Auto pilot
Panatlantic
Thu 27 Dec 2007 15:32
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Greetings Good people and True,
And like that, Christmas was over! In the blinking
of a drunken eyelid Christmas Day passed into Boxing Day, and thence into the
day no-one knows what to call, which is one of those 4 awkward days before
things ramp up again for New Year's Eve and the biggy, New Year itself! The
anatomical analogy for these days must be the perineum, which is currently
causing me sufficient consternation that it is on the mind far more than
usual for such an anomalous piece of anatomy!
James and i have exhausted nearly every possible
avenue in the quest for posterior comfort; i even tried rigging up the rowing
position so that my hands fixed into the footplates and i rowed with my feet,
which was even less successful than when i rigged the seat so i
could row while kneeling; which worked so well in my mind but failed entirely in
practice! James has just got an infected finger too, so out came the iodine and
he'll be right as rain before too long! Apart from these complaints we continue
to be in great shape physically, without any real muscle or joint pain (apart
from the fingers, that feel like they have been broken) or any other maladies to
comlain of. The biggest threat to our physical well-being is currently being
struck by a flying fish! One that must have weighed 2lbs shot past me at head
height at dawn this morning, and we continue to see more and more of these
wonderful creatues, it's only a matter of time before one steers a course into
James or me! James has been struck by 2 so far, but they were too small to do
any damage so don't really merit mentioning. So i won't dwell on them.
It confused me where any bacteria might be hiding
that could infect James' hand, until we had a clean up of the cabin and
deck this morning - "A tidy boat is a happy boat" and all that - and
discovered that we had a mature cess-pit in the footwell inside the
cabin, which would also explain the smell that we had (erroneously) put
down to our own uncleanliness! We whipped out the marrigolds and Mr Muscle and
before too long we were back in business on our new sileage-free
boat!
It is fascinating monitoring the human brain, and
how in so many circumstances we act as total automata. An excellent terrestrial
example of this is the time i strode confidently into the bathroom one night,
walked up to the loo and pulled the chain. I stood there for a few seconds as
the feeling that something wasn't quite right passed over me. It was only after
a few seconds that i realised that i still had the urge to use the toilet and
that i was stood there in complete darkness! Brilliant, my poor primitive brain
knew i needed to pull something hanging on the ceiling but got the wrong thing!
Here on the boat both James and i find our brains getting us up in the night to
come on shift well before it is time. I've tried to remember what goes through
my head in these instances. I know i wake up, check my watch (which will say
something random like 01:24), in my head i rationalise that i must rush as i'm
due outside in one minute, so i quickly talc up, pull on my fleece and rush
outside where i'm greeted by an incredulous James who (rather than capitalising
on the opportunity to really do me over) kindly advises me that i have half an
hour more sleep to go. I have started to try preventative measures to prevent
such nonsense breaking up my sleeping pattern too much: for the last few minutes
of each rowing shift i coach myself as to the actions i need to take in the
subsequent hour: "Ok Niall, go in, gloves off, E45 on, brush teeth, set alarm,
sleep, DON'T WAKE UP UNTIL THE ********* ALARM GOES!" It is this final part that
i still disobey at least once a night, though i'm finding it more and more
amusing and less and less annoying as the frequency of such mistakes fails to
decline!
We currently have winds from the South and waves
from the North East that are pinning us in the middle and not letting us move
particularly fast, but this will all pass in time and we will start to tear
towards Antigua.
I hope you are all enjoying those awkward days when
no one really knows what to do, and are making plans for a cracking New Year.
Until awkward day number 3, toodlepip
gentlefolk!
Niall
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