Never mind an existential vacuum (per yesterday’s blog) – today I feel like I have been rowing in a meteorological vacuum. The weather just didn’t turn up. Maybe it’s been cut off. Did somebody forget to pay the bill?

I suppose there was some weather. The sun shone. Clouds came and went, and very prettily too. But there was not a breath of wind all day. The ocean had no wind waves, just a long, slow, rolling swell. The ocean seemed simply vast and endless.

I slogged along, sympathising with sailors who have gone stark raving mad in the doldrums, craving for the weather to just do something, anything, to alleviate the nothingness of it all. I keep scanning the water, and the horizon, and the sky, vaguely hoping to see something new. But there is just more endless blue.

At least I have one advantage over the sailors of old. I’ve got Keith Richards to keep me entertained.

Other Stuff:

A special hello to Pippa in Perth (nicely alliterative). I continue to silently thank you every time I lay my weary head on the pillow you bought to replace the rather solid old ones in the Purple Palace. This one continues plump and bouncy and very, very comfortable. Thank you!

Also a shout-out to Col. I was thinking back to the creative pictures you took of our evening event at the UWA boat shed. I am sure that if you were here you would find a lot more interesting angles and subjects to photograph than I am managing to think of. I will try asking myself “what would Col photograph here?” and see if that helps!

Margaret – loved the quote so much I will reproduce it here. Thank you. “He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.”~ Horace

Julie (Tim Ray’s mother) – thank you so much for getting in touch, and for your kind invitation. I will definitely let you know the next time I am in southern California. I think of Tim daily, and my thoughts and prayers are with you and the rest of his family.

Anna Farmery – grand to hear from you! Congrats on surviving law finals. I still occasionally have nightmares that I am about to take mine, and am woefully underprepared. Oh hang on, that’s what actually happened! Anyway, well done, and very much looking forward to a celebratory beer next time I am in Yorkshire.

Marks the Spot – there was a really good TED talk, too, on using gamers to solve real world problems. Elizabeth McGonagal, I think, was the name of the speaker, although I may not have the spelling 100% correct.

As mentioned in today’s podcast, there are these lovely birds that have been keeping me company out here. They have white bellies and grey backs, and skim low over the waves, almost touching the water with their wingtips. I have tried to get pictures of them, but they move too fast, and my camera is very slow. Does anybody have any suggestions what they might be?

Photo: the pinnacle of today’s excitement – mares tails overhead.

Sponsored Miles: Michael Dunn, Joe Dominguez, Tim Williams, Diane Freeman.

22 Comments

  • “Pippa in Perth”… Glad you liked it, So did I and the rest of the “Rozlings ‘Round Earth”…

    I just had “My Boys” – Bruno & Guido – “Talk” to “Those In Charge” of the weather there for you… They were “assured” that things would be “more to your liking tomorrow, and from now on.”

    Thinking of you, @Pippa:disqus @Rita:disqus @June:disqus and all the Rozlings…

    Bruno, Guido – and as they call me “Fat Cat” – are with you in spirit 24/7! Let us know how “The Boys” and I can help next! Glad to do it.

  • Be careful what you wish for, weather-wise. Does getting rained on in Disneyland count as surviving bad weather? I suppose not ; )

  • Hey, Roz. I really enjoyed Thursday’s podcast. Sorry the doldrums continue. We’ll let you know if you start sounding starkers. I did laugh at your mention of Johnny Depp mispronouncing place-names. Having a pronunciation of your town name that has no relationship to its spelling is always a good way to be able to distinguish locals from strangers. 

    All is well here. The heat of summer is coming on strong. Naturally, I decided to start training for a 5K, which leads to me running in the early evening in high heat and high ozone conditions. I just can’t seem to wake up early enough to do it before work. 

    Take care out there.

    Best,
    Joan

  • Hopefully someone can get this message to Roz.  For my daughter’s 12th birthday we’re sponsoring a couple of miles of your row, but I couldn’t select a date to sponsor, just specific miles.  Any chance you could do a “shout-out” to “Anna in Delaware” on her birthday – June 5th.  Thanks.

    • Richard, this is an interesting article with a number of facts brought to light. It sounds like we need to encourage more methane collection in landfills!

