Isle of Wight rowers make it half-way across Atlantic

It's all systems go now as head on their way to the warmer climes of Antigua, the finish line. 

To celebrate, the crew of Chris Mannion, Paul Berry and Xavier Baker, sank a gin and tonic, in front of a glowing sunset mid-way across the Atlantic Ocean.

It has been a tough journey so far for three adventurous Islanders. (Image: Xavier Baker)

It has been quite an adventure for them since they headed off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on December 12.

The drama began for the Islanders on the second day when they suffered a broken dagger board, which help to balance the force of the wind on the sails.

Without a dagger board, a sailboat could not sail up-wind and would simply get blown sideways — and in stormy weather, they help to reduce the risk of it capsizing.

The trio did face rough conditions and were forced to fire an emergency flare, not to mention their near miss with a tanker.   

On top of that, their auto helm failed, which meant one man was taken out of rowing to hand steer, which left one to sleep, one to row and one to steer, which led to oar rash and hand blisters.

Strong southerly winds eventually forced them to stop and deploy their para anchor for a few days.

The 1,500- nautical mile journey so far has been an assault on the senses at times, as they also had to endure seasickness.

But there were light-hearted moments of wildlife spotting — from Minke whales and dolphins, to flying fish assaults, the company of a resident sea bird and a sucker fish on the hull.

They say "the beards are coming along well" and that they hope a change of mindset will hopefully allow them to enjoy the second half of their mission, having had a few blips in the first half.

They aim to raise at least £7,500 in support of ocean preservation causes.