29 Jan 2006 - Day 1 to Day 4

Frasersboat
Tue 31 Jan 2006 21:42
The weather was finally kind to us and we awoke to clear skies and a gentle
wind from the North. We soon decided that this was to be the day. It was a
pity that Pat and Lisa had left on the very early morning ferry and John and
Avril had left the day before.

Final preparation were made and by midday we were ready for the off.
Goodbyes to Liz and Anna, to Graham still puzzling how to fit a mountain of
gear into Puffin and sort out his sat phone.

Liz filmed us as we passed out of the harbour entrance and onto the ocean.
We were finally off.

Rowing one at a time we headed south for a while to clear the headland
before setting course to a point to the south west of the Island of El Heiro
65Nm away. We were soon making 2.5Knots with a slight tail wind and light
swell. As with these things the clouds moved in our tailwind became a
headwind. Anyway steady progress made.

We were surprised how quickly night fell and this poor preparation led us to
suffer an exhausting night rowing against weak headwinds in a confused sea.
an instant reminder about the challenge ahead.

We were both finding the routines hard and feel that more food and rest is
needed if steady progress is to be made. Tuesday night was a little better
but our old bodies complained bitterly and there was no wind help rowing
through treacle. in the morning we then decided to fill our water bottles
from the water maker and found it was still very salty. Despite Mick trying
to sort out the problem we decided to head for the small isle of Hierro to
repair it before leaving for the main crossing. Watch this space for what
happened. Mick setting off to find replacement parts and Tim trying to find
a mooring that didnt dammage the rowlocks on the boat.