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LOG of SAM DEACON |
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ROGER'S JOURNAL |
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OCT.12th 1997 Started well. Both rowing together for over 12 hours. That was a mistake. When it got to around 8pm a storm force 6 gusting 8 blew up and we had nothing left to give. By 10:30pm both shattered and I put out the drogues. First a trailing line. No good. Then 1 small drogue - no good - 2 small ones - still no good. Put out big one - success! We slept through the night, only waking up at sunrise and not knowing where we'd be. We had covered ground in the right direction and were happier. We're both ill. Through sea sickness and exhaustion. We won't do that again! Oct 13th 1997 I woke up fresh and started to row alone at 6:30. Charlie got up about 8:00, still both suffering. He rowed an hour and a half while I steered. It seems the only way to make progress. We've found 3 methods to make way:- 1. Row together. 2. Row singly - one steering. 3. Drogues out and drift. I like the 3rd option best but it's not going to get us home for Christmas. Both hands well covered in blisters all over them yesterday. Right hands were popping nicely today. Left hand still has 12 big ones ready to go but they won't pop! The drogues are out not. It's 7:45pm with a squall coming in from the SW. We're battening down the hatches for the night. 27 40' 56N 17 25' 25W Oct 15th 1997 Yesterday saw us both a bit shell shocked. We heard on the VHF at around 02:00 that boat #34 had withdrawn. The 2 crew, Peter Hayning & CD Riches were helicoptered to safety and their boat rowed to Tenerife. We are really frustrated as we can't find out why or what happened to them. This morning at 09:00 we heard Key Challenger calling for assistance some 12 miles N of our position. 3Com are sailing towards them and will take 3 hrs to get there. Enormous bit of H2O this! We've heard nothing yet on the Ch 22 chat shows at 17:00 (predetermined time and Ch for talk). We're letting the southerly breeze take us towards the Canary Current and Cape Verdi Islands presently. 27 00' 23N 17 47' 02W at 12:56 Reminder - First night having drifted and pulled in drogues next morning - static electricity (phosphorous glowing) on ropes, drogues and blades when rowing. DRAMATIC. Oct 16th 1997 We lost an oar and I go swimming. 01:00 I went to relieve Charlie for our now becoming regular 2hrs about, when he realised an oar was slipping overboard starboard side. I dashed to grab it but too late. I got it in one hand, fell in myself. Not strapped into the boat & with no life jacket on I had to let the oar go and swim like mad to catch the boat! After about 30 minutes, I got back on board - all at once! Charlie was on board and was trying desperately to turn the boat round but the weather was pushing it further away from me. Suddenly, a huge wave threw me so close to the boat that I almost landed on the deck. Close enough to clamber aboard though. 2 lessons :- 1 Lash everything down on board ASAP when not in use. 2 Leave a trailing line over side and stay strapped on! Oct 17th 1997 Further thoughts on the First Days. We've both rowed individually for 24 hrs, 2 hrs about. It gives me time to reflect on the effects others have had. Paul Marley, his wife Shirley and daughter Samantha were all so good to us in Tenerife. Steve & Gail at The Harbour Lites in Los Gigantes too! What a couple they are! It was a shame to leave. The reunion will be great!! We also heard during the day yesterday that Key Challenger were having problems of some kind. They already had delayed their start by 6 hrs because a crew member was ill. Perhaps its a recurrent problem? We've tried the radio chat show on Ch 22 each day. Heard not a word! Seen no other shipping at all. This morning was a glorious sunrise after a beautiful full moon night. Sea was calm: fish are now under the boat all day. During the night as I looked out of the cabin, I saw a fish about 14" long shadowing the rudders movements. I was able to reach down and touch it! It jumped a bit, then came back into line again. We saw a school of dolphins on the first day as well. Probably only bright spot of that day!! At 12:15 today with the sea the calmest we have seen so far, we suddenly became aware of a rushing noise through the water. We were heading S, just relaxing for 5 minutes, so there was no noise at all. Not even the steady drone of the de-sal pump. We looked toward the sound and saw in the E