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| Good nights sleep and waking up to sunshine! |
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| Written by Lin & Rachel at sea | |
| Wednesday, 16 January 2008 | |
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Last night we finally gave in to the bad weather and decided to both get into the cabin and sleep. This is something that Rachel has really not wanted to do from the start for fear of the boat capsizing due to her constantly wanting to turn broadside onto the wind and not feeling she needed to rest so much. However, Lin has always felt convinced this wouldn’t happen given the good record of this make of boat and the fact that we are carrying more ballast this time than has ever been required before. There is also the point that when the wind is so strong that you can’t stop her turning (especially for Lin with her bad foot), if she did capsize, Lin would rather be in the cabin than out on deck!
With the opinions described above, you can imagine this took a fair bit of discussion before we finally agreed to give it a go. We both need to feel comfortable about things before we do them. So we had our tea at around 7.30pm and strapped the oars down, tied the steering into position to stop the rudder bashing against the back of the boat and got inside to sleep. We also switched on the Sea Me, AIS with alarm if any ships came within 32nm radius, & GPS. This may sound like luxury but really it’s not. The cabin isn’t huge and with both of us inside it gets really quite hot. We can’t leave the hatch open as the waves crashing over the sides will come in and soak everything so we opted to open it now and then to let some fresh air in. However, we did find that the clothing we have hanging to dry in the cabin is quite good at wafting us when the boat is rocking from side to side. We also have to sleep flat on our backs and straight – when both of us like to curl up and move quite a lot during the night so we end up with very stiff backs. Well we were quite surprised at how smooth the night was as Barbara Ivy bobbed along in the waves through the night and we were pleasantly surprised to see that we drifted just 4 miles North (we’re not too worried about this as we have 1,000 miles to get ourselves around 60 miles South) and around 18 miles West which is the right direction. Not bad progress when we’re asleep eh! So we awoke this morning with stiff backs and slight headaches from the lack of oxygen but fairly revitalized and ready to get back in the rowing seat and the sun is shining again so water maker was on again today. Hey, do you remember how excited we were when we got to 1,000 miles from the start? Well we’re nearly 1,000 miles to go to the finish and are getting quite excited about that too. Please can you guys let us know when we’re there as the Champagne Charlottes would like to know when to crack another bottle? I hope the Champagne wasn’t supposed to be our ballast!!! Kath Lewis, thank you so much for setting up the group on Facebook. For anyone who is on Facebook, Kath has set up a group called ‘Barbara Ivy Supporters – Atlantic Rowing Challenge’ so you can go and have a look and join up to support us through there too. We will be checking it out when we get to dry land to see how many supporters we’ve managed to accumulate. Cheers Kath xx Replies to messages:- Mum & Nicky – well done with the shoot lunches, you must be exhausted but great that your wedding is nearly all paid for. Mum thank you for all the messages, it’s great to see you getting so into following us out here. Nicky you messages just make me laugh keep them coming. Dad & Simon – thank you for all your messages too – Dad it’s going to be great to see you in Antigua – what a place to visit for your first flight eh.Kim at Yachtpals.com – looks like Rachel and I should travel the world to learn how to sail through all our supporters, what a great way to see the world too. The guys at Croydon Council who are keeping in touch, you know I’m toying with putting the sea anchor out so I don’t get back too soon!!!! Missing you all but the work thing hmmm! Jason Hart – emotional rollercoaster is exactly as you’d expect – funny how I didn’t think I’d cry as much as Cracknell & Fogell but sadly that’s not the case. Can’t wait to get under 1,000 miles though. Mum & Wallace – Can’t wait to see you both again, whichever country that will be in. Thank you for all the support and encouragement so far. Paul – thank you for the reminder last night about what I said before I left. All at HBOS – thanks for all the messages and support but like Lin, I can’t say I’m missing work. Jo & Louise – not long now before the call for all systems go on booking flights. Kam – thank you for you many messages and keeping me up to date with things and for keeping in touch with Charlie – I’m sure he really appreciates it. Please don’t forget CSA tomorrow. Don’t forget to check out the group on Facebook! Love & hugs, Rachel and Lin. |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 January 2008 ) |