 |
| Don't Panic! |
|
|
| Written by Lin & Rachel at sea | |
| Monday, 11 February 2008 | |
|
We realise that some of you may be getting a bit worried that our position isn’t being updated on the Woodvale website. Don’t worry we haven’t slipped into the Bermuda Triangle or anything like that. When we were in La Gomera, the race organizers fitted an ARGOS tracking beacon that is supposed to send our position every hour but to be honest, we’ve had problems with it right from the start and have now changed the fuses 3 times and it seems to have gone again. After we send this blog we are going to have to remove the unit from under the gunnel and reposition it on the top of the gunnel and then communicate back to Race HQ the information that we get relating to the LED’s on the unit! Of course this could be a really easy job but anything like that out here is a nightmare because of the rolling waves. Hopefully we’ll get it working again but incase we don’t, we’ll post our nautical miles to go to the finish from our own GPS – this should be fairly accurate as it’s calculating how far we have to go to our next waypoint, which happens to be the finish line!
At last we have had a good run of weather, wind and wave direction and we are making good progress. Now the sea seems to have settled down a little, we were able to go back to rowing through the night last night. We were both a bit nervous given the size of waves we’d encountered in our recent soakings but we got through and picked up some really good mileage. Our GPS says we have 229 n/miles left to go. We’re still hoping this will allow us to arrive in Antigua on Saturday this week but we’re counting on continued good conditions and clocking up 40+ n/miles per day. We saw a new kind of fish yesterday, it was quite long and dark but seemed to have very long fins – almost wing like – that were white and a white tail. It followed the boat for a while and seemed to have a good look around us before disappearing. There are also a few different types of birds coming and going, which we think is an indication that we’re getting closer to land. We know we shouldn’t wish the time away out here, but we’re been dreaming and longing for so many things. Mainly to see our families who now seem to have a list as long as your arm of things we would like them to get for us for when we arrive. We’re missing fresh cold water, diet coke, ice cubes, fresh fruit, food that is solid and comes on a plate with a knife and fork, on a table that doesn’t move, showers/baths, flushing toilets, fresh bed linen, a bed that doesn’t move – the list goes on and on! Hopefully, we will be able to fully indulge in all these luxuries that we normally take for granted by the weekend! Messages:- Caroline ABSAR – We hear you’ve been in touch with our families. Rachel and I would love to visit the school that’s been following our progress and answer any questions the students may have. We will be staying in Antigua until around 29th February. Syd Squid Cottle – sorry mate, we haven’t had any texts from you in a while so your email filter did stop them all!!! Suzanne Van Nierkerk – thank you for the message on the Woodvale race site. Is so amazing what a small world we live in eh! Dave Evans – cheers for the rugby scores, sounds like a good 6 Nations is underway! Dr George – Don’t think you can get out of the bet that easily. The tracking beacon does not relate in any way to the laptop as you well know! Best get the Claridges booking made now….and no going Dutch either! Tim Roach – thankfully we didn’t need to use the pump on this occasion (it’s fitted to the gunnel for bailing out the cabin if we were upside down – part of race rules). To Kitty, Rachel’s God Daughter, thank you for the message a few days ago, pretty impressive as you’re not yet 2 years old! But to all girls and boys of any age reading our blogs, remember that you too can live your dreams and push yourself further than you ever believe possible. It takes a lot of hard work but believe us, it’s really worth it. Love and Hugs to you all from Lin & Rachel |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 11 February 2008 ) |