Day 78 – The Kon-Tiki expedition
“But we did not really feel these enormous distances, for the horizon glided along with us unnoticed as we moved, and our own floating world remained always the same, a circle flung up to the vault of the sky, with the raft itself as centre, while the same stars rolled on over us night after night.”
I had mentioned to Laura on the oars a week or so ago how it doesn’t matter how hard we row or what direction we point ourselves we never get any closer to the horizon and our Pacific bubble merely contracts or expands around us with the changing weather and sea state. When I read the above quote in the Kon-Tiki Expedition, a book about a group of six men crossing the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft, it brought home the similarities between their adventure and ours. Simon TY kindly gave Laura the book to read and she brought it with her on board Doris to share with the rest of us. The Kon-Tiki expedition aimed to prove Thor Heyerdahl’s theory that the Indians in ancient Peru had crossed the Pacific on their rafts and discovered and populated the Polynesian islands. In comparison to Doris their balsa wood raft with its bamboo cabin was basic but in the same way as Doris has become our home, the crew of the Kon-Tiki felt safe, protected and at home in their shaky cabin. Where we row, their raft effectively floated across the Pacific, mainly under sail, from Peru to the Polynesian island of Raroia in 97 days following the current and trade winds which ensured that they had not a single day where they travelled back towards America. Maybe we should try our journey again following their route and avoiding an El Niño year!
Although very different expeditions both our Pacific row and the Kon-Tiki’s Pacific crossing share similar important areas.
Routines: On both Doris and the Kon-Tiki each crew member has their own areas of responsibility and other ‘dirty’ jobs like steering and cooking are divided equally. On Doris we row for 2 hours and steer every other row shift whereas on the Kon-Tiki the men had one 2 hr daytime and one 2 hr nighttime shift at the steering oar. In rough conditions the men would have to work in pairs to control the steering oar in a manner more like our pairs on Doris. Routine is what gets us through the days when we are sleep deprived and exhausted from rowing and is vital for a successful expedition of this type. However we all also crave variety and try to introduce some with social time, sleeping in different cabins and mixing up our pairs.
Food: The menu on Doris is limited to our selection of freeze dried delights and the treats in our snack packs. The men on the Kon-Tiki had a supply of army rations but they also sourced a lot of their meals from the ocean itself. First thing in the morning the designated cook would collect all the flying fish that had landed on the boat overnight and fry them up for breakfast. We may have missed a trick on our way into Hawaii when we had about a hundred a night hitting us on the oars. They also ate mahi mahi, tunnies, squid and shark and plankton soup fresh from the ocean. We may have to sharpen up our fishing technique if we are out here for much longer but at least we know the ocean could keep us well fed.
Water: The crew of the Kon-Tiki found what we have been noticing, especially over the last few roastingly hot days, that you can drink as much plain water as you can fill your stomach with and still have your thirst unquenched. They would add 20-40% bitter salt water to their water ration and found that it helped. Fortunately we have our SOS rehydrate isotonic drink to refuel us and it is amazing how much better it makes us feel on a hot airless day. Fresh drinking water is essential for survival. We make our fresh water using our watermaker whereas on the Kon-Tiki they carried a large number of water containers and collected rain water.
Safety equipment: For any expedition safety is of vital importance and both our boat and the balsa wood raft had a plan in case of emergency. On board Doris our generous sponsors have kitted us out with the latest in safety equipment, from our Crew Saver life raft and life jackets to our McMurdo EPIRB and personal PLBs and AIS beacons and should we get into trouble we know that people would know where we were and be able to coordinate help. We also have our satellite phones, Iridium Go! and Yellowbrick tracker to allow us to communicate with the outside world and let them know where we are. On board the Kon-Tiki the men had a rubber dingy attached by a line to the raft. Considerably less high tech than our life raft but practical for what they could carry. For communication they had a wireless station with two of the men on board being experts in this field. They used the wireless daily to send reports and weather observations which were picked up by casual radio amateurs who passed on the messages. Although they successfully used this to communicate throughout their expedition it took constant work to maintain the wireless station in the spray and dew a foot above the water.