      • @d1ce1abc79c890542c9da11375bd0fbb:disqus “Waste Fuel” – Including from Landfill Methane is a HUGE part of the National, Community Based – Not Costly Individual House or Building Based, Green Energy Production & Delivery Non-Profit biz I have started… Keep and eye out for us, we are beginning to roll…

        • BTW @d1ce1abc79c890542c9da11375bd0fbb:disqus “The Jury Is Still Out On This One”, But, There is some evidence that the faster you draw Methane out of a Landfill, The faster what is buried there decomposes… Sort of like, Nitrogen blown into bags of Spinach, or the like, keeps it from turning brown and decomposing until you open the bag – then things happen pretty quickly… Well the Methane the landfill produces “naturally” may do the same… So the faster we, The Free Wind Project and others, can pump it out and use it, the faster the stuff buried in the landfill may return to something more resembling “The Good Earth”… A Win, Win all around…

          • Ricardo,  That sounds like a fine project. Methane could become very important in the future with the greater need for hydrogen as petroleum use decreases. I think hydrogen powered vehicles will be important as they will likely provide greater range and quicker charging/filling than pure electric vehicles.

            Hopefully[?], there are good methods for cracking methane, scrubbing the carbon, and perhaps even putting the pure carbon that remains to some use.
               Rick

  • Roz Screams, “#@&%, This Weather’s No Help!”
    As the Sun makes her Yelp
    Yet She paddles on with no land in sight
    Hoping things might improve by tonight
    As she mixes her sprouts with some kelp

  • Those birds may be albatross. They have a unique flight pattern called dynamic soaring. Easily youtubed when back to land. Their flight is particularly fascinating due to it’s efficiency. They are having a harder time in the doldrums if my guess is correct. Albatross even fly through hurricanes using storm winds for loft. The military is fascinated, drones would be able to fly almost powerlessly over great expanses. It has been my love for albatross and their current plight that cemented my conviction to help you out. You and albatross have a few things in common. http://Www.messageinthewaves.com.
    Cheers, Row Roz Row!

  • Hey kid. I love the brain talk, but how’s the run on the old tub going! Coastal rowing hit a great milestone in the UK with a great trip out to the Needles. You would have loved it. We popped into Bornmouth for lunch and were home for tea. Come and play when you get back. Guin x

  • Hey All: Although I love it here – I find Roz, @Rita:disqus , @June:disqus , @Pippa:disqus  Doug and all the Rozlings so inspirational… But, there are so many things going on around here now that I must concentrate on first and foremost – for awhile anyway… Over the last two years in my current haze, I have learned, a little more each day, that when I do not concentrate on what I am doing, before I do it, I screw-up while I am “doing it” which is not me – at least it was not me pre-coma. I was better at thinking about things, and their consequences, before doing them than I am now post-coma – unfortunately… No Worries, My health is fine, I am just discovering my new limitations otherwise that I must …yield to or cause even bigger problems for myself and others down the road – which I HATE doing. I will still post articles, as I did here today, that I think will interest those here, when I come across them… Row On With Continued Amazing Grace & Greatness Roz… You Take My Breath Away In So Many Ways!!! To say nothing of the AMAZING Rozling Team that you have built over these years – Close To 2 Million Rozlings following your every stroke here now…

    • P.S. As I mentioned here earlier, Once the film is either done, or “Done”, I hope to go and run my environmental non-profit energy biz, while becoming an eccentric hermit – I really AM looking forward to doing that! (If you don’t get involved in things, including what other people are doing, other than what you can handle – which is very limited for me these days, then you can’t screw-up as I have been doing these last 2 years!) And I look forward to eccentric Hermitdom somewhere on the New England Shores, Possibly Maine – or maybe from that Iceland home and land that I pictured here awhile back… When I do whichever, I’ll make sure all you Rozlings know where I am – because you all have an open invite anytime… Well maybe not all 2 Million at once, O.K.?

