actually fly fish for the Royal Marines. I was on the Royal Marines fly fishing team, but of course there's only like 10 fly fishers in that whole other court. That was a lovely little number. We got to go away these beautiful locks up in Scotland and just fish for a couple of days. That still never really caught, caught many, but this is, this is the thing. And you know, when I talk about them, you know, the military and you know, whether it is, you know, the Corps or the Army or the Navy or, you know, God forbid the RAF, you know, so many opportunities out there. Like, you know, you don't realize how lucky, you know, some of the opportunities I've had, like going, doing biathlon skiing for six weeks, full pay. And because I was obviously representing my unit, we were on LSA all the way and, you know, none of my civvies mates have done that. Do you know what I mean? And like you said, going fly fishing like on a, you know, Wednesday afternoon, you don't get that if you're, you know, a bricklayer on site, do you know what I mean? You know, the opportunities are amazing. And you know, I was lucky. It's always funny that a lot of my peer group here, not so much in a commando wing, I'm very similar to me, but they're like up, you know, into Kenya and Canada. And I've never been to Kenya and Canada because free commando reggae don't go there. And while I tell them I've been, you know, six months in the Caribbean doing hurricane disaster relief, you know, on ship, Norway and all this. And I was like, well, that's mad. You know, so we, and then, as well, I was really lucky, although I never went to on a herrick because I joined up too late. And it was all over by the time I was, you know, 16 and joining the Army. I went to the Philippines in 2013 after Typhoon Hyam. And that was, you know, a really like cool experience for what I would have been what, 1920. Yeah, really good, really good. Yes. Yes. Had a trip to the Philippines once, fell in love actually. That was easily done out there. I got an indulgence flight to Canada once. And then I thought you were going to say you've got an indulgence mash up. So I was like, all right, Chris, this podcast is going. I would never have one of those in Bangkok and Germany and dreams, mate. Yeah, I got an indulgence flight to Canada. So I paid like 40 quid. I had just the time of my life over there for three weeks. Just met my mate's family, met a lot of party goers and they looked after me. And then I couldn't get an indulgence flight back. Yeah. So I had to stay another three weeks. And I found up my work and for our friends at home, big no no to be absent without leave. It's basically you go to prison in the military. And I found that work and one of the corpus answered and I'm like, John, it's Chris, I'm stuck in Canada now. I can't, you know, if I pay for a civi flight, so 800 quid to get back or something. Yeah. He went, mate, don't worry, probably silence away for three weeks, take your time. I'm like, yes. Such a prop sometimes, isn't it? Yes. So, yes, brain tumour. Fun enough, the hundred minor I did for my birthday weekend was to raise money for a little girl who's recovering from a brain tumour. So you've got the motivation now. You're also raising awareness of suicide. Yes. Which is, you know, gosh. Yeah. So Chris, I'll tell you a little bit about Belfast Charity. So first one is is brains trust, which is a brain tumour charity based on the Isle of Wight. So not far from me. And they do some brilliant things for, you know, families, people affected by brain tumours, you know, health advice and things like that. And like I said, my granddad passed away with a brain tumour in 2007. And I didn't know this, obviously, at the time. But brain tumours kill more people under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet only receive less than 1% of national cancer research funding. And so, yeah, that's that's why I picked up charity, you know, doing some brilliant things. And then the second charity is calm, the campaign against liver miserably. And it was while I was away on shit, I got quite friendly with one of the, with one of the Navy guys called, called Mason. Now, he was captain of the Navy rugby team. So you know, you know, played at Twickenham, very prestigious, you know, honor. You'd walk into a room and you'd hear a mate who's like big prop but didn't look, you know, I'm sorry, didn't act like how he looked like really friendly guy, you know, really nice guy. And then unfortunately, he took his own life. And I remember thinking at the time I was like, he's the, the, like the stereotypical classic someone you say, I never thought he would do it. And it really just showed, you