Wildlife: “The closer we came into contact with the sea and what had its home there, the less strange it became, and the more at home we ourselves felt.” When reading the book I was struck by how much of the writing was dedicated to the wildlife the men had seen. It reads a little like our blogs with excitement when a whale or shark was spotted, constant mentions of the mahi mahi and pilot fish and the happy feeling when spotting a frigate bird or boobie which means you are within 1000nm of land. One of the most special things about being aboard Doris is experiencing the wildlife so close up. We are so low to the water that we don’t look down on the whales as from a whale watching boat but see them swimming at a level towards our oars. The birds swoop centimetres over our head and rest on the ocean close enough to touch and the jumping fish land on us in the night. We may not have dragged any sharks on board by hand yet but we have had many magical wildlife encounters.
UPDATE: Today has been another hot hot hot day without a breath of wind to give us some relief. The aft cabin has reached 100 degrees and still feels like a cool respite from the burning sun. We have all developed some interesting techniques for dealing with the heat.
Nats: A fan of the sideways baseball cap to protect her face from the sun in a rude boy way reminiscent of Keenan and Kel.
Lizanne: A fan of a piece of blue tissue tucked under the nose of her sunglasses to absorb the sweat as it runs down her face.
Laura: A fan of wearing her long sleeve top as a shawl in a preppy manner.
Myself: A fan of wearing a long sleeved top which has stretched so big it could fit three of me in and looks like a dress.
Day 77 – Noodles
Many of you have asked whether the impression we give off that team dynamic on the boat is harmonious, is a facade and actually behind the scenes we really hate each other. Well sorry to disappoint, but our dynamic is stronger than ever. However, this is not to say that we haven’t had a disagreement or difference of opinion, I don’t think we would be normal to undergo the conditions and challenges we’re facing without an argument or two ; the sleep deprivation, the heat, battling the currents and the winds, the torrential rain storms, recently the lack of music and the finishing of snack packs. The difference with this team, is that we deal with it there and then and most importantly MOVE ON. Nothing is left unsaid and often it is reflected on afterwards and finished with a hug. That being said, Nat and I have decided to share with you a recent disagreement we had, it was over something hugely important. The most relevant points to highlight to you, is that the outcome of the debate would clearly affect the speed of the boat and the dynamic of the team, so of course it was indeed a very necessary discussion to have. The heated argument we had…….was about……. noodles! Noodles come in as a close third behind Oreo’s and fruit pots as a luxury item, so when Lizanne and I found an extra 7 on the boat, it was a disagreement as to how the noodles were distributed. So here’s the debate……
LP: I asked Nats how many noodles she had stashed from her previous snack packs and she’d saved 3 packets. The rest of us had none as we’d previously eaten whatever we had at the time. To note that not every snack pack had noodles previously & we had an extras bag where we’d helped ourselves, so some may have had more than others but there was no way of telling exact numbers. Therefore I thought it was fair for the team to have equal share going forwards, so I gave Lizanne, Ems and I, 2 packets each and suggested the other packet goes into the spare bag for whoever needs it first. I truly, honestly believe that this was the fairest way, as we now don’t have any snack packs and food is precious. It was not in any way meant to be unfair or to alienate Nats, as far as I was concerned she still had an extra bag to the rest of us so I figured it made us all even.
Nats:
” I saw a zip lock bag of at least 5 packets of noodles enter the aft cabin as I was just about to exit to begin my row shift. Being ‘hawk eyes’, I made a mental note and then as I began rowing asked where the extra noodles had come from. LP replied that she had found them and was going to distribute them between the team excluding me as I already had a stash of noodles. I was gobsmacked. The fact that I had taken it upon myself to keep some noodles for a rainy day was my prerogative and had absolutely nothing to do with how extra noodles that had just been found should be distributed, in my mind. That’s how I felt and so that’s what I said.
