There's alot happening... for somewhere quiet 18:25.759N 38:51.323W
Row Across The Pond
Richard Hoyland and Steve Coe
Thu 11 Feb 2010 21:55
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Rich...
Late last night, just as I was coming onto shift, I took a
glance at the AIS and noticed a little green triangle which is the sign of some
sort of other vessel. It was important because this vessel was about to cut
in front of our path in 4.5nm distance and was steaming along at 14.5
knots. These AIS systems are fantastic and we accessed the info about
the boat and discovered it was a tanker heading for the Ivory Coast.
This was only a little tanker at a mere 48metres.....in width that
is!
So we sprung to life getting ready collison warning flares and
turning on the active radar transponder (that amplifies our radar
signature). Steve manned the VHF radio and prepared to contact them on
channel 16. After all that preparation it was nice to hear
the polite voice of the female officer on watch point out that they had spotted
us and were happy that they wouldn't hit us..nice:-)
I was on the oars, and it was pitch black...so as the tanker
swept past us about 3nm ahead I stopped the boat and listened to the rythmic hum
of the engines as she cut across our path. I spent a few moments to soak in the
atmosphere of thousands of tonnes of steel flying past 1 tonne of plywood rowing
boat...quite a humbling experience :-) Not a close shave, but an everyday
happening at sea, I guess..exciting for me a lad (artistic licence here) from
Leatherhead.
We saw a rather large fish/shark off the back of the boat
tonight. There was a mass of fish sheltering beneath the boat...apparently we're
a bit of a trendy location for tuna to hang out. Tonight there were more than
usual and I was looking astern, trying to catch the breath of wind that we have
at the moment to cool down. A fast dark shape accelerated towards the back of
the boat and dived for the fish...they all huddled close to the hull of the boat
(apparently they think we are some sort of big daddy tuna who will save
them). This 'thing' hung out behind the boat for around 10 mins, then we
heard an almight comotion to the left of the boat and it was gone...I assume
that he got lucky...(So Jake I promised you a naming...so this dark shark like
creature is now officially called Jake...no disrespect , but I hope we don't see
him again).
We're halfway, that is our distance to Antigua (1312nm as
the crow flies) is now less than our distance back to La Gomera (1408nm)..so
it's official...from now on it's downhill all the way. Tonight we will hit the
1300nm to go mark (which is 23 TRUs).
Louise will be getting the cold beer on ice in only 23 TRUs from now..which
if we pull our finger out could be 23-25 days time...
Today we stuck pictures of food over the inside of the cabin...I can now
wake up to a picture of Eggs Benedict...what greater motivation does a man
need :-)
The boats running well today..we are making reasonable mileage, so ticking
along nicely
Abi, thanks for the words of encouragement..you are quite right, the
correct definition of Fug is not the hungarian armoured vehicle, can lend Will
the map of our journey which shows our daily mileages..that brings home the
scale of the challenge...'eating an elephant' - as father-in-law Gabriel
says
Steve
Sea depth 5235m, if you dive off the boat there is no chance of hitting
your head on the bottom,, however, care must be taken, as there is every chance
of landing on top of either a) Tuna fish or worse still b) a shark,
The sea colour is striking blue and with clear blue skies today and a
gentle breeze the sea has been incredibly inviting for much of the day whilst
the temperatures have been well into the 40s cent. great for
gingers sun tan.. Before leaving the La Gomera, we decided to insulate the cabin
walls and ceiling with silver foil so as to reflect heat outwards,, All very
well if the cabin is kept sealed, which simply cannot be sustainable.. As there
is little or no room on deck the person not rowing generally takes refuge from
the heat of the day in the cabin. Today the sea breeze has not been
particularly constant and instead of the cabin being cool, you can imagine the
effects of the silver foil insulation,, Richard was resting up this afternoon in
the cabin when one of our solar panel alarm signal went off.. very similar to
the sound of a micro wave oven timer completion,, Richard emerged a few moments
later with beads of sweat running down his forehead,,
Our position is measured by co ordinates of latitude and longitude..
Latitude is how far North (or south) we are of the equator. and for your
interest we are now 18:25.421 N
Our position for how far west we have come from is measured in line
of Longitude,, The Greenwich meridian (london) is 0 degrees
longitude and all measurements of distance are measured west of this line..
We are now exactly 39:00'000" W of Greenwich. Incidentally, this is where I
grew up...
Each degree is 60 nautical miles so the distance from family and friends is
now approx 2340 nautical miles.. and increasing.
We had a visit from two forms of wild life, firstly a flying fish decided
to hitch a ride and was found on thend deck this morning,, great eating
apparently and i was desparate to prepare an cook the chap but had to forego as
so unusually exausted from night row,,
The other life form or as it was dead form was a squid in the foot well..
Now I would not consider squid to have the swim powers to hoof themselves into
our boat, well knock me down with a feather,, He look much like a french crepe
with a bean sprout filling,, mm quite appetizing.. sadly he went back into the
sea only to be hooofed out again, as within seconds Kev the sea bird, as if by
magic appeared and scooped him off for breakfast,,,, A bit of a rush gotta go
row dam boat,, Hiya Geogia Degg from Sunny Ashtead ... missing
you too, big hugs to you, mum (Jules) and I suppose Graham...
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