This is Robert practicing his sextant skills using a compact lifeboat compass.  It will be the same one used on the trip in the event our GPS system fails.
Instead of carrying the full books and tables normally used for celestial navigation we'll be relying strictly on sun sights and the equation of time and the simple table corrections.

By observing the angle of the sun we can determine approximately at what time it was local noon in GMT, as in when was the sun at its highest point in the sky.  We then subtract 12 from it's GMT value in order to see how long the sun has traveled since it traveled over 0 degrees longitude.  We can then convert that value to minutes and multiply it by 15 minutes, since the sun travels 15 minutes of arc per minute of time.  Then by dividing it by 60 we get the result in degrees.  We then apply the correction for the particular date we're on and we get our Longitude.  This is a rough value and not very reliable as it's difficult to determine exactly what time the sun was at its highest altitude in the sky.

We can then take the value we determined as being the highest angle the sun reached and make corrections for dip and semi-diameter.  We then subtract that value from 90 degrees, or 89 degrees, 60 minutes to make the math easier.  We then add or subtract the value from our correction tables for that date and we get our Latitude.  This is a fairly accurate value.
(click on the photos below to expand)

Here is a great article on training for rowing. Definitely using this to keep in shape. 

Here is also a series of youtube videos on Rowing training programs..

Centennial Solar has joined the Atlantic Race Canada sponsor family providing us with custom solar panels for the boat. Check out their solar panels! 

They offer solar modules and power packs for various applications particularly building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV), home systems, solar pumping systems and telecommunication systems. Quite a wide range... 

We've been talking in trying to determine what we need to eat while rowing... We can't carry a lot of supplies on board due to weight, however we need enough calories in us to maintain body mass and weight or we will not have enough strength to row...

According to Rowing Australia, we need to put in about 10-12 g of carbs daily per kg of body weight.
Nutrition document from Rowing Australia

I weight 161 lbs. - which is  73kg. So I need 730g of carbs daily... and multiply that over 3 months? A hell of a lot of food that we have no space for!

Of course, sushi= fishing in the ocean. One option to look at.  We can get a whole bunch of powders - but that requires a lot of water to mix it with.

An idea that Robert has come up from his hiking days is gorp... a trail mix of dried foods such as almonds, raisins, cashews etc... grab a handful and snack on them as you go. I'm sure we'll run out of them pretty much in a week.

Of course, we're expecting to burn 10 000 calories a day. I don't think it really matters what we eat as it will be burned immediately.

For those who have done looonng expeditions, let us know what you've eaten and how much it weighed....

We received a great article mention on us in the Hour!
 check it out here.... "Row, row, row yer boat, gently 'cross the... ocean?"