Day 92 – Weather Ahead, Bleeding Sores, Laundry, Last Meal

31 May, 07 – 23.15    
16.4297N,56.0490W

24 hr progress: 29 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 326 Nautical Miles ( 603 km)
Distance completed: 3040 NM (5624 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots SE, Bearing: 280-300 degrees.

A quickie today. It's been beautiful and sunny all day. The wind has started to pick up. I've spent all day trying to maintain course, but have still been pushed Northwards. It's incredibly frustrating.
My next Landfall option after Antigua is St.Christopher and; Nevis or Barbuda.
If I do get blown past those, it will take a few more days to hit Anguilla and; St.Martin or the US Virgin Islands.
I'm not overly concerned about which island I make landfall at. Any island would be ok to officially qualify my record as an Atlantic crossing. It's just the time spent at sea. Right now, each day spent is one day more into the path of an approaching hurricane.
I received a message yesterday saying the weather over the next 3- 5 days is going to worsen with a low pressure coming thru. I'm still waiting confirmation on that from the land team, before I prepare the boat for bad weather. For now, just concentrating on progress W.
I've washed the salt off the sores on my rear today and put a new antiseptic dressing on. A few of them are bleeding, so swimming in the sea is off the itinerary for a while.
In other stuff, it was hot and sunny so I got some laundry done today. The 4 way underwear routine can only last so long...you know...day 1 front to back, day 2 – back to front, day 3 – front to back inside out, day 4 – back to front inside out. (I've heard there is a 5-way switchover routine, but frankly that would be just showing off :).
Very exhausted. My last dinner ration pack of freeze dried Rice and Basil Sauce is waiting for me to make my move.
Another long nights row ahead...
B
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External GPS

Dusk, start of my night rowing session

My view at night - Full Moon over the stern

Day 91 – NorthSouthNorth, Steering Limit, Moon

30 May, 07 – 23.37    
16.2652N,55.3910W
24 hr progress: 30.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 352 Nautical Miles ( 651 km)
Distance completed: 3012 NM (5572 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots SE, Bearing: 270-300 degrees.
(Apologies for the delayed updates. The cabin is still a bit wet and I have to make sure the equipment is dry before I can post dispatches – read Day 88)
My bet - on following a course South , past the latitude of Antigua and then using the currents and winds from the South East to approach the island – paid off!. However, the wind and the currents seem much stronger than marked on the charts. I got pushed North by 5 miles more than I would have liked.
The boat has been pushed to its limits in the process of getting as much mileage as possible. Its amazing how much stress she has been able to handle already – being suspended between waves while she was fully loaded and going beam on for 2 weeks and the endless amount of waves breaking over the sides.
I'm not sure how much more the steering system will be able to handle, but this is the last 300 miles, so Im pushing it to the max. I tried to steer back South by re-tying the rudder at an angle, but the stress caused by the force of water on the hinges started vibrating thru the boat with each wave. So I had to re-tie the lashings back to its normal position. Its back to steering with the oars again which is not impossible, just harder.
Another ship on the radar today.
I spoke with the crew of another ship over the VHF around 10.30 GMT. A very brief conversation, but it was good to hear another voice. It's hard to imagine I have not see a human being for 91 days now. I wonder who the first person will be?
The area around has been very silent. The GPS says 651 kms more so its still a bit of a hike ahead.
I plan to spend some time this weekend on trying to have another try at fixing the water maker. I've got a manual backup water pump but using it to make freshwater is slow and tedious job. Alternatively, I could stop a passing ship, but I wanted this crossing to be solo and unsupported – which means no outside help at all.
Its a full moon out here now, so its very peaceful rowing in the moonlight with the sound of breaking waves and the occasional whale or dolphin breathing heavily thru their blow hole.
I'm just taking a break before my night rowing session to write this. So its back to chugging away at the oars!
Here are photos took just a few minutes ago. The sun setting off the bow (due West) at the same the moon rising over the stern (due East).
Thx for the messages...keep firing away...they are much appreciated out here...
B
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Map Position

Sun set off the bow, 23.05 GMT

Full Moon rising over the stern, 23.05 GMT

Day 90 – Maintaining Latitude, Low cloud

29 May, 07 – 21.14    
16.1382N,55.1059W
24 hr progress: 39 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 382 Nautical Miles ( 706 km)
Distance completed: 2975 NM (5503 km)
Wave height: 10-12ft, Winds: 20 knots SE, Bearing: 270-300 degrees.
Another good day. Crossed my second last milestone, the 55W meridian. Another wet and windy day. The low clouds in the sky blocked out the sun almost completely and made the waves look quite evil. On the upside, the rain helped cool things down in the afternoon and I took the chance to wash the salt of my skin and the sleeping bag. No chance of drying out the cabin however (from the waves the day before), so things are still a bit damp.
I'm still struggling to maintain a steady latitude. Over the past few days, I've been pushed North, South, I made my way North again. Antigua is at 17N. I am currently at 16.13N. Im trying to space out my climb North towards Antigua. If I get North too early, and go past Antigua, it will be very hard to get back South again as the weather system will push me towards the US Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
Quite a tiring day.
B
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Course plotted on the GPS, showing waypoints varying North and South

View over the bow

View North East of the bow

Day 89 – Speed, Squall, Squid

28 May, 07 – 21.51    
16.0451N,54.3125W
24 hr progress: 44.5 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 421 Nautical Miles ( 778 km)
Distance completed: 2935 NM (5429 km)
Wave height: 12-15ft, Winds: 20-25 knots NE, Bearing: 2 70-300degrees.
What a difference a proper rudder for steering and 24 hrs make. One of the best days yet. The big rolling waves came back and stuck around for most of the day allowing me to get some good mileage surfing the waves and recording a top speed of 6.1 knots. I also made up for lost progress, and gained some mileage Northwards, after being pushed South the day before. I am currently 60 miles South of Antigua and trying to maintain a steady progress of 6 miles /day Northwards.
Weather has varied all day. Squally and gray all morning and blistering hot in the afternoon. But fortunately the wind and wave conditions have been consistent.
Found a few dead squid on the deck this morning. The only newsworthy part is that it gave me something different to look at, poke at and photograph. Makes a change from flying fish. The bird life around has started to increase noticeably – land is getting nearer at last...and so is a warm meal.
It's been a long day and quite exhausting. Arms are aching and my hands are starting to claw up again.
Will keep this post short for today.
B
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Something different for a change

Wave height above the gunwale

Dusk taken at 20.28 GMT

Day 88 – Heavy Squalls, Cabin Flooded, Rudder Back

27 May, 07 – 22.30    
15.4173N,53.5168W
24 hr progress: 31.5 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 463 Nautical Miles ( 856 km)
Distance completed: 2883 NM (5333 km)
Wave height: 12-15ft, Winds: 25-30 knots NE, Bearing: 240-260 degrees.
Very testing weather. Clouds have been low and depressingly gray all day. High winds and high waves. Usually, the higher the waves, better the mileage gotten by by surfing down them and increasing the momentum to row up the next one. Unfortunately, without a rudder, the higher the chance of capsizing as well. As a general rule, if the height of the wave is more than twice the width of the boat, the boat is likely to capsize.
The good news is I got my mileage back up into the 30's by putting the rudder back and taking advantage of the good surfing conditions.
June 1st is the official start of the hurricane season. Although most hurricanes occur in the July-September period (when the water temperature in the Atlantic starts heading upwards of 26 degrees C), one or two hurricanes still occur in June. Last year, the first low pressure system swept thru the South Atlantic on the 7th of June. Given the ongoing changes in global weather (plus this year is an El Ninio year), opinions vary on whether it will be a late start or an early start this year.
So right now, to err on the side of caution, I'm desperate to improve the mileage, so that I can make it to the safety of land before the hurricanes start.
Ever since I took the rudder out a while back, I've watched my daily mileage drop from 40 miles/day to 8 miles/day and from then on hover between 10-15 miles/day for the past few days. This morning, I re-calculated my ETA for arrival based on speed and distance left to Antigua (above). 40 miles/day would be an ideal, to finish around 1st June. However at my current mileage of 15 miles a day I would be well within the chances of getting caught in a hurricane.
As I wrote earlier, I was saving the use of the rudder for the last 300 miles to Antigua, so that in case the force of the water ripped it off the back, I would still be within rescue distance. However, the drogue slows the boat down and putting it back on now (at 463 miles to Antigua) is the only way could be on target to achieve around 30 miles/day and make landfall by June 10th, before the hurricanes start.(I will be trying for 40 miles/day but right now 30 miles/day seems a more realistic target, taking into account my physical condition, salt sores, lack of sleep etc).
Putting the rudder back in was easier said than done. As the rudder is made from plywood coated with fiberglass it's quite buoyant in the water and I had a tough time trying to get it back on the hinges (which are underwater). I spent about 45 minutes in the rough water trying to get it back on but it was impossible to do so in the rising and falling swell and the hull of the boat threating to smash into my head. In the end, I finally got it on the hinges and lashed down by leaning out of the rear hatch of the cabin. But in the process, I had a few waves break and flood the cabin.
Though it took me some time I've now cleaned up most of the water but it's going to be quite a damp night ahead. Luckily, there is sun today to help dry out the sleeping bag and rubber mattress.
Well, at least the mileage and mood onboard is back up again!
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Gray clouds and metallic silver sea all around

