16 May, 07 – 21.47
15.5005N,50.555W
24 hr progress: 25.3 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 628 Nautical Miles ( 1161 km)
Distance completed: 2589 NM (4789 km)
Wave height: 10-15 ft, Winds: 15-18 knots NE, Bearing: 270 degrees.
25.3 miles. What a day!. After the rain early morning, the gray sky cleared up around mid morning. The wind picked up. And the small waves turned into big rollers – long and consistent 15 foot waves. The big rollers make near perfect conditions for rowing – just as long as they don't break over the boat. They travel in a long row, like a watery mountain range, with about 50 meters in between waves, where the water turns into a flat patch until the next wave arrives.
I managed to get more mileage today by surfing down the top of the waves to gain speed and using the momentum to get across the flat calm between the waves. Rowing without the rudder to hold the stern into the wave is a bit nerve wracking, as the occasional wave hitting the side sends the boat sliding across the surface at a near 45 degree angle.
Now, what I usually do when rowing is that I choose a genre of music depending on my mood and let the ipod play songs it chooses at random. Today, I happened to choose Jazz in the hope of taking the edge off the stress a little. Anyway, Kenny G came on some time into the rowing session. My first reaction was to reach for the skip button. But since I had my hands on the oars and had a good rowing momentum going and its a bit fiddley to get the ipod out of the waterproof casing - I let Ken play on. Which was a mistake I had to endure for an hour. Somehow listening to Kenny G on a boat, while it rose and fell 10 ft felt somewhat like being stuck in an elevator that kept going up and down between two floors. I must say however, that I did have a few amusing moments imagining how elevators and hotel lobbies have single-handedly destroyed Kennys music career. So, looks like Kenny did prove useful in taking the mind off the waves in the end.
I've had a lot of messages wondering about the status of my physical health. I'm not sure where to start, but I suppose the top is a good place as any. So here you go. A status report in top-down order-
Hair: It's quite encrusted with sea salt. I'm saving all my fresh water for drinking and so haven't been able to wash any off the salt out of it. The hair is starting to catch on the strips of Velcro on the cabin wall – so that gives you a good idea of its current texture.
Eyes: Hurt from the endless hours of looking at the distant horizon as I row. I have to keep the sun glasses on all day. Looking for long periods at a large reflective area of water is stressful on the eyes. I've been using SunSensor lenses from Corning, which have been performing exceptionally well.
Hands – A few sores on the hands from rowing. The biggest problem I have is that they are starting to claw out – ie: freeze in a curved position – just the way I hold the oar handles for 12 hrs a day. It takes constant effort to straighten them out after and before each session. Over the past few weeks it's worsened and it makes simple tasks like eating, writing and typing on the laptop difficult to perform.
Legs – A few bruises scraping against nails etc. I can feel the leg muscles wasting away due to the lack of walking.
Skin on back - The sea water breaking thru the hatch has left salt crystals all over the mattress and sleeping bag. As a result I've got plenty of salt stores and thousands of small scratches on the skin because of sliding around (due to the movement of the boat) while sleeping on a salty mattress.
Skin on shoulder – The deck harness that I wear at all times has been cutting into the skin. I have recently changed to attaching a safety line around my waist instead.
Skin on feet - The skin on my feet is starting to rot as its constantly wet.
General Muscles – The soreness has reduced from the time I started to present. The muscles have got used to the repetitive workload and aches and pains are few – or the case is I have gotten used to them. I try and vary my rowing position to increase the range of activity. Using the water pump to produce water and swimming also helps to work out a different set of muscles.
Rear – I have a few serious callouses and boils from sitting down on a rowing seat so much. I've got two which are bleeding. I try to vary the padding on the seat so as to shift the body weight away from the boils. Sitting down really hurts and there is no real solution but to endure it and KBO 'til Antigua.
Weight: It feels like I have lost about 15 kilos in body weight. I was 100 at the start. The food ration packs are high in carbs – like pasta and rice. However, I find my body craving more proteins than carbohydrates. I've increased my intake of protein to 5 protein shakes a day of PowerBar FitMaxx protein power and cretin.
Overall, I feel very healthy. It's great to be out here in the absence of pollution, cigarette smoke and dust. The air is fresh and the exercise feels good.
In the scheme of things, the physical discomforts I have are trivial. I can quite easily endure them. The mental discomfort is a bit harder to manage and I will write a bit more about that in a following post.
In the meantime, the extreme Atlantic weight loss program continues...
/ B
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
Send me an SMS message (up to 160 chars) via my satellite phone 881631582692 by going to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a much longer personal message via my webpage http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com (I won't be able to check until I hit land)
Salt sores on my back
PowerBar FitMaxx - the best protein on both sides of the Atlantic. :) Thanks to the team at PowerBar Europe, Germany. PowerBar Europe is the Official Supplier of protein supplments for this crossing.
Hanging with the phone outside the cabin to upload this while keeping an eye out for waves. Solarpanels on the roof prevent reception inside the cabin.
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