Answers for One of my Youngest Fans

We have close family friends with a son named Liam.  We have always been good mates and he has been following my row VERY closely.  The other day he sent through a number of questions for me to answer (his mom assures me that his questions are not limited to these ten) and I thought I’d share them with you – I enjoyed answering them! (It is important to know that he recently lost his panda hat).

1). Why is Auntie Sarah not with you on the boat?
This is a tough challenge that I wanted to try and do. Auntie Sarah is a very good rower (better than me) but didn’t like the idea of rowing across an ocean.
2). Why are the kids not on the boat too?
They are too you to try something like this. They also have school at the moment.
3). Why don’t we (I assume he means the Scott family) have a boat?
Will leave that one up to you. There will be one coming onto the market fairly soon, if you are interested…?
4). How many legs do the four ladies have that have just rowed across the Pacific? (I gave him the answer -he is asking because we have discussed Row2Recovery in depth before)
I think they each have two legs.
5). Why do you look so different? (He has just seen your latest photo with the sunset)
It has been nearly two months since I shaved so I’ve grown something of a beard. Neve doesn’t like it when I have a beard, but there is no bathroom on the boat and cleaning and shaving is not easy so I just decided to let my beard grow.
6). He saw you reaching for the food in the hatch and is very considered that you are not keeping it in a fridge (“eeuw that is gross”) I explained you have to cook it. So his question now is how do you cook your food? (My explanations are not good enough)
My meals are dehydrated (which means had the water removed) so to cook them I just boil water in a little gas stove that I brought and pour it into the bag of food. Wait 10 mins and it’s ready to eat.
7). We discussed that Steve is at the back (after discussing every boat’s position and their team name and who rows in it). “I have a Steve in my little football class”

I don’t think it’s the same Steve.
8). Uncle Greg have you seen a whale yet?
I have not seen a whale yet, but I hope that I still will see one. It would be a real highlight for me. I keep looking every day. I have seen a lot of flying fish though. One flew right into me the other night and gave me a bit of a fright!
9.) Do whales swallow hats? I am still missing my panda hat?
I don’t think whales would swallow your panda hat on purpose, but maybe by mistake.
10). Do you have a bed in your boat?
Yes, I have a small cabin that has a mattress on the floor that is my bed. It is not so comfortable though and is always wet. Imagine sleeping on a wet bed all the time! Not so much fun.