The horizon

Heavy rain

Day 87 – Radar Off, Tanker Missed, Squalls get stronger

26 May, 07 – 21.45    
15.5097N,53.2041W
24 hr progress: 25 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 490 Nautical Miles ( 907 km)
Distance completed: 2848 NM (5268 km)
Wave height: 10-12ft, Winds: 25 knots NE, Bearing: 270-300 degrees.
Heavy rains again last night. The increasing strength of the squalls is hard to miss and is a constant reminder of the oncoming hurricane season.
A few hours into my night shift, it got difficult to row, so I tried to catch up on some sleep around 11 pm.
I was woken up by the sound of engines around 3.00 am and found the lights of a tanker about 1 mile to the north.
I narrowly missed another ship – this time it was entirely my fault. While speaking to the Captain of the passing Tanker yesterday morning, I had switched off the radar alarm, as its beeping in the background was interfering with our conversation over the VHF radio. In my tiredness, I must have forgotten to switch it back on again. Luck helps sometimes!
I've crossed the 53 degrees W meridian over the past 24 hrs which improved my spirits a bit. I'm closer to my second last major milestone of 55W meridian (the last milestone being 60W meridian).
Quite happy with the days progress – 25 miles almost due West despite the waves from different directions. I've been experimenting with deploying the drogue (sea anchor) off the stern using different variations of length on the main line and slack on the trip line. I think I've finally found a solution that works well to somewhat help turn the stern into the waves. I'm now using the drogue on a shorter 15m line, partially collapsed with a 14m trip line, that allows it to float the breadth of 1 wave away. I think this gives better control when the sea state is confused and lots of shorter waves coming at the boat from SE and NE.
On the wildlife front, I spent the evening on deck watching Dorados. The Dorados can get up to a meter in length and its quite amazing watching them leap out of the water trying to catch the flying fish.
On things calorie related, - I found a treasure of 2 bars of Ritter Sport chocolate that I must have placed under the bag of emergency collision flares - a thank you to the Tanker that made me reach for the flares.
I've got 4 days of food left, so enjoying my last few meals, before its a protein shake only diet. That will be a new experience!
B
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passing rain shower

Taken at 20.48 GMT

Dusk & getting ready for my night row

Day 86 – PM Post: Flying along, big fish & dolphins, Argos

25 May, 07 – 21.48
15.5233N,52.5454W
24 hr progress: 21.3 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 514 Nautical Miles ( 951 km)
Distance completed: 2816 NM (5209 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 25-30 knots NE, Bearing: 270-300 degrees.
The day turned out to be better than expected. Although it was raining heavily all day, high winds, close to 25 knots helped me get some more miles in. Quite a day for big fish as well. A few large orange and white fish swimming around the boat all day followed by a pod of around 30 dolphins that stopped by. Unfortunately, the dolphins arrived around sunset, and the poor lighting made it difficult to take very clear photos. But it was quite an honor to be rowing with a stunning sunset on one side of the boat and dolphins on the other.
Amongst tasks, I switched over to the secondary Argos satellite tracking beacon today as the primary one had been operational for more than 80 days and the batteries were starting to run out. In other news on board, the deck was starting to smell like a fish market after all the fish that landed on board over the past few days. I used the rain and surgical wash to scrub the assortment of fish scales, broken wings, dead fish off the deck. It looks much more respectable now.
I plan to have another go fixing the electric desalinator once the weather settles down, hopefully day after. The manually operated desalinator works fine, but its taking up valuable time at the oars.
B
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Secondary Argos satellite tracking beacon activated

Pod of Dolphins at sunset

Taken at 23.22 GMT

Day 86 – AM Post: Squall, Tanker, Rough Weather Forecast

25 May, 07 – 11.25    
15.4821N,52.4362W
(This is a quick morning post )
Had very heavy rains last night. The heaviest I've experienced so far and the sea turned nasty again with a large swell. Not much sleep at night again as the radar alarm went off around 6.00 GMT. At about 9.00 GMT I made contact over the VHF with the Captain of a tanker heading for North America. The first sign of humanity after 50 days. The Captain gave me the 72 hr weather forecast that states 35-40 knot winds and wave heights of 5-6 meters.
Here are some photos from this morning.
Well..off to secure everything on deck and brace for a rough weekend ahead.
B
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Taken at 10.14 GMT

The top of the tanker seen across the swell

Conditions are not fun anymore...

Day 85 – Back on Course, Sitting Down, New Fish, Tiger Shark

24 May, 07 – 21.33    
15.3739N,52.3379W
24 hr progress: 12.8 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 537 Nautical Miles ( 993 km)
Distance completed: 2784 NM (5150 km)
Wave height: 6-8 ft, Winds: 15 knots NE, Bearing: 270-290 degrees.
Sorry guys, this post is a bit of a rush job. Not up to usual standards as I am very tired..
Beautiful weather. Clear, sunny and a light breeze. A hard days slog at the oars and I've made further NE progress, so well on course. A bit slow as the waves and wind are still going off in different directions.
The salt sores on my rear are getting worse from all the sitting down and starting to bleed. Hurts like crazy no matter what type of seat padding I use or antibiotic cream I put on. Its the rolling of the boat from side to side and sliding all over the seat that makes it worse. Not the sitting down part.
My plan was to row 2 hrs on 2 hrs off, but, so it s closer to 1 hour on and 30 mins off right now.
This morning I found a very unusual fish that must have jumped on board last night. I first mistook for a small eel. It looks like a flying fish crossed with a sword fish but much longer and thinner. Its wings are the same as on a flying fish, but the sharp sword sticking out of its head makes it look way much cooler than its cousin. Or maybe its just part of some fashion designers summer collection... (check out the photo)
I think I figured out why the fish have been so jumpy lately. This afternoon, I spotted the fish under the boat being chased by heavy 10 ft shadow. At first glance it looked like a Tiger shark, judging by the botches on its gray body and its wide head. I spent most of the afternoon trying to film it as it was too hot to row anyway. Since my tripod was washed overboard, I made a hand held swivel for the underwater camera by strapping the camera on to one of the long hand pumps that I normally use to pump water out of the compartment. The hand-pump underwater camera combo worked better than the original tripod I was using. Panning the camera around was smooth and much more controllable with the longer body of the hand pump. What a pleasant discovery.
I did not get many shots of the shark but I got some great ones of the other fish around.
Sharks are incredibly fast underwater, especially when they are hunting and its difficult to catch them for more than a few seconds in the camera frame. It is easier if they are further away from the camera, but then the visibility drops dramatically when they start to get more than 20 feet away from the lens. Will find out in the editing room how the filming turned out.
Food is pretty much down to the basics. The coffee is officially over. Snacks etc long gone.
Dinner today: Freeze dried pasta bolognese. Rice in basil sauce, Chinese chicken. - all guaranteed to put more hair on your chest!
Dessert : Freeze dried hazel nut yogurt to which I added broken bits of toast to break the monotony. Quite good.
The weekends coming up. Funnily enough, the weekends out here feel lonelier than the week. Strange how the mind works.
Right! Im off to sleep now. Keep the messages coming, they are very welcome,
B
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One very cool looking fish...

Underwater camera strapped onto a handheld water pump for filming the shark

Taken at 22.31 GMT.

Day 84 – Glacial pace, Heading North, VHF Fixed

23 May, 07 – 23.45    
15.3082N,52.2234W
24 hr progress: 11.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 550 Nautical Miles ( 1017 km)
Distance completed: 2760 NM (5106 km)
Wave height: 6-8 ft, Winds: 15 knots NE, Bearing: 270-290 degrees.
Progress wise, below average but I am back on course to Antigua, heading NE. Still proceeding at a glacial pace in mixed conditions and it looks like I have lost the assistance of the North Equatorial current. Its quite hard to stay motivated hour after hour, day after day. Viewing life from a rowing boat, everything seems to overtake you, the waves, clouds, sea life – not excluding sea turtles (I know, I know, the speed can be quite pathetic at times). Anyway, going by the numbers, I have crossed the 5000km mark for miles rowed to date. The trip odometer still indicates 1017 km more, and I'm looking forward to getting below the 1000 mark. Still a bit of hike ahead at any rate.
After one last rain shower, shortly after midnight, the weather calmed down suddenly around 1.00 am and the skies cleared a bit.
I was leaning over the side and brushing my teeth in the silent darkness, around 3.00 am on deck, - before getting get back on the oars when something underwater – a fish hunting under the boat caused a massive disturbance. What ever it was, it must have frightened the fish pretty well because the surface suddenly erupted with hundreds of flying fish, bombarding me in the face and landing all over the deck. Brushing the teeth was the only thing that helped maintain a sense of normalcy.
Owing to last nights episode, the deck looked more like a crime scene when daylight hit this morning. With atleast 60 dead flying fish all around. I took me 2 hours to clean it up before it was safe to walk around without slipping and sliding again.
Flying fish are cool and annoying in equal measures. Its quite amazing to watch them leap 10 ft out of the water just to escape a predator – usually a large Dorado or a Barracuda. Annoyingly enough, the land all over the boat, on the roof, ropes, rowing seat and worst under the floorboards of the bilge where the soak in the water and start marinating in the afternoon heat.
I fixed the VHF antenna today in anticipation of the shipping lanes that will be crossing in the few days ahead. I am trying to get some sleep in before I am kept up all night by the radar alarm.
Lately, with all the rain the bilge (the space between the cabin and the deck) has been filling up with water. I usually pump the water out manually. However, the pipe attached to the pump does not reach the bottom of the bilge and as a result there is always water at the bottom of the boat.
I thought of fixing the pump but I'm 20 days from land.
So instead, in honor of all the water thats there in it, I think we should change the name from Miss Olive to Budweiser. What do you think?
B
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VHF antenna, which was damaged by a wave, rewired and fixed with generous helpings of sticky tape. My engineering degree finally came in handy.

