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Friday 25th March 2005
Happy Easter everybody.
Slow rowing today with an unusual sea state which made things a bit corkscrewy. We are being taken south, which is not brilliant, but I expect that we will have the opportunity to regain our latitude later. Maximum boat speed today was 1.8 knots.
The yogurt-covered raisins ran out today, and I thought we had run out of tea, but I found some more teabags in the galley locker.
The Sea-me has gone quiet, we must be off the beaten track again. The next shipping lane is between New York, Recife and Rio de Janeiro.
Thanks for your messages Ali, good luck in the marathon. Cheers Henry, if only I’d paid more attention in history class.
One click To Antigua 1556nm.
Saturday 26th March 2005
Falling asleep whilst typing my diary entry last night tells me that my new routine is making the most of my energy reserves. The daily mileage is presently good, which is due to favourable conditions which may not last. If the wind and current go against me I’ll be furious with myself for not making miles now.
A Matron came by this morning, picked us up like a rugby ball and ran for 100 metres before touching us down.
Mr G Glass of Morecambe sent me a free text message via the iridium.com website to my phone number 00881631570778 to ask me what sort of engine I had fitted in the Womble.
The engine presently in use seems at first to be an unlikely candidate for the job. For a good number of years it had been assigned to light duties only. No maintenance had been carried out on it and an advanced state of decay was evident. Despite all of this it was regularly in steam, no more so than annually at the Royal Norfolk Show when a full head of steam was always achieved. I took the engine to David Cosford at the University of East Anglia to see if he had any ideas. After a number of preliminary checks he proposed an expensive program of testing and a full schedule of exhaustive trials. The boiler was of prime concern, It’s CO2 max was determined and a full pressure test performed to see if it’s total aerobic capacity was sufficient.
The firebox, main cylinder, piston, crankshaft, governor and connecting rods were all examined, cleaned and replaced. Crankshaft deflections were less than 1,000th of an inch. All bearings were checked to hysteresis and the lube oil was replaced with a fresh batch all low cholesterol, high haemoglobin and good haematocrit. The main support columns were tested along with their universal joints and despite a slight difference in length were being acceptable.
The flywheel was removed and a large amount of matter removed from it, mostly rust. The spark arrestor and foot blower were removed and scrapped as they would no longer be required with modern fuel. The tests revealed that the plant, although very old and in poor condition externally, was basically sound.
The trial schedule involved hot ops, cold ops and power range testing to determine its lactate curve and draw up a boundary of operation tables. A hundred hours of fine tuning on an ergometer were then carried out. At this stage the fuel consultant was appointed; it was vital to feed the boiler with the correct balance of high efficiency fuel to ensure that a full head of steam would always be available. The trials were deemed successful and the propulsion unit was put to work on the boat. Despite some steep gradients, the unit has performed adequately to date.
The engine is of course my own body, and David Cosford is the assistant director of Human Performance at the UEA Sportspark. The fuel consultant is none other than Anna Sapling of Nutritactics, an expert sports nutritionist. I’m very grateful to both of them for their support and assistance in the preparation for this project.
Thank you all for your continuing text messages, they are priceless to me.
Two clicks. To Antigua 1523nm.
Sunday 27th March 2005
Happy Birthday George Glass.
Today was a moderately active day, rowing for less hours and carrying out personal maintenance. Breakfast was a raspberry flapjack with a raspberry and apple porridge mix. Lunch was chicken and herb dumplings and dinner – my fave – pasta primavera with blueberry cheesecake for pudding. Parts of me which I have never seen before have begun to appear so I must still be losing weight. A few more days like today should help.
It appears that since the arrival of Maud Fautenoy in Hiva, French Polynesia, I’m the world’s only ocean rower in transit. Should I feel lonely or something?
By my calculations we should reach the halfway point sometime late this week. The Ocean Rowing Society (ORS) hospitality ship should be on station now, and I look forward to our rendezvous. You know, the ship with the wet dock at the stern; you just row into the dock and the boat is taken over by white-uniformed sailors who give you a big fluffy robe to wear into the shower area. Kenneth and Tatiana Crutchlow are waiting on the verandah deck dressed in immaculate tuxedo and ball gown. They’re smiling and holding cocktails. Your boat will be cleaned and replenished whilst you sleep soundly. In the morning your steward will bring you ice-cold orange juice, a handsome cooked breakfast with freshly ground coffee. Get with that paintwork, boys.
The ocean wildlife seems to have gone quiet. The Dorado are still here, as are the flying fish, but that’s all. The distance from the mainland must be the reason.
Tonight’s bulletin is dedicated to Reverend Nick Garrard, Curate Damon Rogers and the parishioners of St Thomas’ Church, Earlham Road, Norwich. They are in proud possession of the blessing Nick performed for us on the 13th December on the River Wensum.
One click To Antigua 1497nm.
