At last - some sunshine this evening.
5 Jan, 06 - 19:27
For GPS position, race position and miles from La Gomera, see http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk
On a day when Polyanna would have been challenged to find something to be glad about - driving rain, the wind blowing me north, discovery that my one change of 'normal' clothes for Antigua has gone mouldy - I've found one particular mental trick very helpful.
I've been enjoying a correspondence with two other solo ocean adventurers - Leven Brown, who is rowing the Columbus route from Cadiz to Jamaica, and Adrian Flanagan, who is sailing around the world via the polar regions. They both gave me the same advice - the value of retrospect.
Leven: ' Remember when the going is tough to treat it like a bad dream and focus on the
welcome your are going to get in Antigua.'
Adrian: ' When you come to look back on it,
the voyage will seem to have been over very quickly. Remember, it doesn't have to be fun to be fun. And it will have been fun once you are among the elite few who have single-handedly rowed an ocean.'
This 'time-travelling' approach has really helped. I had a great time preparing for the row. I'll have a great time afterwards basking in the glow of achievement. And if the bit in the middle is sometimes hard going and a bit yucky, well that's not such a bad deal.
Thanks for the texts: Mac from Team Sevenoaks (good luck with your race preparations - happy to offer advice when I get back), HSS (relieved to hear the pink hard thing was a pig with a flick knife, am not even going to repeat the next part of the joke!), Boris, Mark Reid, Tiny (thx for advice and encouragement - know what you mean about that sweet water, but today that would have taken me north), Sam K (support much appreciated), Guy, John, DB (not feeling photogenic today!).
HIT BY A FREAK WAVE! Message from Rita Savage 9pm (GMT). Roz has just phoned me to report that she thinks she has been hit by a freak wave, and that the boat had rolled a considerable way. She does not think that it rolled the whole way over and back again. She was asleep, tired out, and the waves had not been all that rough. She awoke with water pouring onto her face from the overhead hatch; her feet were in the plastic crate in which she keeps a week's ration of food in the cabin. Other items had been thrown around inside. Out on deck a few items that were not tied down have gone: her comfy cushion for sitting on deck, a drinks bottle and a few eating utensils. The oars are still there, and some other items, but she was not going to go out to investigate.
At the end of the phone call she was going to go back to her wet bed to get some more sleep. She was understandably rather shaken and felt she had to talk about it to someone who would be sympathetic. In the light of what she has written in the dispatch tonight, this was not exactly what one would call fun!
Wind: 15-18 kts, E
Weather: rainy and overcast, sunny evening
Sea state: rough
Hours rowing: 11
| Atlantic Row Part 2 |
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Not the right technique!
4 Jan, 06 - 20:30
For GPS position, race position and miles from La Gomera, see http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it, as they say.
My knowledge of ocean rowing techniques is coming along apace. The problem is that no two days are alike - the Atlantic seems to have an infinite number of moods, different permutations of wind direction, wind strength, wave height, direction of swell, and so on. So what I learned today may never be used again.
But I hope it is, because it was good. The wind was blowing strongly in the right direction, for a change, and towards the end of the afternoon I was maintaining a steady 3 knots. Ellen Macarthur may not have been impressed, but I was pleased.
A couple of people had sent me advice on rowing techniques: 'row evenly and precisely', 'concentrate on rhythm, technique and form'. Huh, I'd thought. They must be talking about a different Atlantic. Have you seen the size of these waves? I congratulate myself if I manage to get both oars in the water at the same time.
But I tried it anyway, and it did work - sort of. It's a lot easier said than done, but when it actually happens, it does make a useful difference to boat speed.
So by the time I get down into those lovely lovely trade winds (if I ever do - they seem to be a moving target) hopefully I will have the techniques at my disposal to help me make the most of them.
Other stuff:
There has been talk of writing a book about this year's race, covering all the competitors and possibly based on the blogs. Any offers? Maybe a collaboration between Tiny and Andrew V? There's a company that will print self-published books as and when ordered, so it might be feasible to produce a book without needing a book deal or large print run.
Belated Happy Birthday! to Andy O. (And apologies for being a day late.)
Huge congratulations to Julian and Celina on the birth of Barnaby. I hope he takes after both his parents in sheer loveliness. I can't wait to meet the young gentleman when I get back.