Spectacular sunset caused by squall clouds clearing up and heading West and skies clearing overhead. Taken at 22.12 GMT

Quite a show. My dinner view. Taken at 23.03 GMT

Day 83 – Mental State: 83 Days in Solitary, Stormy Conditions Continue, 52W

22 May, 07 – 22.15    
15.2492N,51.5410W
24 hr progress: 16.5 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 561 Nautical Miles ( 1037 km)
Distance completed: 2738 NM (5065 km)
Wave height: 10-15 ft, Winds: 15-18 knots NNE, Bearing: 260-280 degrees.
Overcast most of the day with big black rain clouds like yesterday. No sign of the sun except for a postage stamp size piece of sky between clouds that appeared occasionally. The boats rocking violently from side to side with the waves coming from all directions. I've been constantly wet with spray most of the day day. Its too hot to wear the rain overalls to keep dry. The salt gets into the clothes and rubs against the skin making the sores worse.
Anyway, there is some comfort in knowing its not going to last for ever and hopefully tomorrow the clear skies, breeze and sun will be back. And the good news is that I have crossed the 52W meridian and feel tangibly closer to my next major milestone of the 55W meridian.
Well, 83 days since I last had human contact on the island of El Hierro. 83 days living on 5 meters of space. I suppose it justifies a few sentences on my mental health.
Mood
My mood very much depends on how tired I am, the time of day, the mileage of the day, the weather, problems with the boat etc. Food, music and distractions like the wildlife around the boat go a long way in improving the atmosphere on board. Food would have made a bigger difference if the cooker was working and I could have a warm meal. Unfortunately, it stopped working early in the trip due to corrosion. Still its not too bad. Everything out here tastes much better than on land and I am constantly hungry - burning about 7000 calories a day. So any meal is welcome.
Sleep & Dreams
I split my sleep into two periods of 4 hours. When I sleep depends very much on the rowing conditions. If it's good, I skip sleep and row till the conditions last. The sleep is deep regardless of weather because I am usually very tired.
In rough seas though its a bit harder to sleep as I get thrown against the cabin walls.
It still takes a while – about half a minute to remember where I am when I wake up. I've experienced this every single day since I started and I haven't adjusted to this part yet.
The dreams with 4 km of water under the bed are a lot more intense, vivid, strange and ridiculous.
I've been using Nightol to sleep and its cousine Dayol to stay awake depending whether or not its possible to row.
A while back, I was trying to force my self to sleep because the weather was rough and it was impossible to keep the oars in the water. Well, anyway, it was pitch dark and I must have picked up the wrong bottle in all the blackness around. I took a swing off the bottle that I picked up and swallowed the syrup– and to my horror I realized to late that the nasty aftertaste was Dayol. So, anyway, I decided to take two sips of Nightol. In the hope that the first sip of Nightol would cancel out the first sip of Dayol and the second sip of Nightol would overtake both of them and help me sleep. I was very wrong. I slept deeply, but dreamt I could not sleep, so woke up feeling very tired. You know, sometimes you just cant win!
Hallucinations
Trying to keep a sane mind is a challenge. Of all the effects of solitude I have been most afraid of hallucinating.
The mind is the last line of defense in survival, especially for solo sailors.
There is the story of two brothers who tried to row across the Atlantic a few years back. They were somewhere in the middle, when one of the brothers jumped overboard and started swimming towards land. Fortunately,he was rescued in time by his brother who jumped in after him. But they had to abandon the row. It later turned out that the had stopped taking his anti-depressant tablets and had seen land in a hallucination.
I have started experiencing minor hallucinations. Sounds, mostly the sounds of dogs barking, cars and truck – which I can easily dismiss as just imagination. Visual hallucinations are much harder to dismiss. Especially when the waves are high. I get only 5 seconds to glimpse the horizon - when the boat is on top of a wave, before it plunges back into the valley of water with blue walls on both sides. During those 5 seconds, I have often imagined seeing the white hull of a yacht on the horizon when its usually only a breaking wave. Occasionally I thought I have spotted tankers etc but there is no alarm on the radar or no response from the VHF radio when try to verify what I have seen.
How do I cope?
Maintaining a log book and writing a journal for the ship helps immensely to give a sense of time and a point of reference in an otherwise monotonous landscape. Keeping the mind busy with the various repairs that come up, scheduled maintenance or improvements that I carry out helps fend off boredom. I spend a lot of time looking at different maps, topography charts, star charts, fish charts etc along the route, that has made the surrounding more interesting than just different shades of blue. I've got thru quite a few books, The Kite Runner, Life of Columbus, Shantaram, Einsteins String Theory, Joshua Solocum's Diary and the Biography of Clinton. I'm probably also the first person in the world to read a water de-salinator manual cover to cover.
On the whole, I'v managed to keep the mental situation under control so far. Its getting harder with each day, combined with the slow progress, lack of sleep or proper food and the heat. But for all that, I think it will make success even sweeter when I hit land in 20 days.
B
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
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Squall ahead. The curtain of falling rain is visible as it moves across the sea. Quite an amazing sight to watch.

Dark rain clouds over

Overcast above. Clear sunset to the west. Taken at 22.44 GMT

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
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
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Squall over the boat

Rain clouds pass over on its way to the West

Rain all around

Day 81 – Pushed South, 81 Days of Solitude

20 May, 07 – 22.45    
15.3089N,51.4081W
24 hr progress: 9.1 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 588 Nautical Miles ( 1087 km)
Distance completed: 2684 NM (4965 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 15-18 knots NNE, Bearing: 230-260 degrees.

Rain last night and I've been fighting to get north all day but I've blown pushed south by the wind to 15.30 deg N. I was planning to maintain my level between 16N and 17N (Antigua is at 17N). Still have 500 odd miles left to go and I am making progress W. The weather forecast for this week predicts consistent Easterly winds = good news. A very tedious day otherwise. Inching my way forward.

Apologies for the short post, very tired.
81 days in solitary confinement. Will write more on the state of my mental health shortly.
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
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Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Hello from my watery kingdom! Taken at 21.25 PM

