Today has been exceptionally productive, with 62 nautical miles (about
71 normal miles) under my belt. That’s more than a whole degree of
longitude. Woohoo! I would say I am well and truly past the point of no return now – and hopefully there will be no more reasons why I would need to.

Of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and no such thing as
free miles either. The conditions that have lent themselves to such a
magnificent tally have made life rather uncomfortable at times. As well
as the general bounciness and sporadic drenchings throughout the day, I
opened my galley (kitchen) locker today to find my food supplies and
kitchen equipment floating around in about a foot of water.

This locker had been leaking since the start, but this was getting
ridiculous. I was especially upset to find my last chunk of Jarlsberg
cheese swimming around with everything else. It doesn’t seem to have
suffered too badly. I’ll still eat it, at least until and unless it
turns green. Even I draw the line there. The last of my bread had to go
overboard to feed the fish today when it developed a fine growth of
green beard.

Something had to be done, or at least attempted, to resolve the leaky-galley problem, so I got out the roll of insulation tape that Glenn had brought over to the Abrolhos at my request. I’ve bunged it in around the seal, and so far it seems to be helping. The real proof of the pudding will be when I open up the locker tomorrow morning, after a
night that will doubtless see Sedna copping a few boatfillers.

Fish Topside View

Other Stuff:

Happy Birthday to Cath Davidson on North Island today. Sorry I wasn’t around to celebrate with you, but I’m sure you were glad to see me on my way, as I was getting really rather fond of your island home!

Sorry I forgot to attach the photos of my fishy yesterday. Not quite sure what happened there. So here they are. Wasn’t he a handsome fellow?

It is an annoying quirk of my satphone/email software that it shows me that I have messages coming in, but then makes me wait a day or two before revealing them to me. I saw the messages being downloaded, but my inbox appears empty. Then one day, apparently at random, they will appear.

So the upshot of this is that I still haven’t received any comments to respond to, and my laptop battery is about to go flat so if I’m going to get this blog on its way I’m going to have to sign off now. I prefer to do my recharging while the sun is up, as it’s better for the batteries if I make hay while the sun shines.

I hope you’re still out there, and that you’re still commenting, and I’ll get back to you just as soon as I can!

Sponsored Miles – not only has Roz done excellent mileage, but owing to other responsibilities, there was a longer gap between my readings of her position, so these miles represent 27 hours, not 24. Grateful thanks to all of these sponsors, some of whom sponsored more than one mile.

Kimberley Hughes, Lance and Kay Mamiya, Alun Rees, Thomas Johnson, Kapil Suvarna, Doug Grandt (for Beth and Larry). James van Bemmel. David Redman, Bleddyn Williams, Robert Anderson, Victoria Stanbach, Alan and Sharon Bosse, Maria Cristina Gallo Suarez, Gretchen Olson Kopp, Doug Grandt (for Garrett) Chris Oram, Rahmat Redzuan, Mary Kadzielski, Tamara, Kuropas, Hans Verwey, Brad McDonell, Rosi Hey, Michelle Urquart, Johnny Raven, John Miller, Ian Hamby, Barbara Nock (for Save Scotland’s Seals from being killed), Doug Grandt (for Shelley), Vic (Sam) Jones, Laura Prouty, Graham Pugh, Mike Matthias, Lachlan Cotter, Gail Brownell, Doug Grandt (for Paulina), Jim Little, Victoria Stanbach, Laura McDonell.

28 Comments

  • We’re all still out here, Roz. Maybe the satphone is helping you focus on the going rather than the reading and responding. All is great here. Michelle is down for a visit, the chicks are all doing well, and my magazine won a lot of awards yesterday at a magazine association banquet that we attend every year, so we’re all happy about that. Mom has submitted her articles on her Cambodia/Vietnam travels for me to edit before she sends them to the hometown newspaper, so I’ve got lots of reading to do over lunch.

    Good luck with those lockers!

    Oh, and I was glad to hear you liked “Two Years Before the Mast.” I totally agree about the poetic nature of the old maritime sailing terms. I had to derive meanings from context most of the time, but it was beautiful to the ear.

