Couple who rowed the Atlantic stuck in Antigua as they can’t afford to get back home

A couple who has spent the past two months rowing the Atlantic for charity are appealing for help as they can't afford to get home.

Nina and Simon Crouchman have been through the testing challenges of 14ft waves and a broken rudder to raise money for the Samaritans.

Over two months, the couple's marriage has been put to its limits as they cover the entirety of the 3,000-mile Atlantic Ocean.

But despite the amazing achievement, the couple do not have enough money to get themselves home from the finishing line in Antigua.

The challenge, which is understandably named the 'world's toughest row', has raised £8,835 for the Samaritans.

Though, that is considerably less than the £50,000 target, with just a few days left of the couple's remarkable physical feat.

A separate fund known as 'Help Mr & Mrseas get home', named after the couple's team name, has only £400 raised of the £7,000 that is required to get the couple and its £65,000 boat home.

On the GoFundMe page, Nina and Simon wrote: "This has been a two-year plan to reach the start line, as ordinary down-to-earth people in their 50s, we never thought we would make it this far.

"Financially it has been a struggle, with all funding coming from one household and sponsorship extremely hard to find - it’s a difficult time and we are so close.

"We found ourselves at the start line, able to row the race and to support our charity but we do not have funds to get home ourselves once we reach Antigua.

"We do not have funds to ship our boat back to the UK from Antigua."

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The couple said that they chose to raise money and awareness for the Sarmatians as they lost a close friend to suicide.

On 12 December 2022, they joined 42 other teams for the annual Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge on La Gomera in the Canary Islands.

The halfway mark was reached on 16 January, but there were many bumps to getting there, with the couple enduring weeks of headwinds, seasickness and hand blisters.

There was also a big delay when their rudder broke off, with Simon and Nina having a total of 11 days stationary during the race.

"We physically couldn't row anymore, couldn't steer and couldn't manually steer," Nina said.

"When we tried to get going again the next day we noticed the rudder stock had snapped in four places, which is not very helpful.

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"Simon tried all day to make a new one out of a chopping board in the cabin, feeling seasick from the work. We waited overnight for the epoxy resin to dry.

"The next morning we put the new bit on and it snapped straight away.

"All that day that we tried reinforcement with another bit of chopping board and more nuts and bolts.

"We went to put the new bit on and the rudder had come loose from the sheer force of the water and we had lost the rudder.

"It was game over."

The couple from Colchester, Essex, are expecting to cross the finish line on 16 February - making their Atlantic trip 65 days long.