LP has consistently eaten a large number of noodles during this leg and the reasoning behind not giving me any made no sense at all. Why should everyone else get 2 packets and I get none!!?? Everyone has collected stashes of various food stuffs over the last few weeks and what they have managed to save is theirs. The fact that they saved sweets or cereal bars over noodles, again, is their choice. When LP was about to exit for the row changeover, she asked ‘Are we ok?’ to which I replied, ‘As long as I’ve got a packet of noodles, I’m fine’
LP and I have always had a really passionate relationship as we are we are both strong, confident and expressive women who are not afraid to share our opinions with each other. I love this about us and although there have been a handful of disagreements over the last 18 months (they happen on land too), we have a deep, mutual respect and understanding about who we are what makes each other tick. ”
As this ended up being a pointless argument where neither of us agreed with the other person’s viewpoint, I could see how Nat was seeing it I just didn’t agree. Also as it was a topic that didn’t influence the speed at which we travelled or our performance, I gave her the extra packet of noodles in order to keep the peace. It took 24hrs later for me to swap our pairs so that Nat and I were on shifts together, we hugged and made up and found we could laugh about it even though we still disagreed. Nat and I are particularly open and honest with each other and not scared to be confrontational if needed. The majority of the time we get on like a house on fire, bouncing off each other with ideas, laughter and support, and only rarely has it occurred that our opinions clash. Considering the length of time we’ve been at sea, Nat and I had one disagreement on leg 1 and have had 2 on this leg, which I think is pretty good going, hopefully it won’t be 3 times on the final leg!
There are certainly ways to approach things which takes the heat out of a debate or point of view, but I think the way we handle disagreements on the boat, I hope I will take forwards with work and relationships etc. in the future.
UPDATE:
Today was the hottest day we’ve had yet. Over 110 degrees out on deck and about 100 degrees inside the cabin. We’re literally melting together!
Day 76 – Laughter
Laughter is one of my favourite joys in life. It can connect people without saying a word, or it can be the connection that brings friends and family closer together. It can lighten the mood, lift the tone, end quarrels or be the bridge to falling in love. No words, just a simple shared humour in thinking something is funny.
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they laugh, or what they laugh at. Laughter is so individual you can often pick someone out in a crowd by the sound of their laugh. I think sometimes one of the best sounds is the belly laugh of someone you love.
We weren’t taught to laugh. It’s something inside us that we were born with. Everyone can laugh; deep down stomach aching laughter, explosive laughs, silent laughs (me!), high pitched, low pitched, laughs that make the tears stream, laughs that make you fall off your chair, laughs that make you struggle for air, a child’s laugh, a cheeky laugh…. The thing I like about laughter is you can’t fake it, but generally you never need to as it’s as contagious as seeing someone yawn. They say time’s a healer; personally I think laughter is even more so.
On the boat we have bonded blood, sweat and tears. These have been grounding moments, and plenty of deep meaningful chats to set the world’s troubles right, but the moments I will cherish far beyond my destination in Samoa is the endless laughter we’ve shared on the boat. They are moments etched in my mind that will make me laugh again when I think of them back home, unable to explain to anyone asking “why are you laughing?” We often talk about it on the boat; how will we ever explain any of our jokes to people?? The answer being; you can try, but they won’t think you’re funny. The truth is these are the moments we’ve all built together, so special that between the six of us they are memories we’ll cherish and remind each other of at our 10 year reunion. I already can’t wait!
UPDATE
Still going South. Woop woop! It was so hot today I think we all died a little. We’ve been downing our SOS rehydrate drinks to keep us hydrated!!
LP took the opportunity to clean the barnacles off Doris (which is supposed to speed us up 0.5 knots!) as we’ve not seen Fernando for a few days.
We swapped rowing buddies today, Ems and I are reunited.
Oh! And Megs amazing mum and partner have contacted Oreos to see if they can help us out so that the girls don’t run out in the last leg. Absolute LEGENDS!
