Robin’s Blog Eight part 2?
Day Twenty of Indian Ocean Row
Mileage for yesterday; 60 miles covered, distance to Mauritius 2795.
We are well and truly off the sea anchor!! We pulled her in for hopefully the last time at about 17:00. The winds were still about 25 knots and the waves were high and all over the place but we just couldn’t stand being in the cabin any longer. Especially Barry. Something strange happens to Barry when the sea anchor comes out. Normally such a happy chappy, some primal hatred surfaces when we all get stuck in the cabin together. It’s not like he is unpleasant to anybody, he just kind of sits there smouldering with an intense hatred of absolutely everything that only grows the longer we sit still.
Suffice to say we all thought it less dangerous to brave the elements than risk Barry going nuclear.
As soon as we got going it was obvious that No Great Shakes was designed with these conditions in mind. To be rushing down the face of some big old waves made us all remember what it’s like to have a bit of fun out here. Barry and James got the best of it and recorded a speed of 10.6 knots. That’s pretty good.
On top of that there was an amazingly bright moon that lit up everything in a shade of silver. The water looked like mercury as we slid through it and the shifts passed quickly as we put down some miles.
The pace has slowed down again now, but nothing like the level it was a week or so ago. The rush that we got from the speed we were making has now gone and we once again set into the ocean rowing plod as we slowly make our way to Mauritius.
At least Barry is still smiling….
-Billy
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