Day 3 can be a tough one. I remember now, feeling this way on the last
two crossings. My body still has to get into the ocean groove – hands
are blistered, shoulders are sore, and very surprising for anyone who
knows me well, I'm slightly off my food. Normally nothing interferes
with my appetite, but even on these relatively calm waters I've been
feeling a tad queasy, and I've had to force down enough food to keep me
going. Luckily I have plenty of reserves, having put on a lot of weight
since my last row, so I'm not in danger of starvation any time soon!
This particular Day 3 was not helped by the fact that I've been rowing
into a headwind. A very slight one, admittedly, but still enough to
create a very strange wiggle in my course when I look at it on the
chartplotter. I'm not quite sure how often my Solara unit to
transmitting my position, so you may or may not be able to see my
loop-the-loop on the RozTracker.
No matter how tough the day, I definitely feel past the point of no
return. Last night when I retired to my bunk I could just see the orange
glow of the lights on Oahu, but this morning when I got up just before
6am there was no sight of land. So I am now very much out in the Big
Blue.
There is also a slight feeling of, "Oh my word, why am I doing this?" So
far to go, and progress so slow. Luckily I have a few good answers to
that question, and I have to keep reminding myself that I just have to
keep sticking the oars in the water, and I will get there eventually.
Only another 9,897,356 strokes to go….!
Other Stuff:
An interesting diversion this afternoon – some birds feasting on a
school of fish, lots of action at the water's surface.
Went for a little swim this afternoon to try and cool down. But the
ocean is so warm, it didn't help much.
Speaking of which, today I deployed the two temperature gauges given to
me by Hawaiian IT company Oceanit. One gauge for the air, fixed to my
rollbar, and one for the water, attached to my rigger. It is supposed to
be a metre below the surface, but refused to sink, so I had to attach
some fishing weights to it. Hope it doesn't slow me down too much!
Position: 20 42.296N, 158 22.868W
Wind speed: 5-8 kts, SSE
Sea: max: 2-3ft swell, choppy this morning, calmer now
Intentions: keep plugging south
