Blog Post - Chris

We are into our 4th week at sea. It seems to have been ground hog day with the confused seas over the past week., although we have had some respite today as conditions eased. The short choppy seas make the boat roll sharply side to side, making it difficult to get any rowing rythym going well. From time to time you hear your rowing partner let out the odd expletive as oar has caught the wave on the return stroke, and either stabbed them in the ribs or groin or struck them on the shin bone! Rob Barton who is currently rowing the Indian Ocean solo described this perfectly in one of his posts recently.

Then there is the waves hitting the side of the boat. It usually happens a few minutes before the end of the shift, so you are nice and wet before going back into your cabin.

Wildlife has been scarce for days now, just the birds that drop by to say hello periodically. When the winds are up they look like they are having so much fun, gliding and soaring on the wind, they dive down and drop their wings close to the waves.

The 2 hours on 2 hours off hasn't seemed to get much easier! Some nights are better than others. Last night was great to begin with, near full moon and warm conditions made it quite pleasant, before the rain storms set in.

We are now trying to keep pushing West though we have some more ground to make up North as Mauritius is around 120 nautical miles North of us.

The miles are going down each day, as we learn to live in this pretty hostile environment. We have some heavier weather inbound the next 48 hours, but hopefully we can still make a good course. We are expecting SE winds. They will help but not as favourable as East winds and seas.

Using the toilet in heavy sea conditions is amusing. We have taken to calling it the stunt bucket! When nature calls, you get kitted out with your safety harness, clip on and crawl your way across the deck on all fours. Using every core muscle you have to stay upright while filling the bucket with a little water as no one wants to be the guy that loses the toilet bucket! Then when it is time to empty the bucket with the boat bucking around like a bronco best efforts are made not to ditch the contents onboard @mathewcleghorn Altogether using the toilet can become an ordeal with much care needed!

Chris