the sea was alive! It transpired to be a school of dolphins heading W. (They take the short cut to Barbados evidently). We tapped the side of the boat and had the camera ready. Sure enough they were going to pass us by completely but, when I made the first <05><05>knock on our hull, several of them headed over to investigate. We clearly heard them echoing their finding back to the school. They circled us for a while then sped back away to rejoin the group. Charlie got some great photos! In the cabin at 14:30 after lunch menu A, chicken casserole etc: it was 88 degrees out on deck, a mere 110 degrees F. Charlie's turn to row now I think! Yesterday I had heat exhaustion in the afternoon. It was aggravated by drinking water with a steritab in it before the recommended 30 minute period. Something else not to do again. My word we are learning a lot this trip! |
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Oct. 18th
1997 Change in weather ahead. Clouds are looming up in the E and the wind is getting up. I tried out the fishing rod with a spinner on it today for the first time. Caught two dorados with the first two casts! Put them both back though. Nice to know we could catch fish should we get desperate. WORRIES? The wind generator is still catching all the time and doesn't seem to charge the batteries. Only thing we need from it current wise is <05>the de-sal unit. Although we have an alternative hand pump, the unit is held together with nuts, bolts and allen bolts. We have no allen keys on board. I know I bought some special. Where are they? We have plenty of water though. Saw our first ship today; heading N. It was a laden cargo ship. We saw several other interesting things today: 12:15 Saw a school of dolphins. 13:00 Saw two small whales making way. Saw our first turtle. Throughout the afternoon we were kept company by the now familiar swallow. This time he/she brought a mate. Then a red dragonfly appeared. Followed by another and another - until we counted 10 resting on the cabin and 2 more in the air! They stayed all after noon dusk. As night came so did the wind. Force 7 - 8 easily - and from the S - head on. We couldn't row at all. Drogues out and time for dinner. We managed to get the boat sitting comfortably stern on to the wind. Head on would be ideal but these boats have so much free board at the stern end, it's impossible to achieve. We cooked by using the Zesta Therm Packs sent by Mark Carr (BCB International) . Brilliant!! They worked a treat. Also managed to boil a couple litres of water for tea and a flask. We sat up until 10pm and watched the stars. Such a display is beyond description. If ever you are searching for a reason as to why anyone would consider rowing an ocean, this is the best I could think of. So to bed with a cup of hot chocolate laced with Mountgay rum. Lovely!! Oct 19th 1997 More Wind - All The Wrong Way! Woke up hoping the wind would have dropped or gone. Wrong! Force 5 - 7 against us. Considering the options here: 1. Do we row together and get totally worn out? 2. Do we sit it out under drogues holding our position? Tough one eh? We took option 2. At 11:40 saw a ship passing two miles S of us. We called up and gave our position. It was the San Lorenzo heading S. When they asked if we needed any help we said no thanks but they offered to tell us the latest weather report. We were keen to hear it, "Currently force 7 - 8 heading N, soon to become 8 - 9, same heading. Changing tomorrow morning." Charlie puts his walkman on and constantly joins in singing 2 or 3 words from a song. I must buy him a song book when this is over so he can learn some more words. Walkmans are insular things and make life unsociable. I've tried to put mine on only at bedtime in my sleeping bag. The boat bobs around nicely on top of those big waves; even though we are broached most of the time, it rides them out perfectly. No more sea-sickness now ever since the fateful first 2 days or so. Batteries are still not charging quickly enough. Yesterday I took the wind generator apart to clean the faces. Discovered one of the plastic centre sections was broken as if by heavy impact - that‘s why it didn't go! Why the solar panels are not being so helpful is anyone's guess. Evening Thoughts. All day while we've been coasting on the tide, constantly blown back by the wind, I've had so much time to reflect on home life. It's not bad at all. Chris is great and the kids will do I suppose. Chris hugged me tighter than I've ever known last Sunday when we said farewell at