significant milestone and the anatomy of a long distance rower 19:53.653 28:59.197W
Row Across The Pond
Richard Hoyland and Steve Coe
Sat 23 Jan 2010 17:35
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During the course of the last 24 hours we have reached one of
three focul points on the journey. You may have noticed we are one of the
further south crews and have hopefully chosen rightly and the 20 degrees
latitude we are now on will offer stongerand more consistent winds know as the
trade winds.. true enough the last 24 hours have been the most consistent and
truest of winds we have so far experienced,, We have heard though there is a low
pressure heading the fleets way which could put a stop to those lovely
trade winds we sought out,, at least until they redevelop. I have always wanted
to cross the atlantic but never thought i would be doing it in a 23' rowing
boat,, but if there is any way to really appreciate this, then this
certainly is near the ground and has to be the way, The trade winds are
aplty named as this would have been the route for sailing ships to cross to go
to the far east and america. The motor for this is quite simply the sun, and
without meaning to harp on about it, it is hot here and could perhaps be likened
to the boiler room for the earths weather syustem, this is both good and right,
the equatorial low pressures and mid atlantic high squeezes two opposing
circulating air masses and produces fairly reliable wind direction
from east to west.. We hope to cash in on this for a free ride.. but
lets not count chickens there not always that reliable... Climate
change and all that.. For each degree of latitude there
is 60 nautical miles. The uk Greenwich is 51degrees or latitude and we are
currently 20 degrees,, therefore approx 1860 miles south ofyou right now,,
Anitigua is only another three degree south so not sure temperatures will
increase significantly,, no more heat please... We have approx 1800 miles still
to row so about 1/3 the way completed.. now we are at the lower latitudes, we
are told speed increases marginally, we'll see about that! Just so you dont
think this is tough heres some thoughts to alley any notion that it is. Firstly
there are two of us therefore only half the mileage to row than total, secondly
we hope to use prevailing winds (not much up till now i do confess, so the intro
has hurt a little/lot) and thirdly there is a current of approx .2 - .5 of one
knots.. Hmm thats alot! yes it is if your only doing 2+ knots. I do have a bona
contention, dont worry thats normal. Whilst theoretically we each have
equal distances to row, I weigh considerably lighter than Richard and also he
eats more than me and when he is resting i have to pull him along, now you may
say that he is stronger and therefore he will row faster, no best not go
there [Richard - Steve neglects to mention the extra bits oif kit that he
brought along that I will need to pull along for him]...
just for the record thats all. Finally I would like to say
hi to Bob and Pat. It was Bobs 81 b'day last weekend and he is a bit of an
inspiration or show off. He ran his first marathon, (in actual fact The first
London Marathon , when there was only 10 people in it.. When was that?)
when he was 51 in under three hours, since he has run many many more and now is
personal trainer to my wife for her 2010 LEJOG bike ride.. Happy birthday
mate... was it a big cake or were they small candles. We are preparing the
boat over the next day or so for a stormy ride, so forgive us if communications
slow up.. but please keep those emails coming, we do receive
them and will get around to personally replying over time.. thats if there
isnt an acknowledgement in the blog.. Thanks Dad for you message, that was
probably your first ever email, great to hear from you, always offering
with sound advice
Anatomy of of long distance rower....as you can probably guess
from the length of Steve's blogs, he's probably more designed for ocean rowing
as he can stand the furnace of the cabin during the day to write the blog posts.
As the ginger in the crew I struggle to find a moments peace from the sun...we
Gingers tend to explode when it even gets remotely hot on the Tube in the
morning! As we plough on to warmer longitudes the baking heat will only get
worse, but the great consolation is a fabulous tan :-)
We've endured the toment of blisters on hands and feet so far
and have happily left these behind...we even had a brief spell of coughs
(although I don't know where these came from)..but a new menace lurks on the
horizon. Day after day of sitting on the oars is starting to take it's toll and
the bit threat is rowers bum :-( We've a real mixture of seating materials to
park ourselves on..sheepskin, foam, gel pads, towels and inflatable
cushions...but last night at 6:00am in the morning I got my first taste of the
weeks to come when nothing seemed to be comfortable. When you are tired in the
dark in the middle of the morning and surrounded by large seas this is not the
time.
It brings to home the fact that we are totally self-sufficient
for all medical matters on the boat and we have a comprehensive med kit which is
compulsory (there's a picture of us getting ours scrutineered on the offical
race website). So Dr Hoyland and Dr Coe have set up practice just North of 19N
in the Atlantic, if you are passing we are happy to
assist.
Iggy, thanks for the text, likewise I am in awe at the mighty
City, this will be our year to disprove the theory that the most valuable thing
in the Manchester City trophy room is the carpet. You keep the office going as
you always do :-)
Googlier, likewise thanks for the msg of support, this stuff
really keeps us going, guess you will be starting your new job shortly...best of
luck, the 2nd floor will be a poorer place for you moving on :-)
Annie, I would avoid rowing at all costs in the gym..it's a
horrible sport and I for one will be quitting as soon as I get to Antigua.
Thanks for the updates, and glad to see the jokes are back online
:-)
Ben, Freya and Willow...not seen any whales yet, bit when I do
I'll be naming them after you all.
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