Leg 2, Day 75 – Comparisons – friend or foe?
Better, stronger, happier, smaller, faster, thinner, richer, more beautiful…our world is full of comparisons.
I understand their benefit. They give us a benchmark to help us improve on a personal and professional level. They inspire general drive and ambition and increase our motivation to strive to be better at what we do, for what we want to see and who we are.
Comparisons can also help put things into perspective. If you think you’re having a bad day at work then just think about miners and their working conditions or the fact that you are actually lucky enough to have a job. When you’re feeling sorry for yourself the next time you have the flu, be thankful that you’re not undergoing another chemotherapy treatment, or having to learn how to walk with a prosthetic leg. Those may be slightly extreme examples, but you know what I mean, it’s all relative.
I have always found it fascinating that we constantly compare and contrast everything we do without even realising it. On occasion I think there is good reason but to be honest, when I go somewhere completely different or have a truly unique experience, I love the fact that it’s all lived and seen with fresh eyes and complete wonder – no preconceived ideas or automatic comparisons to be made.
Why are our minds so conditioned to make continual comparisons? I feel as though it’s a bad habit to get into and I’ve really been making an effort over the last few years to control my automatic comparisons that happen in my mind. It’s not easy! It almost certainly has something to do with being completely in the moment and not straying into the past.
When we do something for the fist time, there is always a sense of excitement, intrigue and possibly a little fear of the unknown. Whether it’s a new travel experience, challenging yourself with a new sport or competition, learning a new skill, facing an unusual situation that you have never had to deal with before or starting a new job, doing something new holds infinite possibility and gives the opportunity to create a good framework for future experiences.
This row has been the perfect example. None of us had any idea what to expect from the journey when we set off from San Francisco 6 months ago. For Leg 1 there was nowhere else to be but right there, every moment, living the experience. Perfect. However, within the expedition, there were moments where the mind slipped naturally into comparison mode. The starry night sky is beautiful but there’s nothing quite like an African sky, or the water is so blue here but have you seen the water in Croatia, it’s the bluest so far etc.
What about the habit we have of looking at someone else and comparing yourself with them. Why do we do this? It will only end up making us feel inferior and unhappy…so why does the mind take us to that place of thinking? There will always be differences between us, as we are all unique individuals (thank goodness as the world would be a very boring place). The beauty about the Coxless Crew is that we have an undeniable strength within the diversity of our team. We all bring very different skills, personalities and attributes to the expedition and so comparing ourselves to each other, except maybe our tan lines, angry bums and smell of our hair (!!), is futile.
Yes, leg 2 of the journey has brought challenges, highs and lows, but I’m not going to compare them to leg 1. Each leg of this journey is its own adventure with different special moments and team dynamics. They will all be a story in their own right and we are going to make sure that when we experience something it is not compared to anything else.
These memories that we are creating right now on the almighty Pacific are incomparable and that’s what we need to remember. Whether comparisons are friends or foes, we all have the power to decide how we choose to see or experience something x
UPDATE: We’re still moving in the right direction! Woooohhoooo…
Day 74 – Midnight feast
News flash! We have had 24 whole hours of favourable conditions out here in the Pacific and have been averaging 2kts in a southerly direction. A star app on Nat’s phone had told us that there would be a meteor shower last night and so as a celebration of our change in fortunes we decided to have a midnight social and watch the skies. The last few nights have been cloudy with only brief glimpses of the stars through a haze of light cloud but last night was clear and cool with a steady north easterly breeze. Since running out of snack packs we have begun eating our second main meal of the day during the night and so LP woke early for changeover time and made us all shepherds pie. We sat together under the stars toasting to how we have pulled together as a team over the tough last few weeks and months. We saw a few really bright shooting stars and made our wishes but it was more of a meteor sprinkle than a shower.
