Friday 1st to Thursday 7th April 2005

Friday 1st April 2005
The months seem to go by quickly out here, it seems only a short time since the 1^st of February. Today was one of those difficult rowing days when the maximum boat speed is governed by someone else. At one point I was applying great effort to achieve one knot. We did, however, manage to grab a few miles towards our goal without heading any further south and that is a good sign. In the weeks to come I will be taking every opportunity to make a few northerly miles. The prevailing winds here are north easterly and rarely blow from the southeast.

With progress being so slow I decided to clock off early and had a luxurious shower in the sunshine. My beard was removed again and I now feel fresh and clean. Well about as fresh and clean as ocean rowers get. To anyone else I probably smell ghastly.

My handheld GPS has been reprogrammed with a more accurate waypoint for Antigua so you will notice a difference, just for tonight, in the miles to go figure; it will look as if I have done even fewer miles than I really have.

The geographical halfway point should be reached sometime on Sunday, I plan a small celebration on board.

One click. To Antigua 1400nm (see above, distance rowed was more like 20 miles).

Saturday 2nd April 2005
The winds surprisingly veered to the east this morning making rowing a good deal easier than yesterday. We made some good miles and as I type we are two miles from the halfway line. We should drift that tonight.

Clouds
Every navigator needs to be aware of the weather and a good indicator of what is about to happen is in the message of the clouds. Clouds can tell us a great deal about what is happening in the atmosphere above us. They can herald the arrival of a depression or perhaps a more local event such as a squall. Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight means that the clouds are breaking up from the west and are colourfully illuminated showing that the trough of low pressure is moving away to the east. High pressure is likely to follow. Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning means that the high clouds are increasing from the west and are indicators of an approaching depression.

Clouds are named according to their shape. A lumpy cloud is a cumulus, thin feathery clouds are cirrus. Flat clouds are stratus and raining clouds are nimbus. These names are often combined e.g. stratocumulus and cumulonimbus. Over open ocean the clouds tend to form streets, or in a posh area, avenues. These well-defined features can extend for hundreds of miles out here in the trade winds. The stronger winds tend to form between the avenues. A good skipper will cast his eyes heavenwards each morning to carry out the forecast for the day. Looking at the clouds so far on this trip I have seen: bunny wabbits, chuffa twain, angel, thwan, duck, dickybird, nuvver bunny wabbit……. Thanks Frazer, you had me laughing out loud. Cheers Arfa and Pauline in sunny Scunny.

Three clicks. To Antigua 1371nm.

Sunday 3rd April 2005
Hello, good evening and welcome to the very first outside broadcast of my daily diary. The evening is so calm and warm that it seems silly to be in the cabin. If you had been here at midnight last night you would have seen me, cold coffee in hand, looking out to sea. What was I looking for? The halfway line of course! We drifted quietly over the line shortly after the hour and I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. Why was I drinking cold coffee? The next thing that will run short is cooking gas, so I’ve placed a ban on hot drinks. When I mixed the coffee cold, I was pleasantly surprised so I tried the same with tea; also very good. Since I have only 17 teabags left I suppose that it doesn’t really matter.

In the cellar I have three large bottles of lime cordial. They were supposed to be for the second half of the trip, but a small sample was taken last week. Today however they are legal for consumption and I intend to use them in a rationed manner for drinks and for cooking. Tonight I will prepare cheesecake with lime. Earlier I opened a pot of olives, drained the brine, and drizzled them with lime. My menus will be checked carefully to see if lime can be added to anything. Obsessive, me?

Today was to have been a take it easy and party day, but when I rowed it was clear that it was a good rowing day, so the banyan was postponed and I did a full day’s row. Remembering the days when the boat would not move at more than one knot keeps me keen when conditions are right. A half bottle of champagne had been in the fridge all day and had been a welcome celebration. Thanks, Paul.

Monday 4th April 2005
Another fabulous evening so we are outdoors again. As the sun rose here today I found myself submerged in 5,000 metres of water cleaning the Womble’s bottom. The Scouts give out badges to wear for skills like that. If such a badge exists, I would like to wear it.

