Saturday 1st August- Day 37

Last nights full moon

I honestly can’t believe we’ve been at sea for so long.

The days seem to merge into one another, yet somehow another month has arrived. It also means we’re another month closer to home.

One of the nicest signs that we’re making progress is the change in birdlife.

For weeks we’ve mainly seen the occasional ocean-going seabird, but now we’re starting to spot species that tell us land is slowly getting closer.

Yesterday we saw our first gannets, unmistakable with their long white bodies and spectacular plunge-diving. We’ve also started seeing more guillemots and the occasional fulmar, all birds much more commonly associated with the waters around the British Isles.

Little signs like that really lift your spirits.

Yesterday Paul and I were also talking about just how little boat traffic we’ve seen.

Our last ship sighting was around a month ago. Even on AIS there’s been virtually nothing. Considering how busy the Atlantic shipping lanes can be, it really highlights just how remote this route is.

One thing we have noticed over the last couple of sunny days is the aircraft.

With the cloud finally breaking, we’ve been able to watch a steady procession of airliners following the same route high overhead. We joke that we can almost follow them all the way to London. During the weeks of cloud and fog we hardly noticed any aircraft at all, but now they seem to appear every few minutes.

Most of yesterday was fantastic rowing.

The sun stayed with us, we made good progress and for a while it felt as though everything was finally falling into place.

Then, as evening approached, the wind faded to almost nothing.

Our boat speed gradually dropped away, which is often the first sign that the next weather system is beginning to influence conditions.

Sure enough…

Here it comes.

As I write this, we have a light headwind and virtually no current helping us along. We’re struggling to make even one knot.

Once we reach the point where we’re rowing as hard as we can simply to stay in the same place, it’ll be time to deploy the parachute anchor again.

How long we’ll stay there depends entirely on what the weather decides to do.

At the moment, Monday is looking like our next opportunity to get properly moving again, but forecasts change, so we’ll keep monitoring everything before making a decision.

In the meantime…

It looks as though I’ll be searching my iPad tonight to see what other films I’ve downloaded.

Movie night may be making another appearance.

Despite the delays, we’re both keeping our spirits high.

Physically we’re tired, but we’re still strong.

Mentally we’re in a good place because we know one simple fact:

We will get there.

The weather may decide when…

…but it won’t decide if.

Dawn

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

Hometown Row

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