10 Jul 2008, The Brocade
It's been a long and very hot day. The wind has been against me most of the time, but varying in strength, so at times I could make headway, and at other times I couldn't and it was best to put out the sea anchor to try and prevent myself being blown too far backwards.
So I rowed most of this morning, then when the wind picked up this afternoon I put out the sea anchor and spent my time tidying and drying out my 23-foot home. I dragged out the mattress and sleeping bag from the cabin to dry them in the hot sun, and dangled a few damp clothes from various antennae on the cabin roof. I mopped out hatches and bilges, and generally put things in order.
Then around 4pm the wind dropped so I pulled the sea anchor back on board and got rowing again. It was a perfect evening for it, especially after the sun set. Most nights have been overcast and the stars have been hidden, but tonight was beautiful - a bright half moon casting a path across the ocean, and stars twinkling above me as I rowed across the calm waters.
As for actual progress, the final score was Wind 5, Rower 5. After being blown back a bit I'm back to the same longitude where I was this time last night. So it hasn't been the most productive day miles-wise, but I've got a drier, cleaner boat, and hey, I got a good workout.
[photo: drying the laundry - Brocade style]
Position at 11pm Pacific time, 0600 10th July UTC: 27 07.782' N, 128 39.167' W.
Other stuff:
BLUE PLEDGES
Today the ocean has been a beautiful place to be - so let's preserve this wonderful wilderness. Simply go to www.theblueproject.org and click on the Make a BLUE Pledge button. Costs you nothing, and it helps save the oceans - and the planet!
BE COOL, BE BLUE!
Thank you for all the lovely messages of encouragement. It all helps! Thanks especially to Deanna, Antti, Erin, Joan, Ken, Mark, Gene, Dana, Chris, Linda, Ryan, Ian, Dale, Helena (thanks for the fantastic Henley Regatta story - rowing suspended for rain? Pah! Wimps!), Skip, Roger (all trash stays on board to be brought back to land, and recycled if possible), James, John, another Roger (finger still about twice the size it should be, and tender, but I'm surviving! Thanks for asking.), Jennifer, Claus, Duane, Humphrey (thanks for the inspiring life change story!), Steve, Tricia (great pledge!) and Abigail.
I've been informed that I'm in the current issue of Departures travel magazine. Honoured I'm sure!
And a special hello to Sarah, Bill, Jack and Grace - hope your wedding is a wonderful and happy occasion. And that the sun shines on you literally and metaphorically!
And congrats to Gus and Cathy on the impending new arrival. How exciting!
Congrats also to Benn on his selection for the US Olympic slalom kayak team!!
Lovely to hear news from dry land, and lives moving on and changing. Marriages, babies, Olympic selections.. Nice to be reminded what real life is like!
Click here to see Day 46 of the Atlantic Crossing Fundamentals
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Comments [0]
I am writing this blog on May 7, three months before it will appear on my site. I have no idea what will be happening by the time you read this. Hopefully I will still be alive, and will be well on my way to Hawaii. But who knows?
Regardless of what has happened in the meantime, the thought remains valid. I am trying to explain why I go to sea - challenging though I find it.
Picture your world.
Now take away your job.
Take away your home.
Take away your car.
Take away TV.
Take away advertising.
Take away the phone.
Take away your family.
Take away your friends.
Take away the land beneath your feet.
What do you have left?
What do I have left?
I have:
The sun and the moon.
The sea and the sky.
My little silver boat.
Enough food to eat, and enough water to drink.
And my body, mind and spirit.
That is all. What I need to survive, and nothing more.
Perfect purity.
That is why I am here.
Latest position (0415 9th July UTC): 27 13.593' N, 128 38.332' W.
Click here to see Day 45 of the Atlantic Crossing Atlantic Prankster
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07 Jul 2008, The Brocade
Today was a toughie. Grey sea, grey skies, a chill wind and waves coming at me from an awkward angle. Conditions on deck were wet and cold, and the rowing was a hard slog for not much reward.
It's on days like this that I have to remind myself of the reason why I'd rather be rowing across oceans than working in an office, as I did for 11 years (although today it was a close call.).
So what is that reason?
I guess that in the office days I just didn't feel that I was making a contribution. I was mostly redesigning computer systems and streamlining headcounts for big financial companies - which is a contribution of sorts, but not the kind that I wanted to make. I needed to find a role in life that better reflected my personal values.
