Michelle continues to share her fascinating story. I spoke to her a couple of days prior to this update and she told me that she had travelled 4,000 nm. Whilst the distance between departure and planned arrival point was 7,500 nm, her journey would be longer given the route she will take. Michelle was also hugely grateful to Roger ‘Clouds’ Badham who is guiding every move she makes.
This is her latest update.
I’m starting to head south now, so getting into the southpacific. I’m south-west of Hawaii now. 12 degrees. Between 3-7 degrees things get serious as we near the equator. My weather router is getting serious about the weather charts and currents to get across the equator. I’m also nursing my batteries. Power’s been a bit fragile, so doing everything manually in the day. Manual foot steering, and everything else manual until my batteries are fully charged and today, I’m starting to see some good results.
Earlier this week, I had some horrendous weather. I looked out the cabin in the morning and had to go back inside for the whole day and most of the next day. The sea state was so hectic. I couldn’t even leave the hatch open. I was being thrown around and dumped on. It was something like 20-25 knots. Unlike any weather I’ve been in before. It was so hot in the cabin too. I hung a shirt over the window of the cabin to stop the heat from coming in. I’d sneak outside for brief moments, just to go get food and to go to the bathroom. Being cabin-bound is so hard. It was the worst day, but I was being reminded that it was a forced rest day. A chance for my body to have a day off. In 74 days, I had not taken a day off the oars.
I did a lot of meditation on those days. It didn’t warrant a cry, it didn’t warrant a tantrum either. I wasn’t scared, just horribly uncomfortable.
I said to myself, “this too shall pass”.
Three quarters through the next day I stuck my head out of the cabin, “I’m just going to give it a go” I said to myself, “if it doesn’t work, I can always go back in”.
So, I gave it a go. I ended up rowing in the 20 knot winds and big seas. It was so awesome. Like breaking new barriers. Now I know I can row at 20 knots. It was a confidence building exercise to be honest. Whilst it looked scary, it wasn’t what it seemed.
These are the lessons I’m learning.
Just give it a go,
just have a go,
if it doesn’t work you can always retreat.
So, I’ve been rowing in 20 knot winds for the last 4 days. The wind is not calming down, it’s constant.
As you can imagine, I’m missing quite a few things out here. Some of the things that I miss the most these days are crispness. I want to bite into an apple, I want some celery, I want a glass of sparkling water. It would be really decadent to have some bubbles in my water. I’ve been looking for my bottle of tequila as well, but I can’t find it. I’ve got 13 hatches and it’s stored in one of them. I just can’t seem to find it.
Thanks to all my sponsors;
The Quays Marina LTD Southern Seas Marine Dunbier Trailers Fibre Marine Boat Repairs Simrad Yachting Survitec Group Ltd. Deep Cycle Systems Chief Nutrition Speedo Sharkskin Tiller and Kites CAMPERS PANTRY Pty Ltd Crewsaver Australia One Party Silva Method Australia
This adventure could not be done without you all!
