You may have noticed a bit of a drama yesterday. What you may not have realised is exactly what was going on. In fact, Pacific Pete was boarded by a marauding group of pirates. But these weren’t your run-of-the-mill, good for a laugh pirates; no, this lot were grumpy, defeatist and, to be honest, a little bit ugly. They proceeded to tie me up, and then posted a blog pretending to me. I hope they didn’t say anything rude? Luckily, they left this morning. As far as I can tell, they didn’t take much; the only thing I’ve noticed so far is a distinct lack of Twixes.
Having untied myself, I set about taking on the day in the positive manner I like to assume each and every day. Unfortunately, the sea was being quite aggressive. It turned out it had done its best to fill my footwell with water overnight, probably just to annoy me. But I was one step ahead of it this time and, having left my dirty washing-up out the previous night, rather than annoy me, it had in fact done the dishes. I think that makes it 2-0 to me.
(I’ve just realised that I take great pride in giving the weather a quick slap in the face, conveniently forgetting that, for every slap, I seem to get pummelled for a number of days. I’ll never learn!)
After contemplating the options for a while - do nothing, or do something - I spotted a bit of graffiti on the ceiling of the cabin (we had painted over it, but got bored after one coat, so most was still visible): “No risk, no progress”. Conveniently bypassing the bit below, “too much risk, no progress”, I prepared myself and stepped out into everything the ocean could throw at me.
Having dragged in the para-anchor, Pete calmly got himself settled, with no drama whatsoever, pointed himself to Antigua, and let the waves crash around him. This boat is simply phenomenal. Obviously the pirates shook me up a bit, so I can’t take the blame for being a big wuss and sitting on my arse until 1 o’clock - I was tied up after all - but since then we’ve made great strides towards Antigua, and even gently edged north a little. While I’ve been writing this, Pete’s taken himself a little further, but still almost precisely the right way. I may as well be a passenger!
A veteran observer of ocean rowing once dismissed Pacific Pete as being a 10-year old boat, incapable of matching the feats of newer boats, and certainly not fit for setting records. Well, Pete is currently outperforming every other boat out here, and that is not down to me. With regard records, I am not going to break any myself, but in the hands of a braver, fitter and more capable individual than I, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Pete is the most travelled ocean rowing boat ever and dare I say it, is still going strong. Not only that, but, as far as I’m aware, no British solo rower has ever gone from Gomera to Antigua quicker than in Pete. I may well be corrected in this, but the first, second and third fastest British crossings were all done in Pacific Pete - those are his only three solo crossings.
To put it bluntly, I am rowing a legend, worthy of every plaudit thrown at him, and capable of far greater things than I’ll manage to push him to. I’ve got a lot to live up to.
Better get on with it then!
