Author: Grant ‘Axe’ Rawlinson

Day 14 – being smashed by 35-40knots of weather. Capsized at 2130hrs last night. Para anchor broken, main sat comms unit out, it’s not nice here at present. Axe https://inreach.garmin.com/textmessage/viewmsg?mo=557ba786ca554940aedea41f5ac36d7b0

Much of the time, the most communication we need is a cellphone and an email address… but out of sight from land, I need a little bit more to keep in touch with the world. So from the extremes like when I’m stuck in a storm and need emergency help to the times when I…

Grant wished me to pass on that he may be a little busy for the next 48-hours and may not have time to tap out a few words on the laptop for a blog update. I said that we would probably all understand…. For the next 48-hours a low pressure system will pass over Grant…

I am currently 140nm off the coast of Australia and 1012nm from New Plymouth, New Zealand. Latitude wise, I am in line with Dargaville in New Zealand. I have travelled around 370nm since departing Coff’s Harbour 10 days ago. I have been on para anchor for over 60 hours now. Yesterday (day nine) was not…

The last three days have seen good progress as I managed to break free from the eddy I was stuck in off Seal Rocks, with the assistance of some Northerly breeze which started at 0100hrs on the morning of day 6. It was another night in the shipping lanes with vessels around me all night…

Wind’s have turned and i’m off, whipppeeeeeeeee!

After 36 hours on para anchor on the morning of day 4, I peered carefully from the cabin door at 0500 hrs to see a wild sea beginning to calm. Even though the wind was still southerly I decided to try rowing and hauled in the para anchor. From 0530 – 0700 I made just…

Hello from the Tasman Sea! What a ride it has been, mainly rough and windy so far. I departed Coff’s at 0700 on day one with a stiff Northerly breeze and it took all my concentration to get safely out of the marina, then a hard left hand turn with the next challenge to get…

Simpson’s Donkey has left the building! At 7am this morning, Axe rowed out of Coff’s Harbour in lumpy seas to begin the final stage of this epic expedition!  Stay tuned for more……

At 0700 hrs Thursday 19 October I will depart Australia in Simpson’s Donkey, bound for New Zealand.  The SPOT tracker will be updating every ten minutes and you may follows the progress live at this link:  https://axeoneverest.com/spot-page/ My departure plan is definitely a non-standard ocean rowing start.  You may expect some interesting maneuvers in the first…

Big decisions need to be made in the next 24 hours with regard to departure….. But in the meantime, I still have to eat. Alistair Harding and I had fun making this short video showing the what and how I eat on-board Simpson’s Donkey. Cheers, Axe

Simpson’s Donkey has arrived safely into Coffs Harbour Marina and a huge thanks to the team from TOLL for getting her here. Unfortunately due to adverse winds I will delay departure until early next week.  I am making the most of the time here preparing, testing,  rechecking, packing and  repacking the boat. I am being…

Hello from Australia, I have arrived back in Australia and am now getting into position to depart from Coff’s Harbour.  Hoping for a suitable weather window towards the end of this week. Please send some nice messages to the weather gods on my behalf. Captain Axe.  

I would like to introduce you to my trusty steed ‘Simpon’s Donkey’. (To read the background of the name click here.) The little donkey is 6.8m in length and 1.6m in beam (width). She is a specially designed ocean rowing boat, built to make ocean crossings, for months at a time. She is NOT designed…

Two weeks till departure! During the final phase of the Rowing from Home to Home expedition I will once again be supporting the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust.  The rescue helicopter helped save my sisters life after a car accident and I supported them in 2012 during my second Everest expedition, raising $27,000 through speaking engagements…

UPDATED: 12 April, 2025 The Tasman Sea is considered by most in the ocean rowing community to be one of the most hostile crossings in the world. Being an extension of the southern ocean it is one of the most unpredictable, unforgiving stretches of sea on the planet. The following information is the attempts, (both…

My main goal on the Rowing from Home to Home expedition is not to die. One of my secondary goals is to turn up in NZ at the end of the journey in good physical shape – not having completely wasted myself in the process (which is what happens to a number of endurance athletes but…

In early October I will  set-off from Coff’s Harbour in my 6.8m ocean rowing boat ‘Simpson’s Donkey’, bound for New Plymouth in New Zealand on the final stage of the Rowing from Home to Home expedition.  I have traveled for 8,100 km this year by human power, all the way from Singapore to Coff’s Harbour…