I wanted to connect with people and touch lives, and to feel there was some POINT to what I did every day. I wanted to be able to look back over my life and feel like I'd left some kind of legacy.
I hope that doesn't sound like ego talking. I try to keep my ego in check, as it's almost invariably a bad guide to living a good life. By legacy, I simply mean that when it's all over and I'm on my deathbed, and I evaluate whether I did good, did bad, or did nothing - I hope I will honestly be able to say that, on balance, I did good.
Position (as at 0210, 8th July UTC): c.
Other stuff:
Hey Jack- hello!!! How lovely to hear from you! Please give my best wishes to John and Claire, and the other doormen at 1088 Park Ave, and I can't wait to see you all again - hopefully in the fall.
Thanks for all the other kind messages that have come in - especially to Kirk for cheering up an otherwise gloomy day with his kind words.
BLUE PLEDGES
Just one week to go before the deadline on July 14th. Simply go to www.theblueproject.org and click on the Make a BLUE Pledge button. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart - or should that be from the bottom of the ocean.?!
BE COOL, BE BLUE!
Click here to see Day 44 of the Atlantic Crossing 13 January 2006.
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06 Jul 2008, The Brocade
Today I proudly crossed off another degree of longitude on the whiteboard in front of my rowing position (top right in the photo). For a long time, while I was dancing to and fro across 124 degrees West, I didn't dare put the numbers up in front of me - it would have been too depressing (and I would have had to keep reinstating the 124 after having crossed it out).
But last week I decided I was ready. So now, like the Birdman of Alcatraz, I am keeping score - and it is helping to keep me motivated. Today the rowing conditions were uncomfortable, with a choppy swell coming at me from the side, but I knew that if I rowed all my shifts I could get to 128 degrees West - and the end of my audiobook, of which more below - and that thought kept me going.
For the stattos, here is how long it has taken me to cross each line of longitude so far. Just so you know, the Golden Gate Bridge is at about 122 30' W.
To cross 123 degrees: 2 days
124 degrees: 3 days. Then went backwards and spent 3 days the wrong side of 124. Then 2 days the right side of 124. Then 8 days the wrong side (including a brief foray back into the 122's). 4 days the right side. 6 days the wrong side. Then finally broke through for the last time.
124-125 degrees took 4 days.
125-126 degrees took 6 days.
126-127 degrees took 3 days.
127-128 degrees took 2 days.
And that's where I am now. Waikiki is at 157 50'W - so there's still a long way to go. But I'm getting ever closer to the trade winds, so I'm starting to feel cautiously optimistic about some decent progress from now on. Just hope I'm not tempting fate.
Current position (03:41 UTC) is 27 52.099'N, 128 01.573'W.
Other stuff:
Roz Recommends: today's audiobook was Collapse, by Jared Diamond, as recommended to me yesterday by a blog-follower. It's a fascinating look at previous cultures that have brought about their own demise through mismanagement of their natural environment, and an intelligent summary of what we can learn from their mistakes. It's unsettling reading (or listening), demonstrating as it does just how short-sighted we humans can be. But it's also empowering, because he concludes that the power to change our future lies in our hands.
BLUE PLEDGES
In case you're stuck for ideas I'm going to suggest a subject for a Blue Pledge inspired by the audiobook Collapse. Promise to buy only fish approved by the Marine Stewardship Council - this guarantees that the fish comes from sustainable stocks.
Simply go to www.theblueproject.org and click on the Make a BLUE Pledge button.
BE COOL, BE BLUE!
A special hello to all the kind people who have written to me from Hawaii to say Aloha and expressed a wish to greet me in. Don't hold your breath just yet. but as soon as I know where I'm going to make landfall I will make sure I put a note on this website to let you know. And I'll see you there!
Rochelle in Texas (and all your friends!) - thank you for your lovely message. I wish you could be in Hawaii too - I could seriously use that massage!
Hi also to Gene, John, Mark, Pippa, Dwight (sorry, don't know the water temp here - cold enough, when I get splashed!), and Alex (thanks for the words of encouragement).
Click here to see Day 43 of the Atlantic Crossing January 13 2006.
You can now read any earlier blogs by exploring the list at the top right and at the foot of the Contents page. The link is to the left of the Marine Track box.
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