Doctor battles rough seas to raise funds

TOUGH GOING: Whangarei doctor Vicky Miller battled her record-breaking way across feisty Cook Strait. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Keen rower Vicky Miller pulled out all the stops when she crossed Cook Strait in a rowing skiff - twice - to support a fundraising effort for a 7-year-old Whangarei boy with cerebral palsy.

Dr Miller made a record-breaking double crossing of the notoriously feisty Cook Strait on Tuesday to raise money for Rueben Leslie. His family needs help to make their home safer and provide Rueben with equipment.

Dr Miller's record of 7h 25m for the 60km crossing was set in rough conditions, and she is only the second person to make a double passage of Cook Strait in a single skiff.

"It quickly turned to custard as I approached the South Island and the huge volume of water just battered me. I really struggled to control the boat in the swell," she said.

"I was very relieved to get through and past Awash Rock but had a sinking heart at the thought of having to row back through that first 10k of huge swell. Once through safely though, it was brilliant and I could settle in, stretch out and stride out the miles."

Her guard boatman, nine-times Cook Strait swimmer Phil Rush, said while conditions were "absolutely stunning" when they started out from Makara on Wellington's west coast, things deteriorated. Dr Miller had to fight side-on winds and seas for much of the way to Brothers Island, he said.

"She had a piece of everything thrown at her," Mr Rush said.

Dr Miller said being out in the wild strait was, overall, "pretty therapeutic, with the open horizon and the silence apart from the splash of the oars and thunk of the gates".

"I finished in 7 hours and 25 minutes, which is a new record, and I am the second person ever to do a two way crossing in a single skiff. I'm not saying men are sooks but just pointing out it's only two women who have done it."

She had help training for the feat from Shayne Dunseath, a fitness trainer at Activ8 Northland in Whangarei, and her rowing team captain Chris Williams helped her "find strategies to cope mentally when it got tough as I knew I would be frightened in the rough".

Dr Miller has an endurance background, including rowing in the Channel Islands, racing between France and Jersey, and the 30k between Sark and Jersey. She met Rueben through her work as a doctor.

"I am so mindful of how lucky I am to be fit and healthy enough to take on this challenge and it's been wicked to have met such an inspirational little fella as Rueben. I've just moved to New Zealand and have been gratified by the amazing community up here in Whangarei and all the encouragement I have received on the way."

Dr Miller's crossing has so far raised nearly $3000 on givealittle.co.nz. Hers is not the only rowing record set by Whangarei people in a bid to help Reuben and his family. Two months ago Activ8 Northland organised an indoor rowing event to raise money and set a world record for the fasted continuous 100km, achieved in five hours and 44 minutes and raising about $3500.