The night still held a bit of excitement for us after our social. Later on as Nats and I prepared to exit the cabin we spotted a boat on our AIS. LP and Lizanne could see its lights and we saw on the AIS data that it was a fishing boat and would pass within a mile of us. We tried calling them on the radio but with no luck and we assume they were all working out on deck. We signalled with our torch and laser flare to make sure that they knew we were there and then watched as the boat, lit up with super bright lights to lure in the fish, passed behind our stern. We could hear it’s generator working at its closest point and we feared that our mahi mahi escort may be attracted to its glitz and glamour. Thankfully they stayed safely alongside Doris as we have enjoyed their company as they return to support us through the night. I think the southern hemishere mahi mahi may be a more intelligent breed than their northern hemisphere cousins as none of them have swum into my oar and given themselves a headache yet! Later in the same shift a squid landed on my seat and I had to remove him with our trusty bbq tongs.
This mornings excitement came in a different form. Our batteries have gained some charge so we each had the choice of a bottle of water to do some washing or 30 minutes of charging time for our iPods. Laura and Lizanne chose the former and Nat and I the later. It’s probably for the best that Nat and I are on shift together as it means we can smell together for a day or two longer.
We are still pushing as hard as we can in a southerly direction while conditions allow since as we know from our journey so far you never know how long anything will last! As Tony said this morning ‘fill your boots while the wind remains North of East’.
In day to day life it can be easy sometimes to put a smile on your face temporarily when really you’re feeling sad, to give a fake laugh when you don’t find it funny, to pretend your excited when you actually don’t care. Out here, with sleep deprivation and no personal space, faking it or pretending to be someone that you’re not is not a possibility. Maybe with a lot of effort someone can hide from who they really are for a 24hr period, but not for 6months. The conditions, the space, the close proximity with your team mates, leaves you no where to hide. Slowly but surely this row has stripped us all bare of the temporary barriers or facade we may have put up, to bring us back to the raw and real you and expose our vulnerabilities.
Being British there is a stereotype that we are a nation that tend to hold a ‘stiff upper lip’, we power through and are prudent to our emotions, saving them for behind closed doors. Before doing this row I too believed, that wearing your heart on your sleeve and showing when you’re upset, was a sign of weakness.Why is it that I had trained myself to think, that a ‘strong’ person or leader, is stoic and can take anything on? Someone who doesn’t ‘drop their guard’ with their emotions and keeps them bottled up and hidden away. Someone who gives the appearance that nothing phases them. Keith our Sport Psych has highlighted to me that who I’m describing is a robot and not human. This middle leg of the journey has finally taught me more than ever, how wrong I used to be in thinking that I needed to be a robot in order to show strength. Out here and particularly on this leg, I have come to realise the strength in showing your vulnerabilities and how that brings you closer as a team. I know I feel closer to someone if they open up to me and I feel I can support them or help. I don’t know why I felt before that I personally should be any different.
Lizanne recently wrote a blog about the middle, the place where you have to get your head down to push through, the place where the job gets done, the place which challenges you the most. I couldn’t agree more with the words that Lizanne wrote in that blog that day. Our first leg was challenging but everything was exciting and things were faced for the first time. The last leg, I hope, will also be more enjoyable as we row towards the finish line, towards an achievement albeit with a few challenges along the way. This middle leg has without a doubt, felt like the middle, a long middle, a place where we have been constantly challenged with frustration, anger and loneliness in missing home. It is during this leg, that I have learnt so much about the strength you feel when you open yourself up to your vulnerabilities, how refreshing it feels to show raw honesty and openness to who you are. My barriers I had developed over the years I am sure came from the fact that deep down I always worry about what people think. I was jealous of friends of mine who have always been confident in who they are and what they believe, never worrying about others opinions. No one is perfect and at the end of the day what is perfection? However I have always had this idea for what I had created in my head to be perfect, to be the best I can be, to show no weakness, to never fail.
This row and our team have taught me to challenge the thought of what is a weakness? Surely they’re just areas to improve. To learn to love the imperfections and be confident in that they make you who you are, a whole, gives you self belief. I have learnt that exposing those vulnerabilities brings you closer to others, it allows those around you to feel like they can play a role, and a reminder to who you are. If you can’t be vulnerable with your family, friends and loved ones, then ask yourself the question whether they know the real you, the whole you.
