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Friday 29th April 2005
Happy Bank Holiday weekend everyone.
A long rowing shift today, it’s past midnight and I’ve just finished having rowed a mere twenty miles. This eddy is a monster. We’ve had two small teasers to give us false hope of an end to it, but during the course of the day we didn’t get the speed over 1.7 knots. Checking the ship’s log, I find that we have been through eddies about one per week, and they usually take three or four days to get through. That means that when we are clear of this one we will still have time for at least one more before we reach landfall. What will tomorrow bring?
Whilst looking for something on deck this morning I discovered a small flying fish which had been there a while and had dried out, so I ate it. Jolly tasty it was, a bit like anchovy. I’m now looking at my menus to see if we can incorporate a few of them or I could just dry them all and eat them as snacks.
Radio Humberside called today – hello to all you listeners. I spent about five years in Hull before leaving to join the Navy, and I still have lots of family living there. The interview started me thinking about the place, and it kept my mind occupied all day.
There was once a good-sized brewery in Hull called, aptly, Hull Brewery. It was in the city centre and the heady aromas which emanated from there were tantalising. They produced the most delicious beers, and I really used to look forward to a pint when I went home on leave. One day I arrived to find it had been taken over and shut down. What a tragedy.
For the purpose of my education I attended the Grammar school of Hull. Our school song began with the lines “Six hundred years have rolled away by Humber’s flowing tide, since first our ancient walls uprose, the fabric of our pride”. Six hundred years was apparently too long and the school along with the name and, I expect the pride, has gone the same way as the brewery. Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
Wendy, I do remember the giant Womble but I can’t remember where I got it from, I do however recall travelling a long journey with it. Long journeys with Wombles, hmmm.
One click. To Antigua 427nm.
Saturday 30th April 2005
No diary entry for Saturday.
Sunday 1st May 2005
Sorry about there being no diary yesterday, I rowed very late trying to clear the eddy and was completely exhausted when I finished. This morning the eddy had grabbed back five of my hard-won miles and it took until 11am to get us back to where we left off last night. It is day 6 in this eddy, I’m not sure what to expect next. The last two or three days have been the hardest of the trip so far. We’ve been set back at least three days from my hoped for day of arrival in Antigua, and it would seem that more setbacks will occur. It would be good to arrive before my family have to leave.
Two dolphins came by this morning, what a joy to see them, but they were gone in a second. Lots of small fish jumping and the ocean has come back to life. We are just past the 400 miles to go mark, so the wildlife should become more plentiful from here on. Yesterday an albatross or something very like it came to see us, the nearest I can find in my guide is a Buller’s Albatross, but I shall have to spend more time on it. A fabulous bird with a wingspan of more than a metre, black head and a yellow beak, white collar, white belly and petrel colours on the upper wings.
More dried flying fish on the menu today, I wish I had started eating them earlier. All of them have rather obligingly flown into my frying pan. Now there’s a considerate fish. The frying pan though is out of action for a few days; the last of the gas cylinders was fitted this morning, but I want to conserve gas in case I need it badly in the closing stages, so everything is cold at the moment.
The oranges seem a long time ago.
I wonder what I will remember and what I will forget of this odyssey. Hopefully bits like the last three days will be cast into the recycle bin and the rest stored in the hard drive and backed up somewhere.
Thank you for all your messages Chris and Maureen, Julie, Andrew, Barbara, George, Sally and Pete, Judy and Paul. Keep them coming please.
Sally, I want to keep the diary going until I return to Norwich to record my thoughts and events on my return. After that I shall probably let it go, but having a news page for stuff worth mentioning in the months to come.
No cooking today so no clicks. To Antigua 399nm.
Monday 2nd May 2005
The wretched eddy spat me out like a cherry stone at about three this morning and we have been at escape velocity since then. It seems crazy to stop rowing until we are a thousand miles from the thing in case we are dragged back in. My rowing routine has gone by the wayside until we are well clear and probably ready to get into the next one which hopefully won’t be as strong. The thing was over a hundred miles across and held us for six days, turning the boat around and sending us backwards, sideways and any which way. It should be marked with a large sign.
Last night I rowed until 1 am, had a doze, and then from 3 until 6 am, breakfast and dozed until 9 when the big row of the day began. A one hour break at 5pm, then rowing through until midnight. Diary, shower, food and so on.
After all my fine words about conserving gas I had to use some this morning for my eggs; they need to be cooked, everything else is okay cold.
Along with the eddy and a westerly wind last night we also had an electrical storm nearby, just to add to the value of the evening. That gave me a bit of an anxious time, how close do you let these things get before you stop rowing and shelter? The text of the section on carbon fibre oars would probably say “Carbon fibre, if struck, will atomise and any person nearby will be instantly vaporised”. My decision was to stay and row, and eventually the storm moved away.
