Ancestors credited for inspiring history-breaking Antiguan women rowers

November 13, 2019

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

Some do so by turning to history for inspiration as did the Antiguan women quartet who, earlier this year, became the first Black team to row the Atlantic Ocean.

Samara Emmanuel, Christal Clashing and cousins Kevinia Francis and Elvira Bell completed the gruelling crossing in six weeks to finish 13th out of 28 teams in the 3,000-nautical mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge that’s considered the world’s most demanding ocean row.

Depending on the trade winds, the voyage could take between 30 and 85 days. The Caribbean trailblazers completed it in 45.

Bound and shackled, enslaved Africans crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas where they were sold and made to toil on European owned plantations.

It’s estimated that nearly 1.5 million died during the crossing.

The descendants of slaves, the Antiguans were aware of this dark period in human history and the fact that the European slave trade began in 1402 after Spain’s discovery of the Canary Islands where the race started last December 12.

“When we set out on the crossing, there was never a thought of this historical aspect coming into play during the journey,” said Emmanuel, Antigua’s first certified female boat captain. “But as we encountered obstacles along the way and our mettle was severely tested, we talked about our ancestors and what many of them had to go through on the trip from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean. Here we were on the slave trade route facing challenges that didn’t come close to what they had to endure. That was what kept us going and there was no way we were going to give up. Unlike our ancestors, we were going home and nothing was going to stop us.”

Bell said she felt her ancestors presence.

Elvira Bell

“It was like they were helping me to row,” she noted. “At one point, I stopped rowing and the oars kept moving. It was so surreal.”

It takes skilled rowers between two to four years to prepare for the ocean row from La Gomera to English Harbour.

For the neophytes, the preparation time was just nine months.

“We accepted this challenge without deep thought which was good because we didn’t know what to expect,” said Francis who, at age 40, was the oldest member. “It wasn’t until the third day that we started laughing and thinking, ‘We are really crazy, what are we doing out here?”

The harsh reality of what they were about to face in the next few weeks set in shortly after their small boat hit the high seas.

There was a steering system failure and Francis and Bell became seasick.

“The first night out, we were excited,” recalled Emmanuel who turned 33 on the groundbreaking voyage. “We had a comprehensive strategy in place that we were going to execute. We knew that few people gave us a chance to complete the journey and we were determined to prove them wrong. We were in a zone for the first few hours with Kevinia and Christal rowing first and doing a real nice pace until we faced the first of many challenges.”

The Antiguan rowers spent 47 days in the Atlantic Ocean (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)

The crew alternated with two members rowing for about two hours while the others were resting or performing other chores like scraping barnacles off the boat’s exterior or clearing residue from the solar panels that was the main source of electricity.

The journey became increasingly treacherous as the days passed by.

“In the second week, the wind stopped and that was one of our lowest points,” said Francis who has a Master’s of Science in Physical Therapy from Florida International University and is Antigua & Barbuda’s first black belt instructor. “We had to exert a lot of energy to get the boat moving. When we got back on track, the auto pilot system failed and this meant only one person could row. We also ran out of our favourite food like peanut butter and were just dependent on dehydrated food which isn’t great.”

Kevinia Francis

The vessel was stocked with desalinated drinking water and freeze-dried food that could last 60 days.

With their ambitious goal of completing the course in 35 days out of reach and the 40-day target they had set quickly dissipating, reaching home safely was their focus.

“We came up with new goals to help motivate us like trying to do 50 miles in 24 hours,” said Bell who is a certified health coach. “We had to find something to keep us going in good spirits.”

The Antiguan rowers were at sea over the 2018 Xmas holidays (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)

As the team captain, a lot was weighing on Francis’ mind and Clashing sensed the frustration.

“When we realized we wouldn’t reach Antigua in the time frame we had set out, I could feel Kevinia’s disappointment,” said Costa Rica-born Clashing who has lived in the Bahamas, Australia and England and was the first female swimmer to represent Antigua & Barbuda in the Olympic Games (2004 in Athens). “I saw that her brain was working overtime as she tried to come up with new goals for us to aim for. I just felt her emotion.”

Three days before their arrival in Antigua, the rowers were reminded of the ocean’s unpredictability.