Rain expected tommorow

Taken at 22.27 GMT

Day 80 – Progress Stats

19 May, 07 – 23.37    
15.3550N,51.3273W
24 hr progress: 9.8 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 595 Nautical Miles ( 1100 km)
Distance completed: 2660 NM (4921 km)
Wave height: 6-8 ft, Winds: 10-12 knots NE, Bearing: 230-260 degrees.
Apologies for the short post. Very exhausted. Not a very good day. Tough conditions. Only 9.8 miles. Rowing with the drogue (sea anchor) partially out has helped somewhat keep the stern into the waves but twice the effort is needed to row. Off to get some sleep.
Here are the progress stats recorded daily by the satellite tracking beacon on board. Indulge!
B
Day/Date Latitude Longitude Progress
(time is GMT) (degrees/minutes/seconds) (degrees/minutes/seconds) (miles,km,nautical
miles) n/m = nautical miles
Day 79 - May 18 (19:00 GMT) 15:40:01N 51:22:26W 15 miles (24 km) (13 n/m)
Day 78 - May 17 (19:00 GMT) 15:43:26N 51:09:29W 20 miles (33 km) (18 n/m)
Day 77 - May 16 (18:00 GMT) 15:50:24N 50:52:44W 28 miles (45 km) (24 n/m)
Day 76 - May 15 (19:00 GMT) 15:50:35N 50:27:22W 16 miles (25 km) (14 n/m)
Day 75 - May 14 (19:00 GMT) 15:48:36N 50:13:30W 19 miles (30 km) (16 n/m)
Day 74 - May 13 (19:00 GMT) 15:52:01N 49:57:11W 18 miles (29 km) (15 n/m)
Day 73 - May 12 (19:00 GMT) 15:51:04N 49:41:10W 20 miles (33 km) (18 n/m)
Day 72 - May 11 (19:00 GMT) 15:38:28N 49:28:16W 14 miles (22 km) (12 n/m)
Day 71 - May 10 (19:00 GMT) 15:35:13N 49:16:23W 13 miles (21 km) (12 n/m)
Day 70 - May 09 (19:00 GMT) 15:37:01N 49:04:34W 14 miles (22 km) (12 n/m)
Day 69 - May 08 (19:00 GMT) 15:40:12N 48:52:41W 8 miles (13 km) (7 n/m)
Day 68 - May 07 (19:00 GMT) 15:39:43N 48:45:11W 14 miles (22 km) (12 n/m)
Day 67 - May 06 (19:00 GMT) 15:37:01N 48:33:14W 21 miles (33 km) (18 n/m)
Day 66 - May 05 (19:00 GMT) 15:28:55N 48:16:41W 33 miles (52 km) (28 n/m)
Day 65 - May 04 (19:00 GMT) 15:22:44N 47:48:07W 31 miles (50 km) (27 n/m)
Day 64 - May 03 (19:00 GMT) 15:16:52N 47:20:42W 38 miles (61 km) (33 n/m)
Day 63 - May 02 (19:00 GMT) 15:16:19N 46:46:44W 39 miles (63 km) (34 n/m)
Day 62 - May 01 (19:00 GMT) 15:16:41N 46:11:35W 47 miles (76 km) (41 n/m)
Day 61 - Apr 30 (19:00 GMT) 15:28:48N 45:31:12W 35 miles (56 km) (30 n/m)
Day 60 - Apr 29 (19:00 GMT) 15:35:13N 45:00:32W 37 miles (60 km) (32 n/m)
Day 59 - Apr 28 (19:00 GMT) 15:37:12N 44:27:18W 41 miles (66 km) (36 n/m)
Day 58 - Apr 27 (19:00 GMT) 15:36:07N 43:50:17W 43 miles (69 km) (37 n/m)
Day 57 - Apr 26 (19:00 GMT) 15:46:12N 43:13:05W 48 miles (77 km) (42 n/m)
Day 56 - Apr 25 (19:00 GMT) 15:48:11N 42:29:53W 42 miles (68 km) (37 n/m)
Day 55 - Apr 24 (19:00 GMT) 15:58:26N 41:53:28W 41 miles (66 km) (35 n/m)
Day 54 - Apr 23 (18:00 GMT) 16:00:18N 41:16:41W 32 miles (51 km) (27 n/m)
Day 53 - Apr 22 (19:00 GMT) 16:08:10N 40:49:19W 33 miles (53 km) (28 n/m)
Day 52 - Apr 21 (19:00 GMT) 16:17:49N 40:21:32W 41 miles (66 km) (36 n/m)
Day 51 - Apr 20 (17:00 GMT) 16:24:04N 39:44:49W 39 miles (62 km) (33 n/m)
Day 50 - Apr 19 (20:00 GMT) 16:34:16N 39:11:38W 39 miles (62 km) (33 n/m
Day 49 - Apr 18 (19:00 GMT) 16:34:16N 38:36:47W 33 miles (53 km) (29 n/m)
Day 48 - Apr 17 (19:00 GMT) 16:26:13N 38:07:55W 28 miles (46 km) (25 n/m)
Day 47 - Apr 16 (18:00 GMT) 16:30:50N 37:42:36W 28 miles (46 km) (25 n/m)
Day 46 - Apr 15 (19:00 GMT) 16:37:26N 37:17:46W 31 miles (50 km) (27 n/m)
Day 45 - Apr 14 (19:00 GMT) 16:44:42N 36:50:46W 25 miles (40 km) (22 n/m)
Day 44 - Apr 13 (19:00 GMT) 16:55:12N 36:30:58W 44 miles (71 km) (38 n/m)
Day 43 - Apr 12 (19:00 GMT) 17:07:41N 35:28:08W 24 miles (39 km) (21 n/m)
Day 42 - Apr 11 (19:00 GMT) 17:07:41N 35:28:08W 24 miles (39 km) (21 n/m)
Day 41 - Apr 10 (18:00 GMT) 17:15:47N 35:07:44W 18 miles (30 km) (16 n/m)
Day 40 - Apr 09 (19:00 GMT) 17:26:20N 34:55:12W 23 miles (37 km) (20 n/m)
Day 39 - Apr 08 (19:00 GMT) 17:34:59N 34:36:36W 19 miles (30 km) (16 n/m)
Day 38 - Apr 07 (19:00 GMT) 17:36:47N 34:19:48W 21 miles (33 km) (18 n/m)
Day 37 - Apr 06 (19:00 GMT) 17:47:31N 34:04:44W 19 miles (30 km) (16 n/m)
Day 36 - Apr 05 (19:00 GMT) 17:59:28N 33:53:17W 16 miles (25 km) (14 n/m)
Day 35 - Apr 04 (19:00 GMT) 17:58:16N 33:38:56W 16 miles (25 km) (14 n/m)
Day 34 - Apr 03 (19:00 GMT) 17:55:30N 33:24:58W 17 miles (27 km) (15 n/m)
Day 33 - Apr 02 (19:00 GMT) 17:56:31N 33:09:32W 21 miles (34 km) (18 n/m)
Day 32 - Apr 01 (18:00 GMT) 18:04:55N 32:52:30W 16 miles (25 km) (14 n/m)
Day 31 - Mar 31 (19:00 GMT) 18:10:34N 32:39:25W 23 miles (37 km) (20 n/m)
Day 30 - Mar 30 (18:01 GMT) 18:11:56N 32:18:18W 33 miles (53 km) (28 n/m)
Day 29 - Mar 29 (19:00 GMT) 18:04:41N 31:49:30W 32 miles (52 km) (28 n/m)
Day 28 - Mar 28 (19:00 GMT) 18:00:29N 31:20:24W 42 miles (67 km) (36 n/m)
Day 27 - Mar 27 (19:00 GMT) 18:10:16N 30:43:55W 43 miles (70 km) (38 n/m)
Day 26 - Mar 26 (19:00 GMT) 18:24:43N 30:07:26W 35 miles (57 km) (31 n/m)
Day 25 - Mar 25 (19:00 GMT) 18:38:06N 29:38:10W 35 miles (56 km) (30 n/m)
Day 24 - Mar 24 (18:00 GMT) 18:44:35N 29:07:01W 25 miles (40 km) (22 n/m)
Day 23 - Mar 23 (19:00 GMT) 18:47:53N 28:44:20W 29 miles (47 km) (25 n/m)
Day 22 - Mar 22 (19:00 GMT) 18:54:29N 28:18:36W 28 miles (46 km) (25 n/m)
Day 21 - Mar 21 (19:00 GMT) 19:03:43N 27:54:22W 32 miles (52 km) (28 n/m)
Day 20 - Mar 20 (18:00 GMT) 19:24:25N 27:33:58W 29 miles (47 km) (25 n/m)
Day 19 - Mar 19 (19:00 GMT) 19:39:36N 27:12:36W 47 miles (76 km) (41 n/m)
Day 18 - Mar 18 (18:00 GMT) 20:05:35N 26:39:07W 39 miles (63 km) (34 n/m)
Day 17 - Mar 17 (20:00 GMT) 20:22:01N 26:07:44W 54 miles (86 km) (46 n/m)
Day 16 - Mar 16 (19:00 GMT) 20:43:16N 25:23:38W 49 miles (79 km) (43 n/m)
Day 15 - Mar 15 (19:00 GMT) 21:03:47N 24:43:30W 42 miles (68 km) (37 n/m)
Day 14 - Mar 14 (19:00 GMT) 21:36:32N 24:25:12W 53 miles (85 km) (46 n/m)
Day 13 - Mar 13 (18:00 GMT) 22:15:36N 23:59:24W 55 miles (88 km) (48 n/m)
Day 12 - Mar 12 (19:00 GMT) 22:43:44N 23:17:49W 39 miles (62 km) (33 n/m)
Day 11 - Mar 11 (18:00 GMT) 23:02:31N 22:47:46W 44 miles (71 km) (38 n/m)
Day 10 - Mar 10 (18:00 GMT) 23:17:10N 22:09:14W 44 miles (71 km) (38 n/m)
Day 9 - Mar 09 (18:00 GMT) 23:46:41N 21:42:18W 40 miles (64 km) (35 n/m)
Day 8 - Mar 08 (18:00 GMT) 24:17:06N 21:23:42W 37 miles (59 km) (32 n/m)
Day 7 - Mar 07 (19:00 GMT) 24:40:08N 20:59:31W 45 miles (72 km) (39 n/m)
Day 6 - Mar 06 (19:00 GMT) 25:05:31N 20:27:11W 48 miles (77 km) (42 n/m)
Day 5 - Mar 05 (19:00 GMT) 25:38:13N 19:58:44W 53 miles (85 km) (46 n/m)
Day 4 - Mar 04 (19:00 GMT) 26:14:20N 19:27:00W 52 miles (84 km) (45 n/m)
Day 3 - Mar 03 (19:00 GMT) 26:57:36N 19:11:42W 34 miles (54 km) (29 n/m)
Day 2 - Mar 02 (18:00 GMT) 27:14:56N 18:45:14W 33 miles (53 km) (29 n/m)
Day 1 - Mar 01 (18:00 GMT) 27:35:13N 18:22:34W 24 miles (39 km) (21 n/m)
Start day - Feb 28 (13:15GMT) 27:37:48N 17:58:48W Start day
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
Send me a short message via my webpage http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Progress map reported by Argos

Taken at 08.58 am GMT

Taken at 22.42 GMT

Day 79 – Heat, Drogue as Rudder, FreshWater, Kick boxing

18 May, 07 – 22.11    
15.3916N,51.2329W
24 hr progress: 12.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 604 Nautical Miles ( 1117 km)
Distance completed: 2625 NM (4856 km)
Wave height: 6-8 ft, Winds: 10-12 knots NE, Bearing: 250-270 degrees.