    Best,
    Joan

  • Roz: Regarding the leaking hatch… Do you have a thin plastic tarp/sheet, bigger than the hatch opening, that can be placed over the open hatch before closing the hatch door/lid… This will not look great but should keep the water that makes it through the hatch door/lid from reaching the interior… Fold/Double it over if need be to make the closure really tight… The overlap should keep the water from reaching the interior… Just an idea… Might be a bad one, I know…

    • To support the idea above, Wikipedia definition of “Jury Rig”… ”
      Jury rigging
      refers to makeshift repairs or temporary
      contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be
      on hand. Originally a
      nautical
      term, on
      sailing ships

      …” If it can’t be perfectly resolved, Do what can be done to mitigate damages… As an example, We used to tear sails when racing… Duct Tape to the rescue – Didn’t look good, But did the trick… I think a “second layer” of overlapping material, under the hatch door, would keep MOST of the water that makes it through the hatch from getting further inside…

      • Wow, that did not copy and paste well…

        To support the idea above, Wikipedia definition of “Jury Rig”… “Jury rigging refers to makeshift repairs or temporary contrivances, made with only the tools and materials that happen to be on hand. Originally a nautical term, on sailing ships…”

        If it can’t be perfectly resolved, Do what can be done to mitigate
        damages… As an example, We used to tear sails when racing… Duct
        Tape to the rescue – Didn’t look good, But did the trick… I think a
        “second layer” of overlapping material, under the hatch door, would
        keep MOST of the water that makes it through the hatch from getting
        further inside…

  • Roz, all the best to you! Greetings from the USA specifically Scottsdale, AZ. I have been following you for a couple of weeks since I cought your story on the news. Each day I visit your site to read the latest. I am glad you are on your way. I will be in India next week visiting my team. My wife and I sponsored a few miles for you. Safe Travels! Brent

  • Suicidal fish, hitchhiking birds and nautical miles – now we know you’re on your way for another ocean adventure. May it be as free of leaks and technical difficulties as possible!

    • Heymissk! Thanks for the inspiration for anautical haiku …

      suicidal fish
      unexpected bombardment
      point of no return

      Row pointedly, Roz!

  • Glad to hear things are going more in your direction! Hope the food supplies weren’t too damaged. Go Roz!

  • Hey Rita and Roz’ Team – An Idea to “Automatically” eliminate the time it takes to respond to one repeated question: As new Rozlings join the flock, or school, or
    whatever we should call it, They may have missed the reason for the
    “Tracker” being off – which makes perfect sense to me… Roz is dealing
    with enough, no need to worry about what can be prevented… But, What
    about setting up an “Automatic” Headline that tops each Blog, “For
    security reasons Roz’ Publicly Broadcast Tracker has been turned off
    for the duration of her Indian Ocean leg – Her team knows where she is at all times…” or whatever… Then when new people sign on looking for the Tracker they will understand “Automatically”…

  • Hi Roz! You want to stay away from green cheese, and bearded bread as well 🙂 I’m glad you’re hanging in there and hope the hatch will stop its leaking soon!

  • Food for Rita, Roz and The Team’s Future Thoughts: Please don’t hate me for suggesting this… Nothing is more collectible than Nautical Collectibles… Nothing is more collectible than world’s record sporting and endurance collectibles… Nothing is more collectible than “Celebrity” collectibles… And nothing is more collectible than historically important collectibles – that show the history… Are you following me so far… Roz et al, Once you homecoming row is done, Sedna could bring a huge price in London at Bonham’s, Sotheby’s or Christie’s… I would suggest Bonhams – only because such specialties as Nautical and Sporting collectibles have always been specialties of theirs, on top of the other specialties listed that they all have – and the each get all the same bidders… My guess is that it would bring something in the $50 – $75,000/35 – 50,000 Euro/30 – 40,000 GBP Range “As Is” for Roz – Possibly significantly more, and at lower cost of sale, if sold as Roz’ property “For The Benefit” of the cause(s) of her choice… IF you all like this idea, When the time comes, Assuming I am still here, I have connections at each of these great firms, and we can make this happen… You all can make it happen without me too – IF it comes to that… Just an idea – and perhaps a bad one… Just thinking “out loud” so to speak…

    • Sorry, Lots of partial words again corrected here – Don’t ever go into a coma, “Roz et al, Once your homecoming row is done, Sedna could bring a huge
      price in London at Bonham’s, Sotheby’s or Christie’s… I would suggest
      Bonhams – only because such specialties as Nautical and Sporting
      collectibles have always been specialties of theirs, on top of the
      other specialties listed that they all have – and they each get all the
      same bidders…”

