We are a crew of five women from a small Devon estuary village attempting to row the Great River Race in September 2026, 21.6 miles up the Thames, in a restored traditional Yealm Crabber, raising money for Cancer Research UK. This is how we got here.

We decided we’d like to row a boat up the Thames for charity. Between the five of us we had shared reasons for wanting to support the work of Cancer Research UK and a collective love of rowing Crabbers, even if we weren't particularly good at it. One big problem, we didn't have a boat.

Months of searching turned up nothing. Then came a rumour, a mystical Crabber, hiding under a bush in someone's garden somewhere in the village. Two of our less socially awkward members were dispatched on a crabber hunt. The rest, as they say, is history.

Antares is a traditional Yealm Crabber, formerly a sailing boat who had been made in our village decades earlier. Thanks to her generous owner, she was ours to restore and row. Armed with zero knowledge, a lot of enthusiasm, and a far-fetched dream, we threw ourselves into the project.

It turns out you can't renovate a boat purely on the power of dreams. We quickly learned the difference between a nail and a screw, made friends with dust masks and power tools, and settled into a very sustainable working ratio of 70% chat and coffee to 30% actual work.

So here we are. A crew of ordinary women from a Devon village, learning to row a lovingly restored heritage boat, attempting a 21.6 mile race on the Thames, and hoping we haven't completely lost the plot.

We're not elite athletes. We're not even sure we know what we're doing half the time. But we are determined, we are together, and frankly that's good enough for us.

Please donate if you can — however small. It all adds up, just like the miles.

Follow our journey: https://www.instagram.com/antares.the.pink.crabber/