A further fatality was suffered on board Pacific Pete last night. Grumpy Sam was unceremoniously dumped overboard after I got thoroughly fed up with him. He’s not a very good swimmer, so hopefully he won’t find his way back anytime soon.
As you may have gathered, today’s been a much better day. The weather remains as it has been for the last few days: not especially helpful but, far more importantly, not hindering me in any way. Completely contrary to yesterday, I feel I’ve rowed every mile that could be sensibly rowed, which is the way it should be.
There’s also been a big moment. At 8 o’clock, just as the sun set, the decks were cleared and the tools prepared for the first full-body wash of the voyage. Given that I’m now over four weeks in, you may think this a little overdue and, to be honest, you’re probably right, but that is one of the many benefits of being a solo rower - there’s only one nose, and it belongs to me!
It’s also a slightly more difficult task than it may initially seem. On a rocky boat, standing and doing stuff takes concentration at the best of times. When there’s soap involved, everything gets a little slippery and takes it to a whole new level. But, after many buckets of water, the deed was done.
As I fell back into my hutch, I felt a strange sense of contentment. I doubt it was purely down to my new-found cleanliness. It may have simply been the temperature; the heat throughout the day is relentless (the cabin thermometer, in the shade but a bit of a greenhouse, was over 40C), and there I was lying back, not feeling the need to wrap something around me nor to turn a fan on. It could also have been due to the fact I was pleased with the day’s efforts. Whatever it was, it felt comfortable, which was good.
Sometimes when I’m rowing along I get strange cravings for stuff and proceed to think about it for hours. At the time, I wonder why I want that specific thing, until I realise that everything I think of, I think about for hours. Be it shortbread biscuits, jaffa cakes, battenburg cake, the film “Empire Records”, a round of golf or whatever, there are a lot of hours in the day to fill with inane thoughts. I think my brain is thoroughly enjoying the time off from intelligent thought (although some would no doubt question whether it had any time “on”!).
More wildlife has been spotted recently too. Flying fish have been jumping around for a few days, although as yet haven’t collided with the boat. Then along came a new bird today. When you’re rowing along, it’s sometimes difficult to decide whether to stop and grab the camera. More often than not, by the time you’ve rummaged around for it, whatever it was that was posing so elegantly for the perfect shot just seconds earlier will probably have disappeared. This time, I spotted a peculiar mostly white bird with what appeared to be a thin tail about the same length as it’s body (any ideas?) and watched it fly overhead. Then, seemingly disappointed I hadn’t paid enough attention, he spun round and flew back to me. Expecting the bird, having now properly surveyed the boat, to fly off, I kept rowing. But, once again, he turned round and came back. Right, if it wants it’s picture taken, it can have it’s picture taken. I put the oars down, opened the hatch, found the camera within seconds and turned it on. Looking up, finger primed to take another attempt at the perfect picture, I scanned the sky. Nothing. Not even there, but too far away to take a picture. The bird was gone.
So that was my lesson for today. Birds will hang around demanding attention, and then, when you give in, they disappear in the blink of an eye. Maybe life out here isn’t so different after all!