know, you don't, you don't know what's people's going through and calm, do some brilliant things ever 24 seven, 365 day a year, outline that you can, you can phone if you're going through a difficult time. So yeah. And, and also, you know, especially being in the military and, and, you know, we know a lot of guys that, you know, going through that hard time as well. So that's why I picked, I picked calm. Yes, brilliant mate. Absolutely, absolutely brilliant. You know, you're never going to know how many lives that you save off the back of this and full credit to him. No, cheers. Thank you very much. And I always, you know, you talk about inspiration and things like that, you know, when people go, how can you, how can you do that? And I'm like, all you say, all I've got to do, I'm aware it's going to be at this monumental challenge that's going to be really difficult on some, on some dark days. But, you know, look at my ground up, you know, battle of brains for like three years, you know, you know, people, you know, lose their job, you know, like my breakup with a missy has got like two kids to like all my breakup with their, you know, husband, you know, two kids to feed, you know, think of the stress, you know, that they're going through in life. And, you know, and that's what I want to try and do, you know, show that we all go through our times. But, you know, if you, you know, you can't just let them take out, you can't, you know, you've got to work, it's not easy, but you've got to fight, you've got to be determined, you've got to be tenacious. And if you are those things, if you show those qualities, you will get through it, you know. Yeah. And also, like being Mid-Atlantic, rowing along with a sun on your face, I know you're going to get the big waves and stuff, but you're listening to a podcast or you're listening to some banging tunes and you're just high on life. Like, why would you not choose that over working in a nine to five in a job that you hate? Exactly, mate. Killing your life, just looking forward to the weekend. When the weekend comes, all you do is get pissed and have hangover all day, Sunday and feel shit. Yeah. Working for a boss that, let's be honest, he hasn't really got, or she hasn't got your best interests at all. It's a no brainer, is it not? Yeah, no, exactly. And people would say, you know, why? And I was like, because as much as I love, you know, I do enjoy my job, but I wanted something more, I wanted that fulfillment, I wanted that adventure. And I'm not saying, you know, it gets increased, like, it's all about, you know, levels as such. You know, I'm not saying, you know, maybe a 40 year old man or woman who's, you know, doesn't run nine to their fizz should to that tomorrow go out and say, right, I'm the rodeo Atlantic, you know, but have a goal in life, you know, that's, you know, had this goal. And now I'm, you know, going to achieve it, you know, it might be for that 40 year old man or woman to run a 10k. And then once you've done that 10k, right, think what's next, well, a half marathon, and then a marathon, you know, you know, it's about going out and getting because that fulfillment you get from doing something like that is better than, you know, 10. I mean, I don't know, I love me pints as well as much as the next bloke. And I'm sure we'll talk about her that later. But, you know, it is, you know, that feel that feeling of when you do, you do, like, you know, run up like I've run a marathon. I tell you what, I felt better after it than what I've had an absolute skimful and taken some, you know, little slosh puppy home, you know, I mean, yes, of course. So let's talk about how do you get this together? Obviously, I'm guessing your first focus is getting a bump. Yeah. So good question, Chris. So when I decided right, I'm going to rodeo Atlantic, you know, there's not a, maybe I should do this actually, release a book out to rodeo Atlantic, you know, in fact, yeah, I'm going to have that. All right, copyright here. Okay, you heard it. Yeah, you know, so what you do is just sort of, so I was lucky out of a good friend in Duncan Roy, who'd rode to two oceans when I decided I was going to do it. So I obviously spoke to him and then you speak to more people about getting, you know, about their experiences. And then, you know, it's the sort of power of social media, you know, you start a, you start an Instagram and a Twitter page, United We Conquer, everyone give me a follow. You know, you start, you start that and it sort of builds momentum and you approach sponsors and it's really tough, mate. And like I said, it's a grind and you have to have that dogged determination because Chris, I