A WATERROW resident who beat breast cancer is taking to the high seas for charity next year ticking off one more thing on her bucket list.

60-year-old Melanie Smith will join 11 others to take part in the Rannoch Adventure 2027 rowing 3,000 miles unsupported across the Atlantic ocean raising funds for MIND and Huntington’s Disease Association.

The team of 12 will leave from Tenerife in January and are looking to reach Antigua within around 45 days, all sharing the smallest of cabin spaces on board the Rannoch Roxy ocean rowing boat.

After spending most of 2023 undergoing surgery and treatment for breast cancer, Melanie decided that she was going to get fit and undertake one more challenge in aid of her two chosen charities.

The Rannoch ocean-rowing boat Roxy has a crew of 12, each taking turns to row six hours on, six hours off.
The Rannoch ocean-rowing boat Roxy has a crew of 12, each taking turns to row six hours on, six hours off. (PHOTO: Rannoch)

She said: “I'm very determined and I love to give myself a challenge. To be honest, the reason I did this is, I had cancer three years ago and I have decided to tick off my bucket list as soon as possible while I'm still able to do it. And something like this has always appealed to me.

“I’m a firm believer that the only person that holds you back from doing anything is you.”

Cabin conditions on the ocean rowing boat are cramped with no toilets, showers or other comforts.
Cabin conditions on the ocean rowing boat are cramped with no toilets, showers or other comforts. (PHOTO: Rannoch)

The 2027 Roxy crew of all different nationalities and ages are meeting for the first time on August 24 when they will be undertaking their first row together from Lymington near the Isle of Wight to Burnham on Crouch in Essex. The skipper and co-skipper have completed the challenge before but for the other ten, it’s a first.

Melanie is no stranger to setting herself challenges. She cycled from Vietnam to Cambodia two years ago, and this October is cycling 450 miles in Tanzania in the Women V Cancer cycle from the base of Kilimanjaro to the coast.

In her 30s she even overlanded through Africa on the back of an army truck for nearly a year. The most difficult part of that journey, she says, was the relationship with people in challenging conditions. She thinks that experience was one of the reasons she made it through the selection process to join the Atlantic row.

Since her cancer scare Melanie has trained hard to increase her fitness and is a regular at her gym.
Since her cancer scare Melanie has trained hard to increase her fitness and is a regular at her gym. (PHOTO: Melanie Smith)

Telling her 84-year-old Mother of her latest escapade, Mel said it didn’t really sink in. “She can't kind of grasp it. She just said, ‘oh, that's nice dear’. I don't think she has any clue whatsoever what I'm doing.”

Compared to the rowing though Melanie says her previous challenges pale into insignificance.

“The rowing is all consuming. It's 3,000 miles and it’s a huge undertaking just spending time on the boat with 11 other people that you don't really know.”

Mel started her fundraising for the challenge with a 24-hour rowing challenge at Pulse Gym in West Buckland where she’s a regular.

She needs to raise £35,000 to take part but will be splitting any money she fundraises 50/50 between the challenge and her two chosen charities, and is happy to fund the trip personally if she needs to.

To find out more about Mel’s Atlantic mission and make a donation, go to: https://gofund.me/33f76766b.