Team Hesco Blog Post 3 - Day 21-25
Teamhesco
Fri 15 Jan 2016 09:49
Tinned fruit and ice coffee for the half way point thanks to the
Captain Kal from Row To Recovery. Legend!
Slowed to 2 knots and pulling the oars harder than usual. It's killing us!
We had a surprise call from Mellor! We haven't yet received a phone
call so when it rang we were like "what is that?" We both spoke to
him briefly and it was just great to receive a phone call!
Day 22
Nothing exciting to report today. We are just cruising at 2 knots and
it's very hard work but we think we'll have a real test on Monday: we
might have to put out the para anchor for a 48 hours due to bad
weather approaching. If we do go on para anchor it's time for a bit of
spooning in the cabin!
Another part of our daily schedule is handling number twos. It's not
a good sight to see when nature calls. Whoever's still rowing is not
only facing the person on the throne, but also has to shorten their
rowing stroke to prevent bumping in to them every few seconds...
Awkward to say the least!!
Day 23
Tough night. Slowed down to about 1.5 knots and it was hard work as
the sea state was confused and it was very dark: the moon never showed
up (unlike most other nights which makes it much easier to see when
you're rowing).
At 12:15pm we made the decision to throw out the para anchor because
during the last shift we had started moving backwards.
We then received a phone call from the race organisers informing us
that the bad weather was approaching us. After the phone call the
satellite phone buttons stopped working - looks like we won't be
chatting to anyone till the finish line now. Good thing we can still
send and receive emails!
We continued with the 2 hours on, 2 hours off routine so each of us
could get some sleep in the cabin before we both had to squeeze in
there together in the evening. Whoever wasn't in the cabin was
stowing the boat in preparation for the rough night ahead.
We finally both ended up in the tiny cabin and it is nothing but
horrible! Picture this: 2 naked men in a hot, sweaty stink box.
Really awful!!
Day 24
The night was OK as it eventually cooled off in the cabin. Foolishly
we had left the small aft hatch slightly open to let some much needed
cool air in during the night. At around 5am a massive wave hit the
boat and about 10 litres of water flooded through the hatch, soaking
our lower limbs. We couldn't believe it but there was no choice
really but to roll over and go back to sleep in it!
The next day was spent on para anchor again. Boring!!!!!
Theo's lower back is killing him so he's tucked into a few painkillers
which seem to be doing the job.
We did attempt a bit of rowing but but as soon as we got out on deck
we realised it was pointless, so we just checked all lines going to
the para anchor and made sure everything was still secured on deck
before listening to an audio book called Unbroken. It was great
actually!
Day 25
Winds dropped slightly late last night so it was not quite as rocky
but still horrible inside the cabin.
Shane got out of the cabin this morning to find some pretty bright
blue fish swimming under the hull. Then he had the pleasure of seeing
a full rainbow. Hopefully the GoPro shows all of this as it was a
great sight. We're capturing as much footage as we can to go
alongside the video diary we're making.
Theo's back is feeling better and he stepped out on deck after 40
solid hours in the cabin.
We finally lifted para anchor at 1400hrs and rowed together for a
couple of hours before settling back in to the 2 hours on, 2 hours off
routine. Still going slow at around 1.7 knots but it sure beats being
on para anchor!!