Friday 17th July- Day 22

The Past 24 Hours

We managed to stay on the oars until about 6pm yesterday before the Atlantic made the decision for us once again.

Back onto the parachute anchor we went.

The wind had swung directly onto the nose of the boat. In theory that might sound manageable, but in reality Penny B doesn’t like sitting perfectly head to wind. She naturally wants to fall slightly off to one side, so the heading wanders all over the place.

That makes life very difficult for the autopilot.

It works overtime trying to correct every little swing, using far more power than normal. Hand steering isn’t much fun either. Then, once our boat speed drops below about 0.5 knots, the rudder becomes almost useless because there’s simply not enough water flowing over it to make it effective.

At that point, steering by any means becomes virtually impossible.

So rather than waste energy and battery power fighting something we couldn’t win, we made the sensible decision.

Back on the anchor.

One unexpected benefit of being stationary is that dinner becomes a much easier affair.

Last night it was creamy salmon pasta, which was actually very nice. Afterwards I watched a film called The Cleaner. I’d definitely recommend it—it made for a welcome change from staring at grey cloud and grey sea!

Then it was off to bed.

Unfortunately, unlike the previous night, sleep wasn’t quite so kind to me.

The boat was rocking around much more on the anchor, and I’ve developed a little niggle in my lower back from sleeping on what is, at the end of the day, still a very firm surface.

We do have mattresses.

We have an excellent sleeping bag.

But neither quite compares with the memory foam mattress waiting for me at home!

This morning we were back on the oars by 7am, taking advantage of a lull in the wind. The aim is to grab as many miles as we can and stay within this favourable current before the wind strengthens again later tonight.

Every little opportunity counts.

All is well on board.

We’ve got plenty of food.

Plenty of water.

And we’re both in good spirits.

But I have to admit…

The novelty of sitting on the parachute anchor is definitely beginning to wear off.

As lovely as sleeping through the night without alarms can be…

We’re out here to row an ocean.

Not go camping!

Hopefully the weather will get the memo soon.

Dawn

“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”

Hometown Row

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