Los Gigantes. I shouted to her on the boat "I love you!" But she didn't hear. I tried again but the words didn't come out. My throat was too dry and I was all choked up inside. Instead I shouted "Hug the kids for me please!" Why didn't I repeat the first line? God knows. What am I afraid of showing feelings for? Perhaps it wasn't the right time - what am I talking about? It was perhaps the last time we'll meet in this life. I went to sleep tonight with my eyes full of tears. Oct 20th 1997 Bright start to the day. Charlie says "Look at this lovely bright red sunrise Roger!" "Oh no!" say I. That was it for the whole day. Drogues out - big head winds and high rolling waves. Even now at 5pm it still hasn't relaxed at all. Wind is warm. Round midday my heart sank. I had taken time out to plot our positions on a large scale chart since day 1. This was the first time I’d bothered to even consider looking at the charts. We were intent on following the weather and our GPS. First 2 days not much ground covered. Day 3 & 4 great leaps of distance. Same with days 5 & 6. Day 7 & 8 stayed put and even went round in a circle once! With a slight following wind or sea we can do so much. With a head wind and following sea we sit still. I looked up and noticed the three lines holding the drogues were all slack. Checked the current passing us. It was still running hard against the wind. Drogues should be taut. Charlie began pulling in the main line. It was slack - my heart stopped. If the drogue had broken free we would not even be able to hold our position; we could be blown back to Africa in a day. Wait! I could see the drogue, or part of it, still attached. It had simply inverted and was not holding water. After checking all the others, they were found to be the same. Small wonder we'd lost some ground overnight. MUST CHECK DROGUES DAILY! Checked the position again 2 hrs later and we'd held our position. Now we have to wait in frustration again for the head winds to subside. We've discussed a couple of things: 1. How long do we sit it out and wait for a change before realising we won't make it for Christmas or New Year. 2. When we get close to Barbados and realise we're not getting there in time to see the families what do we do? Answers on a postcard please! Our answers on the following page. 1. We've decided a week in one spot is enough. Although everyone else MUST be in a similar spot we can't raise anyone on the radio at all. Bit disconcerting but the other night Key Challenger needed help and 3Com were at least 3 hrs away running WITH the wind. God knows how far we're all spread out. 2. 2. Too difficult to say at present. We'd like to think we'll get there in time. Current weather is not favourable though. If we get so close and have to call it off we'd never forgive ourselves. However, we're already both missing our wives and families a hell of a lot. Too much time idling away the hours with only so few jobs to do. Little things irritate about each other. Minor things and I know thoughts will change with the passing of boredom. Gosh! It's hard to write being thrown about in the winds and seas. Enough for today. It's 17:30 and our position is 25 37' 29 N 17 45' 36 W. Time for dinner. Must get washed and dressed. We've got guests coming at 18:00. It's a bring a bottle party! Last Thought. The dragon flies of 2 days ago must have sensed a change in the weather and wanted to rest before, what must have been, their final flight. I doubt any made it ahead to the Caribbean Islands through this head wind. |
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Oct 22nd 1997 Catching up time. Haven't had time to write for the last day or so as we've been under siege to the wind coming from the wrong direction. We've tried sitting it out with 3 drogues trailing: tried ignoring it and tried rowing against it. Eventually we went for option 3. Didn't gain much but felt totally 'worn out' and part of the team! Last night, having rowed 1 hr together, 1/2 hr rest while the other rowed alone, then vice versa and the next hour together again - all day long against the wind, we decided to change 2hrs about all night from 20:00. At about 21:00 the wind became more of a head on gentle blow. Enough to keep our speed to an incredible 1/2 knot per hr! But that's progress. We had been blown backwards 10 miles in 3 days. By this morning's early light we had regained on 4 - 5 miles of the 10 already. By midday we had re-assessed the situation and finding we were landing on Africa's West coast with no papers, decided to alter course slightly!! New heading of SSW sets us off on our way. We've just eaten a hearty meal of biscuits (brown) with corned beef all over them. Creamed rice & tinned peaches. Full up now. Good news! The weather broke today and we now have a N - NW wind blowing us gently S _ SW(ish) again. We've made a lot of ground today, even rowing through the afternoon. 