A woman from Barrow is taking part in a round-the-world yacht race – with her mum.
Megan Allpress, 26, and her mum Amanda Shehab are on the 70ft racing yacht Dare to Lead, with a team of 18 other non-professional sailors.
They are taking part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, a 5,500-nautical mile competition which will end in Portsmouth.
It set off in September and Megan and Amanda, of Wrexham, are taking part after Amanda’s husband, who planned to sail around the world with her, died aged 51.
They are the first mother and daughter to sail together on the same boat in the race’s history.
Currently fourth in the standings, Dare to Lead is currently moored in Seattle, after spending over 28 days at sea.
To get there, the crew had to tackle the North Pacific leg of the global race, known as The Big One. It features extreme weather, which includes freezing temperatures and waves almost as high as the Hollywood sign, but also because it is the most remote ocean crossing on the Clipper Race circuit.
It is devoid of land mass and at certain points, the closest other humans are astronauts on the International Space Station.
Megan, a materials engineer, said: “After the crew brief and before we set off it was this big scary monster, and then we set off and there was no turning back.
“The challenge really was the length of it; mentally keeping going. We are really proud to have done it, achieved what we have done and all very happy to be in Seattle.
“It just seemed to go on forever, never ending ocean but we all picked each other up and pulled together as a team and never gave up.
“It’s now 93 days till we get back to Portsmouth, not that I’m counting, as I don’t really want it to end. But, yeah, it’s a strange feeling, now that we have done the Pacific it feels like the last big ocean is done and won’t be long till we are back home.”