When I rose today it was obvious to me that it was flat, flat calm; I had not been pummelled whilst trying to sleep, my breakfast did not try to escape. The first try at rowing produced slow results so I decided that since it was calm it would be a good idea to scrub the bottom of the boat. It was quite heavily fouled and my first effort with the fish slice cleaned most of the barnacles away. The fish did not seem bothered, so I swam away from the boat some way and took a photograph. The rowing speed increased by about one knot. By lunchtime the heat of the sun had been intense for long enough so I ventured over again and finished the job with a sharp scraper and a pan scrub. Success and another quarter of a knot.

The rest of the day was enjoyable, if a touch warm and we notched up our miles steadily. This afternoon three oh-so-common Terns arrived and sat on the front of the boat. Expecting problems, I ceased rowing and made ready for eviction. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes, there was a fight and I had to break it up. They flew off to make trouble with the Dark Petrels, but they soon got the better of them and back they came. A second and third round of evictions took place before they got the message. They will probably return.

Two clicks. To Antigua 1311nm.

Tuesday 5th April 2005
Those dreadfully common Terns did not return, I think we gave them the slip. Good thing too.

The temperature today was over 40C during the afternoon which made rowing uncomfortable. It is now 1730 and no sign of any cool-off, so my intention is to take a long break now and row into the night. Last night was good for rowing, I had five miles left to do so I started rowing again at 2200, finishing after midnight. A warm and pleasant row with a spectacular sky. Cosmic.

The clean hull is giving us a good turn of speed, it will be interesting to see how it affects performance when the trade winds return.

The short-wave radio is not particularly cheery at the moment, I wonder when we might be able to receive some Caribbean music. We could have a calypso party on board. Ah, but we have no rum.

2030. It’s all gone wrong. A small siesta was being taken after typing the last paragraph, when I was awakened by the wind. Bad wind. North westerly bad wind and we are now on the sea anchor. Well I never. Hopefully this wind will be move and we will be on our way.

My court martial was, in my view, unsatisfactory and an appeal will be heard on Friday.

No clicks yet. To Antigua 1290nm.

Wednesday 6th April 2005
At 2200 last night the wind moderated enough for me to begin rowing, so the big boy was recovered and we set off. An hour later came a veer which sorted everything neatly out and I retired to bed. This morning the wind had not changed and was reasonable, so I rowed all day in sunny and breezy happiness until 2100 this evening. In about two hours we will drift over 40 degrees west, which is one of my milestones, the next one will be 1000 miles left to row.

Someone asked me today to define a veer. The wind is said to veer when the direction from which it is blowing moves around the compass in a clockwise direction. The opposite is when the wind is said to back when the direction moves in an anticlockwise direction.

Listening to Radio Canada International, I heard that the BBC is to cut it’s broadcasting on short wave. I have to ask the question; how will we know?

Thank you Glen and Selina, I hope we will be able to see you later in the year. Thank you Nigel and Paul in HK.

Three clicks. To Antigua 1256nm.

Thursday 7th April 2005
Last night at midnight or so we drifted into an eddy, from which I’m still trying to extricate us. These eddies are quite difficult; there’s no way of knowing where you are in them or how wide or how long they are. This particular eddy is moving at about one knot in a northerly direction. That may not be too inconvenient, but it knocks a big lump from our top speed. On the charts the currents are shown either as a straight line or a wiggly one. This gives a false impression that the whole body of water is moving in one direction at a fixed speed. The real nature of the current should be represented by spaghetti strewn along its track, with an indication of net flow written somewhere nearby. (If you must try this at home first cook, then cool the spaghetti and dab it dry with a tea towel. Put cling film over the chart. When the illustration is over, make up some Bolognese sauce and some Almogrote. Delicious. Don’t forget a glass of Chianti.) Snakes and ladders is a game that springs to mind.

An apology
Sorry everyone but I think I have made one of my paragraphs in the bulletin of 27^th March a little too realistic; I’ve been sent many messages asking how the rendezvous went. There is not, nor have there ever been, hospitality ships at the halfway point. These journeys are made with no assistance or support and I am not allowed to accept anything from any other vessel. The ORS ship I spoke of was a figment of my imagination, a mirage, a myth, a fantasy. Many apparitions have presented themselves before me on this trip, it was just another.

I’m quite nervous about my appeal tomorrow.

Two clicks. To Antigua 1237nm.

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