ROWING: Paul Gleeson and Tori Holmes are well aware how cruel the sea can be, but they are in great shape and, though shocked at what happened to Gearóid Towey and Ciarán Lewis, Gleeson reveals that their spirits are as high as they have ever been, with the help of a little 'presence'

Jesus, it was awful about Gearóid and Ciarán. We just heard scattered reports. So their cabin was ripped off? Completely off? Sweet weeping Jesus.

Thanks be to God they are okay. That they had to finish like this is not fair. Seeing all the work they had to put into it, it must be heartbreaking for the two guys. It's not fair.

Just to get to the start line here involves so much work, and the lads were over half way. It just shows what can happen. It's no reflection on the lads or anyone.

Just being out in one of these boats it's hard to imagine anything strong enough to rip off the cabin. That they kept their heads when it happened is a great credit to them.

For us it's been a fairly good week; a week of little victories. The day after our last diary we managed to fix the water maker. The problem with it was that it's supposed to be at the bottom of the boat sucking in sea water but we couldn't put it there, so it's at the side. But as the boat rocks the water maker sucks in air. So even after we fixed it we couldn't run it because of the swell.

We improvised: we stick a service hose into a bucket of sea water and attach it to the water maker. For the moment it's working fine. It takes an hour out of our day, but it's definitely better than being thirsty. It's a top-range machine and it's a huge boost to have it back. Some of the other boats don't have one like it and there's not enough water to wash each day.

We managed to open one of the filters but we found it wasn't the problem. We held off on using the hand held machine because it's slow and it was very expensive: if we don't use it we can sell it when we get ashore. It cost 800 quid. We spent so much on the main water maker we want to use it.

We've only broken into two five-litre ballast tanks, so we should only suffer seven hours of penalties. Since we're not in contention to win it's not an issue for us.

We made a couple of discoveries on the rowing front - we're still teaching ourselves how to row. We were getting a small stroke in the water and it was frustrating because we weren't making the mileage; so we changed the gearing on the oars. Now they are handles of the oars are closer together, although not crossing over. It's made a big difference.

We are still being pushed south by the winds. We're praying that they will switch to the west. Even though we have had one crap day when we slept for the night, now that we are figuring things out it's amazing the way your form picks up.

Last week Tori called her aunt in Canada and she told Tori about how some of the other crews were struggling and that lifted us. That's not to be sadistic or anything, but it's tough for everyone out here.

We're going to take a break once a week. If you get a half night it builds you up - you just get shattered. At halfway we're going to stop and take time for a big wash.

My weight has come up. I'm back to five meals a day. For a while there I was just eating three meals, but now I'm feeling better and a bit stronger. I'm even finding the freeze-dried food interesting and I eat two meals at lunchtime. Tori thinks it tastes like dogfood! Little things.

One of our biggest problems has been the steering system. Without getting into too much detail, Peter and Eamonn Kavanagh from Arklow, who own this boat and got it across in this race in 1997, have a T-Bar connected to the rudder. It is set at feet level and it was killing us. We weren't able to fully stretch as we rowed.

The lads didn't mess too much with it, as they were content to do a lot of their steering with their oars. But the conditions mean we find it impossible to do that and we're constantly fiddling with the T-Bar. Last night we changed the set-up and now we can jam our heels in. So we've resolved that one for now.

Today we'll probably hit 40 to 50 miles. It'll nearly be all south, so it won't show on the website charts, which measures the distance to the end as the crow would fly from the start. But we'll know we had a good day.

Yeh, things have been getting better for us just as the lads have gone out. It just shows you how unpredictable the ocean is - it's no reflection on the lads. The ocean is unforgiving, it can do anything it likes to you. Some times there's nothing you can do: we could be in their position.

It seems wrong that we're getting more media attention because of what happened. It just doesn't seem right. I suppose bad things happening is always good "news".

Even last week, after the last article showed us to be struggling, a friend rang to say "You have a lot of people following you now!" It's amazing the reaction you can get when things go badly. When I crossed Australia on bicycle for charity I got knocked down. I cycled for a while on one leg. Suddenly there was great interest. Maybe we're designed to look out for bad news. It was more money for the charity.

I got a text from my dad. We did an interview with TV3 before we came out. Now, after the last few days, they want to talk to my parents. My mother will be getting her hair done! Has the misfortune for Gearóid and Ciarán been a spur or a source of worry? To be honest, giving up was never an issue. We are determined to finish and we are determined to do as well as we can - not finish in 150 days or something like that. I don't want to be out here for a day longer than I have to be.

We got a phone call from Eamon Kavanagh. The line was scattered, but he told us Gearóid and Ciarán had been picked up. He said you're the last Irish - well Irish-Canadian - boat in it. Keep plugging away! He asked how our spirits were and said all of Arklow is following you. So we're conscious that more people are following us now.

From a pride perspective, the lads had an awful week and I don't want two Irish boats going out. So we want to finish and finish well.

Tori says I must mention the man. Maybe it's night-time hallucinations but she noticed me looking around a lot on the night shift. I said I had this idea that there was a shadow or something behind me. She said: I have the exact same thing. We have the idea that there's a presence there. Maybe it's a guardian angel or a grandad. Tori is convinced it's a man not a woman. Maybe he'll pick up the oars and give us a hand!

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