Shark Bait Socials

Hugely privileged to be managing the socials for three of the crews rowing in the @worlds.toughest.row this year. Of course our girls @theonlywayisrowing ❤️ the ones who introduced me to ocean rowing and have taken me on their 3 year journey with them to cross the Atlantic. @hmsoardacious who are an insanely amazing and talented group of men rowing the Atlantic with the support of @stella.isaac.50 and huge.mh via @sharkbaitsocials Finally @team.seneca.navy who have quietly pulled away from La Gomera in the lead today. Again managing their socials via @sharkbaitsocials I can’t wait to see the amazing things these crews do, the things they encounter and the resilience they’ll demonstrate in their epic crossing of 3,000 miles to Antigua 🙌 There are scores of people behind each and every one of these crews making this journey for a number of different charities! Go follow them if you can ❤️ Finally huge thanks to @duncroy1 for capturing the best footage of them leaving!

I’m excited to introduce Lauren Hughes, a HIGHLY experienced social media specialist AND coastal rower who is taking on some of the Shark Bait Socials campaigns this season. Lauren has spent 15 years delivering high-impact social strategies for some of the biggest brands in the world - including Facebook/Meta, Asda, Fitness First, Vitality, and more. She has led global campaigns, built influencer programmes, and managed major creative teams. She’s also a massive rowing nerd!! Having trained closely with one of this years Atlantic rowing teams, she also competed at the coastal rowing European championships against Olympic teams! When we set out to try and find people that were incredibly creative, excellent at social media, AND knew all about rowing, we thought it was a tall order - so we are absolutely thrilled to have found the amazing Lauren!

This year Shark Bait Socials is working with three new campaign managers - and this one is a familiar face to many in the ocean rowing world! The incredible Marina Hunziker - perhaps best known for her ocean rowing achievements, but she is also a brilliant creative, and someone who lives and breathes the spirit of the adventure community. Marina not only rowed BOTH the Atlantic (2021) AND the Pacific (2023), but also manages social media campaigns....so she's kind of perfect for this! Marina knows exactly what it takes to row an ocean, and so she brings with her HUGE empathy for anyone else doing the same. This is someone that comes alive when they're outside, and particularly when they're connected to the ocean. Her storytelling, creativity, and amazing experience make her someone that we are very, very proud to work with. Original photo by @worlds.toughest.row

WE’RE HIRING! • Up until now Shark Bait has been Barry Hayes aka @theoceanrower telling the stories of the amazing people he meets along his merry way – mostly in the wild world of ocean rowing. 🌊🚣‍♂️ • Recently Barry has joined @atlanticcampaigns as a full-time Safety Officer for the @worlds.toughest.row - That means he gets to work with even more incredible rowers – but it also means less time to tell those stories. ☯️ • But the stories haven’t gone away. In fact, more people than ever are rowing oceans and taking on extreme adventures. And those stories must be told. 🗣️ • So for the first time since starting Shark Bait, we’re looking for people to join us on a contract basis to help bring these stories to life. 🤩 • What we’re looking for: – A passion for adventure and storytelling – Skills in social media management, copywriting, video editing, and design • We’re not necessarily looking for Barry 2.0 – for instance, if you’ve got great social media skills but aren’t as confident about the ocean rowing specifics, we can teach you and support you with the rowing side. This would mean all the same nerdy knowledge, but with your elevated social media skills, making the whole service even better! 🙌 • We already have teams waiting for a campaign manager who are launching in December. If successful, you will be that manager: speaking directly to crews at sea, creating content based on what they send back, with Barry on hand for guidance, support, questions, and sense-checking. 💪 • Campaigns all kick off at the beginning of December this year – so if you’re interested and want to know more, get in touch straight away. We’d love to hear from you. 💖 • Drop us a private message here or email [email protected]

A talk I did at TEDx Swansea called Chasing the Dragon. A bit about splashing about in the sea, a bit about addiction and loss, and a lot about finding purpose. You probably don't need to watch it now that you've had that incredible summary, but if you still fancy it: /watch?v=BVtq_w8yXtA (link in bio) Currently looking for speaking opportunities, particularly in the US and UK but also worldwide. I promise that not all my talks get as dark as this one! 💙 @tedx_official @tedxswansea

Standing on a stage in front of some people can be nerve wracking. But I've been privileged to do it many times, and to much larger audiences, so TEDx would be a doddle. Right? RIGHT? Not so much! I felt so much FEAR before getting on stage for my TEDxSwansea talk...I'm honestly not sure I've ever felt it so bad. Genuinely rowing away from a continent with no intention of returning is less terrifying 😳 And I haven't really worked out why. Perhaps having no lectern to hide behind, limited slides you could distract the audience with. Perhaps it's the fact you know that if you mess it up it's going to be immortalised on YouTube and people will get to watch you fail on demand for eternity! Perhaps it's the concept of 100 people staring at you, judging you in a group that consists of 16 world class speakers, and me 😂 Maybe it's a combination of all of those. All I know is that on paper it was simple, in reality it was scary. But, I remembered most of my words, and told a very personal story, and people seemed to enjoy my tales of splashing about in the sea and the lessons learnt in the aftermath. So, after the talk, the extraordinary levels of fear, drained from my body to be backfilled with equally high levels of pride. Which, I guess is the way that I tend to do stuff: Scare the shit out of myself, in order to feel epic feelings. Pretty bloody happy with myself for taking on this challenge. Despite my own achievement, it was an absolute privilege just to be in the room with some of the major thinkers, achievers, and motivational gurus. I left feeling inspired, and have made some new cool friends. When the video is released I'll share it, and there will be some fancy pics soon.