110 C in the shade. Charlie handles the heat better than I can. I like to be still in the sun; he can carry on rowing and shows not to many ill effects. My old back injury from work is playing me up most of the time and Charlie's 'other knee' is now locking up from time to time. Although we both have our own annoying little ways, we're getting on well and spend much time telling of wives , families and home. I miss you all, especially Chris. The children are seldom out of my thoughts; I keep relating "Then there was that time when - " and telling Charlie stories of what they all get up to. Well done all of you. You are keeping us going. Nicola. Did you hear me calling to you last night? During the early evening of Monday I tried to get a message to you to go and hug Mummy for me. I wonder if you did and didn't quite know why! 18:30 now and time to row. Our position is 24 46' 06 N 18 07' 43 W. Making ground S and W. Hurray!! We've decided to do 2hrs on and 2hrs off again tonight. IF the wind stays where it is we SHOULD make 24 miles by sunrise. We're currently managing 4m.p.h as a pair with winds and currents. 2m.p.h. shouldn't be beyond us. Charlie's singing again to his cassettes, headphones on etc; beautiful sunset with Charlie drinking Mount Gay rum. Things are looking up at last. We passed one of Andy and Russell's containers for protein powder at lunch time today. Stood up and shouted for all my worth - "Andy! Russell! Where are you?" Still we know everyone must have suffered under the same weather conditions as we have had to endure. We wondered what had become of Key Challenger and of Peter Hayning's boat.... Have any more had to drop out? As things are with us, the worst case scenario is that the batteries pack up completely. Then we have the hand pump for the de-sal unit. We have plenty of batteries for all the GPS's. No worries! Last thoughts of the day are with you Chris - and of course the kids. Love to you all, always. Oct 23rd 1997 Long Distance Covered Overnight, Heatstroke During Day. Last night we never managed the 4mph we intended. We did however, manage 3 - 3.5 mph. The most awkward bit was seeing the rollers coming in. The wind stayed with us though and by the moon's bright light we had covered from 152mm away from point to just over 97! During the day it's been so hot that Charlie has had to row by himself for most of the mid-day and early afternoon. I've been a gibbering wreck in the cabin. I had stomach cramps; then it was the shakes; then cold sweats. I woke up 1/2 hr later, felt not too brilliant, so had an all over wash and jumped in the sea to wash it all off. That was like a tonic to me. Soon as I cooled off a bit in the sea, I felt as right as ninepence. We set off to row together for an hour and covered almost 8 miles! We weren't pushing hard either. Charlie's just had his all over wash and swim, I've made noodles for us but he's in the middle of a pre-dinner nap. It must have had some effect on him today, having to row in the fierce heat and watch me jibber a bit. He knows my bum and back are in a bad way and is conscience that I rest them as much as possible, although out here it is hard to see how we'll do that. Heat today was about 118 C on deck. Moving ever further S and W at last. 16::40 Our position is 23 57' 46 N 18 16' 12 W. Oct 24th 1997 Came and Went in Due Fashion. We managed several miles S & W both overnight and throughout the day. In the morning we both rowed together for 3 - 4 hrs and did about 18 miles! The going was good because although it was warm, it was also windy ( in our favour) and overcast. When however, the sun came out, I passed out again and had to spend a couple of hrs in the cabin hiding from the heat. Charlie tells me a mother and calf whale came up to look at him at about 17:00 today. It's really eerie at night presently because it is deadly quiet. Now and then you hear whales nearby letting off air through their blow holes. There is also a strange phenomenon of static everywhere. You see it glowing green on the tips of the oars as they glide through the sea. You see strange flashes of brilliant green light all around you. Charlie said that when the whales came to see him, their heads titled to one side and their exposed eye looked straight at him. The eyes were covered in the same green hue. |
