In May 2020, four Royal Marine Commandos, both serving and former will be stepping into a 29ft, four-man ocean rowing boat in New York and attempting to be the first team ever to ROW straight to Tower Bridge, London. A 3,700-mile ocean row that is statistically the most dangerous you can endure. One that will see the Royal Marine team battling the tough and unforgiving North Atlantic Ocean and its unpredictable weather systems, whilst maintaining a disciplined 2 hours on and 2 hours off rowing routine, for over 70 days at sea.
So, I know exactly what you’re thinking, “Why on earth would anyone want to do that?”
Royal Marines are a weird breed of people, from the day you choose to join the ‘Corps’ you immediately choose a mind-set that is different to most others. Before you even set foot into the infamous Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, you have chosen the hard route. You can join any branch of the UK armed forces, but you have chosen to do the longest and most arduous route there is, and this I think, immediately highlights the state of mind every serving or former Royal Marine has. This is a mind-set that craves a challenge, one that has to be tested and forced out of its comfort zone and one that will appreciate and respect the challenge of the North Atlantic.
The challenge isn’t the only reason that the Ocean Revival 2020 Royal Marines team are risking their lives to row the North Atlantic; the team, who fought along-side each other in Afghanistan, now wants to take up the fight against the plastic suffocating our oceans. Our plastic use and consumption is out of control. Our oceans, the life and lungs of our planet, are being crippled by our inaction and reluctance to change. The team wants to raise awareness of the effects our plastic addiction is having and offer people a solution to their lifestyle choices. Through various events in the build-up to the row itself, as well as an education programme pushed out in partnership with Plastic Oceans UK, the Ocean Revival 2020 team hopes to raise awareness of this pressing issue and shift habits towards a more sustainable system.
Although our Oceans are very much out of sight, out of mind for the vast majority of humans, they are vital to our future. Our oceans are interconnected with every aspect of planet earths biosphere and if we don’t treat our oceans with the caution and life-giving respect they deserve, then we are heading down a hard and devastating road that only we can be blamed for walking down.
We invite anyone and everyone to get involved by following Ocean Revival 2020’s progress, by donating and changing your own habits for a better and more sustainable future. We are excited to be working with the all of our sponsors and look forward to giving you regular updates about our training, challenges, charity fundraising and of course the row! You can follow us on facebook and Instagram under Ocean Revival 2020 and twitter @revivalocean.
Cheers
Matt - Team Ocean Revival 2020