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| Antigua Express! |
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| Written by Lin & Rachel at sea | |
| Sunday, 27 January 2008 | |
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Spirits are high onboard Barbara Ivy today as yesterday we managed to get to 17 degrees North and turned West towards Antigua. Overnight we managed an amazing 30 miles in 12 hours – and Eddy is a distant memory and we’re hoping we’re on the Antigua Express now!
Having said that, the new course brought new challenges. Rachel found it tricky to steer with the steering locked off to help Lin’s foot, releasing it meant she could have the flexibility to go due West. Lin also found it hard to maintain this course with the wind behind the boat, as the boat tends to swing from side to side in her attempts to go broadside – when we need the rudder to make constant small adjustments. So she abandoned the locked steering too and after some experimentation, is now rowing with the bad foot out of the shoe and right foot in the left shoe again. But we’re westward bound, which certainly helps her to overcome any discomfort!  We’ve also had a bit more excitement onboard today. Hawkeye (Lin) spotted another sail in the distance just before a handover. Rachel got on the radio and made contact with the catamaran Astaria, crewed by 2 German and 2 French guys. They couldn’t quite believe we were rowing but made sure we were not in need of assistance before signing off and continuing to Martinique. But only 5 minutes later, Lin picked up their request to come over and see the boat and take some photo’s! Unfortunately this interrupted our morning ablutions, causing great rush and tizz in case they arrived too soon – getting caught on the bucket is not our idea of fun! But we managed to throw on some clothes and get ourselves sorted out in time. Shortly after they sailed over, dropped their sails and under power made a leisurely circuit of our boat – at a respectful distance thank goodness. We waved and chatted on the VHF – Freddie the skipper is on his 5th Atlantic crossing and has never seen a pink rowing boat with two blonde women before. I don’t think he could quite believe his eyes! We’ve also noticed that it’s getting hotter round here at last. Days are extremely hot, especially when you’re rowing, and we no longer use the sleeping bag liners at night, instead just pulling a corner of sleeping bag over us if we happen to get chilly. But we do get more rain with short sharp showers common through the night. So what’s keeping us going right now? We told you about the milestones yesterday, but we do have other things to help keep us motivated – which can be really tough sometimes. We’ve got a selection of music onboard, held on MP3/iPod players, although we do have some speakers if we want to use them. One thing we have noticed is how some songs take on a whole new meaning out here, or come to have special significance, for instance if you listen to them under a star filled sky. Sometimes we do a stroke for each person – Rachel caught Lin talking to herself (not unusual in itself!) and found she was rowing a stroke for each person in her family and all the wonderful people we have met through our fundraising and who had an impact on us. Rachel likes to use techniques from her dragon boat racing days. Inch by inch, stroke by stroke, wave by wave, we’re getting closer. Our next milestone is at 638 nmiles, the three quarters of the way there mark. By then we hope to be able to tell our families and friends that they can book their flights and roughly what date we hope to make it to Antigua. It’s a really tough call though, too early and we won’t be able to spend time with them there, too late and they miss us arriving which doesn’t bear thinking about. But if we can keep going on the mileage we have done in the last 36 hours (and Eddy stays away) we could be heading to 638 nmiles very soon. Messages: Congratulations – to Ben and Orlando (Go Commando) and Paul and Steve (The Reason Why) who made it to Antigua overnight. Hope to see you all back in the UK if we miss you in Antigua. Bill & Hilary – thanks for contacting Joe & Andrew. They gave us a call today which was great – sorry if we scared them! Paul – suggest you leave any major DIY, gardening or painting (what needs painting?) and crack on with the housework. You know where the apron is!!! Katriona – you rock! Well done from us! Dr Laser Beam – haven’t heard from you since we mentioned the Claridges thing! Have you been doing overtime to pay for the meal when we win the bet? Love & hugs, Lin & Rachel. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 January 2008 ) |