Almost a typical day at the office... 18:56.152N 37:32.154W
Row Across The Pond
Richard Hoyland and Steve Coe
Tue 9 Feb 2010 18:43
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steve
0200hrs - 0400hrs
music played on ipod..
Jack Jonhnson "Inaudible Melodies",,
yes thats excactly how i would descibe it,,
Vocals are quite hypnotic, slow tempo with inane
ramblings perfeclty suited to early morning stuff...especially ocean rowing..
vocals accompanied with electric accoustic guitar with some kind of metalic
style percussion with backing melodies.. occassionally, a tinge of latino
style guitar strumming. pretty cool really and chilled..
Will rate this hightly for ocean rowing because of its pace
and rithym...
DO NOT try this music on the ergo it just wont work and
your scores will be trash..
Next album
John Hiett
Little Head
Not the best choice but listened all the way through cos cant
stop to change ipod, (were in a race you know...) Great album but not correct
tempo,, this is like established rock stlye,, excellent good small
venue band.. Tempo much too quick, sort of 'gotta get up and
move' sort of music,, NOT IDEAL for small boat in the middle of
atlantic, every chance of quick exit from boat.
Shift finished.. great shift, quality rowing - couldn't
produce any more than 4 more miles to anitgua - but thats good.. Happy,,
lie down for 1 hour 35mins...
Next shift 0600 - 0800
temp apprx 25 degree with wind chill 1 or 2 degree, humidity -
sky high..
Wearing to start with, gill cycling light over jacket, 20 year
old helly hanson,, excellent shirts and have used through nearly all rowing
years. cleaned sun glasses with these, and amazingly did not smeat lens with
anything,, wow i always new this shirt was self cleaning..
Pair cycling shorts, doing good job with a little cushioning,
gloves, one each hand.. (otherwise know as a pair) and shoes,, sharks,, like
crocs but different.
After 5 mins on oars removed wind proof jacket.. later in shift could have taken off helly hanson but once again in a
race so couldn't stop and everheated by 2.2%, exactly...
Ate half snickers before start and drank desalinated water,,
approx 500ml
Weather took a slight change, dense fog like sky effect
appeared,, not seen this before,, mmm Clouds almost engulfing me,, a bit spooky
then noticed Alien space craft (UFO) beneath cloud REALLY... The large
disc like shape was about 1/2 a mile wide and had a slight dull glow,a bit
luminesent perhaps (probalbly the inner workings) It was disc like shaped
and was settled perfectly still above the sea amidst the dense black clouds. I
was not afraid and continued to row on (this is a race) hoping to slip by
without being spotted, plan worked, i was not abducted (well not that I was
aware!) and can now write about experience.. fantastic.
Continued listening to Keane, Under The Iron Sea,, appropriate, well it was ok.
Another 3.8m miles nearer destiny.. (lost .2 of a
knot sneeking quietly past UFO)
At 0800 hrs I gathered things around me, retreated
hastlily for another 1hr 40mins rest whilst Richard took over,, it rained...
Note: I do not normally play
music while rowing, this could be potentially dangerous due to loss of
concentration.. collision, fall down a whole, bump into something..
etc..
Richard...
I've been listening to some dreadful audiobooks on my iPod,
thats my humble admission. Why did I think that trashy books would somehow be
better when read out by a member of the RSC (actors have to eat you know). The
latest one is about a chap who can't go out in daylight who discovers a
conspiracy theory in a small US town involving crooked undertakers and mutant
hyperintellingent monkies taking over the United States....hmmm. Can't wait to
start digging around in Leatherhead to see if there are similar plots afoot!
Still, it passes the time which otherwise would be spent considering the
relative merits of Lamb Pilaf versus Veg Pasta...plus whether I should eat my
Mars bar on this shift or on the night shift to cheer me up....a heady question
indeed.
Talking of cheering up, I want to send a big thanks out to my
wife Lousie for the simple act of packing a packet of Marmite crisps as a
surprise into a daybag...I got this particular daybag just after getting
drenched by a sudden squall this morning...I suspect that the marmite might just
have saved my life ;-)
It's a flat day today...our numbers yesterday were low
compared with others and hence bit of a downer. We'll just have to row harder
and hope for stronger winds. I always knew that the journey would have highs and
lows...but somehow it's the 'middles' that are the hardest to cope with...just
feeling flat. The lows usually come with a lesson to learn or a moment of
personal reflection, the high with a dose of euphoria (or as close as you can
get in a rowing boat). In my fantasy, we have 27.5 days left to go, that's if we hit
targets everyday and get a little quicker during the run in...which does seem to
happen..so we may be back early March. Am also looking at the distance to
Antigua regularly, watching it tick down is a motivator for me.
I'm not sick of the sea, you can't hate it...the big old thing
changes it's moods every few minutes and has the ability to scare you afresh
with a cheeky wave from nowhere or cheer you up with a fast wind on the stern in
the right direction. We sit here, completely powerless to change anything about
our environment..a humbling place to be. How many times in your life can you
look just behind you and see a 1m long tuna within spitting distance (not
including the shelves of Sainbury's in that one of course).
Loving the journey and hating it today...that the middles for
you!
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