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These Two Lads Quit Their Jobs To Row Across The Atlantic And It Was Fucking Unreal

These Two Lads Quit Their Jobs To Row Across The Atlantic And It Was Fucking Unreal

Tom Caulfield and James Whittle left their jobs in marketing to completely change their lives.

George Pavlou

George Pavlou

Allow me to set a little scene for you...

You're in your mid-20s, working a solid job in the city of London. You've never been into water sports and you've never rowed a single stroke in your life. You've also never done anything particularly adventurous or noteworthy that people might have looked back at and been impressed by.

Then your mate drops you a text and asks if you fancy rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. What's your answer?

Tom Caulfield was watching his mum at the final event of the Clipper World Boat Race (a sail from London to Rio), when he realised that his own mother had achieved more than he had.

"My mum was not cooler than I was. I wasn't having that. I immediately Googled 'toughest adventures in the world' and rowing an ocean topped the list," the 27-year-old told TheLADbible.

Sometimes it's the realisation that your mother is cooler than you that can change your life.


Credit: Provided

So, in June 2014, Tom text his friend James Whittle, 26, to ask if he'd fancy rowing across the Atlantic Ocean with him and the simple reply he got was, 'In' - it's also worth mentioning at this point that James agreed to it while a few beers down a friend's birthday party.

"It kind of snowballed from there. When we told people, we were laughed at, which actually gave us a real drive to pull it off," Tom continued.

The first thing the lads had to do however was quit their jobs. Tom left his job as director of client services for marketing agency Wasserman and James quit as the marketing manager for Vita Coco.

Then they had to learn to row...

"We had never stepped foot in a rowing boat so we got a couple of rowing machines from a sponsor called Waterrower," Tom said. "It soon became apparent that rowing was incredibly boring and tiring."

No shit Sherlock!

The lads trained four or five times a week and managed to practice on an ocean rowing boat five times before they eventually left for the trip of a lifetime.

"It was not enough."

They also needed money to make it all happen. £80,000 in fact. Luckily for Tom and James, they'd been working in marketing so exercised some contacts and quickly managed to get the likes of GoPro, Spotify, Vita Coco, Lifeproof, Dropbox and Jaybird on board to stump up some cash.


Tom(left) and James (right) leaving Gran Canaria. Credit: Provided

They only raised the money needed a week before they embarked on the trip but have still managed to raise £20,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Brain Tumour Research - a charity close to James' heart after they helped his mother recover from a serious brain tumour.

Their departure date was quickly upon them. Almost two years of training couldn't have prepared them for their trip to Gran Canaria on the 12th December 2015 for the launch.

The lads planned to spend five days on Gran Canaria preparing their boat, doing a few sea-trials and getting packed and prepared.

No amount of preparation could have prepared them for the weather, though.

"When we arrived we were told by local fishermen the weather was nothing they'd ever seen before," Tom explained.

"The northerly winds we needed to push us south down the coast of Africa were nowhere to be seen. Instead we faced southerly winds pushing us back to the island."

10 days they waited, each morning hoping that would be the day they could launch, only to be disappointed by the weather yet again.

"We eventually just got bored of Gran Canaria and decided to just go for it. There was no start-gun or fireworks, just two mates in a boat heading towards the horizon."


And so, on the 18th December, they boarded Roberta (their boat), untied her and made their way out of Puerto Mogan.

The first week was hard. Tom admits not being well enough prepared and struggling with lack of sleep, a poor eating schedule and the fact they'd never rowed at night before.

James and Tom had hoped to do two hours on, two hours off for 24 hours every day until they reached Barbados but, as you can imagine, this was difficult.

"As there was only two of us, it made for a solitary existence. We soon got into the routine and we became fitter, more regimented with our eating and accustomed to the character of the sea," Tom explained.

Unfortunately for James, he was extremely sea sick for the first four days, could barely eat and had no energy to row.


Credit: Stokedeversince

And yet this wasn't the worst they'd feel on the trip.

It was only day 12 when a rogue wave hit them in the middle of the night and flipped the boat. James had been rowing and Tom sleeping. Tom woke as the boat was rolling down the side of a wave. Thankfully the boat self-righted so Tom went out onto the deck to see if James was OK. As he poked his head out of the hatch, he saw James' shoes still strapped to the foot-plate, but no James.

