News Archive
13 June 2006
19.12 N 160.08 E
Fever and cruise ship envy
After eight days of good winds and daily mileages in excess of 100, a massive low pressure system a thousand miles north is stealing the wind and leaving me with dribbles. I will continue to probe deeper south in search of wind.
This area of the Pacific is littered with submarine mountain ranges which can cause disturbance to the surface water flow, particularly if an aggressive wind is whipping across the top. I passed Wake Island three days ago. The waves were steep and breaking over the mountain ridges and summits. The seas were coming at me from different angles. Twice, Barrabas was caught in cross-seas, a pincer movement of waves - one wave breaking against her port quarter and the other against her starboard side. The boat slewed then rolled dangerously far over to one side. Everything loose in the cabin went flying.
I noticed that the wind generator was rocking on its mounting pole which extends nine feet above the deck to allow clearance for the propeller. The mounting pole is in two parts screwed together at the mid-point. I had to take the wind gen down. To achieve this involved clambering up onto the after frame supporting the solar panels - precarious, particularly while the boat was rolling and awkward given that the wind gen is pretty heavy. Nonetheless I managed it, unscrewed the pole, introduced a quick setting epoxy into the tread and reassembled the pole. My wrists are almost totally shot - I nearly dropped the wind gen over the side, barely able to support its weight in my hands.
I've gone through a bit of a bad patch health wise in the last week. I developed a fever and stomach cramps which have persisted for seven days so far. I think the water in the tanks may be contaminated (as far as drinking is concerned). So, for drinking water, I now direct the watermaker's product output into jerry cans and use the tank water for all other domestic chores. On top of the stomach aches, I have a nasty sty on my left eye (probably caused by stress with all the worry about the Arctic phase).
I have been reading voraciously while allowing my body to repair itself - this fever is a nuisance. Whenever I stand or sit up, the sweat comes in buckets, so I spend a lot of the time horizontal.
Last night a cruise ship passed close by, maybe two miles off my starboard side, presumably en route to Honolulu. It gave me as quite a shock. I went on deck for some air (it's stifling in the cabin despite open hatches and portholes) and there it was, this oasis of bright lights. I thought about the passengers on board sitting down to three course dinners, taking hot showers, sleeping in beds. It's amazing how the luxuries of everyday life recede to distant figments. I'm missing trees again and flowers and riding a bicycle and the way the sun can glint off a girl's hair and the smell of cut grass and the hubbub of conversation in a crowded room...