  • Elizabeth’s TED presentation was quite interesting but the approach she described has two major flaws. The most obvious is that she reported only one play of each of her three games and assumed that the outcomes had value. To test her theory properly there must be a large number of plays of each game played concurrently but by different players who are unaware of each other or that their game is being played by other groups. In addition, her assumption that the outcomes of the “real life” games that she proposes will provide the most beneficial has no validity. For one thing, there will be no agreement about what variables should be relevant and how each should be weighted. For another, outcomes that are regarded as valid by one group of people will not necessarily be acceptable to others. The closest activity that we currently observe is the political election process: in 2008 a massive number of people chose a very specific approach to dealing with the then current situations in the USA. Those situations have not been dealt with and have become worse.

  • Roz re the birds.
    These are a very rare bird! So you are very fortunate to even glimps them. Their latin name is ‘Kamflipoffa Beeknassa Isaoutaherea’! The earliest mention of these ‘wanderers of the seas’ was first told in the writings (well more of a scratching) of ‘Kodakus of Kamara’! He wrote of his tantalising glimpses of this very quicketh birdy ….. “It be skimming the wavy verily wet waters and I could only but glimps at it’s full body for nigh a little itsybiteth! Only to be showneth it’s assend”!
    The sientific word for these birds is ‘Snapameifucanashole’ and the genetic code is ‘cYa’!
    I hope this has helped you understand why it is that they are sooo hard to snap!

    ps Kodakus was born at 6 bones past the log 3rd Aug 69 BC and lived until he kinda died of a broken part! The poor soul never forgot that all elusive bird and with his last dying breath he uttered these haunting words …………. ccccccccccYa!

    pps Kamara was a tiny fishing hamlet in the kingdom of Filmatika. That now sadly lies about 3 miles off Severnbeach in some very muddy, wet and squirly waters.

    ppps The white belly of ‘cYa’ represents the pure soul of dear ol’ Kodakus and the gray area ….. Well that’s better left alone!

    What? You ALL think I made this up? Just look it up tomorow and you will see!

    Other stuff

    Cycle, recycle. Walk or run
    No matter the weather you’ll have so much more fun.
    It might be a strain and a bit of a pain
    But YOU are the one that’s going to gain!

    If we reuse our plastic
    the world would be fantastic
    and ALL because, because, because;
    Because of a wonderful rower called Roz! 

  • Roz, as you row day after day, let me offer one more small incentive. An invite to be the guest of the SLO Rowing Club in San Luis Obispo, California. We can host a fund raiser and you can enjoy the warmth and hospitality of the SLORC. Did I mention that we are located in one of the best wine regions in CA? Rowers Rule! Marty Hawke, Pres, SLORC.

  • Hey Roz, I check in on you from time to time and am amazed at your spirit!  You inspire me to keep going in my endeavor to educate about the problems with plastic in the marine environment. Speaking of which, the doldrums is where we (Algalita and 5Gyres) aim for when surveying the ocean for plastic pollution.  Are you seeing random plastic stuff floating by?  Or you are seeing any of the micro plastics float by?   Recently, 5Gyres sailed across the South Pacific and for the first time in 5 oceans had a few samples devoid of plastic.  the 4 voyages I have been on not one of the near 100 samples was plastic free. 

    Thank you Roz for going to the extreme on behalf of ocean issues.

  • Hi Roz,  I happened on your blog a few weeks ago and must say I think you are tremendously brave and bringing attention to a very relevant cause.  But, on the subject of spirituality, I wonder why when you talk about the vast and endless ocean, the countless stars, the weather, the unique creatures, etc. you never mention the Creator of it all.  Do you not believe that there is one?  I don’t ask this to be facetious whatsoever, but you invited dialogue on the subject…

  • Roz, great to hear your voice on http://bit.ly/RozRoams34 which I just now listened to (Saturday morning) as I have been totally focused on the Slow Living Summit and meeting dozens of wonderful Vermont people.  “Slow living” is briefly summarized in this Welcome by the Summit Coordinator:

    “Something is happening here in New England. For decades people have been growing new pathways to living with integrity with the land and each other. A way of life deeper, richer, more mindful of all relations, with community and place. So slow living was born as way to speak to the whole system of changes, inward and outward, that are arising all over the region — and indeed, thankfully, the world.  From the ground up.  Taking stock of what really matters.  Our shared life together.  And how is that river?  That forest?  Those farms?  These children?  The common good.  Slow down.  The world is a beautiful place and needs our care.  People are setting about building lives of basic sanity.”

    I will tell you more later.

    Row slowly, Roz!

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