Arrival is beginning to excite me a little; I have a number of jobs to do and people to see, but I look forward to so many things. Just a few: fresh fruit, a big bath, learning to walk again (it’s been nearly four months), a stationary bed, food that stays on it’s plate, a proper lavatory, muesli, sitting still, curry, iced orange juice, rum punch etc. The three dorydoos have gone, they were very different to the last lot, no style at all.
No clicks. To Antigua 353nm.
Tuesday 3rd May 2005
Happy birthday to my dear Aunt Glad.
Good rowing today, not bad conditions, but yesterday was a corker, we managed about 55 miles, which seems unreal after all that messing about in the eddy. Our last was this morning at 1100. We are now more than seven eighths of the way to Antigua, and so in true Womble fashion, tonight we are to have a gianagerous feast with all of the treats kept back from the voyage. No picnic this, we are going to give to give it a full flying circus. We even have a few liquorice allsorts left.
Today must be something like day 103, and I’ve done a couple of odd jobs which for some unfathomable reason have not been done until now. One of them was to screw down the footplate which for well over a million rowing strokes has made a clunk as I row. I also made a very simple backrest for the rowing position which means I can take a breather without getting up, and I can lay back at night and stargaze. At this late stage I also fitted the last pair of oar handle grips, which are exceedingly comfortable. Thank you David Cosford.
One Wilson’s Petrel today and one small gold fish. Not a big day for nature appreciation.
Tonight I would like to thank Elizabeth Beresford, creator of the Wombles, for allowing me to name the boat Womble and for her kind words of support. They are on display in the pub.
I would also like to thank Nat Spring and Justin Coleman for giving me the “Wombling across the Atlantic Ocean” inspiration. Nat and Justin were crew members on boats in the ORS Regatta last year.
One click. To Antigua 312nm.
Wednesday 4th May 2005
Scotty has been insufferable these last two days, hanging around in the control room with a stupid smirk on his face. “Everything all right, Captain?” he says from time to time. “Yes” is the only reply he gets, he is smug about the Warp Drive. We have had Warp speed for the last couple of days, which has come in very handy. The track is still a bit too far south, so that should be fixed in the next few days. Funny how we never saw Scotty when the Klingons were trying to drag us into the space-time anomaly. He must have been reading too much Para Handy and thinks he is a real engineer like McPhail.
A container ship was on our bearing this morning, thankfully he answered the VHF and altered course without mowing us down. Afterwards I was thinking that the Womble will be on its way back to the UK in a couple of weeks time on a ship just like that.
Remember the boxes on the chart? We are now half way through box one; the last box. There then remains about 100 miles to Antigua, and rum punch. Earlier I discovered two tins of chilli. They opened quite easily and just filled my big bowl nicely. Then I ate them, with a huge dollop of mayonnaise. Wow.
Ever the optimist, I brought out the music system to see if the passage of time had healed the burnt out electronics, but the answer was a sorry silence. This next week should be exciting enough as we approach the islands, but to have the music again would be really welcome. The radio is just about moribund; only a weak button will turn it on, and its batteries must be removed to turn it off. It cannot stay on station for any time and needs more nursing than a baby.
The symptoms of ciguatera (24th April) are being enquired after by someone who presumably thinks he or she might be exposed to it. I looked them up in the cruising guide and they have very much like the symptoms of nerve gas poisoning or drinking too much Tequila; nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea and can lead to paralysis and death. The only cure is to make the sufferer vomit until their stomach is empty. One hopes that there is someone around to make you puke before the death bit settles in.
No clicks. To Antigua 265nm.
Thursday 5th May 2005
Congratulations Bob and Dani on the birth of your daughter.
After early poor conditions we had a huge improvement this afternoon and found both wind and current. The forecast for the weekend is good, my confidence is increasing that we’ll make Antigua next Thursday. It does not seem real yet that the journey is coming to an end. I’m getting excited, but there are over 200 miles yet to row. Very real miles which can be easy or hard. The general build-up of anticipation will no doubt kick in when the miles are less than 100.
My sleep has been minimal for a few days, due mostly to the sea state. The wind is forecast to moderate soon, I should be able to catch up on my zeds before we arrive. It would be a pity to arrive and wish to do nothing but sleep.
We have a guest on board, it is a Bronze Noddy, a very pretty seabird with a pale grey forehead, brown plumage and black or very dark brown tails. It is here this evening and will probably be gone tomorrow.
We are presently listening to election night coverage on Radio Pluto and so far we are two constituencies declared. Could be a long night.
Dinner tonight is cold chicken teriyaki but I’m treating myself to a double wild berry and yogurt dessert.
No clicks. To Antigua 228nm.
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