A low mileage day. One of my toughest days yet.
I was too tired to row effectively last night. I just about managed to get in 4 hours in before the salt sores on my rear started complaining. It's getting harder to sit down for long hours at a time. I do about 45 minutes on, and 15 minutes off. But there is no space to walk around so I just end up going from sitting on a rowing seat to sitting on a different part of the boat.
The self-righting property of the boat (ie: to turn it the right way up again like a kayak in a capsize) depends entirely on the weight distribution (of food, water, equipment) on the boat . Storing more weight below deck and less weight above deck ensures that she is unstable in an overturned position and she rolls over. If the boat capsizes with the cabin doors open, the water entering the cabin will prevent the boat from self righting again – which means the end of the crossing and an SOS.
So the cabin door is sealed shut at all times whether I am inside the cabin or on deck. The trade off to the self-righting capability is that when its too hot on deck to row, it gets even more oppressively hot inside the cabin to sleep. Thus, I'm left with 15 hours in the day between 4.00 pm and 9.00 am to manage my sleeping and rowing.
I try to fit in my tasks to do or general maintenance work in the remaining hours.
I concentrated today on trying to find a replacement for the rudder, to help bring the stern of the boat into the waves. I've put the drogue (sea anchor) out from port quarter and am experimenting with different lengths of line, to see what's most effective. (Note: A few weeks back I put the sea anchor out, varying the length of the trip line so as to partially collapse the anchor. This was not very effective then.)
I've also had to work the water pump manually to produce freshwater as I was down to my last liter. I have no solution in sight for fixing the pump as yet.
In all a very exhausting day. I've struggled through the 12 miles feeling like a one legged man in a kickboxing match. The good news is I will never ever again have to row those same 12 miles that I did today.
B
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
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Another hot day

VHF Antenna broken by a wave. On my list to be fixed

Taken at 10.07 GMT. Just starting my night rowing session

Day 78 – Adjusting Ballast, Finding weight

17 May, 07 – 21.33    
15.4320N,51.1083W
24 hr progress: 16.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 615 Nautical Miles ( 1137 km)
Distance completed: 2613 NM (4938 km)
Wave height: 10 ft, Winds: 15 knots NE, Bearing: 270 degrees.
(Sorry for the short post today. Just very tired.)

Yesterdays trend of rolling waves continued into early this morning before dying out around 6.00 am and it was back to rowing in a very confused sea.
I am back to 16.2 nautical miles today which is better than expected. I have mentally prepared my self to expect an average of 15 nautical miles per day – rowing without a rudder so what ever extra mileage I gain above that helps improve the atmosphere on board.
I am finding it a bit stressful trying to keep the boat on course. To achieve a straight line progress of 15 miles, I have to row a lot more to make up for zig zag path of the boat and course corrections.
The the leak forced me to empty the three storage compartments at the stern earlier on. As a result of the lighter stern, it been more difficult to keep the rear into the waves as it gets frequently lifted out and slammed back down with the force a passing wave.
The good news is that my last fix to the water leak is holding up well. Its reduced to a trickle, which I bail out every few days rather than everyday.
So, I spent the day trying to resolve this weight issue by desperately trying to find items on board that I could use to put some weight back into the storage compartments in the stern.
I went through everything on board and I've managed to add about 80 kg in weight to the stern made up by:
- gas canisters, cooking stuff, tools, spare parts for equipment – that I don't think I will need till I reach Antigua
- all the saved rubbish consisting of plastic, tin and glass packaging packaging from the food consumed on board (this had been saved to be disposed off in Antigua in an environmentally friendly way.)
- bottles sun creams, lotions etc
- empty jars and bottles -refilled with sea water
The overall weight of the boat is still considerably light. However, the extra 80 kg at the stern should make some difference.
At least, I will not have to sleep in the furtherest corner of the boat trying to use my body weight to keep the stern down.
B
Confused by any of the nautical terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
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the bottom of the wave

Surfing down the back

Taken at 22.38 GMT. The world looks better in colour.

Day 77 – Big Rollers, Kenny G, Physical Health

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.

Day 76 – Balancing act, Sea Bed

15 May, 07 – 23.40    
15.5076N,50.2937W
(A short post today as I am quite tired.. A longer one will follow in a few hours. )

The sea has been fairly high all day with a few rain clouds overhead.
As I write this it's 11.40 at night. The wind has picked up considerably. Somehow it always seems to do so at night. The waves have gotten a bit fiercer since sunset and the boat is rolling from side to side in the choppy sea. Rain clouds overhead and a clear sky in the horizon.
I am sitting inside, on the starboard side of the cabin, just by the entrance. Opposite me is the panel with the VHF radio, the barometer, and electrics for controlling the water maker, radar etc. This is the widest point of the cabin 1.5 meters. The boat is rocking back and forth as waves hit the sides instead of the stern (because I don't have the rudder out). Trying to get any work done on the laptop while rocking back and forth is quite a challenge I have got my leg extended to the opposite wall for stability and the computer on my lap and my neck against the ceiling, because its too low for me to sit up straight.
So there you go - now you know what a circus performance it is to update this everyday :)
Mileage has been just below my target of 15 miles per day. The wind has been fairly consistent. Usually the wind and waves line up, but for the past few days the waves have been very confused – coming at the boat from different directions.
I've been trying to look around for an explanation. I spent some time looking through the charts I had on board and came across the hydrographic / topograpic chart of the area. My current position places us above a ridge called Researcher Ridge, with the water depth varying vastly between 563 meters and 5125 meters (5.125 km) over a very small area. Thats a massive amount of water being displaced upwards and sideways by the ridge.
I'm not sure how big a part this plays in influencing the surface conditions. Still, its quite amazing to see such a variation in the sea bed below and imagine mountain heights as I row over.
A bit stressed but in fair spirits.
I've been getting a lot of messages from school kids from all over. Thanks. It helps brighten up the day out here,
Stay tuned,
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)

Balancing act to update the website

Topography under the boat - Researcher Ridge

CEV Image of undersea mountain

Day 75 – Milestone reached - 50W, Visual monotony

14 May, 07 – 21.17    
15.4870N,50.1499W
24 hr progress: 16.7 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 667 Nautical Miles ( 1233 km)
Distance completed: 2536 NM (4691 km)
Wave height: 15-18 ft, Winds: 15-20 knots NE, Bearing: 270 degrees.

Crossing 50W was moment of mixed emotions.
I strongly remember checking the GPS after hours and hours of rowing during the first few days trying to change the number 18W displayed on the screen. It felt like it would take for ever to reach 50W.
For the first time ever, I felt a little nauseous from the visual monotony before me. From the unchanging scenery as well as the colors. (I don't mean to confuse this with boredom.) Looking at the same unchanging view, day after day is starting to hurt the eyes. I find that taking a long swim around the boat - just to look at the boat from a different angle makes an incredible difference. I haven't been able to swim for the past 3 days due to the rough sea.
Possibly why this the monotony of the view has been unbearable today.
Anyway, I'm trying to enjoy the monotony of the view and the isolation as much as possible. As I progress further W, more into the Caribbean sea, I will be crossing the shipping lanes of Trinidad – Bishop Rock and Trinidad. The ocean traffic will increase which will keep me busy on the VHF trying to make sure I don't get run down by a ship.
Its been long 24 hrs. I had to row a few extra hours to meet todays mileage target for the day.
Very very tired – as you can judge from the length of this post.
More tomorrow,
B
Confused by any of the terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

The Sun never fails to entertain. Taken at 21.57 GMT

Taken at 22.17 GMT

My new salt sores near the knees. Something new to look at.

Day 74 – Sunday, Latitude & Long, Course explained, Milestone

13 May, 07 – 21.54    
15.5181N,49.5855W
24 hr progress: 15.9 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 682 Nautical Miles ( 1261 km)
Distance completed: 2509 NM (4641 km)
Wave height: 10-15 ft, Winds: 15-18 knots NE, Bearing: 260-270degrees.

In all, quite a surreal atmosphere on board. Not a single ray of sunlight to be seen all day. The sun has been hidden behind a thin layer of Altostratus clouds – fairly thick clouds forming a grayish veil over the sky. The only visual all day has been a watery disc in the sky, just a bright blurry spot moving across the sky and a very gray sea. Looks like the Sun has taken the Sunday off as well.
I'm averaging 15 nautical miles a day without the rudder. Painfully less than my average of 30 nautical miles a day before I took the rudder out. The gameplan is to get within 300 miles of Antigua (rescue distance) before putting the rudder back in and making a last dash for shore before the fiberglass gives in completely. 30 days more to go!
I had a few messages asking me about the latitude and longitude figures that I post on here. So here's a quick explanation of my course to put the numbers into perspective.
I started from the island of El Hierro which is at N27, W018 setting course for Antigua at which lies at 17N, 61W.
In a motor boat or in a perfect world :), I would have traveled in a straight line (the fastest route) between the two points.
Rowing across the Atlantic is very much influenced by the prevailing winds and ocean currents at different latitudes.
When I left El Hierro, I had 3 options a) try and steer the boat in a straight line towards Antigua b) maintain a northern route and “touching down” to Antigua from the North East or c) follow a southern course - a more U- shaped course where I row below the latitude of Antigua and then row back up again approaching the island from the South East.
I have 4 Pilot charts on board for the North Atlantic covering March, April, May, June showing the currents and wind speeds at different times of the year. On comparing trends for the wind and currents, I found the North Equatorial Current increasing in strength (to about 1.5 knots) and curving off more to the North as the period of May-June progressed.
I compared this with the ships log of Graham Walters, who had chosen to follow a Northern route to Antigua. From the log, it seemed he was having trouble making progress South towards Antigua due to the currents moving northward. I spoke to a few other people, Rune, Erden Eruc who confirmed favorable prevailing winds at that time of the year for a SE approach.
Therefore, at El Hierro, I decided to set a Southern course for Antigua, betting that the wind and currents turn out as advertised. I followed the Canary Current south from El Hierro, down to the Cape Verde islands, where I got hold of the North Equatorial Current.
Over the next few days, as I get closer to the Caribbean, I hope to catch the SE Antilles current.
The currents have performed as advertised, working at 0.5 – 1 knot in my favor. The winds have been consistently astern, varying between gale conditions and a light breeze. However a few shifts between NE and SE, causing a confused sea and difficult rowing conditions.
At my current position from my current position is 15.51N, 49.58W, I am 2 degrees(approx 120 nm) South of Antigua and 600 nautical miles to the W. My next big milestone is crossing the 50 degrees W, which will be a great psychological lift and give a sense of being closer to achieving the goal.
Back to the oars for now,
B
Confused by any of the terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 881631582692 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Terns fishing near the boat

Altostratus clouds - 2.5 km

Blurred sun all day

Day 73 – Solitude, Calls, Eurovision

12 May, 07 – 21.47    
15.5181N,49.4204W
24 hr progress: 17.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 698 Nautical Miles ( 1291 km)
Distance completed: 2486 NM (4599 km)
Wave height: 10-15 ft, Winds: 15-18 knots NE, Bearing: 270-290 degrees.

