Steve....The sun is hot

It is only the cloud cover today that has made any progress towards our target today possible, without which so much more mental and physical effort would have needed to achieve even a fraction of the dimished speed we have made.

 

The sea state is relatively flat and calm and the density of algae or plankton is easily visible and offers no free pass through,, each stroke we take on the oars requires huge effort and determination. Had the sun been beating down on us on this day, I am sure, distance made good would have been at least halved.

 

Frustratingly, earlier in the week we were forecast favourable winds, low and behold (and not the first time) a day later the forecast changes.. To get your hopes up in this environment is almost futile.  One can only hope for better weather to come..... 

 

Richard....

 

Right, it's positive time..yesterday, we..the humble No Fear posted the third fastest time across the fleet. For this we need to be very proud as we're not the most high tech boat, we're not the biggest chaps and we have to admit to doing the challenge on a budget. This makes you realise that the lesser teams can occasionally hog a little of the limelight :-) Thanks for those that recognised this achievement and it was made from sweat and tears...not from the free speed of a favourable wind..all the sweeter.

 

Another positive is that we are 45 miles away from dipping under the 1000 mark (Cath, you are quite right, can almost smell those 3 digits of 999 on the GPS readout). This makes us 20 TRUs away from our goal and a cold beer on the beach. It's now down to us to hit our daily targets and for the wind/waves to fill in behind us to give us a helping hand...the end is in sight (the wave gods have already had a small sacrifice tonight, a piece of my shepherds pie!)