Monroe man and his son to embark on the World’s Toughest Row

When Greg Collins, 62, of Monroe, Conn., and his son, Elliot, 29, brave the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean in a 3,000 mile rowboat race this December, sharks will be the least of their concerns. But there is another form of sea life they should be wary of.

“There are no noted instances of a shark strike,” Greg said. “They don’t attack the boat. Marlin strikes often happen. You have to caulk any holes. One team plugged a hole with a champagne bottle and finished the race.”

While tethered to their sea rowboat, the father and son will join their two team members, jumping into the water once a week during the six week journey. Wearing goggles and holding ice scrapers, they will remove barnacles and seaweed collecting at the bottom of the boat.

The collection attracts fish coming to feed and the marlins hunting the fish can pierce the bottom of the boat.

Greg said the boat could capsize. But when that happens, a boat instantly rights itself under most circumstances, though the crew is banged up.

The World’s Toughest Row is a 3,000 mile international race west from San Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands, to English Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda, which takes six weeks to complete.

Greg said their team, Get Busy Rowing, will raise money for the Matt Hampson Foundation, named after an ex-England and Leicester Tigers rugby player, who experienced a life-changing injury in 2005, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down at age 20.

Hampson’s foundation draws upon the experience and knowledge of people who have been on the same journey and helps patients develop the tools and skills they need to move on as they start to rebuild their lives.

The foundation has the Get Busy Living Centre in Leicestershire, where patients and caregivers “can feel normal again and be part of an active social scene as they retrain themselves to focus on what they can do – not what they can’t.”

“We rowed alongside some beneficiaries, who did adaptive rowing,” Elliot said.

Blame it on Pamela

Participating in the World’s Toughest Row takes a strong commitment and mental and physical toughness. There are three rowing stations, but most of the time there are two rowers, while the two teammates sleep at opposite ends of the boat.

The bathroom is a bucket and the proper way to prepare meals is to use a water-maker that pumps saltwater through a membrane, which desalinates it. Clean water comes out, which is heated up using a small camping stove called a Jetboil. The hot water is poured onto freeze-dried food, making it ready to eat.

Any team caught dipping into their emergency food, which is already wet, is disqualified from the race.

“If all goes to plan, we won’t eat the emergency food,” Elliot said.

Getting caught rigging up sails is another costly violation, according to Greg.

The reason the Collins duo is embarking on an endeavor that could lead to sea sickness, clawed hands, sea legs and contact sores can be found in the name of their ocean rowboat. They named it Pamela in honor of Greg’s late mother (Elliot’s grandmother).

“Yeah, it’s all her fault,” Greg said with a chuckle during an interview at Row House fitness in Monroe last Friday. “She did crazy things. She cycled across Kenya and she climbed Machu Picchu in her 60s.”

Greg lost his mother three years ago, and he and his siblings have taken on challenges in her honor ever since.

“My brother played squash for 40 hours,” Greg said. “He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records. My other brother swam from Nevis to St. Kitts.”

“My wife’s cousin went to Antigua to get married and we saw ocean rowboats coming in,” Greg recalled. “We said, ‘we can do that.’ He signed up for it and competed in the same race, the World’s Toughest Row.”

Hip replacement surgery

Greg, who grew up in the United Kingdom, near Oxford, played for the band The Trophy Husbands and is currently a rugby coach for the Fairfield Yankees Club team at Fairfield University.

Elliot, who has been in the U.S. since age two, went to Iona College in New Rochelle, which is now Iona University.

Early on in Greg’s training, he had to have hip replacement surgery. He works out at Body by Brzoski in Norwalk and the Row House in Monroe, while Elliot works out in a traditional gym.

“I signed up four years ago and had never done rowing,” Greg said. “I joined Row House six months before we signed up for the race. It’s more fun with a group of people and music.”

Greg said there will be a lot of music to get them through their journey.

Safety inspections

The novice rowers will join teammates Will Towning, 30, and Chris Betts, 65.

Greg’s wife, Angie, and other son, Oscar, are coming to La Gomera for the beginning of the race. And they will be in Antigua at the end with lots of friends and family to cheer them on.

At some points during the race, Greg said the boats are closer to the Space Station than land, theirs will be equipped with satellite radio, gps and Starlink, giving them an internet connection.

“We will chronicle the journey,” Greg said. “We will send updates on social media.”

“We will be sharing video diaries,” Elliot added.

Both look forward to videos of the finish at Nelson’s Dockyard, an historical site where giant luxury yachts on the harbor will blow their horns to greet the some-40 rowboats coming to shore.

“We’re competing unassisted,” Greg said, adding, “we’re not trying to win.”

Greg and Elliot Collins will board a flight on Nov. 29, then will spend time prepping their boat from Dec. 1-12, when the race is underway.

Greg said approximately 1 million calories of food will be loaded onto the boat, there will be equipment checks, and they will be trimming the boat to balance the weight as part of a complete safety inspection.

Team members are always tethered to the boat. They wear a climbing harness connected to ropes on each side of the boat floor. “If you’re out of the cabin, you’re attached to the boat,” Greg said.

Both Elliot and Greg said they are not nervous about the task ahead.

“We’re more excited, very confident in the boat and with each other,” Greg said.

Elliot said the biggest challenge will be the mental aspect of taking on the unknown. But they have gotten a lot of advice.

“The only way to learn to row in an ocean is to row in an ocean,” Greg said. “Ocean rowers always want to help ocean rowers.”

“We’re confident … excited to do it,” Elliot said. “The preparation was challenging and stressful. Now all we have to do is row.”

To follow Greg and Elliot Collins’ journey, visit getbusyrowing.com, and follow the team on Facebook and Instagram.