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Oct
25th 1997 Another Hot One and Miles to be Made We have just made several more miles today. At 18:00 we're at 22 44' 07 N 18 50' 43 W. It's been a great day. At last I'm getting used to the heat and working in it. Conditions still in our favour though, looking at the sky, I'm going to get wet soon. There are nimbus clouds a plenty heading our way - fast! Oranges and apples - Ladies you did us proud again with the fresh fruit. During those early days of the first two weeks we looked forward to 1/2 orange and a whole apple each day. THANKS! When we ate the last orange each on the second Sunday out, we shed a secret tear thinking of you and the thought you had both so obviously put into making our send off and journey as pleasurable an experience as was humanly possible. As I say a squall is heading in fast so I have to go. I'll be thinking of you tonight as I always have been each night. I love you. xxxx. OCT 26TH 1997 That squall turned into a right old dog's dinner. We have been in a force 8 - 10 all last night and all today. It became so scary last thing today that we ended up with all drogues out and hiding in the cabin! I didn't realise how good I'd become at hiding fear. Charlie said I'd handled it really well. I know I was frightened about 2 things. Firstly The prospect of not seeing you all again - ever - and secondly by not completing the task and thereby letting everyone down who have supported us and dared to believe in me/us.Still after a really restless night both sharing the cabin again (something we both decided over a week ago not to do due to lack of room) we have awoken to a new realisation. That no-one has ever truly "rowed" the Atlantic. Like us, some MUST have drifted part way due to exhaustion or poor weather. I suppose Chay Blyth covered it when he used the phase "you can only use the action of your oars and the natural actions of winds and currents to propel your craft". Now we know what he means. OCT 27TH 1997 Too Rough to Row Safely Having awoken to the reality of our situation we decided to try and row one at a time while the other one steers. Even 1/2 hr each is tiring because the oars get thrown out of your hands every other stroke. We have concluded, reluctantly, that we can't row because it is more likely we shall sustain injury and have to withdraw. Presently one steers while the opposite one rests for one hour about. We hope to be able to be able to keep it up all night as well but one hours rest is not very long. We shall see with time. We are covering good distances though. Our current position at 16:45 is 21 40' 37 N 19 54' 54 W. Moving ever closer S and W to the westerly trades. If they're as strong as the blow we are getting now, we won't have a moments rest twixt thither and you! We're going to be tired little teddies I can tell you. The Zesta Therm food heaters are brilliant as we can't even heat water on the stoves anymore - the sea's just too rough. Love as always. Can't stop thinking about you all. I miss you so much it hurts! |
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OCT 28TH 1997 We drifted through most of last night, 2hrs on and 2 hrs off. Can't get much sleep with the force 6 - 8 outside. Keep waking thinking of home. God I want to be there now. Safe in everyone's arms. Times like this make you appreciate what you have in life. Only bonus is, we've made about 24 - 26 miles in 12 hrs - good going when you consider its too rough to even risk getting the oars out! During today, we've kept to the 2 on, 2 off routine. At lunch time, Charlie still keen to cling on to his walkman and tapes, lost his grip in the conditions and fell onto the rear most sliding seat runners. He almost broke his left arm. In a temper he picked up the sliding seat and threw it forward. It bounced on the deck then OVER the side of the boat. We have only two seats. No spares. We need that seat. As we both grabbed at it the boat almost capsized. Both missed it and it began to drift down under the boat. I thought it had sunk and with it our race. However it emerged just within my grasp on the other side and I grabbed it! Lucky escape for us all. Charlie's just bruised his arm. Another lesson. Safety first - music second. OCT 30TH 1997 Sorry About Yesterday! We didn't forget yesterday, more sort of got into why we're out here. It