![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/35757151_web1_Rozell-JUE-240316-1_1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t\tIn addition to the sea sickness, there was the damage the ocean was inflicting upon their boat. One series of waves bent an oarlock plate made of quarter-inch steel, rendering one of their rowing stations useless.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Days felt fine, but the anxiety level went up in the middle of the night,” Helder said of the first few days. “Once or twice a night we had to wake everyone up to help row or stabilize a chaotic situation after a big hit, or because water would pour into the cabin from a big wave that washed over the deck through the vents — which is not a fun way to be woken up.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
But Emma’s fiberglass body absorbed the punishment, and all four women recovered from seasickness.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
After four days, they all got into a working rhythm during which they alternated rowing partners. Each had a shift of two hours of rowing followed by two hours of rest alone in the tiny cabin. After the sun set, they pulled for three hours and rested for three.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Sleeping three hours was a game-changer,” said Helder, who was amazed at how their bodies and brains were able to adapt to nonstop motion, and to almost never standing up straight during 38 days of routine tasks.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“There was never a moment it was dull,” she said. “We’d see a bird and talk about it for a day.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
A flying fish that bounced off Helder’s head while she was rowing also broke up the monotony, as did groups of sleek tuna that followed Emma. A shark also butted its head repeatedly against the rudder (without damaging it).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
During the journey, the four women celebrated Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Shea’s birthday (presenting her with a cheesecake). Sunrise coffees were a favorite part of each day, as well as were listening to audiobooks and music and preparing meals with a JetBoil stove. Each woman ate about 4,200 calories each day.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Despite being rowing novices at the start of the trip, when they were more than halfway across the Atlantic they learned via their satellite texters that they were ahead of every other women’s team. They maintained their lead by analyzing weather reports and anticipating wind patterns. This allowed them to chart the best path to Antigua in the final days.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We won because we made smart navigational decisions,” Helder said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Arriving at the port of Nelson’s Dockyard, Antigua, in the darkness of Jan. 20, 2024, the women squinted at spotlights pointed at them by race officials and struggled to stand up on deck and hold torches handed to them for celebratory photos.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The four then stepped off Emma and onto dry land for the first time in 2024. There, they hugged friends and family.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Not only did the women win the forever right to say they rowed the fastest across the Atlantic Ocean, they raised more than $260,000 for three ocean-conservation organizations.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I’m very happy I did it,” Helder said in Fairbanks. “And I’m so proud of our team.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Helder said the next time she crosses an ocean she will employ a sail rather than oars. She also said she hopes her experience of riding the waves sticks with her.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It made me feel an incredible sense of connection with the natural world that I hope to continue to hold on to in my everyday life,” she said. “Seeing nothing but ocean for 38 days … reminds me how small we are in the grand scheme of things. It only furthered my excitement for spending time in, on and around the ocean whenever I get the chance, and to continue to work to understand this incredible ecosystem.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
• Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell ned.rozell@alaska.edu is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first days were the hardest days, Noelle Helder said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":107724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":11,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,6],"tags":[568,682],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-107723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home2","category-sports","tag-column","tag-outdoors-and-recreation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107723"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=107723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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