Feeling Hot Hot Hot and the bangers are set off 17:36.890N 44:44.830W
Row Across The Pond
Richard Hoyland and Steve Coe
Sun 21 Feb 2010 21:31
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steve
Rowed into another sunset
"hot, hot, hot, very still for next few
days, tough going" This is our weather message from our woodvale duty officer,
gosh, I thought we had been having a bit too easy lately..!!!!.
I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I cant remember the last
free mileage we had it was such a long time ago, still we are now acclimatised
to the rigours of belting hot days and pounding out the miles on the oars, hour
after hour, day after day, night afte night. Simply there is no option. There is
always a glimmer of hope that the forecast may be wrong, especially as the one
single message (i do believe) goes to the whole of the fleet of rowers which is
now divided by several hundred miles and weather is most likely to vary within
that distance.
Kev the lovely little sea bird visits daiily and Marina is still locked away in the brigg for safety
reasons....
Swam again today, but for no real reason other than to prevent
expiring in the heat of the day.. I fell asleep in the cabin and woke with heat
exhaustion.. (again) the cabin is unbearably hot so the only place left to go is
the deck in full sun. Tan is coming on a treat,,,
Richard...
So with all the combined positivity of a walk in the
rain on Bognor Pier, I set off the big confetti banger that we had on
the boat to celebrate being only 1000miles from Antigua. As the confetti shot
off into the air it did actually start to change my mood. The going has been
tough and we have been loathed to celebrate anything as the next day the weather
will again step in and ruin it for us. Making this one gesture started me
thinking that I should snap out of it and start to enjoy the experience a little
more...I am by nature a very positive person and will again be this happy chap.
So what if we have to row hard, so what if the weather is hot, so what if we're
not a quick as we planned, so what, so what, so what...all too soon I will be
sat on the cold train to Waterloo with all the other office-types going to my
job in town and this will have passed into memory (and I will miss it I'm sure,
in a perverse way). I've been given a golden chance to make positive change
through the charity money we raise and through getting the chance to reflect on
my own life...I'm lucky..so will stop moanoing ;-)
We've just talked to Pendovy Swift on the VHF, they are 1.5
miles away from us, great to hear another human voice on the radio. They like us
are well, but frustrated. Was quite exciting to get the AIS alarm triggering a
potential collison...I don't think you could ever collide two row boats even if
you tried in the middl of the Atlantic
On to night shift soon...hope for a friendly moon and no wind
changes (as these mess with your mind).
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