can't tell you how many people, how many meetings I've had, phone calls I've made of people, you know, like, but bullshit, like, oh, yeah, yeah, well interesting, they definitely do something for you. Give me a call tomorrow. And then you call on tomorrow and then they've obviously blocked your number or they just don't answer, you know, I don't remember one meeting, guy, you know, give them the pitch and he's gone, you know, now I'm listening to him chat, because it was shit. And he's like, you know, Jack, I've had the first cares at the women, at the watches, at the, you know, flash fillers. I was all right, nice use, you know, at the cocaine parties. I'm like, Jesus, bloody Wolf of Wall Street. And I was like, you know, you know, could you do, could you do five grand, you know, a lot of sponsors? Look, mate, don't know if we're, we're there yet, you know, I've been a tough year, I had to let a few people go and I was just like, hang on, you've just been making out that you're bloody Hugh Heffner at the Playboy Mansions, like, you're not hardly short of a penny, are you? So yeah, you know, it's really tough. But then, you know, I had some great sponsors come on board Dagger Dive Services, you know, through my personal connection. So the guy that x59 at downtown and he come on board, Sean Crawford drops so much on wear into the bay, come on board Rose and Partners, Finch Bakery, Nifty, you know, Saab, GW Rail Freight, you know, some real, you know, you can't, that's another thing I'd say to anyone who wants to row an ocean. Don't think, because everyone always goes, have you, have you approached Red Bull? Like my noun blesses you, I'm going to say, no, you should get in touch with Amazon. And I was like, yeah, I'll just, I'll just get on the customer service line and say, yeah, Jeff Bezos there, yeah, sweet, I need 100 grand, because that's how much it roughly costs or anywhere between sort of 70 and 100 grand. But yeah, you know, like I said, Finch Bakery, you know, a bakery just in Lancashire that two of my friends own, lovely girls, Lauren and Rachel. And then, yeah, they gave us, you know, like 3,000 pounds, you know, and that's amazing, you know, it's like so amazing. And the big thing as well, it's obviously the financial support is massive, Chris, but it's the, it's the thought that they believe in you that they're going to give you their cold hard catch. That's where I draw more inspiration from. I'm like, well, obviously I believe in myself, but for someone else to believe in me, that's one of the big things, you know, and I've maybe not struggled with that, but sometimes I threw my life for everyone, no one thinks I can do it and stuff like this, you know. So yeah, so you get the money together and I put 15 grand of my own money. And then, then I had a boat and then, you know, you approach companies that I could buy some food and my mate's fencing company, Bieland Fencing, gave us a stock of 1,000 pounds to buy me 145 freeze-dried meals. And then next thing, you know, you're sat, you know, opposite you, Chris, you know, chatting about it. So yeah, that's sort of how you do it. There's no hard and fast rule. Like some companies come on and sponsor, you know, 100 grand and that's them, they cover the whole exhibition costs. But then me, I've got lots of little sponsors. I ran raffles, you know, raffle. Thank big shout out to James Ward Prouse, by the way. He donated a match worn shirt and the whole Southampton Football Club signed it. So ruffled that. Cheers for everyone that bought a ticket. So yeah, there's no hard and fast rule. You just got sort of adapt and, you know, be flexible and just think of new ways, you know, hosted a few piss ups as well, you know, which are always good fun. So yeah, so that's sort of how I've got to this position. So are you buying, let's call it a second hand boat, or are you having one designed for you? No, so I bought a second hand. You can have one, obviously, built new, that cost more. So I bought mine second hand, so it's on one crossing. And I named it after my granddad, Budgie. People say it's, you know, a bad lot to rename a boat, but I don't believe in that. You know, I believe in you make your own luck. And I thought, you know, what a nice touch, me and my granddad together for one last ride across the Atlantic. So yeah, the Budgie look out for me. You'll be able to trap me through an app through called YB races. I hope I'm really good as well. Shout out to them. And they're going to trap me and host me on their app for absolutely nothing. So big shout out to Rachel. So yeah, you'll be able to trap me in my little seven-meter boat. Gosh. Yeah. And so food wise, you mentioned dry