16th October

16^th October

1030 GMT, position 20° 40’N 26° 37’W, 1943 n. miles to Barbados

Strong NE wind, was a gale/near gale during the night. Freshened up

during the afternoon and became impossible to row by evening.

So I went through my heavy weather routine, including tying down oars,

checking hatches, bunching up the awning, etc..

I then spent a bumpy night in the hot cabin.

I wake up every hour or two, air out and have a look at the conditions.

It is easing off a little now, I have just rowed for 2 hours

in a sea which I would have considered unrowable a month ago, but now

I'm getting used to it, and maybe I’ve got better technique.

The rowlocks are amazingly strong; the oar often gets caught in the water and

there is a huge pressure on gate and swivel.

I can only be thankful the wind is in the right direction.

Cabin is again nice and dry, but the air is damp.

I had a quick dip yesterday morning, saw a new fish, flattish, about a foot long. I seem to remember it is like a surgeon fish.

I enjoyed letters you sent on from Robert, John (Searson, the Guernsey-based meteorologist) and Camilla.

Have a nice weekend!

Love,

Diana

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16. oktober

Kl 1030 GMT, posisjon 20° 40’N 26° 37’W, 1943 n. mil til Barbados

Sterk NØ vind, sterk kuling/liten storm i natt.

Det frisknet til på ettermiddagen og ble umulig å ro mot kvelden.

Så jeg gikk gjennom min uværsrutine med å binde ned årene, sjekke luker og binde sammen soltaket.

deretter tilbragte jeg en urolig natt i den varme lugaren.

Hver time eller hver annen time våknet jeg for å lufte litt og inspisere forholdene.

Det løyer litt nå. Jeg har nettopp rodd i 2 timer gjennom sjøer jeg ville ha trodd umulig for en måned sagt. Så jeg blir vant til det i tillegg til å utvikle en bedre teknikk!

Åregaflene er utrolig sterke. Når jeg av og til ikke får årene opp av vannet i tide blir det en enorm belastning på gafler og svivler.

Jeg kan bare være takknemlig for at vinden er i riktig retning!

Lugaren er igjen tørr og lun selv om det høy luftfuktighet.

I går hadde jeg en rask dukkert og så en ny, flatklemt fisk på ca 30 cm som jeg mener å huske er en kirurgfisk.

Jeg koste meg med brevene du sendte fra Robert, John (Searson, Guernsey-basert meteorolog) og Camilla.

Ha en hyggelig helg!

Klem,

Diana

Sorry Grete & Co: Only English version this one too!
Stein
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17^th October

1030 GMT, position 20° 29’N 27° 04’W, 1916 n. miles to Barbados

Still rough conditions though seems to be easing off.

Managed to row most of yesterday, but difficult and tiring.

This morning suddenly saw huge numbers of flying - fish jumping in large groups, must have
been hundreds, a few seconds later saw a couple of big fish jumping after them!
So I suppose the screnario was a school of big fish chasing a school of flying - fish.

The bigger fish looked most like Tuna, but too far off to be sure.

Love

Diana
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17. oktober

1030 GMT, posisjon 20° 29’N 27° 04’W, 1916 n. mil til Barbados

Fortsatt grov sjø, men det ser ut til å løye.

Jeg karte å ro det meste av gårsdagen, men det var slitsomt!

I morges så jeg plutelig et stort antall flyvefisk som tok til vingene i store grupper, det må ha vært hundrevis. Noen få sekunder etter kom en stim stor fisk som som hoppet etter de igjen!

Så scenen var vel duket for «stor fisk jager liten fisk».

De store fiskene liknet tunfisk, men de var for langt unna til å være sikker.

Klem

Diana

18th october

1045 GMT, position 20 15'N 27 36'W, 1884 to Barbados

Fresh NE, same as past couple of days. No need for complaints, but I hope it will get a bit less choppy. I'm a bit weary of difficult
rowing, and at the moment Barbados seems a long way off.

Gave myself a hair-cut which would not pass any hairdressing exam!

There have been pretty well no technical problems on board, which is a blessing. I try to keep all moving parts oiled, and spray hinges and
seals with silicone.

I have fishing equipment, but don't think I wil fish, as I need to use all daylight time for rowing, am trying to reduce evrything else to a minimum.

Miss you,

Diana

Dear all:
Sending this just in English tonight as it's midnight and I'm away for the weekend and cannot get it translated for a few days, so Legeforeningen will have to decide if they want this up temporarily?
Best wishes from Stein in Kristiansand

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19th October

1030 GMT, position 20 02'N 28 11'W, 1850 n. miles to Barbados

Sunset last night had a strange lilac tinge to it, made me feel it
might be a bad weather sign, and so it was. The wind increased
throughout the evening and I have had another long, hot, bumpy night in the cabin.
The wind I suppose was near gale. Big seas, but again felt
no need to put out a drogue.
It is still rough and I have not rowed today. I shall now go out and see if it possible.
I am getting a good push westward with no rowing.

The GPS is a great instrument which apart from position, shows what speed I am doing, so I can compare the speed of rowing and that of just drifting to see if rowing is worthwhile.

The good thing about this heavy weather is that my body gets a good rest, and I get time to read!

Darling, yesterday first time no message from you, makes me realise how much I look forward to the daily contact. It was 21 GMT yesterday?
Battery power was on the low side, but I thought OK. See if ok today,

Thank Camilla for nice 36day greeting.
Any news on rower Geoff Allums departure from Tenerife?

