Boatylicious Dubliner daring to break the waves on Pacific adventure

Aoife ní Mhaoileoin is preparing to sail 2,400 miles across the Pacific in a boat with no engine and no sail, writes Claire Droney.

LAST WEEKEND, four young women rose at 5am, rowed a 24ft boat through stormy seas and hailstones, ate freeze-dried food, went seal watching, spent an evening squashed together in the tiny cabin of their boat, drank champagne out of a silver cup in the local yacht club and tested the buoyancy of the boat by having it artificially capsized during their on-water training in Burnham-On-Crouch, England.

“If you want something in your life you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done,” says an inspirational photo on Team Boatylicious’ Twitter feed. A sentiment the crew aims to emulate in June when they hope to set a new world record for being the first all-female team of four to complete the inaugural Pacific Ocean Rowing Race in 40 days.

In June 2014, Team Boatylicious will sail 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean, from California to Hawaii, in a small boat with no engine and no sail.

British Olympic rower, Greg Searle, has said he “wouldn’t dream” of undertaking such a “gigantic challenge”. However, for the only Irish crew member, Aoife Ní Mhaoileoin, it’s simply another exciting adventure.

“I’ve always wanted to do a big challenge, something that hasn’t been done before. I’ve always enjoyed adventure but this is off the scale. But I genuinely feel that it isn’t as dangerous as other things that people do, like climbing Everest. There are risks involved but they are manageable risks. It’s about being sensible enough to call it off if we need to, and being mature enough to know that there are other adventures,” says Ní Mhaoileoin, a 26-year-old Dublin-born doctor who practises general medicine at the Royal London Hospital.

In the past year, she has also climbed Kilimanjaro, as well as spending over three months working as a medic on a diver research project in Borneo.

“This is the first time there’s been a race across the Pacific. I don’t know which is harder — crossing the Atlantic or the Pacific as it’s never been done before. I think we’re about to find out though. We only have the strength of our arms and legs, and in a way it’s mentally simpler to know we can only row,” she says.

If a storm hits, the team have an inflatable parachute anchor, and the boat is designed to be self-righting in the event of capsizing.

“It’ll be like being in a very small, cramped washing machine,” says Ní Mhaoileoin.

Meals on board the two-cabin boat will be freeze-dried food (and fresh seafood if they can get it), and water for drinking, washing and cooking will be filtered through a desalinator. Toilet facilities will be a matter of “bucket and chuck it”.

“We’ll obviously get to know each other very well over the next few months. Our biggest challenge will be the pain in our hands and legs,” says Ní Mhaoileoin.

Having completed vigorous training over the past 12 months, the crew are keen to begin. They have done sea survival courses, vigorous fitness training, and regularly row up the Thames from Greenwich to Tower Bridge.

Team Boatylicious also face other challenges in the 40-day race. Their two-hour on/two-hour off schedule means a distinct lack of sleep, and at such close quarters, tensions are bound to arise.

We need 4500 calories a day to do our charity Pacific row. Please help feed a rower: http://t.co/qB2L5xRNpdhttp://t.co/8hupUPkwRh

— Boatylicious (@Boatylicious4) April 27, 2014

“It’ll be like spending 40 days in a lift with people. We’ll be isolated out there and there will be spats,” says Ní Mhaoileoin. She likened the teams’ recent meeting with a psychologist to a “pre-marriage course”, where they learned how to identify potential triggers for arguments, and “how to move on from a spat”, as well as motivational techniques.

But how do her parents feel about her upcoming journey?

“My family weren’t too sure at first and I think they hoped I wouldn’t get through when I applied. But they’re absolutely supportive now,” she says.

She may even bring a lucky talisman onboard, as well as her Kindle, if there is space.

“People have mentioned holy water, but it’d have to be very small,” she says.

Ní Mhaoileoin’s worst fear is that they will have an equipment failure that could potentially end the race for the team.

“To have to pull out for something beyond our control would be massively frustrating. I wouldn’t want to have spent a year preparing for that to happen,” says Ní Mhaoileoin.

A month after the race ends, Ní Mhaoileoin will leave London to train in remote, rural medicine in Scotland for three years.

“I love medicine and I love being a doctor. All the hard work is worth it, but you have to be sure it’s what you want.”

And, inspired by other adventurers, she has no plans to rest on her laurels after the race.

“There is so much access now to other people’s adventures [via internet and social media] and so the inspiration is there. Our grandparents’ generation would have thought it was frivolous but people have more acceptance of this now,” she says. “At the minute, it seems like we are working 24/7. Once we get back though, I look forward to doing similar, more spontaneous adventures. It’s important to follow your dream. There’s no point waiting to do it.”

* Team Boatylicious aim to raise £40,000 in aid of Hope and Homes for Children and the Ahoy Centre www.boatylicious.org