rations. Yeah. So Chris, you know what you take to Norway? It's exactly them, you know. And for people that don't know what Norway rations are, it's effectively a pop noodle, you know, just a little bit more nutritional value in. So yeah, they do loads of fun in my grandma's side, because a lot of them are curry. I think because of the rice, you can get the calories in with their arms and the curry sauce probably actually, let's not beat around the bush. She was like, curry in the mid-Atlantic. She was like, Jack, you know, we're not be, you know, pulling all the time. And I was like, I might be grandma, but I think I need the rice content, the curry sauce to get the calories up. So yeah, a lot of curries, but as well, they've come on probably so much since, you know, even the military rations have come on so much. So you can imagine what they're like in the sort of civilian. Well, really good, mate. You know, a real term that reindeer stew, you know, I'd be happy if someone served that me in a restaurant. It's delightful. I'm going to have that on Christmas, you know, reindeer festive. Have you used MREs, these ones that you heat up? American ones. Yeah. So they have, they have them now in, in some of the English Russian rations. Yeah, they're quite good. Yeah, rations is that they're heavier and they don't have the calorie content of dry rations. Yeah, I'm very kindly. One of our supporters, Barry, hello, Barry, if you're out there, he sent me quite a few boxes of various ration packs. And one was the American MREs and one was the British. It's quite funny, really. I look at it. Freaking makes me feel sick just looking at all the sugary drinks. And I don't mind stuff like processed cheese and savory stuff. But even when I'm doing like endurance stuff, I never go really, you're never going to see me drinking Luke's aid or something like that. Another shameless plug here. But have you tried, you know, built on beef jerky. So an X, again, X590, built on beef. He donated, you know, a few bags of built on. He's going to do the same again for the row. And mate, it's lovely. Do you know what I mean? I'm a bit like you. I'm not as sorry. I'm not as as anti sweet as you. You know, I like a mix, but I like my savory stuff as well. Chris, so good, mate, you know, and as well, the good thing with like built on is you chew it. It's quite tough, obviously. It lasts a lot longer. So you feel like you're getting more bang for your buck, rather than, you know, just a little square of chocolate that you chew once, then you swallow. So yeah, there's my recommendation, mate, in your next hundred miler. Yes. Yes. When I do my runs and stuff, I just eat whatever I feel like eating at home. I try to be more plant-based. So my girlfriend buys me this vegan jerky, which is actually really not, you know. Is it from Aldi? Yeah. Yeah. I'll try some of that. It's good. Chris, you're my favourite thing about vegan food, right? I'm, you know, not vegan, but I love eating vegan food because it really winds people up the wrong way that I'm vegan. I'm like, they're like, well, why don't you just have meat? I was like, well, why wouldn't you just have something plant-based? They're like, it's really simple, folks, if you listen, you can't be a legend and eat meat. You just can't. You'll live a mediocre life. The world's strongest men. I'm not talking like the steroid guys. I mean, they're genuinely, they're all plant-based. The world's best, fastest ultra-runners, they're plant-based. The world's smartest thinkers, they're and I'm not, I don't have any like strict rules in my life. If I want to go and I, I mean, you know, the hundred mile runner did the other half lobster halfway through because you can't get that where I live. Hang on, hang on, all right. You do an hundred mile race and you have lobster. Yeah, I stopped at this pub. Oh, right. Okay. Yeah. I got the menu out. I tell you what, it was absolutely gorgeous. I had five cups of tea, a pint of limeade, a bottle of soul. And that's another thing. You know, I try not to drink much these days, but when I'm on a run, I just do whatever I feel, right. But um, yeah, we need, I'm only saying this for our young people listening. When you hear people slagging off people that eat plant-based, it's, it's don't, don't be that person. What you're saying is, is that you don't know a lot about life. Yeah. You know, the human body, we thrive on plants. That's, that's what. See, I'm not as, you know, I'm, you know, I do eat, you know, me, not complete bar. I love some, you know, plant-based food as well. Like, I'm, you know, like, you know, I like the environment needs to look after it. You can't have meat bloody