|
Friday 18th February 2005
A pleasingly productive day. I began rowing at 0700 and with two short meal breaks rowed until 1900 in near-perfect conditions. More please, just like that. The wind is due to shift more to the east tonight which is exactly what I need. Keen observers of my position will have noticed that I’m heading for the Cape Verde islands. Over the next couple of weeks my track should move more westerly as I leave the Canary current and head for the North Equatorial.
I have discovered why the trip readings that I give here are not tallying with the ORS figures. The GPS on board does not read any speed less than 0.9 knots, but the trip uses the GPS to calculate the ground covered. Quite a lot of my journey is at speeds of less than 0.9 knots so the trip reading is lower than it should be. The ORS track my movements with Argos beacons which have a better GPS than mine so you can rely on their numbers.
Trip(ish) 540 miles. One click, yahoo!
Saturday 19th February 2005
Upon waking this morning I spotted a ship on the horizon. On checking I found that he was on a steady bearing for me which means that we are going to collide. I took to the oars and rowed west for 10 minutes until his bearing began to move left. He answered the VHF on my second call and said that he could see me on his radar; that is good news, it means my active radar transponder is working.
The forecast wind change happened on schedule and the easterly wind is now a great assistance and very welcome. My daily mileage should begin to improve soon as the winds become more consistent.
The last orange was eaten today.
If you mix dried milk powder with seawater it tastes really odd. Today was jazz day.
Trip 561. Seven clicks.
Sunday 20th February 2005
Today was spent recovering the 4 miles we lost last night when the wind blew us north. Some westerly headway was also made. A reasonable day but very little to report except for a spectacular Dorado fight at about 1500 this afternoon. A huge eruption on the surface about 20 metres from the boat. They had all changed colour and were in yellow and black. I wonder if they were establishing terms with a newcomer. There are at least a dozen of them now.
Since the trip reading is now proving to be meaningless I have decided to include it anyway.
Trip 561. Twelve clicks.
Monday 21st February 2005
A very sunny and hot day with steady but light winds. Good rowing but for some reason the boat just would not go above 5 knots. I was informed that Maud has covered 96 miles in the last 24 hours. Gazooks, if you have any miles to spare Maud…
Today’s celebration is for one calendar month at sea and by my calculation about one quarter of the way to Antigua. Ending the shift an hour early to watch sunset with a glass of red sounds like a good idea. To celebrate further I brought out a new sheepskin for my cushion. The difference is striking, comfort levels improved at a stroke.
Yesterday I spotted a huge piece of polystyrene at about 500 metres – it was about the size of a large fridge and I decided that it would be our first decent piece of recovered debris. The plan was to row upwind, get east of it and drift down on the wind. This was planned like a military manoeuvre including the method of embarkation and the eventual stowage. We reached the upwind point earlier than I imagined we would and drifted down to the polluting article. The ocean can give your eyes some odd perspectives to deal with; our fridge-sized block was the size of a house brick and very easy to embark and stow.
Trip 588. One click.
Tuesday 22nd February 2005
Happy birthday to my youngest brother Andrew.
I think I must have upset someone today, the sea was fine, the winds were in my favour but still the maximum speed I could get from the boat was 1.5 knots. I tried different techniques but to no avail. I tried the scrape the oars along the top of the water as if you were curling butter method; 1.5 knots. I tried the dig deep, heave until your knuckles part, your legs creak in compression and your blood tries to force its way out of your forehead method; 1.5 knots. I just cannot envisage what it would take to push a rowing boat 96 miles in one day, that must be some buzz.
The forecast for tonight and tomorrow confirms my suspicion that I’m in someone’s bad book; the wind is to come round to the south or west or both. Dust off the big boy.
This evening has to be the calmest, warmest and most agreeable of the trip so far. I sat in the cockpit for dinner (chicken teriyaki – yum) and the silence was complete. No sounds of any kind at all. The night sky was only slightly impaired by the huge full moon. I looked over the side to see our squadron of dorado which now numbers about 30 cruising in a lazy moonlit clockwise circle beneath us. I rowed for a while in the silence but decided that I was making too much noise and returned to the cockpit to just sit and appreciate. It is beyond me to imagine Norwich in the snow right now.
Trip 601. Three clicks.
Wednesday 23rd February 2005
As forecast at 3 a.m. the wind arrived and it was a 15 knot south westerly. Out big boy and have a lay in. This morning I got on with some maintenance. I removed the rudder and cleaned off the fouling checking the shackles and fixings whilst there. I cleaned out the water making compartment, super glued my kettle handle back on, cleaned out the fridge and cooker, bailed out the bilge pump locker, cleaned my pans etc, etc. All this takes my mind off the fact that we are on the sea-anchor and not making any progress especially westerly progress.
During the afternoon I called customer services:
"Yes, hello, this is a south westerly and I am going to Antigua , it should be a north easterly. Little, L-I-T-T-L-E, no I don’t have my booking reference number with me. Antigua, A-N-T-I-G-U-A. Yes, about three months ago. North easterly, yes about Force 5 or 6. Yes, I’ll hold. (Music) Hello, yes I see. So when will it be delivered? When? Is there nothing you can do? I’ve been waiting five weeks. No thanks I don’t feel much like completing customer satisfaction surveys just now. Goodbye"
It seems they mixed up my winds with someone else who was sailing and she got the north easterly and she didn’t want hers either. Ellen somebody or other.
The wind increased during the evening and I couldn’t use the cooker so it was cold corned beef hash tonight which is not as bad as it sounds.
Trip still 601. No clicks, no cooking.
Thursday 24th February 2005
The wind veered slightly this morning to just north of west. I recovered the sea anchor and gave rowing a try. The only direction I could make was just west of south and only one knot. However I reminded myself that one mile is better than no miles so I plodded on for the course of the day.
The temperature is increasing slightly in the mornings. I’m so glad. I was wondering if I’d be wearing three layers all the way. Sad to hear that Norwich has so much snow.
It’s funny, when I’m listening to my blues records some days I just think of the Walnut Tree Shades with the tables outside and the sun beating down. I can almost taste those whisky sours. Set one up for me Chris.
I was reading through my diary yesterday and came across the entry for the maiden voyage of the Womble. It was on Sunday 18th July last year and we launched from the Woods End, Bramerton. The crew were Andrew Vinsen, ocean rower from the Woodvale race 2003, and James Downey, promising rower, and myself. We shared the rowing (when Jim would let us), went to Coldham Hall, had lunch and rowed back. We all enjoyed the day but got soaked to the skin in the rain. Rowing, eating, getting wet – that just about sums it up.
This afternoon I became convinced that the ocean can read your mind. I was rowing along thinking that I haven’t seen any whales this trip when I heard a snort on my left. I saw a small whale about four metres long with a curved dorsal fin well aft on its back. The fin was rounded at the end – it was very inquisitive and made several approaches. Then there were two. They swam around for a while until I got the camera out and then disappeared, not however until I got a picture or two. Half an hour later a repeat performance but since I didn’t have time to become well acquainted with the first two I could not tell if these were new observers or simply the last ones coming for a second look. It always gladdens my heart when I see the beasties of the sea. They are so elegant and confident and at home in the water, which is just as well really.
I saw a Great Shearwater today.
Trip 608. Twelve clicks.
<< back | next >>
 | 