Update: We’re going South!! And not only is it the right direction, but at a speed of 2-2.5knots! We haven’t rowed at this pace for months! Now as usual we’re not sure how long it will last, so we’re powering through and making the most of it whilst we can. Thanks again to all of you that have sent such supportive emails and comments, they have worked a treat to boost morale and drive us forwards to Samoa. Personal thanks to great friends and family that have been emailing, including Michelle, Heather, Lily, Kim, Mary & Darren, Kirsten, Leah and Ben, Hannah, Lou (HUGE congratulations on the engagement!), the Day family, Gemma and Mike C, it’s worked a treat to put a smile on my face.
Day 72 – Times they are a changin’
After 71 days at sea, our existence on Doris is changing. It was never supposed to take this long and we still have quite a distance to go, so we are now entering into our provisions. This is where we adapt to bend and not break and show that resilience we’ve been talking about so much. On the boat it is often mentioned how we miss the things we took for granted back on land (like a non-crusty towel for example!) but as we start to run out of certain things it’s amazing to realise that even out here on the Pacific there have been things we took for granted.
We keep going on about our snack packs, but you need to understand how important they have been to our rowing lives. As well as offering a tiny element of surprise; “oooo what treats are in store for me today?!”, they also make life amidst the salt a little sweeter. They give us the quick boost we need when afternoons in the aft cabin drains our energy with high temperature and humidity, or when we need a little kick at night to stop us nodding off. Their main purpose however has been to increase our calorie intake; savoury snacks, oreos, jelly beans, gummy bears, dried fruit and nuts etc.
The idea was to consume 3000 – 4000 calories per day on the boat, split between breakfast, 1 or 2 main meals, a snack of noodles and tuna, a dessert and then a snack pack of about 1000 calories to make our intake a little more exciting.
As mentioned previously we have now run out of snack packs (mayday!!) but also of noodles, desserts, and we’re almost out of breakfasts. The thing we have plenty of though is main meals (unenthusiastic ‘yay’). So this means that since running out of all the good stuff we are having to adjust meal plans.
Breakfast: instead of having porridge, muesli or an all day breakfast we now have the choice between a protein bar or a main meal. Some might decide to have half a main meal and save the rest for night time
Lunch: a choice of vegetable pasta, beef curry (those two are my least favourite thanks to the sea sickness), oriental chicken (running dangerously low as its a firm favourite), shepherds pie, chicken tikka masala or chicken korma. To increase calorific value of our meals we will add olive oil to our (already greasy) delicious freeze dried meals.
Afternoon: packet of tuna or protein bar
Night time: after a night shift we will come in and make a quick meal. For our first night LP and I had shepherds pie. Nats and Ems took their meals out on the oars which was a little tricky to eat between strokes.
Additional treats: a cheeky spoon full of peanut or almond butter, our secret chocolate stash which will allow us one chocolate a day and a few fruit pots.
Toilet rolls….
Two weeks later and we are still on our last toilet roll. We have dug out the wet wipes and decided to, y’know, use a splash of water if we can.
The one good thing that has come from running out of stuff means that we are acquiring more space in the hatches. This means that we can clear out the Fore cabin of sheep skin and our broken water canisters to provide a little escape at night. Sensitive to everybody’s moods and needs we have decided to sleep separately for one (or more if wanted) of the sleep shifts. I wonder if this is going to be bliss or lonely after 2 months of sleeping head to toe.
Now comes the reason the morale on the boat is wavering; we have lost the use of one of our solar panels. Thankfully due to the efficieny of the remaining solar panels we are still able to charge our batteries but at a slower rate. . Since we have two batteries we have plenty of power and more than enough energy to fuel the boat. However, with slightly less charge capacity of our batteries we have decided to be more conservative with the use of our electrical components. The essentials to be used include running the water maker, charging our sat phone, iridium go (access to emails) and iPad (for comms).
