Thursday 22nd January
- dawnysmiff
- Jan 22
- 3 min read
(Covering the last 24 hours)
Last night was, thankfully, a bit less hectic.
Apologies for the short update yesterday — one of the downsides of having no sun is that there’s very little power going into the ship’s batteries via the solar panels. To get Wi-Fi onboard we have to turn the Starlink on, which is very power-hungry. We only use it for about an hour a day, and I think I’ve mentioned before that most of that time is taken up looking at weather charts and route planning.
Yesterday we made the decision to make water rather than spend too long on Wi-Fi. The batteries weren’t at a critical level — we’re very disciplined with power management — but we did need to be careful. Water, navigation and safety always come first.
⚡ The Night After the Storm
So… where was I? Ah yes — the lightning storm.
I’ve been on the periphery of thunder and lightning before, but I’ve never been in it. This one went straight through us. It was pretty epic — full-on Armageddon levels… albeit with a bit of laughter once it had passed!
One strange thing I forgot to mention was the VHF aerials. We have two — one for AIS (Automatic Identification System), which lets us know when vessels are nearby, and one for the ship’s radio. After the lightning passed, the tops of both aerials were glowing green.
I honestly can’t fully explain it. Glow-in-the-dark paint? A reflection? Some sort of residual electrical effect? In daylight, they’re just plain plastic bungs on the ends. A mysterious phenomenon… or maybe just overtired ocean rower imagination. Either way, it was surreal.
When Paul came out on deck for his first daylight shift, I put my speaker on full blast with “Oh What a Night”. We sang loudly, laughed, and relived the madness of what we’d just been through. Sometimes humour is the best reset button.
🐋 Another Magical Visitor
Yesterday also brought another whale encounter. The minke whale followed us for a while, swimming under the boat and at one point coming so close I could almost have reached out and touched it.
Encounters like that feel incredibly spiritual. There’s something deeply humbling about being in the animal’s world — completely wild, completely free — and knowing that it chose to come and see us. It’s an honour, and a reminder of just how small we are out here.
☀️ Power, Progress & Decisions Ahead
We did manage to get some sun and a bit of charge. Not as much as we’d hoped, but we have water, comms and navigation, so we’re very happy.
We’re still clocking out the miles and making great progress. At this rate, we could arrive around 3am local time on Sunday morning. Ideally, we’d much rather a daytime arrival, so we’ll need to make a decision soon about whether to ease off slightly.
The obvious downside is being overtaken — and yes, I know I keep saying we’re not racing! But it would still be a shame to lose places right at the end. I’ll keep you posted. If you see us slow down on the tracker, that’s why — and no, there’s no problem.
More soon.
Dawn
“Together Paul and I are rowing home — the long way round.”
Hometown Row
Leg 1 – La Gomera to Antigua
Leg 2 – Antigua to Florida
Leg 3 – Canada to the UK
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