The sea has been metallic gray all day. Tough conditions, but with the rest from the day before and a little shouting I've done my best mileage yet (without a rudder for steering) of 17.4 nautical miles. Saturday is supposed to be Half Day isnt it?
I got a few messages asking me how I handle solitude and what I think about when I am rowing alone. Well, in response to that, I wrote on here that I try not to think of the outside world too much and focus on the job at hand.
Well ever since I posted that, I have been bombarded (by so called 'friends'), with offers for pizza delivery, chinese takeaway, bbq party invites, a trip to the cinema and TV shows.
Today being Eurovision Song contest weekend, I got no less than three invites to come over and watch it with them.
(For those not familiar, the Eurovision (is quite a funny) Song contest is an annual event where each European country puts forward their best party-pop song to a Europe wide TV audience. They who vote for each song as it is played on TV by calling a phone number. A country is not allowed to dial in to vote for its own song. The winner with the most votes wins the Eurovision award.)
Anyway, preparing for the night row ahead, it did give me something different to think about for a change. Trying to predict who would win it this year. Quite an easy one if you look at what usually happens each year. To start off, the French and the Belgians only vote for each other. The Spanish, Portuguese and Italians do the same for one another. The Scandinavians vote for each other, except from Sweden that votes for everyone. In the Baltic states, Finland votes for Estonia thats across the water and their linguistic cousins Hungary. Estonia returns the favor by voting for Sweden. Latvia and Lithuania choose each other. Norway votes for Iceland. Unfortunately, nobody votes for England. Germany depends on Austria. Swiss don't vote. Turkey records the most phone calls coming from Germany. The Czech Republic, Poland and Romania get the most votes out of England, as these days everyone lives there now. Israel gets a tough time because some people think there has been some confusion on screen. (Isn't it in the Middle East?). Greece and Cyprus help each other out. Around the black sea, Romania supports Bulgaria. Slovenia and Croatia give each other points. That leaves only the Balkan states and the Dutch that get an even vote from everyone.
The trick is to gradually teach everybody in the EU to be fair in their voting so that some day there will be hope of having standard electric wall sockets.
------------------------------------
Anyway, that was my digression of thought for Saturday night. Back to “reality”, here in the Atlantic. I have a few tasks on board including cleaning the deck, making more water and trying to experiment with an alternate solution for the rudder. I've been thinking of trying to fix an Oar to act as a rudder.
Rowing alone and trying my best to enjoying it while it lasts.
Let me know who won the Eurovision. Just curious.
B
Confused by any of the terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

This morning, I found a new darker species of flying fish that landed on deck overngiht. Black and much sleeker unlike the Silver variety

Silver gray mountains astern. The white object is a float for my life line

Saturday night solitude.. adrit with thoughts of Eurovision

Day 72 – Rested & stronger, Dolphin

11 May, 07 – 22.51    
15.3920N,49.2901W
24 hr progress: 12 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 714 Nautical Miles ( 1320 km)
Distance completed: 2449 NM (4530 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots NE, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.

I've caught up on some sleep in the past 24 hrs. Well rested and feeling as fit as a fiddle again. I've attended to a few cuts and bruises on my knees and shoulders. Put on some cooling skin cream on my back which has burnt in the sun. All of last night I could feel it radiate the absorbed heat during the day. I usually try and avoid sun cream as it makes it harder to wash the salt off the skin at the end of the day. I've also re-hydrated properly. Drank a total of 3 ½ liters of water today and very little of it came back out. Where has it all gone?
I stayed away from protein supplements, vitamin tabs, coffee, snack bars etc today, to give the system a break.
Mixed weather conditions continue. Sunny on one side, cloudy on the other, producing amazing views but not so great conditions for rowing.
I've got a my plate full at the moment. A lot of work ahead. I must get the speed up. Progress at this rate would take me another 59 days to reach Antigua, well into the hurricane season. Not a practical option. So top of my list is 1. producing enough fresh water to last me the rest of the way so I can then concentrate on the rowing. 2. getting the daily average up to 15-20 knots.
The dolphins have returned to hunt fish under the boat. My faithful companions all through this journey. Its as if they sensed the pain of progressing at 12 miles a day and turned up to cheer me up while I struggle to get on course again...
B
Confused by any of the terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

View to the West. 19.49 GMT

View to the East 19.49 GMT

Dolpins swimming by the bow

Day 71 – Heat, Capsizing concerns

10 May, 07 – 21.35    
15.3568N,49.1708W
24 hr progress: 11.6 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 724 Nautical Miles ( 1339 km)
Distance completed: 2430 NM (4495 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots NE, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.

Todays posts is shorter than usual.
I've decided to take a break, rest the muscles and catch up on some sleep.
Very little sleep last night. Sea has been very erratic over the recent weeks. At first its dead silent. No sound of waves breaking. Just a small swell and lite breeze from the east. Then all of a sudden the Atlantic changes her mind and hell breaks loose with waves breaking over the stern, wind picking up and waves coming beam on to the boat.
Last night was one of those nights. I got very little sleep. The sea state was calm until around 2.00 am before going bananas. Rowing was impossible so I tried to get some sleep. I put my body weight as far back to the stern as possible to keep that part of the boat down. Each time a wave hit it would send me sliding across the mattress to the opposite wall and I have to get back into position and brace my self for the next wave.
Miss Olive has been handling the waves till now. I'm a bit concerned about stability however as she is much lighter now than at the start. I have consumed about 200 kg of food since leaving (counting the weight of tins, glass bottles, syrups, etc etc). In addition, the stern is quite light as it had three of the compartments that cannot be used to store anything owing to the water leak. All last night the waves were hitting us on the port quarter. We were rolling quite a bit with the gunwales coming within inches of the water.
Next on my list of items to do, is to see if I move some more weight below deck. For now, as a precaution, I am keeping all hatches closed in case of a capsize despite the heat in these patch of the ocean.
In other news, today was a nice and sunny day. As I had my swim today the water felt noticeably warmer. At least by a few degrees. A possible sign that we have successfully caught hold of the Antilles current which is a warm water current. The breeze also feels a lot warmer these days and so it's getting even harder to escape the heat of the sun.
Hasta pronto,
B
Confused by any of the terms? Visit the Glossary: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/about_glossary.htm
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816315826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Sunny side up

Taken at 22.48 GMT

Inside the cabin

Day 70 – Part 2: Rainy & cloudy, freak wave, Sargasso Sea

9 May, 07 – 21.47    
15.3695N,49.0525W
24 hr progress: 12.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 735 Nautical Miles ( 1359 km)
Distance completed: 2410 NM (4458 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots E, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.

What a difference 24 hours can make. Yesterday was sunny and calm. This morning, the Atlantic had changed back into its silver gray liquid metal persona. Cloudy, rainy and an unfriendly atmosphere all day.
On the bright side (ironically) the temperature dropped slightly, which made my job of working at the water pump a bit more comfortable than working in the heat on deck.
A slow news day in general and the sea has been dead quite for most of the day. Apart from a nanosecond of excitement provided by a 20ft freak wave – that appeared out of nowhere, broke over the boat, left the deck covered in foaming water and continued on its way as if normal. No explanation given.
Less time spent at the oars today. I choose to spend more time on making water. Rowing in these conditions is too much work for too little reward.
I currently have the coast of Brazil, 900 Nautical miles to the South and the Sargasso Sea to the North. As we move forward, I will be passing over French Guyana, Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela – Papillon Territory.
Maybe it's the ocean rowing version of beer goggles – but after 70 days at sea, even Guyana is starting to look attractive as a destination for landfall.
Looking at the progress map today (produced by Argos Satellite Tracking), a bit of good news. I have almost cleared the Mid-Atlantic ridge (shaded light blue on the map) and will be heading back over deeper water (shaded dark blue) before heading into the shallow waters surrounding the islands. The deeper water will provide slightly calmer rowing conditions.
B
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 881631582692 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Rain clouds tto the west

Metallic Atlantic

Light blue - Mid-Atlatnic ridge. Dark blue - deep water

Day 70 – INFO: COMING TO THE ARRIVAL

9 May, 07 – 21.43    
15.3696N,49.0523W
24 hr progress: 12.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 735 Nautical Miles ( 1359 km)
Distance completed: 2410 NM (4458 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots E, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.