This has meant a few other changes.
Temporarily we are unable to charge our iPods/personal equipment as these are our lowest priority…. so no music on the oars. Our deck speakers have also not been used in attempt to save energy. This has meant a significant increase in chatter, especially at night to keep us awake. LP and I being the gobbledygook culprits have started compiling a ‘night plan’ of conversational topics. When you thought you knew it all, you get to know your row buddy even better!
Nat is also singing a lot more. Usually 2 sentences of a song, in an extremely high pitch, repeated over and over….
We have also decided to be sparing with running the watermaker, so there is a hold off on clothes washing. There is still plenty water for us to drink and body wash with as this is one of our top priorities, and hopefully we should be back to normal washing clothes within a few days. I reckon the next change aboard Doris will be putting pegs on our noses.
With all these adjustments on the boat, this is where we draw on each other for our entertainment and energy boosters. In the changes we are experiencing right now, the team is stronger than ever. Being able to talk about our frustrations together somehow creates a new bond, then we leave it behind, make a joke about it and row on.
We have received an unbelievable amount of incredible and thoughtful emails over the past few weeks. From us all we would just like to say that you guys inspire us to keep going… It makes all the difference
UPDATE: we were supposed to celebrate with her in Samoa, but instead we called her from our pink boat….. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH MOSHMAN!! The gorgeous lady doing our documentary is another year older, wiser and ready to spend the coming year doing a lot of editing!
Love, Liz xx
Day 71 -Hugs
What’s given and received at the same time, costs nothing yet is priceless?
Can lift you up when you’re feeling down and give you strength and support. What can connect people in a special way and speak a language that can be felt not heard?
Hugs are one of my favourite things.
Ask anyone that knows me, and they will confirm that I am one of the worlds biggest huggers. I don’t really do the reserved British handshake and although I’m happy to partake in some European cheek kissing, I’ll generally go straight in for the hug.
This was one of the first things the girls found out about me. On our initial meeting, I grabbed each of them for a hug. In fact during the whole expedition they have witnessed me hugging everyone from business professionals and charity partners to strangers passing by Doris on an event we’ve done and Kylie Minogue!
You can tell so much about a person from their hug and I truly believe that hugs are one of the best ways to be there for someone without having to say a word. Not everyone is a hug lover as they feel as if they are having their personal space invaded, and there are obviously certain situations where a hug is not recommended, but generally speaking I like to think that everyone will come round to the amazingness of hugs at some point.
The last couple of weeks has brought some challenging, difficult and frustrating circumstances for all of us here on the boat, but the one wonderful positive to come from the disappointment has been hugging! There has been a lot of hugs being given and received on Doris and as well as all the healing powers they contain, they have also been a surprisingly more stable position to be in! It seems as though two people locked in an embrace on an unstable boat is a more solid and balanced way to stand or sit. As we lean against each other literally, symbolically we also know that we are here for each other without question when needed.
UPDATE:
Apart from me in my hugging element…
Ems and I had a wonderfully refreshing sunset shift in the literal sense.
We had wave after wave of rain shower pass over us. Relentless for the whole 2 hour shift but great at the same time. The ocean looked magical in between the rain with a smooth molten and silvery surface. Huge droplets danced across the water and their feel tickled our skin. I suggested that we could save some time by washing whilst rowing! Ems grabbed the soap and proceeded to lather up. A couple of minutes later the rain suddenly stopped, I heard muttering and when I turned around, Ems was sat there covered in thick soap suds in utter disbelief that the rain had stopped. I laughed so loud and without restraint, it was amazing.