He'd been thrown from the boat. It was 5am in the morning, with no moonlight whatsoever. It was only as Tom scrambled for a flashlight that he heard James clambering back onto the boat. He'd been wearing his life-line.

"The moments that followed were some of the most profound of our row as we went into autopilot," Tom said.

"There was no panic or fear, just methodical processes to get us into a safe place. The deck was flooded with water, our rudder had come loose and we had lost a set of oars.

"We went about repairing and solving issues quickly and efficiently.

"If you had asked us how we'd react to this situation before we left, 'lose our shit', would have been the response.

"But it was incredible to see what you're capable of when genuine life-threatening moments occur and we weirdly feel lucky to have experienced it."


Credit: Provided

Think that's bad?

The lads also had to sit in their cabin, the size of a single bed, for four days while Hurricane Alex passed. Despite deploying their para-anchor (to stop them moving backwards), they lost 60 miles to the hurricane.

Towards the end of the trip, they started rowing together during the day in an attempt to get to Barbados quicker. What they didn't realise was that they'd end up distracting each other from another danger of the ocean.

Being naive seamen, they'd been told to leave their Automatic Identification System running to make sure any bigger ships in the area knew they were there. Running on solar power, they instead prioritised charging their iPads and GoPros.

"We were rowing together in some pretty moody weather with the waves and wind coming from our right," Tom explained.

"We were looking right for hours, bitching about the weather until James suddenly shouted after spotting a gigantic cargo ship cut across us from our left."


Credit: Provided

Thanks to the wind, they'd never heard it coming and the ship's bow passed just 100m away from their tiny rowing boat.

When they turned on their AIS system, they were inundated with 'imminent collision' messages. They later learned a 'near miss' at sea is measured at around one mile - they were around 100m away.

"It was a real moment of clarity."

During the trip they were also joined by a group of 50-70 pod whales who kept popping up all around the boat. Of course, some were maybe three times the size of the boat and it was nerve-wracking, hoping they wouldn't hit the boat as they breached the water.

They also saw a shark leap out of the water just 30m away, a couple of Marlins stalk the boat and thousands of flying fish smash into the boat every day.

James and Tom also made friends with a seagull they named Steven who arrived at the boat every day around 6pm before leaving hurriedly.

"Where he slept? No idea, but he was very punctual."


Credit: Stokedeversince

54 days after they set sail on the 18th December, the lads saw the lighthouse of Barbados at around 1am on the 10th February 2016.

"Seeing land? Indescribable," Tom said.

"We hadn't seen anything but blue for two months and it was the first time we let ourselves believe we had done it.

"Up to that point you are in constant fear of something breaking or capsizing or injuries - any number of things can happen to prevent you reaching your goal.

"We were extremely lucky."

Tom then broke down some numbers from the trip which I'll list here...

  • 54 days (18th December - 10th Feb)·
  • Miles - 3000
  • Hours rowed - 1,296 hours
  • Hours slept - 243 hours each
  • Meals consumed - 512 meals
  • Coffee drunk - 42
  • Capsize - 2
  • Hurricane - 1
  • Arguments - 0

Now the lads are home, they look back on their trip with 'huge positivity'. But this wasn't just a once in a lifetime trip.


Credit: Stokedeversince

Tom and James have since set up The Tempest Two as a company and have decided to become full-time adventurers, motivational speakers and marketing consultants.

They aim to do one big adventure every year and, with their marketing backgrounds, are hoping to combine that with creating amazing content for anyone who sponsors them. They've also got their own YouTube and Instagram channels they aim to grow.

"Since being back, our whole perception of what we are capable of has changed. We now understand that if you back yourself then anything is possible."

They've also made a film about the row which is being released this summer. You can see a trailer for it here.

Tom concluded: "Our view is pretty simple; if we can make a living from exploring the world, working with the coolest brands around and spending time with your best mate - then we are living the dream."

I couldn't have put it better myself.

Words by George Pavlou

Featured image credit: Stokedeversince

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