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There are few feats more daunting than rowing across an ocean, as a tiny dot isolated on the unruly open water.
That didn't stop two women with no experience of ocean rowing from taking on the 5,000-kilometre Atlantic crossing — and succeeding.
It was a journey years in the making, combining waves as high as a building, Hawaiian shirts, mould, low spirits, a lot of determination, and a shaved head.
But Rosie Arnel and Angela Lawrence became Australia's first women's pair to take on the Atlantic Rowing Challenge, and the only Australians to make the crossing in the 2022/23 event.
The challenge
Rosie and Angela live hundreds of kilometres from the coast, at Albury-Wodonga.
Rosie had never rowed on the ocean, and Angela had never even rowed on a lake or a river. But they had an itch.
As Rosie was recovering from breast cancer, she was looking for a challenge.
She saw a documentary about women crossing the Pacific, and was hooked.
At first, it was just admiration for those who have crossed an ocean. But then she started to see it as a goal she could pursue herself.
"It took hold of me. I tried to reason with myself to say, 'This is just really crazy'.
"But … it's one of those things that you look at other people and say, 'Wow, that's amazing they did it' — it's like, well, why can't I do that?"
With her former colleague Angela on board and a boat based in the UK, the fundraising began for the trip and for the McGrath Foundation.
Far from the ocean, the pair launched themselves into strength and conditioning training.
Eight months before the event, they went to England to tick off the qualifying tasks: logging hours in the boat, navigation training, medical check-ups, and sea survival skills.
Training on the other side of the world from their boat, their situation was so rare that they had to travel to the UK a second time to convince the organisers they could take on the crossing.
Taking on the ocean
Armed with all sorts of tools to keep up morale — Hawaiian shirts to wear on Fridays, letters from loved ones, lipstick for Christmas Day, and emotion flashcards to use if they didn't feel like speaking — Rosie and Angela set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands on December 12.
For Rosie, it was exhilarating after five years with the challenge in mind, but soon she was hit with the harsh realities of seasickness, fatigue, the constant rowing shifts, missing loved ones, and fluctuating conditions.
"The sea just changes constantly. It could be clear and sunny at one point, and then you go and have your shift change and have a two-hour break and you come back and there's a storm coming," she said.
Their first storm proved one of the most frightening moments, with waves described as one to two storeys high.
"I don't think you could ever prepare for that. I don't, because you never get the full extent of being out in the middle of the ocean, away from everything," Angela said.
In calmer conditions, Rosie wasn't daunted by floating isolated in the middle of the ocean.
"I actually really liked being out in the open water … I never feared it," she said.
"I never had a fear of looking around and not being able to see land … it was therapeutic."
The journey
Like the conditions, their mental state was constantly changing, and they checked in each day with the support team attached to the event.
They were surviving on roughly six hours of sleep each day, split into short blocks. Their toilet was a bucket, and basic things like keeping fed, hydrated and dry proved extremely challenging. There were blisters galore, and eventually, everything smelt of mould.
They had highs, like when a whale swam alongside the boat, and the calm twilights.
They had lows, like that first storm, the total darkness, and the lack of sleep.
"Sometimes it was just surviving and being on the boat. Sometimes it was like a nice little challenge that we could overcome, like a fun challenge. Sometimes it was like, perfect day, everything was fine. But nothing was ever the same," Angela said.
It took them 61 days to reach English Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda, arriving on February 11 to the cheers of their family, passers-by, and a local restaurant blaring out Queen's We Are the Champions.
They both say it was worth it.
For Rosie, it was about going to physical and mental limits.
"I wanted something that was going to push me for quite some time. So I definitely got that," she said.
"Mentally, I wanted something that would challenge all aspects, in terms of conditions that you're going to face: being tired and hungry, missing loved ones, and having to step up in those really difficult times
"And that's exactly what I got."
For Angela, it's just the beginning.
"It's opened up a new world … [of] the ocean and endurance challenges and just being part of a community where all these people have the same goal.
"Knowing that difficult challenges like that can be achieved, and you walk away with it under your skin," she said.
"Once you've had a taste of it … you just wonder what your body and your mind is capable of and what you can do."
Today, the pair are celebrating their return with a public event at the Albury-Wodonga Yacht Club.