SHOOTIN’ THE BREEZE

We catch up with Bella Collins whose Ocean Sheroes team smashed £30,000 for the Seabin Project.

QT

BC: My uncle rowed across the Atlantic solo when I was in my early teens. At the time I was in complete awe of him and the challenge as it was such a mindblowing idea that you could row across an ocean with zero support. My brother was the first to be influenced by this and took on the Indian Ocean himself a few years later. He then gave me the confidence to do it and in 2015/16 we both entered the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in separate teams. He came first, beating us by three days, but it was close. Then in 2021, we happened to find ourselves with new teams taking on the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Hawaii. So, it is a family thing.

QYou sail, surf and row – which is

BC: Definitely not rowing! I love being at sea and the challenge of rowing an ocean, but as a sport it is not one that I adore. I grew up sailing so that is where I feel most comfortable. I enjoy being at the helm, friends aboard and having a giggle, nothing overly competitive. Surfing is probably my second love. I only started a few years ago, and I am not a natural but I love how it disconnects you from the world. For an hour or two, you are unreachable, your thoughts are put to rest and you are focused purely on the waves. QHow did the Ocean Sheroes idea

BC: Since rowing the Atlantic when I was 23, I have always had an itch to row another ocean. I think I was quite young and naïve when I took on the Atlantic and I wanted to know, now that I am a little older and wiser(!), if I could do it again. I was also keen to push myself to take on more responsibility throughout the campaign on another row. My brother introduced me to Purusha who was looking to form a team for the challenge. In turn, I introduced her to Mary who has also rowed across the Atlantic before, and Lily who I grew up sailing with in Essex.

QTell us about Ocean Sheros’ ‘3 Ps’ philosophy.

BC: We wanted to come up with a clear message for our campaign; why we were taking on the challenge and the conversations we wanted to have with our followers. So we worked with a sustainability consultant, Amy Munro, who put our campaign values into three pillars: People, Positivity and Planet. We wanted to show the power of people and community; how a positive mindset can help you drive change and reach your goals and how both of these can help us live more conscious lives that will help protect the planet for future generations. QWhy did you decide to support S

BC: We wanted to work with an organisation that was not just being reactive to plastic found in our marine environments, but was also being proactive in preventing waste ending up there in the first place. By capturing waste in marinas and ports, the charity researches where that waste comes from and how to stop it getting there again through education and community engagement.

Q

BC: There is a huge amount of training that goes into an ocean crossing. We all had to complete courses in navigation, safety at sea, first aid and Yachtmaster Theory. We had to learn how to fix everything on the boat from our watermaker to electrics and impacts to the hull should we hit anything. Physically, we trained a lot on the UK’s South Coast in our boat Fenris and had an amazing PT who gave us a program to get us as fit as possible. At the start of the campaign I could not row 10 minutes without huffing and puffing and within six months he had me rowing a 3.5 hour marathon on a Concept2!

Image: Matthew Scott-Joynt BC: The worst thing about the race was definitely the first five days. One of our crew was severely seasick which meant we had to cover some of her night shifts and it is not fun to see someone you care about being that unwell. It was utterly exhausting and to be honest we were barely functioning. It was a matter of row, sleep, repeat. Eating, brushing teeth, cleaning, changing clothes – all these things were beyond our energy levels in those first few days. My best memories were us all singing along to a Coldplay Live album on deck on a bluebird day, daily gratitude sessions with two of my teammates and seeing Hawaii for the first time.

Q

BC: No challenges are on the horizon at the moment. I am working for an amazing start-up in Cornwall called Flexi-Hex who keep me inspired and motivated daily and, having only just moved down, I am loving the micro-adventures you can have here. So I am keeping myself busy with paddleboarding, surfing, swimming, walking and more.

Q

BC: Thanks for letting me share my story, I hope it inspires you to take on a challenge not matter how big or small. The hardest part is saying yes!

Bella and her all-female foursome the Ocean Sheroes (Purusha Gordon, Lily Lower and Mary Sutherland) completed the 2,700 S H former record for a women’s crew. So far they have raised more than £31,000 for the S solutions to reduce plastics in the seas. S £60,000. You can support them at: for-the-seabin-project.