I hope to reach the Caribbean in the next 4-5 weeks, factoring in the current problem of making water and rowing without the rudder. I am currently at 15N, about 120 miles due south of Antigua 17N. The plan remains to catch the Antilles current and make a SE approach to Antigua. If weather conditions change or I run into further problems, I have kept my options open to make landfall at any off the islands.
So, for those of you who's idea to row across the Atlantic is being seated in row 10 on a Boeing, here is the info of my alternate landfall options – in case you fancy short holiday in the Caribbean. For those of you who are sailing, the coast guard and port information is included. I will post the info now so you'll have adequate time to plan your trip. It would be great to have you there.
B
PORT & COAST GUARD INFO FOR ISLANDS
Barbados: Port St. Charles near Speightstown
Customs telephone number is 246 419 1300. Before entering, call the
dockmaster, Derek Ince, on VHF16 or 77 for instructions. Dockmaster
Tel:246-419-1000 ext. 2230 / Mob. 246 262 3759, VHF Channel 16,77
psc.dockmaster@caribsurf.com
Barbados: Bridgetown very small port 13.0833330N, 59.62W
Barbados: Speightstown very small port 13.25W, 59.65W
Port St. Charles is quite fancy
St. Lucia: Castries, small port (near NW corner of island) 14.0166664N, 61W
St. Lucia: Vieux Fort, very small port SW corner of island 13.733333N,
60.97W
St Lucia has Castries located very conveniently around the corner as soon as
you clear the north end of the island.
Martinique & Guadeloupe - Coast Guard: +596-596-709-292
Martinique: Le Marin very small port, 14.4666662N, 60.88W
Martinique: Fort de France, small port, 14.60000N, 61.08W
Martinique: St. Pierre, very small port 14.733333N, 61.18W
Martinique is fine, aim for Le Marin at the SW corner if you have to.
Dominica Coast Guard: 1-809-448-2222
Dominica: Roseau very small port 15.283333N, 61.4W
Dominica: Roseau very small port 15.566666N, 61.47W
Dominica is supposed to be poorer, if you are that far north, aim for
Guadeloupe for better help with shipping the boat, etc.
Guadeloupe: Grand Bourge very small port, 15.883333N, 61.32W
Guadeloupe: Bourg des Saintes very small port, 15.86666N, 61.58W
Guadeloupe: Riviere Sens small marina SW corner by the lighthouse 15.98217N
61.71610W
On Guadeloupe, I would aim for Riviere Sens for clear access there.
I will be receiving a tow to Bas-du-Fort at
Pointe a Pitre, that's where I will be shipping the boat.
- (special thanks to Erden Eruc.)
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Hop onboard Coconut airways...see you in the Carib!

Day 69 – Split schedule, perfect day

8 May, 07 – 21.43    
15.4018N,48.5307W
24 hr progress: 7.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 746 Nautical Miles ( 1380 km)
Distance completed: 2387 NM (4415 km)
Wave height: 6-8 ft, Winds: 10-15 knots E, Bearing: 260 – 270 degrees.

Glorious weather today, without any rain. Clear blue sky and a fairly calm sea.
Slow progress as I spent a few hours today producing water from the watermaker. I am using the backup handpump. It's mindless & back breaking work trying to produce fresh water. And very slow. About 4-5 hrs of work at the pump to produce 3 liters of water. I was glad to get back to the oars at the end of it.
Not too bad tho. Get to work another muscle group for a change :)
Spotted a ship today in a distance, the first one in 3 weeks. I was looking forward to a human conversation over the VHF radio, but unfortunately they did not reply on Ch 16, even at visual range. I tried to call them for about 2 hrs. No response. It such a case, was a good thing they were 2 miles off port and not on a collision course with me.
I meant to write something here about my physical state, but I am way too exhausted today after work at the oars and the water pump. My fingers are also 'clawing' up more after holding onto the oars and pump all day. So will post that on here tomorrow.
Thanks to all for the messages. I get about 3000 messages a day. While its impossible to reply to each and every one, I read them all at night. On days like this it makes a huge difference out here.
B
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Perfect sky, mixed waves

Fish under the boat on my afternoon dive

Bonjorno! How does the beard look?

Day 68 – Dealing with the weather

7 May, 07 – 21.43    
15.3988N,48.4545W
24 hr progress: 11.1 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 754 Nautical Miles ( 1394 km)
Distance completed: 2344 NM (4336 km)
Wave height: 8-10 ft, Winds: 15 knots E, Bearing: 290 degrees.

This morning, I got news that there is a low pressure system to the NW of me that may be confusing the winds.
The weather for the rest of the week is:
8th May – 15 (knots) E, 9th May – 15 ENE, 10th May – 15 E, 11th May – 15 E, 12th May 15 – ESE, 13th May 15 ESE.
Occasional squalls expected.
I've had a few messages asking me what a squall is.
Well, a squall is a sudden and violent wind often accompanied by rain. They are created by local conditions around the world and called different names. Off Eastern Australia – they are called Southerly Busters, in the Med. they are called Mistrals and around Cape Horn they are called Willie Waughs.
As the journey has progressed, I've changed my outlook on what I stress about.
A piece of useful advice I found invaluable on this journey: “Concentrate on the things that you can do something about and not to waste effort on those that you can't do anything about”.
It's easy to get stressed and frustrated about the weather and I try not to let it get to me as much, even though the clock has been counting down to the approaching hurricane season, June 1st and the sea state for the past 2 weeks has been very confused with winds and waves in different directions.
Instead, I have been focusing on getting as much mileage as possible on a given day by resting during unfavorable conditions. Though it must be said that bad weather is never too bad. It would be boring if it was calm all the time. A storm is scary. For someone alone here in a rowing boat, it succeeds in raising the level of fear and adrenaline running through the veins. But sometimes it's just as good to sit back and watch the awesome power of nature at work from a ringside seat.
I had a rare view in front of me around sunset as the sun was setting under grey altocumulus clouds to the west. Today's photo, shows a high altitude Cirrus cloud (white), reflecting light from the hidden sun and casting a 'moon-beam' over the water.
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Houskeeping on deck - cleaning the dead flying fish off it.

break in the clouds

Cloud casting a moon beam across the water

Day 67 – Watermaker, Mako Shark

6 May, 07 – 11.58    
15.3737N,48.3427W
24 hr progress: 18.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 764 Nautical Miles (1413 km)
Distance completed: 2334 NM (4317 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 15 knots ENE, Bearing: 290-300 degrees.

Its been an exhausting week and I was looking forward to some calm weather today, to get some some Sunday-style rest, by reading a few more pages from my book on deck. Unfortunately, the Atlantic had other plans. It felt sluggish rowing this morning through the grey sea and occasional rain. As if rowing thru molten steel. Its amazing how much of a psychological impact the color of the water can make to the effort.
Not a single atom of progress in fixing the water maker.
The water maker is a high pressure positive displacement pump that is powered by a motor (using electricity from the on board (solar panels). The pump pressurizes input sea water to approximately 800 psi thru a semi permeable membrane to give fresh water.
I reserved today to fix the water maker. and as such I spent all morning going back and forth between the machine and the manual that says “remove the large o-ring (8012588) from its groove in the side of the pump back plate that faces the pump body. Remove the wiper block and spacer from the pump back plate. Replace the two large o-rings (8012947) and the two smaller o-rings (8013006) on the membrane tube plug with new o-rings from the RSK. Insert the small end of the membrane tube plug into the exposed hole of the membrane element and press the plug into the housing” ...
I've checked the electrical connections, the plumbing, cleaned the membrane (with Acid cleaner), applied grease, checked the seals. No luck. So I've decided to use the Manual water maker from the emergency bag for now.
I spotted the thin sharp fins of a beautiful 6-7ft Mako shark in the water in the afternoon, just as I was finishing off work. A very welcome change of scenery. They are a lot sleeker than the Great White and and are super fast swimmers. It circled around the boat a few times, like an F1 car on first gear, before going off.
Other minor tasks crossed off the list today - padding the corners of the light near the hatch entrance that I've been banging into and scrubbing the damp growth off the ceiling of the cabin.
Small tasks such as the above keep cropping up. One of the many reasons I look for things to fix or modify is to keep the mind mentally occupied and it adds a bit of variation to the routine. Its a well known fact of nature however, that the longer you live in a space, the more you customize it to your needs. Perfection after all is a moving target :)
Off to get some Sunday rest now and its back to the world of rowing and sleeping tomorrow,
B
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Mould in the cabin caused by dampness

Masking tape and padding on the light just above the hatch entrance on which I've hit my head a zillion times

Water mountains

Day 66 – Without rudder again!, squall

5 May, 07 – 21.30    
15.2966N,48.1718W
24 hr progress: 27.6 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 783 Nautical Miles ( 1448 km)
Distance completed: 2314 NM (4280 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 15-20 knots ENE, Bearing: 270 degrees.