every day. You know, it's just non-sustainable. Um, you know, if you, and I always look back, you know, when we're sort of hunter-gatherers, having meat was a treat, was, you know, was a very big treat. So, you know, I like that as well. Some of the plant-based products now you know, if people, people say, yeah, but I love meat, you should try them because some of them, you know, those substitutes are really close. But then once you've gotten into that, you know, you try some things that, you know, aren't so, I'm going to send you the recipe, may I, Chris, after this for a chickpea. Uh, I learned, I touched a funny story actually. So I was trying to, well, this isn't, this isn't there. So I was trying to, this was a few years ago before I was, you know, I was trying to fire into this, uh, vegan, vegan young lady. And, uh, she was like, yeah, you, you do eat me. And I was like, no, no. She was like, oh, what should go to dish? And I was like, oh, like just chickpea, chickpea curry. She's like, oh, yeah, yeah, send us the recipe. And I was like, yeah, well, I'm making it tonight, you know, in that word from it. So she's like, oh, awesome. Like make sure you send me a picture. And I was like, bollocks. So I was like, quickly chickpea curry. Found it. It was actually really good. But now it's like my, you know, a signature dish. She's like, oh, my God, that looks amazing. You like to make it for me. And I was like, yeah, make it all the time. No drivers. Yes, it's, um, I try to explain this a lot in my life, coaching, but, but you are bodies vibrate at a certain frequency in, in tune with what they're supposed to in the grander universe. And, and it's called a Kundalini effect. It means you, you literally live every day on a high. So you don't have any mental health issues, any goal you choose, you just get out to smash it. Too much meat just creates too much acid in your body's tissues. And that, that in itself is a bit like drinking alcohol, you know, the next day, you just can't help but feel shit, you know, you just can't help. And meat is a similar thing on a, on a much smaller level. But your body, it stops your, your, this all important vibration. And so this isn't, although, you know, it is about the animals in, in a, you know, factory farm, and it's just bloody despicable when you think about it. But for me, it's not so much that, although that is important. It's more like you get one life. And I just want to smash every goal that I, I mean, I want to roll the Atlantic absolutely. And, and, and, you know, that's, that's definitely a plan for me. And so, Chris, if you want to roll the Atlantic, and I have no doubt that you could do it, you just, and this is, this is the thing, you just need to set yourself a date and say, right, I'm going to do it on this day. And if you're worried about, you know, because obviously I bought, you know, because ocean row boats like cars, you know, you can get ones, you know, really fine-tuned carbon light, you know, you get slight, so, you know, it doesn't need to be this massive expensive thing, but you just got to be rigid and set a date and say, right, I'm going to roll the Atlantic on this, this year at the end of 2024. And then once you've said it, you know, you've got a date and you can start approaching sponsors, you know, and, and don't be disheartened because it's not easy. I'm telling you now, it hasn't been easy. It's been a slog, you know, it's been what I've been talking about, what I've been thinking about for the past 18 months, two years, you know, but I'm here now and now, and then all of a sudden, Chris, you'll have a boat and you'll be like, all right, I'm doing it. So yeah, I'll definitely, I'll definitely say, do it and just, just, just be rigid and just say it, because if, because if you say, I'm going to do it, you'll never do it, you know. Yeah, for me, it's more a case of, like, I asked my mate the other day, Mike, hello, Mike, if you're, he's a, you know, he's done some adventurous stuff. I said, mate, would you roll the Atlantic with me and he said, Chris, I'm a dad. I'm not being, you know, I'm not going to put my life up for it. I said, mate, it's, yes, there are dangers, but it's not statistically, it's not really the most dangerous, you know, the boats are so safety wise these days. And as long as you've done your training, you follow your procedures and you don't do stuff stupid, like people say that to me, you know, it's dangerous. I was like, well, if, if you're always lanyarded to the boat, you'll never become separated. The boats are designed not to sink. And as long as you keep your hatches closed, which your hatches should always be closed unless you're