Monday, May 21, 2007

Day 82 – Squalls, Further South, Wheels

21 May, 07 – 21.36    
15.2492N,51.5410W
24 hr progress: 14.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 577 Nautical Miles ( 1067 km)
Distance completed: 2700 NM (4995 km)
Wave height: 10-15 ft, Winds: 20-30 knots NNE, Bearing: 230-260 degrees.

A short one for today.
Not a fun day for rowing at all. Heavy rain squalls (rain showers) and high winds from NNE. Gray color for most past of the day and massive waves. I've had 4 or 5 rain squalls during the day and some last night. Not sure if this indicates an early start to th hurricane season.
I had a few emails warning me about the chances of a low pressure system going thru the area. Its not something to be sneezed at but there is not much that I can do about it in a rowing boat. Will deal with it when it comes along. As they say - “let your self be surprised”.
I got hit by a few massive waves threatening to flip the boat over as I am beam on (sideways) to the waves right now without the rudder. I deployed the sea anchor out from the stern to get it back into the waves. Below average progress for the day, with the anchor dragging out the back. Even more frustrating is checking the GPS to find I've got pushed further South than yesterday and I will have to work my way back up North when the weather clears.
There is a perverse beauty to the the bad weather. Its a very humbling experience. The waves merciless but yet quite awesome to look at. The lack of sunlight creates quite a cold and evil atmosphere. And you can never get tired of watching small waves slide backwards into one another, gradually culminating into a 20ft gray wall of water crashing down on the boat. The trick is of course knowing when to stop taking photos and jump for cover before getting washed off the deck.
Kept my self quite busy anyway. Managed to wash the sea salt off the skin and sleeping bag during the heavy rain shower. Bailed water out of the bilge from the rain and waves crashing over the side. During a particularly rough period when it got impossible to row so I finally got around to replacing the wheels on the rowing seat. The plastic has worn out and got so thin, I swear you could almost read thru them.
Looking forward to cross the 5000 kms rowed milestone and into 52W.
Off to catch some zzz.
B
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md-070521_1clouds

Squall over the boat

md-070521_2squall

Rain clouds pass over on its way to the West

md-070521_4rain

Rain all around

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