Love

Diana

First a message from Kristiansand: My PC crashed Sunday 17^th evening! 18^th I got nothing through to Diana so her mail next day was a worried one! 19^th Arvid got through with a brief message that the problem was here and not there. For our keen followers the missing reports from 15^th, 17^th , 18^th and 19^th will hopefully be posted soon, I hope to be operational by tomorrow night. Thanks for all good wishes and messages for Diana, please forgive if I have not been able to respond all individually – now you know why! (This is also written via Arvid.) Stein

20^th October

1100 GMT, position 19° 54’N 28° 38’W, 1824 n. miles to Barbados.

NE fresh breeze. Fortunately the wind died down a bit before dawn
after a rough night, now possible to row again, although hard
work, still big waves.

I feel I have now had enough heavy weather! I have come south of 20° N, so should be into the Trade - wind belt, and look forward to warm, pleasant days with a long, gentle swell! What kind of weather is Tory having? Good I hope - as that’s where I’m going, too!

I am pleased with boat and the stresses it can take without anything breaking.

Darling, really miss the daily contact so hope you have got the PC fixed, glad
there was no problem on my side.

Love,

Diana

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Først en beskjed fra Kristiansand: PC’en min kræsjet søndag 17. om kvelden!

Derfor fikk jeg ikke sendt beskjed til Diana 18., så e-posten fra henne neste dag var en bekymret en!

I går, den 19. fikk Arvid sendt en kort beskjed om at problemet var her og ikke der.

For de som følger ivrig med skal jeg få oppdatert rapportene fra 15., 17., 18. og 19. snarest mulig. Forhåpentligvis innen ett døgn. Jeg benytter anledningen til å takke for mye post og mange gode ønsker og beklager at jeg ikke har kunnet besvare alle personlig – nå vet dere hvorfor! (Også dette skrives via Arvids PC) Stein

20. oktober

1100 GMT, position 19° 54’N 28° 38’W, 1824 n. mil til Barbados.

Frisk bris fra NØ. Heldigvis spaknet vinden litt før soloppgang etter en røff natt. Det er nå mulig å ro igjen selv om det er hardt arbeid; bølgene er fortsatt store.

Jeg synes jeg nå har fått nok av dårlig vær! Jeg er sør for 20° N og skulle være i passaten med lange, behagelige dønninger!

Hva slags vær har Tori? Bra, håper jeg – for dit er det jeg også skal!

Jeg er så fornøyd med denne båten og de påkjenningene den tåler uten at noe skades.

Kjæreste, jeg har virkelig savnet den daglige kontakten disse to dagene så jeg håper du får ordnet PC’en, glad for at problemet ikke var på min side.

Klem,

Diana

21^st October

1100 GMT, position 19° 48’N 29° 04’W, 1798 n. miles to Barbados.

Strong NE winds again!

I thought yesterday that the weather gods had heard me, as the day brightened and wind and waves abated, so I could row most of the day,but about sunset it freshened again to a gale or near gale, I suppose and became the roughest night of the voyage so far; big seas with a lot of splashing over the stern.

I sat out for a while at midnight looking at the movement, wondering if I should put out a
drogue, but as she seemed to be riding nicely on the waves, I decided not to.

This morning doesnt look promising, confused sea, grey clouds and strong breeze.

I am feeling frustrated as I only want to get rowing and get on, but I suppose patience is all part of ocean rowing. I can understand that it is not for everybody!

The round hatches on deck are good, had some water in one, probably not screwed on
properly,but otherwise dry. The white ones are pretty good, the floor
in them is damp, but I have not had to empty out any water, except
for the cockpit lockers (galley and water-maker) which I have cleaned out once or
twice.

Thanks Grethe for your greeting which I opened today.

This weather is disappointing, could you ask John Searson if he could get a forecast?

Love

Diana
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21. oktober

Kl 1100 GMT, posisjon 19° 48’N 29° 04’W, 1798 n. mil til Barbados.

Kraftig NØ vind igjen!

Jeg trodde i går at jeg var blitt hørt av værgudene da dagen lysnet og vind og sjø la seg. Jeg var i stand til å ro det meste av dagen, men omkring solnedgang frisknet det til kuling eller liten storm, tror jeg, og det ble den værste natten hittil på turen; svære sjøer med mye sprut over hekken.

Jeg satt ute en stund rundt midnatt og studerte bevegelsene mens jeg vurderte å sette ut et drivanker, men da båten lot til å ri fint over sjøene lot jeg det være.

I morges ser det ikke særlig lovende ut, uregelmessig sjø, grå skyer og sterk vind.

Jeg blir frustrert da alt jeg ønsker er å ro og komme fremover, men jeg antar at tålmodighet også er en del av havroing! Jeg kan forstå at dette ikke er for alle!!

De runde lukene i dekk er gode. Ett av de har sluppet inn litt vann, antagelig da jeg ikke hadde skrudd den hardt nok igjen. De flate, hvite lukene slipper inn litt fuktighet bare, bortsett fra de to ved siden av cockpiten (til byssa og vannmaskinen) hvor jeg har måttet tørke opp vann et par ganger.

Takk, Grethe for din hilsen som jeg åpnet i dag.

Været er en skuffelse, kan du spøre John Searson om værmelding?

Klem,

Diana