occurred to us that on Charlie's maths we shalln't be in Barbados till 21st December. That means you'll have had all the fun there is to be had before we arrive. We rowed our socks off 2 hrs on and 2 hrs off all night and all day for the last 2 days. We are, or were currently doing 40 miles a day. We can now get 50 by rowing 2 on 2 off. Hence no time to write. I'm only writing now because the weather is not too conducive to single rowing and Charlie is asleep having had a hard morning of it. His backside is suffering a couple of sores as mine did some days ago. I sympathise but am managing to overcome the urge to stroke it better! Our position is now ever nearer the magical W trade winds. We're getting buffeted S.W, even closer than that most of the time, WSW! We've programmed in the co-ordinates for Port St. Charles and are informed by the GPS that we're 2,208 n. miles away! We have done a staggering 556 since Los Gigantes, 18 days ago. I make that about another 72 days! However most of the original 18 days, we spent the first 2 being sick and at least 4 more going round in circles with drogues out. That brings it down to 12 days to have done 556 n. miles. That leaves another 48 days. Hopefully our distances will get greater with the assistance of the trade winds and the 1 - 2 knot North Equatorial Current which we hope to pick up in a couple of days now, if not even sooner. TIME TO ROW! Our position is currently 20 10' 23 N 21 49' 29 W at 13:00 Back again. It's now 19:50 and we've covered a lot of ground again - cracking on at 2 kph in 10 daylight hours we've done 23.9nm. Saw 2 large orange dayglo buoys this evening about 200 m E of us at 20 04' 51 N 22 03' 40 W. Called to any ships to investigate as it's impossible for us to reach them with wind and tide doing it's thing. No reply on Ch 16?! Of which....The chat show on Ch 22 scheduled for 17:00 daily, we haven't heard a word on any day yet!?? Where is everybody? Charlie is great to have on the boat to row - but a bit insular with the walkman on most of the time. OCT 31ST 1997 Catastrophe With the Electrics Though the electric system is installed perfectly, we hadn't counted on the wind generator being damaged and therefore useless. It transpires that we THINK only one battery is being charged up OR that only one solar panel is working. We have no kit with us to test either theory but, what is sure is that the battery light never gets above 3/4 full and it discharges very quickly when the desalination unit is on. The desalination unit is our water maker. No water, we perish! We have the option to change over to a manual system of pump which we'll have to do soon. Again, we noticed after dark last night the red light showing on the battery pack, meaning it is dangerously low on power. We HAVE to rely on the internal light of the GPS to steer by at night but, that runs the battery down quickly. Catch 22. Today we had a brief look, after a lengthy discussion at the options. We have decided NOT to go to manual pumping YET as the battery charged up to over 1/2 full after the first hour of daylight. However the desal only ran for an hour and it discharged what little the battery had had stored up. The desal is meant to produce 5.5 litres per hour and only produces around 2 if we're lucky!! It's nowhere near giving up time though because we've plenty of batteries for the GPS, manual capability for the desal and a boat FULL of food to eat. Conditions today were the best to row in so far and we've made the most of them doing 2 hrs about ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT. We intend to push this and see how long we can keep it up for. The rowing is no longer difficult and the body seems to survive on 2 hrs rest. Most difficult bit - the night time slots. Hard to stay awake sometimes especially when the wind assistance drops off. Then it's very hard going. We've still not opened all the presents yet. I opened another today because I felt a bit down over the elephants conspiring against us. It was another inflatable head rest. Never did like them before but, since Charlie opened his one the other day, we've been sharing it. Now we've one it! They're a god send. Wives - you're brilliant!! I said to Charlie this afternoon that I didn't appreciate just what I have in you Chris. I am beginning to realise now. Charlie says he'll never take Cheryl for granted again. Time will tell. Time to try and cook dinner now. Write again soon. Love, your Roger xxxx |
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