Their boat almost capsized after being struck by a huge wave.

“It was pitch black and this wave came without warning,” Francis, a certified personal trainer for the last 20 years, said. “I and Christal were on shift and my head ended up in the water. Our oars broke, the auto pilot was knocked out and had it not been for the safety lines, I would have gone overboard.”

Samara Emmanuel (l), Kevinia Francis, Elvira Bell & Christal Clashing (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)

Not knowing if another rogue wave would strike again, the rowers wanted to reach shore as fast as possible.

Emmanuel and Bell – a LIAT Ltd. (formerly Leeward Islands Air Transport) flight dispatcher who aspired to be a mermaid -- were on shift when they sighted land.

“It was just after midnight and I remember telling Elvira I think I am seeing lights,” said Emmanuel. “We were about 45 miles out. I started screaming and jumping up yelling, ‘Yes, we are home’.”

Their arrival was delayed by almost 12 hours after organizers requested they slow down to accommodate students and politicians – schools closed at mid-day and parliament was adjourned early – to be part of the grand welcoming party on January 28.

After 47 days, eight hours and 25 minutes, the quartet – though exhausted and a combined 102 pounds lighter – were ecstatic to be back home.

A large crowd was on hand to welcome the record breakers (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)

This was the third Antigua & Barbuda team to compete in the race after Team Wadadali and Team Antigua Atlantic Rowers men in 2015 and 2017.

The record breakers used the historic row to raise money for Cottage of Hope which is a dormitory established a decade ago for abused, neglected and orphaned girls.

“Our target was $150,000 and we nearly doubled that,” said Francis. “We are in the process of setting up a trust to ensure that the funds are used for the right purpose.”

Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne & his wife Maria Bird-Browne made a presentation to the record breakers (Photo by HaMafilms, Antigua)

In the last few months, the rowers have been busy going to Antiguan schools and countries in North America and Europe talking about their landmark experience.

In Toronto recently for three days, they visited Ancaster Public School.

What is the most asked question?

“The children want to know what we used for a washroom,” said Emmanuel who was the only member of the team visiting Canada for the first time.

With no restroom on board the boat, they used a bucket.

“There’s no privacy when it comes to using a bucket,” Francis pointed out. “At the start, Christal used a skirt and Samara a yoga mat as cover. That didn’t last long. Using the bucket and having conversations at the same time is something we soon got used to.”

Living on an island surrounded by water means that most Antiguans are attracted to aquatic activities.

When the call went out for a women’s team, Clashing jumped at the opportunity.

“I started swimming at age five and competing three years later,” said the product of Antiguan & Jamaican parents who moved to Antigua when she was four years old. “I am like a fish. Anything that has to do with water, count me in.”

Christal Clashing

Although she’s a swim instructor, Bell joined the group with the intention of supporting her cousin during training and lending administrative support.

“I thought they were crazy, but as the training went on, I started to realize that it was possible and we could do it,” she said. “Knowing that a charity would benefit from what we were doing was a big pull for me.”

Francis, who took up cycling at age 32 and became Antigua & Barbuda’s national time trial champion three years later in 2015, relishes challenges.

“I knew this was going to be the toughest test I was going to endure,” she said.

As a motor vessel captain for the last 13 years, Emmanuel spends most of her time on water.

“Working on the sea, I said doing this wouldn’t be a problem,” she added. “It however soon became clear that I wasn’t prepared from a physical point of view to handle the rigours of the challenge and I had to do a lot of work. I absolutely hated the gym, but when I realized I was getting stronger, I became really motivated.”

The training comprised six days in the gym weekly, rowing in the water every week and a monthly lengthy row, culminating in a 60-mile 14-hour training run to St. Kitts that provided a gauge as to how the team would fare in a 23ft. by 5ft. vessel buffeted by high waves.

The Antiguans haven’t ruled out doing the event a second time (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)

Though their focus now is on land-based challenges, the women haven’t ruled out the possibility of participating in the race a second time.

“Now that we know what we know, we look at our first race as a trial run,” said Emmanuel who graduated from Antigua Girls High School in 2002. “We figure we could do a lot better the next time around. We will definitely consider doing it again.”

Her teammates nodded in approval.