An Marlow rower part of a team aiming to be the first all-female crew to row the Pacific Ocean has described waves “the size of small houses” as she clocked up her first ten days at sea.

Marlow rower Emma Mitchell and her three Coxless Crew colleagues set off from San Francisco on April 21 for their epic 8446-mile trek to northern Australia in specially made pink boat ‘Doris’.

Emma – who revealed to the BFP in January she suffers from seasickness - has been keeping a regular blog to update loved ones on the foursome’s marine adventures.

Celebrated her 30th birthday on Saturday, she said the crew threw an impromptu party for her hundreds of miles out to sea – complete with balloons and Champagne.

But with waves buffeting Doris from all sides, the Marlow woman has vivivdly described the harsh conditions preventing the adventure from being all plain sailing.

She said on Wednesday: “Imagine if you will being on a roller coaster. Now imagine being on the roller coaster without being strapped in. This is what being aboard Doris is like at the moment.

“On the deck the roller coaster is cold and windswept, the track being waves the size of large houses which can come from any direction.

“Add to this a thorough dousing with freezing cold sea water every couple of minutes and being thrown off your seat by the odd errant wave."

Emma - who learned her trade as a teenager at Marlow Rowing Club – is joined in the boat by fellow rowing enthusiasts Laura Penhall, Isabel Burnham and Natalia Cohen.

The Coxless crew are currently heading south, and their progress will soon see their latitude in line with the Mexican border.

The first section of their trip will take them to Hawaii, where after a short stop-off to resupply, the squad will set off for Samoa and finally Cairns in Northern Queensland.

The whole trip is expected to take around six months.

Famous names in support of the voyage include explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Chay Blythe, the first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world.

Their adventure – featured on TV last week - is raising money for injured servicemen charity Walking with the wounded and Breast Cancer Care.