Thanks for today's texts: Flemming from Denmark, Malcolm B, Helena S-S (I don't know, what IS pink and hard?!), Guy, David P (I don't think the guy in the photo is your neighbour, unless your neighbour was president of Cambridge CompSoc in 1999), Clarkie Sargent (good to hear from you!) and the regulars.
Rita Savage's PS: Roz and Richard Uttley punting Sedna Solo in Chichester Harbour where it was too narrow to use oars in the accepted way!
Wind: 15-18 kts, ENE
Weather: sun and cloud
Sea state: rough
Hours rowing: 12
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That was then . . .(working at UBS, circa 1999)
3 Jan, 06 - 19:56
For GPS position, race position and miles from La Gomera, see http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk
A bad day on the water is better than a good day in the office, as the saying goes.
But in fact it has been a good day on the water, and I have been in excellent spirits today. It may not be nice to rejoice in the misfortune of others (schadenfreude), but my cheerfulness has been largely due to the fact that I'm no longer one of the millions putting on a suit and going to the office on the first day after the Christmas break.
For 11 years I was one of those millions, and I can remember the feeling of deep gloom at getting up in the dark on a cold January morning, trudging to the station and getting on a train full of equally gloomy commuters who are already planning their next holiday to give them something to look forward to.
So I may have saltwater spots on my bum, and I may be 2000 miles from my next hot meal, cold beer or decent shower, but I'd rather be here than on the Waterloo and City Line.
(With sincere apologies to anyone who loves their office job and sees this as a very negative view of office life. And commiserations to the rest.)
. . . and this is now.
Other stuff:
Morale has been good, but progress has been slow. I want to go south. The wind wants to go west. We have an impasse. But of course the wind wins, so I've spent the day slogging cross-wind, with limited success.
Thanks for all the text messages. Keep them coming! Thanks especially to the Galls, Eddie-Lee, A&E, Pauline (iPod now fully recharged, thanks), John T (I'll write the book if you can get me the book deal!), Rick (give me a break - I'm still warming up!), Sam K, R Westcott, DB, Gwenaelle and Hayden (love and hugs to you too).
Rita Savage's PS: If some of you are wondering why some can send Roz text messages when you can't, take a look at her website www.rozsavage.com for details.
One big change in the Roz of "then" and "now" is that she now phones me every day!
Wind: 15 kts, E
Weather: sun
Sea state: moderate to rough
Hours rowing: 10
For GPS position, race position and miles from La Gomera, see http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk
| Atlantic Row Part 2 |
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Trying to reduce the ocean to manageable size - counting down the degrees of latitude and longitude to Antigua.
2 Jan, 06 - 19:46
For GPS position, race position and miles from La Gomera, see http://www.atlanticrowingrace.co.uk
'Have you fallen in love with the ocean yet?' Cdr Mike Pearey, my man in the Royal Navy, rang me just before Christmas to check on progress and wanted to know if I shared his passion for the high seas. It was a thought-provoking question, and I've been pondering it ever since.
Living on the south coast last summer I met lots of people who genuinely did love the sea, and couldn't wait for their next opportunity to go sailing, cruising, or just messing about on the water. I can see why many people do love the ocean. She and I have had some magic moments - rowing quietly on a calm moonlit sea, surfing along on rolling blue waves, watching the setting sun sink into golden waters.
But if I've seen the other side too - the big scary stormy waves, the spiteful little breaker that comes along and soaks me just before the end of a shift, the occasional hit-and-run wave that knocks me for six.
I haven't yet reached the level of ocean rage experienced by John Fairfax, an early ocean rower. He got so hacked off with it, in a magnificently futile gesture he fired his harpoon into the waves. But I've been close. There have been some frank expressions of opinion on being soaked yet again.
But despite the downsides, do I love the ocean?
I love the solitude, the wildness, the beauty. But the ocean and I would get along better if it would stop trying to get in the boat with me. And if maybe it weren't quite so awesomely, occasionally overwhelmingly, big.
Thanks to those who have texted me since I put my Iridium number on the website. Every day is indeed an achievement, Brian, and boy does it feel like it. And I shall be listening for that Remenham roar as I near Antigua, Dick and Sal.
Mike, I saw my first flying fish today. But none on board yet, so no chance yet to try my hand at gutting and filleting.
Wind: 15 kts, E
Weather: sunny and cloud
Sea state: rough
Hours rowing: 11
| Atlantic Row Part 2 |
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