Gripping her oars for dear life and facing exhaustion, Perthshire adventurer Elaine Hopley spent Christmas fighting through a 13-hour thunder storm.
She battled huge waves, downpours and lightning as the Atlantic Ocean threw its full might at the solo rower in her boat Jan, named after her mother.
The 44-year-old and her fellow competitors on the 3,000 mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge also endured the incredible phenomenon known as blood rain.
Choking red dust from the Sahara blotted out the sun and coated boats and crew in a layer of sand that clogged everything it touched.
Every day, however, has seen her creep closer to her goal, though almost two months remain before she will sight the finish in Antigua.
Contact with the dozen boats taking part has been limited since they set out from LaGomera in the Canaries last month but organisers contacted Elaine by satellite phone in the wake of the storm.
During a brief conversation, she said: “It continues to be epic. I rowed through the biggest, scariest thunder storm from 3pm until 4am.
“The high winds and torrential rain are exhausting me and it has been white knuckle hand steering Jan. Thankfully the sun is out now and I’m drying out.”
On Twitter on Tuesday, she remarked how funny it was to see a boot floating past her, stating “I couldn’t stop laughing, easily entertained out here.”
1/2 Winds in favour, running with it 263 degree heading ? Glad I cleaned hull yesterday as we're now running 2.3kts ?
— Elaine Hopley (@elaine_hopley) January 3, 2017
2/2 A boot floated past the boat earlier; I couldn't stop laughing, easily entertained out here ?
— Elaine Hopley (@elaine_hopley) January 3, 2017
Atlantic Campaigns officer Ian Couch said the weather in the mid-Atlantic had been hugely changeable, with teams facing wildly different conditions.
Elaine has faced some of the toughest, though a lull in the storms has seen the her make significant headway in recent days, outpacing competitors boasting three and four rowers.
Nonetheless, given the nature of the Atlantic, Ian said the ocean had been fairly generous to the teams.
“Despite generally good conditions so far things have been frustrating with very localised conditions. Some crews have had excellent following seas while others report awkward, confused conditions.
“Within a few hours there is dead calm and hard rowing, then a squall and rain, lightning and then “calima” or “blood rain”.
“The red dust from the Sahara causes overcast conditions and coats things with sand, making it harder for the rowers to generate power.”
1/2 Discovered why my flag and boat have gone brown and haven't seen the sun 4 2 days we have sand in the air from the Sahara>
— Elaine Hopley (@elaine_hopley) December 28, 2016
Ian said conditions would continue to be mixed over the next week depending upon where the crews are, with some enjoying very calm conditions and others facing such strong winds that they risk being blown north.
Elaine, an endurance event specialist and former Glenshee ski instructor, hopes to become the first female to row the Atlantic single-handed in more than a decade.
In doing so, she is hoping to raise significant funds for Alzheimer Scotland.
Elaine’s progress can be followed by visiting www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.comwhile she continues to fundraise through www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Elaine-Hopley1
