"I rowed the Atlantic with bowel cancer"

Felicity "Dids" Ashley thought crossing the Atlantic in 2021 would be the hardest challenge of her life – until she discovered she had a large tumour in her bowel

“This Christmas will be the first since rowing across the Atlantic where life finally feels settled again. My treatment for bowel cancer is becoming a distant memory. My new business as a public speaker is going well. And my mind is turning towards finding another – proverbial or literal! - mountain to conquer.

But Christmas is always a period of reflection, too. I can’t help casting my mind back to the festive season we spent on the boat. I did the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge - as it was known then - in 2021 with my sister Pip, and friends Jo and Lebby. We called ourselves the Mothership: we had 11 children between us, and we were determined to show them that adventures were not just for dads.

Dids before leaving La Gomera ©World’s Toughest Row

We’d set off from La Gomera incredibly relieved to actually make it to the start line after weeks of drama. The first ten days or so were completely different to what the crews are experiencing now – long hot days of blazing sunshine, and still waters. It was physically demanding as there was no wind to assist us but we all loved life on the boat.

We were all looking forward to the oddest Christmas ever experienced: there were Christmas stockings and even a festive freeze-dried dinner from the Bubbleheads, another crew. However, things didn’t quite turn out as planned. In fact, to quote one of this year’s boats: everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong.

The Mothership before the Nightmare Before Christmas