A super-quick blog as this is the roughest day yet and I don’t want to keep the laptop out of its case for a moment longer than necessary. I’m temporarily quite grateful for the flooded lockers, as the extra ballast has, I’m sure, saved me from several knockdowns today. There have been too many close calls for comfort. There seems to be a temporary lull (relatively speaking – only 30 knots instead of 35) so I’ll make the most of it.
I rowed for a little while this morning, but as well as high winds it has been raining much of the day, and having raindrops flying at you at 35 mph is no joke. So I have spent most of the day confined to the cabin, doing just about everything one can do while strapped to a bunk on a small rowboat.
I spent some time planning the next chapter of my life. But there is a limit to how much of that you can do before you have to stop and just let it gestate for a while before taking it to the next level of detail.
So I have read my one hardcopy book – “Perseverance” by Margaret Wheatley, from cover to cover. I have played Bejewelled 2 on my iPhone until I couldn’t stand any more. I have explored every app on my iPhone that will work without an internet connection or mobile phone signal.
And I have listened to the wind roar around my boat, and the waves slam into the side of the hull, and the rain rattle on the roof. Each time there is a near-knockdown my stomach clenches and I get that goosebumpy feeling that you get if you trip and nearly fall, or have a near miss in your car. The cabin is damp and stuffy, and I feel grimy and sticky. I can’t say it’s the most fun-filled 24 hours I’ve had in my life.
According to the forecast, only about another 18 hours of this before the conditions start to abate slightly, and by the 18th I should be able to open up the cabin for airing, pump out the lockers, and get some fresh air into my lungs. Until then, I am counting the hours….
Other Stuff:
The wind is picking up again now, so I’ll quit while I’m ahead.
Quote for the day:For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously. Martin Buxbaum.
Sponsored Miles: Rough conditions but moving in the right direction, 34 miles since yesterday morning, and thanks go to Nick Perdiew, Simon and Eve Ringsmuth, John Griffin and Brian Yates for sponsoring.
I have written this to the BBC (sounds so ‘home counties’!): I notice with interest and support the attention given to the attempts to row round the Arctic, and the Adair and Stenning crossing of the Indian Ocean. I want to draw your attention to Roz Savage’s so far successful attempt to row solo round the world. She too is crossing the Indian Ocean, but solo. Can I request that this remarkable woman gains fair coverage in support of her achievements.
Keep going Roz!
Today Roz will have spent more consecutive days solo than any other of her solo rows. (103 on the Atlantic and 104 on stage two of the Pacific)… making tomorrow and all days forward, her personal best!
I am requesting another round of cheers! to be sent her war. Wanna check out something cool? Go to TED, Ideas Worth Sharing home page, http://www.ted.com click on the left side column for “courageous” and see who pops up! 🙂
Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.Maya Angelou Row Roz Row! ~jay
“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.” ~Jane Austen 😉
Cheers from the mountains of Montana! Hang on, Roz! My daughter Amelia and I are thinking of you and praying for a round of warm, lazy sunshine to come your way quickly!
I suppose pouring oil on the water to calm the sea is out of the question?
Joke of the day for Roz:
A married couple went to the hospital together to have their baby
delivered. Upon their arrival, the doctor said he had invented a new
machine that would transfer a portion of the mother’s labor pain to the
father. He asked if they were willing to try it out. They were both
very much in favor of it.
The doctor set the knob to 10 percent for starters, explaining that even
10 percent was probably more pain than the father had ever experienced
before. But as the labor progressed, the husband felt fine, so he asked
the doctor to go ahead and bump it up a notch. The doctor then adjusted
the machine to 20 percent pain transfer. The husband was still feeling
fine.
The doctor checked the husband’s blood pressure and pulse and was
amazed at how well he was doing. At this point, they decided to try for
50 percent. The husband continued to feel quite well. Since it was
obviously helping out his wife considerably, he encouraged the doctor to
transfer ALL the pain to him. The wife delivered a healthy baby with
virtually no pain. She and her husband were ecstatic.
When they got home, the mailman was dead on their porch.
Thought for the day;
“I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present. In this limitless nation, this nation of wind, light, and peace, there is no other ruler besides the sea.” Moitessier.
Oh Roz… you worry us so, but we are sending you all our love and support. Please make this the last row, tempt not the forces of nature. There are other “oceans” to conquer, oceans of disregard and ignorance, and we want you around to conquer them for many years to come. Sending tranquility your way…
dearest Roz….. “perseverance” runs all the way through you – like a stick of sea/ocean side rock ! (have a Welsh version for you when you get here). And you are still out there…. and will row, row, row till you reach your intention, as you always have. You may have heard that Ben & James capsized off Mauritius on sunday & had to be rescued off coral rocks? Holding you with love and amazement… x Romy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14542443 tells the story of Ben and James and their disastrous arriival in Mauritius after rowing across the Indian Ocean. The island is almost completely surrounded by coral reefs.
Roz I try to imagine as I read through your lines.
I do you have iridium or ssb radio for your blog?
you have much courage!
Prayers and cheers your way
Stay strong Roz. You’ll be shooting up to India by September.
Eric
Hi Roz,
Well, you should be about half way through those 18 hours by now… only 9 one-hour washing-machine runs. We know what it’s like in a 46-ft boat, wonder if on a 23-ft boat it’s twice as bad?
Your courage, perserverance and wise “quote of the day”s are an inspiration to your many followers. Keep up your good spirits,
Freewind freewind[at]sailbayofislands.com
Hi Roz,
Well, you should be about half way through those 18 hours by now… only 9 one-hour washing-machine runs. We know what it’s like in a 46-ft boat, wonder if on a 23-ft boat it’s twice as bad?
Your courage, perserverance and wise “quote of the day”s are an inspiration to your many followers. Keep up your good spirits,
Freewind freewind[at]sailbayofislands.com
On the plus side: 18 hours blown in the right direction should give at least 50 miles that you will not have to row. Enjoy the ride! 🙂
An uncle of mine once told me ‘Adventure is adversity remembered from the comfort of home’ You’re adventuring now! Keep it keel-side down and think how much you’re going to appreciate tomorrows flat water.
I once spent the better part of a week in a tiny one-man tent on the Brecon
Beacons during a storm that saturated us and blew away some of the tents so we
had to double-up. It wasn’t much fun at the time although we bragged about the
experience for years afterwards. However, to the best of my recollection the
ground remained relatively stable so it doesn’t really match what you and Sedna
are enjoying/suffering/experiencing and you certainly sound a lot more cheerful
that we were!
if I could be there I would!!
No matter what your next plans will be: But i highly recommend you take the whole Wikipedia with you on your iPhone, as offline Version. Great way to spend time with. No sooo big, if you do not download with pictures.
What i ever wanted to ask you (maybe i have overseen): Do you read your books on Mobile? Or electronic Book Reader?