Big news, I now have long hair. Also, TEDx talk in Swansea this Saturday 🗣

For several years, I delivered motivational talks for large corporates and major events — and the response was humbling. Powerful testimonials, emotional conversations, and incredible feedback followed each talk. But truthfully, while I had the adventure stories, the footage, and the energy… I hadn’t fully absorbed the lessons that the oceans had taught me. They were still forming. Since stepping away from the stage in 2019, life has been anything but quiet. I’ve faced things that have reshaped me completely — and in the process, the deeper insights finally came into focus. Now, I’m ready. With hard-won wisdom, and new stories, I’m stepping back into the world of speaking. I'm currently open to keynote and corporate speaking opportunities globally. I’m based in the UK but keen to travel — or present virtually. Website incoming, talk footage incoming, but for now get in touch via social media, email at [email protected] or give me a call on +44 (0)7903 451 323 #MotivationalSpeaker #KeynoteSpeaker #PublicSpeaking #LeadershipSpeaker #CorporateEvents #ResilienceSpeaker #BookASpeaker #OceanRowing #OvercomingAdversity #Resilience #ExtremeAdventure #PacificRow #IndianOceanRow #SpeakerLife #EventProfs #ConferenceSpeaker #VirtualEvents #TEDxSpeaker

By far the biggest question I am getting at the moment is about Starlink Mini - so, here is everything I know so far. It's my opinion, based on my testing, or the testing of people that I trust...this is not a recommendation, yet. • The first three generations of Starlink used a comparatively large dish (called a Dishy) and generally weren't suitable for most ocean rowing boats as there was limited space on the roof, meaning smaller solar panels, or at least casting a shadow over a solar panel. • On the larger Rossiter boats, Starlink worked quite well as there was more space. People that used it generally loved it. But there were some major drawbacks. • Power - it draws a LOT when it's turned on, that does drop down significantly once it's settled, but it's still a lot more than a BGAN terminal. Size - as mentioned above - it's not really suitable for most ocean rowing boats Portability - starlink had to be plugged into the boat to operate. It doesn't have a battery built in (unlike a BGAN terminal) so if you use it at night, it's just drawing from the battery and the battery is not being replenished because there is no sun - with a BGAN you can charge it at midday when the sun is strong and use it whenever you like. • The Starlink Mini however, comes pretty close to solving most of these issues. • Firstly YOU MUST BE ON THE RIGHT CONTRACT - this is important - MOBILE PRIORITY - 50GB is the one you need (or MOBILE PRIORITY - 1TB if you think you will be a heavy user) - if you're not on that, it'll work perfectly in testing on land, and then you'll go away to sea and you'll find you're internetless. • The unit is MUCH smaller (it's small laptop sized), and so it takes up much less space - however, you may not even need to put it on the roof. Inside a GRP/fibreglass ocean rowing boat, Starlink will work perfectly from INSIDE the cabin (tested in an R45 on land) - ideally mount it to the ceiling NOT directly behind the solar panel (e.g. right down the end of the bow cabin) • [Continued in comments]

Working from Silverstone over the last few days, and finding places to hide away and get some writing work done provided some interesting solutions. Image 1: sexy perspex dome office 👍 Image 2: hiding in a rowing boat in the pouring rain 👎 A great weekend with good people, and some extraordinary cars!

You know those irritating people that tell you they've never seen Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon? 😠🐉 • I can take that irritation to a whole new level, by not having seen it, but also actually being in it! 🤣 • The casting call came up for men that live in North Wales, that were stupid enough to row a hollywood rowing boat (i.e. something that floats, but not necessarily well) at sea in whatever conditions were happening on the day...to be honest it would almost feel rude if I DIDN'T get on board. 🚣‍♂️ • Incredibly this 20 second sequence took FIVE DAYS OF FILMING over a year ago, partly off Newborough Beach and partly in the Menai Straits (you can see Puffin Island behind the CGI ship. 🔱 • It was a fascinating few days working, and I still cannot believe how many people were required to make it happen, a genuine army of humans, filling a make-shift city of motorhomes, scattered amongst the welsh countryside. 🤯 • The rowlocks kept breaking and the only way to get the oars in the water was by lifting them up to face height...it's not just my terrible rowing! 🛶 • Bit of fun for a week anyway. 🎥 • In other news, I've decided I'm growing my hair and wearing exclusively hessian because the grubby long haired look suits me. 🪮 • Continuity watch: This is the finale of the final season, in the first shot I've got long hair, in the second shot I've got short hair because the conditions were horrendous with rain and wind lashing us in the straits and my hair would probably have blown away. 🔎

10 years ago today I set out to row the Pacific from Monterey with three brilliant people. It was a life changing, life affirming, and perhaps life defining adventure. Today 9 teams launch from the same place in their quest to get to Hawaii! I'm working with @humanpoweredpotential this year and it's a BIG task. With a fundraising target of $28 million it will break all ocean rowing fundraising records. In fact it may actually be more than all fundraising done in ocean rowing combined! (Not fact checked, just a guess!) Every donation to their cause will be triple matched by an anonymous donor. I.e.; if you donate $25, it's worth $100 to charity. The charity is @michaeljfoxorg and amazingly one of the rowers, Pat, is a Parkinsons sufferer. Follow their page today, it's going to be a wild one!