Day 30 – Ocean to ocean conference calling

Isabel Burnham By

Day 30 – Ocean to ocean conference calling

Today started grey and misty but has gradually turned to another sunny afternoon. We have a NNE wind forecast for the next few days and hope to gain some speed. We reached a steady 2kts earlier, which is the average speed that we had hoped to travel for the duration of the row, although we have rarely moved faster than 1kt until now! Fingers crossed that this new trend catches on.

We continue to have great battery power. Our Victron batteries and charging system are working brilliantly and even on overcast days are charging fully from our Solbian solar panels. As a result, we have plenty of power for making water, charging the satellite phone etc, so are able to have our fab Fusion speakers blasting out tunes on deck. Today we had a Michael Jackson morning followed by Emma’s super mix in the afternoon.

Today’s highlight was using the magic of satellite communications to call Sarah Outen on the Atlantic. Sarah is currently rowing from Cape Cod to the UK on the final leg of her epic adventure London to London via the World. Over the last four years or so Sarah has cycled, sea kayaked and ocean rowed her way around the World. We have been tracking her progress with interest and since the early days of our project starting, Sarah has offered the crew invaluable advice and support. She is an inspiration and a lovely lady.

When we spoke to Sarah she was at 42*20′.44N 62*05′.03W, around 300 miles off the U.S. East Coast and celebrating one month at sea on her solo boat Happy Socks. Like us, she has had a bit of a slow start, with the westerly winds that she needed escaping her and some scarily strong winds keeping her on the para anchor at times. We had a great chat with her, passing the phone around between the four of us. We shared stories about conditions on the Atlantic and Pacific, wildlife, what we’ve been up to as a crew and how Sarah keeps herself motivated and amused on her own. It was amazing to speak to someone else doing the same as us, albeit so far away. I’ve spent time while on the oars thinking how tough it must be for solo rowers to do all this without company, and I’m in awe of Sarah’s achievements, both on Happy Socks and during the rest of her adventure. We wish her the best luck for the rest of her journey home.

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2 Comments

  1. Barney says:

    Isabel, it seems there is another solo girl rowing an ocean and she is rowing from Tokyo to San Francisco. Her name is Sonya Baumstein and her website is theterramarproject.org. She is aiming to be the first woman to complete a solo crossing. It has been done before but by men.

    Which raises the question of whether it is easier rowing west or east. In the days of sailing ships they would go out and back on the trade winds so they were pretty much all going in the same direction at the same time. There is a theory that the Chinese discovered America before Chris C did, sailing west around Africa and across the Atlantic.

    I’m sure you or your team did some detailed research into winds and currents. Your average distance over the last 5 days is 25.7nm, giving you an eta in Hawaii in 61 days. Hope the Mars Bars will hold out!

  2. Barney says:

    Correction! Sonya’s website is http://www.expeditionpacific.com/ and if successful she would be the first woman to row non-stop. I think I got it right now!

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