Updated departure date: Tuesday 31st July, 2:30am, from Presidio Yacht Club, Fort Baker - but still to be confirmed.
We are keeping a close eye on the weather, and the stakes are high. If I get this wrong, I could end up with an (uninsured and uninsurable) boat piled up on the rocks outside of San Francisco Bay. This would not be good. Safety is the highest priority, as death is SO career-limiting...
Rather disconcertingly, my weather guy sent me a map yesterday showing the 'Line of Death'. Until I cross this line, I am in danger of being washed ashore and shipwrecked. Nicole, my wonderful PR coordinator at Ogilvy PR, suggested we should rename it the 'Line of Rainbows and Happiness and Smiles' - focusing on what happens beyond the line, rather than what might happen before it...
The shortest route to this line is 93 miles. So ideally I need a weather window at least large enough to allow me to cross that line before the winds strengthen. My speed varies enormously depending on the wind strength and direction. A best case scenario (with following winds - very unlikely) would be to cross the line within 2-3 days. A more likely scenario (with light headwinds) would be a week. A no-go scenario (with stronger headwinds) would mean that I would never get there because I would find myself on the rocks before I ever cross the line.
At the moment the forecast is marginal. Nicole said her knees will be bruised and bloody by Monday because she will have spent the whole weekend praying. "And", she said, "Yours had better be bruised and bloody too!"
The more prayers the better, so please call on any higher powers that you happen to be familiar with to help me get away safely on Monday.
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This is a test with a video from PodTech.
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10 knots of wind can feel like a lot when you're rowing a 1200 lb boat straight into it. Today's trial run, on Horseshoe Lake in Fremont, was the first trial with the boat carrying its full payload of technology, batteries, and water ballast, and it proved, amongst other things, that I have been right to sit tight on shore and not to try and head out onto the Pacific. The prevailing winds ever since my launch event on July 10 have been onshore, and although 10 knots may not sound like much, it makes a big difference when trying to row a boat as bulky as this one. And the forecast shows no signs of changing for at least another week.
A lot of people have asked if I feel anxious. No, I don't. I would be a heck of a lot more anxious if I was about to be shipwrecked on the California coast because I'd rushed my departure.
This extra time is allowing us to make final refinements, and for me to follow up a few very interesting leads for media collaborations and educational outreach. I am feeling zen and calm, and will leave when the time is right, and not a moment before.
[photo: on Horseshoe Lake today, copyright Deborah Dennis. See more of her stunning portfolio, of subjects more interesting than me, at Black Rhino Photography] - and more photos of today's sea trial below...]
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Jessie is the intern for the Blue Frontier Campaign, and has been helping out with all kinds of things, including organising the launch event on July 10, and shopping for things I needed for the boat (grease pencil, toothpaste, sunshades, 12 lb of jerky, and various other random items). But possibly her greatest contribution arrived by email today - a sea shanty:
Landed person: How long have you been in the wilderness? (at sea?)
Crew:
All me bloomin' life, mam!
Me mother's a mermaid
Me father's king neptune
I was born on the crest of a wave
And rocked in the cradle deep!
Seaweed and barnacles are me clothes
Every tooth in me head is a marlin spike
Every hair on me head is hemp.
Every bone in me body's a spar.
And when I spits, I spits tar.
I's hard I is I ar.
Arrrgh.
Very Pirates of the Caribbean. I especially like the penultimate line - "I's hard I is I ar". On the Atlantic I found little mantras and affirmations very useful in keeping me going at the oars, and I think this will be an excellent new one.
Speaking of sea shanties, shortly I will be publishing my favourite playlists to iTunes, so you will be able to imagine yourself there in the boat with me, listening along to what I'm listening to. All you'll have to do is throw buckets of saltwater over yourself at regular intervals, and you'll have yourself a pretty authentic ocean-rowing experience...
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