  • Hi Roz, Good luck on this last leg of your journey; it has been so much fun to watch you over the years! I look forward to reading your daily blog!
    Here’s to Good Rowing! Patti

  • “This locker had been leaking since the start.” WTF?! Aww Roz, I don’t understand why it was overlooked. I thought that would rank pretty high on the list of priorities of such an epic voyage. I’ve had a lot of experience with leaks on boats and can tell you that no bandaid cure will ever be good enough. Things like that need to be dealt with good and proper. Too late now…if you have lots of chewing gum, start chewing hun :-)) BTW…this is meant to empathise not criticise because I really feel for you. I just hope you’ve managed to salvage most things. As for the fishy pics…that’s definitely a flying fish…you could just about see where its wings come out on its underside view. Congratulations on making such good progress…over a whole degree…YES!! Well done…hope Mother Nature aloows you to keep it up. Stay well….Sam

    • The “Flying Fish” and “Needle Fish” are quite similar… BUT the “Flying Fish” does not have the long “Needle” shaped bill that Roz’ hor d’oeuvres has… So, I am pretty sure from all the pictures I just looked at, That it is, oops was, indeed a “Needle Fish”… They swim at the surface in the warm oceans – so they become easy prey for fishing birds, and easy gifts for them to share with Roz…

      • How do you suppose it got inside the bucket? I have actually seen many a flying fish end up inside mainsail reefs only to drop out onto the deck when the reef is shaken out. I’ve also seen them end up in buckets and cockpit soles and even down companionways. Perhaps needle fish and flying fish are one and the same depending on where in the world you come from. Certainly here in Western Australia some of the exact same fish can be known by a different name on the east coast.

        • Hey Sam: These Fish, swimming at the surface – especially in the evening/night, are also easy prey for local fishing birds using Sedna as an evening roost… They fight a lot when the bird grabs them to try to bring them back to their partner, and Roz, in this case… They, The birds, dropped one in the bucket for an extra two points…

      • Basides that, relatively speaking, Sedna doesn’t have much freeboard but more than enough for any fishies without wings, I would suggest….

      • My apologies dear Richard…you’re 100% correct. I didn’t know about needles till now so did some research and found this:

        “Fish in the order Beloniformes are often found swimming at the surface
        of the water. Many are also known for leaping out of the water to evade
        predators. Needlefish have been known to impale fishermen as they
        launch from the water. Flyingfish are well known for their areal
        maneuvers. They can glide for up to 200 meters once airborne.”

        Kind regards…Sam

  • Roz,

    Firstly, good stuff, keep it up.

    Second, A smear of vaseline or sunscreen cream around the rubber seal of the hatch may be just enough to limit the water ingress, whether inside the boat or out.

    very impressed girl.

    Bob

  • Holy smokes Roz – that’s some serious miles!! Good job!

    After all your troubles, to hear that your kitchen is leaking is tough. I mean – it’s your KITCHEN!!! Can’t have soggy bread… Hope your repairs did the trick – at least mostly.

    Nancy

    • Dearest Pippa – You did it again, Just read my mind about the spotty botty… I have a feeling in these circumstances, everything from bread to cheese floating in water, Roz is too… Fortunately this is NOT a long term thing – once Roz botty is dry for a few days the spotties will disappear… If it can’t be stopped at this point, I Do wish there was some way of using the water flooding the food locker for a better purpose than turning cheese green – like running it through the desalination system, and collecting it in bottles afterward…

  • Roz, happy to read yesterday’s status on Facebook: “pretty crescent moon tonight, signalling end to a very productive day. 72 miles!”

    That has got to be a record, no? Maybe the moon is your good luck charm ;-D Makes me think in 5- and 7-syllables, please indulge me, once again …

    windy wavy seasmooning the northeasterliespale crescent sliverRow luminously, Roz

  • I’ll trade ya fish, Roz – can use those Needles for bait. Going fishing this afternoon. If only the right species lands on deck you’ll get a meal! Ummm, water in the Food Locker; though we hate plastic bags I hope your main supply was in them. You must have the patience of a saint! The miles tell all – I had no idea you can do that in a day! I’d better stop fishing and do more rowing!

    Mike in FL

Leave a Reply to Richard in DFW Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *