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Nautical Nurses create waves across the Atlantic Elin and her colleague Herdip Sidhu, both nurses at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital set off to sea on December the 2nd, 2007 after two years of planning.
To simply be there at the start line in La Gomera was in itself an achievement as the girls had battled to find sponsorship and support for their campaign for metabolic research.
Their dream was made possible when Jamie Hopkins CEO at Mapeley, and family friend to one of Elin’s patients stepped in to sponsor the campaign. They learnt to row, passed RYA Yachtmaster, sea survival, VHF radio and even a first aid at sea course. Their boat ‘Dream Maker’ was built specifically for the duo, and carried them safely across the waves.
 The pair landed in Antigua on the 17th of February 2008 after rowing in shifts - 24 hours a day, battling sea-sickness, forty foot waves, extreme heat and close encounters with cargo ships for 77 days, 7 hours and 37 minutes.
Elin had worked as a metabolic research nurse for five years prior to the row, and wanted to do something “big” to raise money and awareness for metabolic research. The Atlantic row was evidently “big” enough to do the trick.
Dubbed the ‘Nautical Nurses’ - the fundraising campaign was a massive success raising a staggering £190,000 for metabolic research at the hospital.
'Land Hugs' in Antigua after the pair finally landed.
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