Looks like my Friday 13th luck arrived a day late. Yesterday went quite smoothly. Today did not.
The day got off to a bad start when I checked my position this morning and found that I’d lost about 6 miles overnight. Then this afternoon the watermaker wouldn’t work. When I was trying to heat my dinner this evening, the cigar-lighter plug on my electric kettle fell apart (I eventually found the missing part still inside the 12V socket). This evening westerly wind (bad) started to increase. And my new sea anchor arrangement got in a bit of a pickle on its first deployment – it has taken me two hours to get it all sorted out, and I have now retired to my cabin feeling very cold and grumpy.
So, looking on the bright side.. Err, hmmm. I’m stumped. OK, I’m still alive and still healthy. But it’s a pretty poor day when I review my achievements and the best one was that I finally got around to brushing my hair and putting it into ocean style – power pigtails (see photo).
Right, here’s another good thing. Today was so lousy, tomorrow can only be an improvement.
I hope.
Other stuff:
Hi and thank you to all who are following my progress – whether it is via this blog, Facebook, the thrice-weekly podcasts with Leo Laporte, or via SMS text messages or Twitter.
A special hello to Michael Klayko, Tom Buiocchi, Leslie Davies and all at Brocade – my title sponsors.
Some answers to questions:
Andrew Waldby was wondering whether I get to see many other ocean goers out here and whether any other ocean cruisers try to make contact? Fortunately not. I feel much safer when there’s not much shipping around. I’ve seen no vessels since I passed the Farralones on Day 2. Tonight I saw a plane flying really low over the ocean. Hope they weren’t looking for me.
Fred Plappert was asking about some of the information that I was sending back during last year’s bid – data about energy usage from solar panels, intake of carbs, protein and fats etc. I decided to simplify things this year, so am not sending back as much data – instead I’m focusing on what you could call the New Media – video, photos, and social networking (Facebook etc). But I believe that Margot Gerritsen may have written a blog about my sustainable energy capability on her Smart Energy Show (as she did last year). As for the food intake, my diet this year is rather different, inclining more towards a raw food diet including lots of homemade crackers made from sprouted seeds blended with veggie pulp – which would have been extremely difficult to analyse for carb/protein/fat content. The figures would have been so inaccurate as to be meaningless. So I’m sorry, but that data simply is not available.
Right, I’m cold. Time to snuggle into my sleeping bag and try to warm up my frozen extremities!
15 June. When Roz was talking to Leo Laporte yesterday she mentioned a very ugly fish that she had seen. Two kind followers sent references to these Sunfish, and there is now a picture in Roz’s Smugmug Gallery. If you click on the logo which is in a little black box with a green smile – up on the right of this message – you can see her pictures.
Rita Savage.