transiting through them. And so, you know, I, it's, it's dangerous if you're unprepared, you know, and you go in half cocked. If you're well prepared, well drilled, you should be for, obviously, there are these the risk of something catastrophic happening, but that is, you know, normally that's something out of your control, you know, like a rogue wave or something like that. When I was chatting to Lee Spencer, he, you know, I said, did, did it get hairy? And he's like, yeah, I mean, he had 40 foot waves or something for three nights. Yeah. And he, and he's on his own. And Lee's got one leg, not, not, but that bloody stops him doing anything. But yeah. And it's kind of in the back of my mind. I, I don't know if he, if I'd want that experience alone, whether I'd want to be with a mate. So it's Lee's, it's like, yeah, I certainly want, want to put my life in jeopardy because I'm a father and that would just be cruel, cruel, you know, my son's really young. So yeah, that's the thing. I just watched Matthew Pritchard. I'll follow him on Instagram. He's on the monkey fist too. Yeah, I don't know what I just remember seeing the videos that they were putting on Instagram. And he's a bit of a legend of mine, you know, I really like that I want to get him on the show. And because he's, because he's plant-based now, isn't he? And yeah, he's plant-based. And again, folks, if you listen, he'll, he'll do 10 iron men in one go. 10. Most people, a lifetime dream to do a half marathon, maybe a marathon tops. Iron man, it's a very limited view. Now this guy does 10 in a row, non-stop, basically. And yeah, and plant-based. He's just a great, just a great, great example. And for anyone, sorry, to put a bit of context, Matt was in the show Dirty Sanchez, Dirty Sanchez, which was all about sex, drugs and rock and roll and shoving spikes through your cheek and nailing your balls to the table and all these extreme stuff, right, off the back of their sort of skateboarding careers. And I think like a lot of us, you know, he's getting a bit older and wiser. Yeah, wiser, but probably more sensible. And that, that reflects in, you know, you, you, you leave the party stuff behind and you start to seek more fulfilling pleasures and sort of more challenging ones, I suppose. But when I looked at the footage they sent, and I think it was three of them, might have been four, but Well, I think it was four. Four, yeah. They, they were just having a ball the whole time. And the, the sea just seemed calm. The weather was, and I guess you can have two different experiences. Can you not? Yeah, definitely. And I definitely think that's something that's happened more recently. So teams are more, more prepared, you know, more professional. And this isn't me, you know, slating anyone that did it 10, 15, 20 years ago, but the kids gotten better, the boats have gotten better, you know, like everything else. So yeah, teams definitely more prepared than they were. One second. Have we got a grass mower outside? We'll edit that out. Edit that out. I can't work with these amateurs. Yeah, sorry. So what was the end? We're talking about, like, can you have an easy run of it with nice weather and can't say, yeah, yeah, you know, and obviously the weather helps. But having said that, you know, if calm weather's and, and, you know, no wind, for instance, means a slower crossing, you know, my boat will be a sort of near and a tonne by the time, well, when I leave Portugal. So it's a, it's a lot of, a lot of boats are moved with no wind. So if you've got, what's the back of the boat, the after-end, the stern, the stern, you've got the bow and the stern, is that the right terminology? Sorry. You've got the front of the boat, that's the prowl or the bow. Wind on your aft, you stern. Stern, yeah. Sorry, for a marine, I should get that bit right. Nice. So if you've got the wind on your stern, obviously it's pushing you along. Yes. Does that mean that they design these boats with a big stern or is that called cheating or how does that work? No, so I think there's a, there's a GM rule rule in the Ocean Road Society that the bow cabin can't be too big. You know, but obviously some boats are designed to catch more wind, you know, than others, but it comes down to a lot of things, you know, weight, like a lot of boats now are made out of carbon, which is obviously lighter than wood, fiberglass. Not only that, it's the strength of the carbon. So whereas, you know, the strength of the boat won't bow as much in the, in the, you know, if you can gain, you know, an extra 50 meters, only a 50 meters a day, you add that up over 90 days, you know, it's, it's a lot. What if you, what if you hit a container, you