There is one thing that I love as much as hugs….and that is laughter x
Day 70 – Para anchor
You may have noticed on our ‘where’s Doris’ map that we are travelling East and our countdown to Samoa is counting back up. It would seem that the ITCZ is not finished with us yet and we have spent a couple of days battling strong North westerly winds and a north easterly current. Along with our weather forecast yesterday Tony sent us the following instructions: a course over ground South is good, East is not great, North is bad and West is a disaster. The reason for this is that once we are out of the doldrums the prevailing trade winds should be south easterly which will push us west while we try to hold a southerly course. If we make too much ground west too soon then we run the risk of overshooting Samoa. While travelling East is in the wrong direction it will actually help us make use of the trade winds when we reach them.
Yesterday after spending a few shifts travelling in a bad/ not great direction at a fast speed in a strong wind we made the decision to deploy the para anchor for a couple of hours to hold our position against the wind. We all hate being on para anchor as it means our progress is halted or we are going the wrong way and it is frustrating just sitting tight and not rowing although it does usually mean a little bit of social time with the whole team. Yesterday we enjoyed a good singalong to Backstreet Boys to lift spirits. Since we have mentioned the para anchor in blogs a few times now so I thought I would give you an insight into exactly what it’s deployment involves.
1) The decision to deploy the para anchor is made. This is usually either because a strong wind is blowing us fast in an unfavourable direction or the sea state is too big for us to be rowing, usually because the course we need to take would involve us being side on to the waves.
2) The rowers on deck move into action stations. The back rower will open the wet weather hatch to remove the para anchor and its lines and begin the process of shackling them together. The front rower will stow the oars under the gunnel along with our spare oars. These then need to be tied down. All on deck activities are usually accompanied by a nice cooling salt water shower.
3) All loose items on deck need to be either tied down or placed into a hatch. If we are getting into big weather then this will already be done to prevent anything from being washed overboard and lost to the ocean.
4) The para anchor is deployed on the windward side of the boat. The para anchor itself is a parachute which is attached to the bows of the boat and dragged behind to hold Doris steady in the wind and also to hold her in a better position relative to the waves. The parachute is dropped over board and the main line and the retrieval line are payed out after it ensuring that the chute has opened. The retrieval line is attached to the middle of the chute so that it collapses it as it is pulled back in to the boat.
5) Once the para anchor is deployed it is time to make the forecabin habitable. If we are unable to row then two of us have to set up camp in each cabin until we are able to take to the oars again. Usually the fore cabin is home to our spare dagger board, the sheepskins we sit on plus all the fresh sheepskins in 2 duffle bags, 2 sleeping bags, our wet weather gear, spare life jacket, laptop with chargers, spare bucket and spare seat cushions. All the small loose items are removed and stuffed into any spare space in the hatches. As we get further through each leg and have eaten more of our food there is more space to use up in the hatches so more space in the cabin for us. All the bigger items are stuffed into the nose of the boat as tightly as possible but they usually fall down on to the sleeping rowers at some point during their time inside. The dagger board is lashed to the oars on deck.
6) Whilst this is going on outside the rowers in the aft cabin prepare a bag of supplies for whoevers turn it is to stay in the fore cabin. This usually includes a sleeping sheet, towel, dry clothes, head torch, snack pack, toothbrush and toothpaste, iPod and/ or iPad, kindle, water bottles and a surprise treat of a bar of chocolate to help survive fore cabin life.
UPDATE: Today is a sad sad day on Doris. This morning we got our final snack packs for this leg out of the hatches. Tonight will be our last night of snacking on the oars so we will savour every last piece of dried mango, every last cereal bar and every last Oreo. Tomorrow we embrace midnight chicken korma and beef curry breakfasts. Through the last 24 hours our direction has been very random. A few spells of bad/ disastrous direction has helped us to draw an artistic silhouette of a sitting dog on our chart plotter. I think it’s the best picture we’ve drawn to date.
This afternoon Nat and I were treated to story time on the oars when LP read out our blog comments and emails to the team from the last couple of days. It lifts our spirits so much to hear such supportive messages from everyone and was a highlight of the day.
Last night Nat and I saw a large shark in the glow of our nav light. He has been around to visit Doris again this afternoon meaning no chance of a refreshing dip to clean the barnacles off our our bows.