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Thursday 2nd June 2005
This morning I took the plunge and walked into Paul’s news on Rosary Road Norwich to buy my first raspberry flapjack since my return home. It felt quite odd as I saw the cellophane wrapped goodies on his shelf; the last one I saw became a milestone in my journey. My recent appetite took over and I bought two; one for later. Ten minutes later I had consumed both, but the wonderful flavour had taken me beyond reason and I found myself remembering the list of other goodies I had combined with them to form the grand breakfasts enjoyed in the second half of the trip. Breakfast was the most important meal and required plenty of slow release carbohydrates to feed me during the mile-munching daytime rowing periods.
Shifting beer barrels has been part of my job for nearly twenty years now, so it would be sensible to assume that I would be able to get straight back into action on my return without any problems. An eighteen gallon barrel weighs around two hundred pounds in total and now outweighs me by far, so I am having some difficulty doing my job. Time to get back to the gym and work on the muscles which are not required for ocean rowing; they are well relaxed and need stretching and developing again.
Friday 3rd June 2005
More ship based maintenance today, until the afternoon, when I met up with Andrew Vinsen, and we took the train to London for my first visit to the headquarters of the Ocean Rowing Society. The occasion was a seminar for prospective ocean rowers. Nigel Gower was the guest speaker, but as the evening progressed, Graham Walters, Andrew and myself joined the discussions and a useful amount of information was exchanged.
Saturday 4th June 2005
Henry Dale, ocean rower came to Norwich today, and we began our plans for next year, when we will row a sizeable portion of the inland waterways of Britain in a specially designed boat. Henry was a rower in last years ORS regatta and became a solo rower when his partner Justin Coleman became ill. We have no idea how we will cope in a boat with another rower, and it will be another adventure for both of us. Our wives are planning to join us for the expedition which should be around three weeks in duration. Watch this space…
For two nights now, my rowing dreams have stopped and I am sleeping much more soundly. Hurrah for that. Just a few more minor snags to fix and I should be as good as new.
Sunday 5th June 2005
A lazy day with one of those breakfasts I could only wish for when they were out of reach. My body needs rest, exercise, food, healing time and flexibility training all at once. If I neglect any of them I am quickly reminded.
Monday 6th June 2005
Back to work, beginning with pub stuff in the morning followed by the drive to Lowestoft. The boat needs a full paint job and we are currently grinding and preparing the steelwork for the first primer coat. The work is dirty and noisy but the physical effort in climbing ladders, scraping decks, hammering chisels and generally exercising muscles which have not been used for a long time is showing results; I feel more flexible and agile. My appetite continues unabated, with bulimia style binges. My fear is that it will continue until I reach my old weight, which will simply not do.
Tuedsay 7th June 2005
Lowestoft; chipping, grinding, wire brushing, cutting, welding, chiselling, sweeping, shovelling and the first fish and chips meal of 2005.
Wednesday 8th June 2005
A phone call today informed me that we may have a job to do with the boat. This prompted a flurry of tidying and testing gear to be sure everything works. The prospect of going to sea again is rather attractive. It will be a joy to have the grunt of a large marine engine at my fingertips, dealing with the waves and tides without effort.
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