know, these sunken, these semi submerged containers that are there, the seas riddled with them apparently. Yeah. So that is something that sort of worries me. But again, Chris, that's out of my control. Yeah. So are the boats compartmentalised? So if one compartment breaks, the whole thing doesn't sink? Yes. Yeah, they are, they are, but that would be, I can imagine if I hit a container, contain a wrong, that'd be quite catastrophic for the boat. But like I said, I've got a live for after E-PURB. So, you know, I would be able to be found. However, again, you know, I can't, that is Chris, that is a really good example. That is something completely out of my control. So there is no point me losing sleep, wasting my energy, because you know, what am I going to achieve by worrying about that? Nothing. There's literally nothing I have to do. What I can do though is control the controllables, you know, is be in the best physical condition that I can be for the start, you know, know my boat and be all over my skills and drills. And yeah, hopefully I have a fast crossing and not encounter any cargo containers. Do you have any sort of radar? So when you're sleeping, if you're in a shipping lane, well, obviously you're probably not going to sleep in a shipping lane, but you know, there are some big ships out there, right? Yeah, so I'll have my AIS on, which is effectively a radar. And then any ships that sort of come within in two nautical miles of me, that will start going off and will alert me. And then I'll be straight on the VHF saying, Oi, I'm here. Don't run me over, please. Yeah, be like that. Yeah, that way, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So a two million tonne oil tanker? Yeah, it's funny. So I'm obviously training the Solon. There's a deep water channel and for people who don't know the Solon very well, I'm not sure how wide it is, but a channel where basically all the container ships go through all the cruise ships, all the ferries that go from Salon to the Isle of Wight, and they cannot deviate from that channel, because it's the only place deep enough, obviously. And crossing that at night for your first time is quite, is an experience, you know, you'll definitely be rowing fast when you see one of those 200 tonne container ships bearing down on you. How long do you plan to sleep down? What sort of shifts have you worked out? My shift pattern will be wake up at around four, half four, some food on the oars for five, three hours on, an hour off. And then once it gets to midnight, come off the oars, again, have some food, refill the water bottles, all that sort of stuff, and then sleep and then repeat for 90 days. So it works out about 15 hours rowing a day. And then, yeah, 90 hours or so rest or whatever. And does that require a desalinator? Yes, yes, yes. I have a pump that turns seawater into wine, I mean drinking water. And that's, that's a really, it's actually, I was just about to say it's really high tech piece of equipment, but it's actually not. There's about three moving parts to it. It's very, yeah, very surprisingly simple. I was surprised. But yeah, so that'll, that'll do. But the one thing with that is it's, it's one of the biggest power draws on your, on the boat. So you need to just be careful, your power management, you know, this is another thing to think about, you know, especially if you get five, five, six, seven days, where it's overcast, you know, those solar panels aren't charging the batteries and could end up hand pumping. So I do have a backup, have a hand pump if, if I can't use the electric one. But the electric one does, I think 30 litres an hour. And the hand one does five litres an hour. So, you know, which one you, you want to be using really. Yeah, of course. Lee pulled into the, was it the, was it the canaries or something? It was somewhere on, on, on route, because he had a problem with his navigation. But he was allowed, apparently allowed, even though he was unsupported, he was allowed to stop, I guess, as long as he rode into port. Yeah, yeah. Is that, is that, does that make sense? Yeah, I think so, I think so. Lee told me that. Yeah, that makes sense. I think maybe, yeah, I don't know, I don't know really, like the ins and outs, but I know he mentioned that. I think you are, I think you can, as long as it may be safety, safety critical. Yeah. And do you take a spare rudder with you? Did I understand that? Yes. Yeah. I am taking a spare rudder with me, because that's, you know, I'm trying to have on the boat nothing that would be a single point of failure, you know, for obvious reasons. So, you have that spare rudder, if the boat was to tip, capsize, and ups