A shorter post than usual.
The weather continues to be squally (a preface to the hurricane season perhaps?) and mixed periods of clear skies and sun.
Last night was rough and it looked like the rudder is about to put its last orders in at the bar. Quite a nervous night, hoping and praying that the rudder with just hold on for a few hours more. For a while I found my self talking to the rudder and the boat, motivating it to just 'hang in there'.
I tried to fix it again this morning with ropes but by afternoon it looked obvious that it was not going to hold.
I took the rudder out this evening and have decided to carry on to Antigua without the rudder until I am around 100 mils off shore. Rowing without a rudder is going to be a lot harder, but I just cannot risk a larger crack in the fiberglass.
Another long over due task was to improve my sleeping arrangement. My bed consists of 3 foam camping mats (6 ft by 2ft) along with an inflatable heat reflective mat. Its been one of the many irritations at sea - trying to get a few hours of comfortable sleep without being thrown against the sides of the boat or having the sleeping mat slip away from underneath my back. I spent some time taping the mattress together and tying the ends up with string they wont run away. Another one crossed off the list.
No sign of human life around yet. Not a single boat or ship seen for days.
Enjoying the peace
Im expecting a harder row ahead, now that I've taken the rudder out, using only the oars to steer. Hoping that the sea state improves. It will be nice to have the winds and waves aligned up.
Off to get some rest on my 'new' bed!
B
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

Rudder, as seen under water

Fixing the mattress on deck

Incoming!

Day 65 – Slow prog. Leak fix (again...)

4 May, 07 – 21.30    
15.2296N,47.4947W
24 hr progress: 26.2 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 810 Nautical Miles ( 1498 km)
Distance completed: 2296 NM (4247 km)
Wave height: 10 ft, Winds: 15-20 knots ENE, Bearing: 270 degrees.

Another day for unusual photos. A clear blue sky over half the sea. Rain clouds over the other half.
Frustrating as hell to row in however.
As I have limited food (energy) supplies on board, given the present sea-state, I decided to save my energy and water and wait till the waves make up their mind which way the want to go. Sitting at the oars today felt like rowing inside a valley surrounded by gray mountains of water on three sides. The wind as been as blowing steadily from the E, but the waves have been hitting the boat from the North East and the South East, destroying any chances of making any progress north towards Antigua, or South towards Martinique and slow progress forwards.
We are currently crossing the mid-Atlantic ridge. The amount of water being displaced by the ridge may be one of the contributing factors to the confused wave patters I am experiencing on the surface.
(The Mid-Atlantic ridge is a submarine mountain range running from Iceland to the North to the 58 Degrees South latitude, dividing the Atlantic into two parts. Looking at our position on the charts, the depth of water above the ridge is 2,700 m (8,900 ft) while the average depth of the surrounding waters is 3,700 and 5,500 meters (12,000 and 18,000 ft).)
So instead of rowing, I took some time off the oars and focused on getting some of the jobs done.
I gave fixing the leak priority today over the water maker as the flow of water had increased again and I was a bit concerned that all that water swishing about underneath would make the boat unstable. This time, I re-sealed it with the last bit of sealant left and made a “rain coat” using plastic garbage bags to seal off the area from any water contact with the sealant. Quite a ridiculous looking solution :) but it seems capable of holding fort till we reach Antigua.
The fix, which should have taken me an hour to get done on land took me about 4 hrs to complete, working in-between waves crashing onto the rear and waiting for them to pass. That included the routine drying out all the soaked contents of the cabin on deck, including the mattress, survival suit, electronics etc. Hopefully this is the last time time I have to do it, as it has lost its novelty value long ago.
Tomorrow, I get to work on the rudder and the water maker.
B
To send me an SMS message (160 chars) via my satellite phone 8816 315 826 92 go to http://messaging.iridium.com/
Or you can post me a longer personal message via my webpage which will be forwarded to me within 48 hours.
http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Otherwise email me: mail@bhavik.com

360 degrees half cloudy, half sunny

Leak at the back of the stern

New fix using garbage bags to keep the area dry

Day 63 – A Quick Update

2 May, 07 – 11.58    
15.1564N,46.3394W

Hi everybody,
The weather has been rough and squally (rainy) for the past 5 days and I've had a few large waves break into the cabin while I've been trying to re-fix the rudder, and this is the first time I have been able to dry out the equipment enough to update the website.
The proper log pages will be posted here within the next few hours. For now here is a quick update.
Awful rowing conditions. Confused seas and shifting winds, Waves from all directions, NE, East and SE.and 10-15ft waves occasionally breaking over the stern. The wind varying from 15 to 25 knots, but thankfully in the right direction (SW).
Progress has been ok and I've been fighting to maintain course. As a result, the rudder has started to play up again (found out on the 26th) and needs to be re-secured. I think the main holding pin is starting to give away. Been re-fixing the leak caused by the mooring ring on the stern. My fix to the leak caused by the steering cable is still holding. Got nearly thrown overboard when hit in the night by a wave. I had my safety harness on fortunately. But the cable for the safety harness needs more slack. I've put out two additional lifelines from the stern. About 20m of line, trailing thru the water. Camera tripod washed off the cabin roof and antenna for the VHF broken by a wave. Will have to be replaced, but I haven't found any shops yet closeby.
Water: I have 2 weeks of water left. Could not fix the water maker in the bad weather. If conditions ease will give it another try. If not, will be in the shipping lanes by then and will try and get water from a passing ship. Will be rationing a bit more till then. Food: stores are ok. Will be replacing the meal packs with protein shakes for the last few days if I run short. Last bit of coffee left. Fruit tins over (disaster!).
In other news, wildlife appears and re-appears with breaks in the weather. Sharks and Dolphins continue hunting fish next to the boat, schools of Dorado, Bonito and Grouper.
Well, 2 months at sea and have not seen a single human being nor a shower for 60 days!
Milestones achieved:
Crossed below the 1000 nautical miles to Antigua mark
Reached 45W, clock moved 1 hour backward from GMT. Now at GMT -3.
2 Months at sea complete!
Estimated arrival time in Antigua: June 15th. (45 days).
Pls check back in a few hrs for the complete log including the past few days. Thanks for the messages,
B

Squall, high wind, rough sea

Day 63 – Night Rowing, Dolphins

2 May, 07 – 11.58    
15.1596N,46.4956W
24 hr progress: 34.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 877 Nautical Miles ( 1640 km)
Distance completed: 2220 NM (4107 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 15-20 knots ENE, Bearing: 270 -310 degrees.

Dolphins go crazy in the moonlight. There are about 5 or 6 dolphins around the boat, glowing in the darkness as they disturb the plankton (that throws out light) in the water. Every now and then a luminescent shadow can be seen in the crest of a wave, as the dolphins surf down it towards the boat and back up again. There is a brilliant full moon out tonight that's been steadily rising up the east over the stern. It has turned the sky all around into a surreal kind of extended evening rather than night. Occasionally a cloud drifts in front of the moon, throwing out moon rays behind it. As I write this its about 2am GMT here, I'm sitting on deck, taking a coffee break. The Atlantic has entered one of her calmer moods for the night, which gives me about 6 hours to get any work done that needs any muscle co-ordination – like typing.
As I posted here before, I have changed my rowing schedule around, so I row mostly in the evening, night and morning when it is much cooler. It's infinitely more entertaining to navigate with the stars (on a moonless night) at night or by the moon. Right now, I have the bow following the highway of moonlight, pointing due west.
Another passenger on board tonight – a Tern has stopped by, trying to get some rest on the roof of the cabin til daylight. By by the looks of it I doubt it's getting much rest as it's chosen the downward-sloping-solar panel part roof to stand on. It promises a bit of entertainment as it keeps losing its balance and sliding off it each time a wave bumps the boat. I tried to lift it up and put it in the bilge, so it gets a bit better shelter from the wind (and I made a mental note to remember not to step on it in the darkness)
The day has been fairly productive in terms of mileage and staying on course. Now that I am half way across the anxiety is much less. Despite the bad rowing conditions (cross waves), I am enjoying the experience of being out here. It's a true privilege.
I shall try to post twice a day from now on, as I have more time to write during the day than at night.
B
Send a satellite SMS message: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Email: mail@bhavik.com
Get automatic news alerts: http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/bhavik/newsletter/index.php

Progress as recorded the onboard Argon Satellite trackign beaon

Taken at 22.31 GMT

One of the many birds fishing around the boat. Get some rest on board at night.

Day 62 – Broken EPIRB

1 May, 07 – 11.58    
15.1683N,46.1399W
24 hr progress: 38.4 Nautical Miles (1 nm = 1.85 km)
Distance left to Antigua (straight line): 901 Nautical Miles ( 1667 km)
Distance completed: 2184 Nautical Miles (4040 km)
Wave height: 10-12 ft, Winds: 20-25 knots ENE, Bearing: 270 -310 degrees.

This morning, I got thrown against the EPIRB (Emergency Beacon) and I've cracked the plastic around the aerial as the EPIRB was pushed against the cabin wall. I've sealed the plastic back up with some tape.
After what seems like a record number of squalls in a week, the sky has finally started to clear up a bit, cheering things up slightly. Wind and winds still strong, in different directions “of course”.
I've been getting lots of messages about now updates for the past few days. Thanks too all for the concern. I've had water all over the cabin, that got in while I was trying to make adjustments to the rudder. I'm living in a perpetually wet condition, so I had to wait till things dried out a bit before I could operate any electronics.
Glad to be on the other side of midway point. Still a bit of hike ahead, though I am told its all downhill from here.
Not getting comfy just as yet. Back to the oars,
B
Send a satellite SMS message: http://www.bhavik.com/crossatlantic/messages.asp
Email: mail@bhavik.com
Get automatic alerts: http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/bhavik/newsletter/index.php

The deck is a mess with ropes, food and flying fish all around. Schedueled for weekly houskeeping tommorow

Cracked aerial on the EPIRB. Fixed up again with wonder tape

Taken at 21.58 PM. Squall clouds have passed overhead on their way Westards. Can be seen here on the horizon as the sun sets