Monday 28th March 2005
This morning rowing began at 0715 and proceeded jolly well until 1000 when I stopped to bring the log up to date. Ten minutes later I took the oars to find that we had run into a gluey type of water which stayed with us all day and restricted the boat’s speed to 1.4 knots. My belief that we had left all that nonsense behind was ill-founded.
The news of another Indonesian earthquake reached me today. A couple of text messages have asked what I will do if a tsunami hits us. The short answer is that I will probably not even notice it. The water depth here is over 4,000 metres and the likely wave height would only be a few feet or less. It’s when the wave reaches shallow water that it gains height due to the funnel effect. We regularly experience huge swells, which usually come from the north and they pass through without incident. How they begin and where they end up is a mystery to me.
A tropic bird earlier this morning, another this afternoon, one Corey Shearwater and another Shearwater yet to be identified. Some beastie or other, probably a turtle, has been munching the bottom of the boat at night. It could be eating the goose barnacles which must have re-grown by now. If so, it gets my vote.
The banana chips ran out today, also the penultimate jar of coffee.
Thank you tonight to Colin Blackburn and his pals Dave and Derek from Redcar. Also thanks to Hilary Bastone of the Ocean Rowing Society (ORS) and Jon Lacey of Prestige Gardens.
One click. To Antigua 1470nm.
Tuesday 29th March 2005
The detention record used at my former school, assuming that they have kept it, will show that I was once given a detention by a traeposter, (which is a similar creature to a prefect, but they get to wear sawn-off academic gowns) for "persistence". The pre was a chap called Kim Motton who went on to be a policeman. My recollection of the incident is sparse, but I do remember wondering why I was being punished for something that I thought was a virtue.
The persistence paid off today, the conditions for rowing were dreadful all morning and most of the afternoon, with a maximum boat speed of 0.9 knots early rising to 1.3 knots. Normally I would have found something else to do, but today I kept trying to get more until at last, at about 1700, something happened (I don’t know what), and the boat’s speed suddenly went to 2.5 knots. With a few hours of daylight left the mileage became acceptable in the circumstances. Kim Motton’s career was, I hope, long and successful, but I wonder how many villains he marched into the station withy charge sheets reading "patience, perseverance, diligence and the like".
One of the seat roller bearings seized solid earlier – it took me a while to get it replaced, but oh was it worth it. The seat now whispers back and forth instead of the rattle and graunch we had before. Peaceful.
Thank you Andrew and Wendy for the messages. Also Matt, that will be fine on Thursday.
Four clicks. To Antigua 1452nm.
Wednesday 30th March 2005
The rowing conditions today were almost identical to yesterday’s with a meagre mileage and too much sitting around and waiting. No problem, there is always some job or other to do.
This morning my number one Argos beacon stopped sending my position, so I was telephoned to arrange to switch on number two. The beacon sends my GPS position to Argos, who are in France, who then send my track to the Ocean Rowing Society (ORS). There is an emergency button on it should I have difficulties, also a well-man button which I would press daily if we suffer a communications breakdown. The batteries in the beacons last for ninety days, which is why we carry two. This one has lasted seventy days, but it might not be battery failure.
My court martial has been bothering me, I think I was harshly treated, so I’ve been thinking about grounds to appeal. There are a couple of angles I could go for, so watch this space.
My obsession with food continues, I counted the food packages again today to be sure we have enough to get all the way. It looks about right, so long as we get steady miles. I’ve never been hungry before and I don’t particularly relish the prospect.
Tonight we have a Common Tern on board, but it’s finding it difficult to stay as the boat is presently moving around violently.
Thank you Guy Arnott, the log may well be included in a book, but I have some work to do on the rest yet.
One click. To Antigua 1426nm.
Thursday 31st March 2005
Big seas this morning but quite rowable so I gave it a try. Ten minutes after I began I felt a strange sensation in the centre of my lap, if you know what I mean. A small flying fish had landed in a delicate place and was trying to make good its escape. With a bit of help he was gone, but the experience was yet another new one for me. The sea stayed big and bouncy all day, but I found that with effort we could head slightly north of west, which helps us regain some miles lost to the northerly wind in the last few days.
The inverter seems to have recovered, it was required to run a soldering iron today when I fixed the telephone charging lead and it gave no trouble. Phew.
KC asks what do you need electricity for? Good question, when I rewired the boat I was surprised at how many outlets I needed for the switchboard and it is easier to list them. GPS (global positioning system), VHF radio, navigation light, water pump, battery charger, compass light, cabin light, music system, inverter (drives spare VHF, movie camera, computer, anything main voltage), satellite phone, bridge, cellular phone, radar detector, water maker. Some boats have bilge pumps, wind instruments and more, so it’s quite a list.
When ocean rowing started there was hardly any of this kit, they took all the water they needed, all their food and set off with no phone or safety beacons, just themselves. To me, they were the real heroes. Intrepid adventurers.
Thanks tonight to Sally Knowles, Guy Arnott, Joe Edy, Jackie, David Cosford and staff at the UEA Sportspark.
Seventeen clicks. To Antigua 1404nm.
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