to snap, I'd be, I'd be up, up, up, up, up Creek without a rudder. So, yeah, taking a spare rudder. And what, what training do you have to do in terms of fitness and in terms of navigation and safety and stuff? So, you know, sort of what RYA sailing courses, you know, central machine ship navigation, radio, sea survival, that stuff. Also, my training in the gym has been planned by Gus Barton, you know, really good guy, rode, rode the Atlantic, rode around Britain. So he's put me on a really good program, you know, training six days a week, nice and varied. I did a horrible session last time. So it was 10 rounds, 30 seconds on the assault bike, max chat, and then 90 seconds rest. That was certainly quite punchy. And then you've got all your own water training as well. So trying to get out to around 150 hours, which, you know, they're all they're about now. So yeah, feeling ready, feeling good, feeling prepared. Do you, do you train? Have you trained in the boat? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So last Monday night, went out for a 14 hour overnight row, started at eight o'clock, left humble, all the way down to Hearst's point, which is sort of the westerly tip of the Isle of Wight. Well, Hearst's point is on the mainland, but it's near the westerly tip of the Isle of Wight and then rode back. So it's about 30 nautical miles in total, you know, really good. Everything went to plant, been down to Exmouth, Exmouth to Torquay, rode from Weymouth back to Southampton. So, you know, it's all about getting those hours in any way you can really, because it's quite hard to go out as a solo crisp because you need the conditions, you know, because if you've got, you know, 30 not wins coming from offshore, you know, you'll be blown onto the rocks, you know, and yeah, have you slept out yet? Yeah, yeah, yeah, slept the other night. I've only got like two and a half hours sleep because I have to wake up to get back in with the tide. But yeah, slept on the boat. It's quite comfy as well, mate. Once you've been rowing for six, seven hours, you're very ready to get your head down. I'm guessing when you exercise, you know, how do you sleep in a sleeping bag? You know, when it's pissing down your head and you're like, because when you've been patrolling for 20, 20 hours on an insertion, you know, you're just getting that bag and it's just like, you know, you're gone. Yeah, what do you take a sleeping bag? Yeah, a little jungle sleeping bag, you know, take sort of pajamas, you know, just, just some nice dry kit that when you've, you can come off, wet wipe yourself, clean jays and have a nice, yeah. And I saw it before. It's sleeping bag. Is that, I'm guessing polyester over a down bag. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A down could get pretty miserable if it got wet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know, you don't want to, as well, although in my cabin, I do have like a nice wet dry area. So you step amongst a cabin, like the wet area, D, D kit, and then you're away. But yeah, you're right, down, piss wet down could, could get very sad, very quick. So, Jack, we're going to put all your links underneath this video, so where people can support. Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for that, Chris. Yeah, I don't actually, if you want to make sure I've got everything, just ping him to me. Yeah, definitely. On whatever. I've only got what, how did you get your promoter? Is it Sam? Sam, yeah. Sam, Sam Wright. Yeah, he's a great job. Yeah, he's a good guy, Sam. So we met, he obviously works through, like, works for Nifty, a company that Dropzone introduced me to, Sean Crawford, and really good. Like, we're the same age as well, so we've got quite a lot in common. Just finally, you know, Chris, massive thank you for having me on, mate. I really appreciate it. And if you ever want to chew the fat about, you know, Ocean Row Inn, so I'm not on the podcast forum, you know, you've probably got all my work, you've got all my details, mate, just drop me a line. Oh, mate, I feel like I've landed a bonanza to have such a wealth of information that can support us. Yes, thank you, mate. Really appreciate it. No, I appreciate you having me on the pod, mate, as well. Yes. And as we always say, smash it. Yeah, cheers, bud. Thank you very much. No worries. Just stay on the line so I can thank you properly, mate. Yeah, yeah. To everybody at home, I hope you found this as fascinating as I have. God, it just makes me want to do something with my life. Massive love to you all. If you could please just do the like and subscribe and the share thing, that's really going to help us. And we'll see you next time.