Friday, June 19, 2009

Day 26 - Pet Peeves of the Pacific

Day 26 – Pet Peeves

Generally I like to look on the bright side of life, focusing on the
positive rather than the negative. But once in a while it does me good
to have a quick rant, and a problem shared is a problem halved, so here
are my 7 top pet peeves of ocean-going existence:

7. Phantom noises – things that go bump in the night, or click, or beep,
or roll, or knock… and defy all efforts to identify the source of the
noise. Boats are noisy places, with things rolling around in lockers or
swinging against cabin walls, and it can drive a soul to distraction
trying to find out where the noise is coming from.

6. Losing things that, like the noises, can't be found. (Today I found
my shower gel – woohoo! But only one tube, and I know I had at least 4,
and I can't figure out why they aren't all together. Why would the black
hole suck all but one tube through into the parallel universe? The
mystery deepens….)

5. A stereo that won't play when I want it to, and won't stop when I
want it to either. Today before my podcast with Leo I had to open it up
and pull out the iPod from its slot, as the only way to get it to shut
up.

4. Being clobbered around the head by the sun canopy when the wind gets
to over 20 knots. But if I take the sun canopy down I get scorched by
the harsh tropical sun. If only the weather would choose between high
winds and sunshine, but not both at the same time…

3. Dropped satphone calls – Leo and I lost contact during the podcast
this morning, and when I tried to call him back my phone just kept
saying "Please try later". Doesn't it KNOW when I'm on an important
phone call?!

2. Finding decomposed flying fish in unlikely corners of the deck. If
they don't get returned to the waves pretty soon after death, they go
rather crusty if in sun, or horribly slimy if concealed behind sea
anchor or liferaft, or if hiding in the bilges. Yuck!

1. Inconsiderate waves that come crashing in unannounced just as I've
switched over to a fresh, dry seat cover. Or while I'm preparing my
lunch. Or at an otherwise inconvenient moment. They watch, they wait,
and then they come and get me. Or am I just getting paranoid?!

Phew, feels better to have got those off my chest. In the interests of
balanced reporting, tomorrow I will try and come up with 7 good things
about being on the ocean.

[photo: rowing action today]

Other Stuff:

And here's another pet peeve – winds that blow me the wrong way. If you
look at my route on the RozTracker you'll see that in the last 24 hours
it has taken a sudden jag to the west. This is very strange. The wind is
coming from the same direction, the rudder is set the same as it has
been for the last week, and as usual I have been rowing with my bow
pointed due south. But instead of heading nicely SSW, suddenly I am
going due W. Not amused!

REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK:

On a more positive note: we're talking with Archinoetics about the next
incarnation of the RozTracker. We are compiling a wish list to see what
might be possible. I think it would be fun to use a motion sensor so you
can see how much my boat is pitching about on any given day, maybe with
a little gauge like they have in airplanes so you can see how my boat is
moving relative to the horizon.

If you've got any special requests for features you'd like to see –
weather, moonphase, whatever – then let us know. Please send your
suggestions to roztracker@rozsavage.com. We can't promise that they will
all be feasible, so let's look on this as a brainstorming session.
There's no such thing as a bad idea. Apart from the ones that are.

I'm uploading my latest video contribution as I write this, featuring
some rowing action. Dawn will probably have it edited into the prepared
shell and live on YouTube in the next 12 hours or so – so look out for
it there!

Weather report:

Position at 2045 HST: 14 09.940N, 165 39.826W (and heading WNW – grrr!)
Wind: 15-22kts ENE
Seas: 7-9ft, rough
Weather: some cloud, mostly sunny

Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com:

The easterly trade winds persist in the 20kt range throughout the
forecast period. Seas 5-8ft.

Temperature: Hot and getting hotter with increasing humidity heading
towards the equator.

Sky conditions: Partly cloudy and consistent cloud cover next five days.
Very isolated rainshowers. About 11-10N latitude, increasing clouds
approaching the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). These clouds
become convective clouds which increase the chance of heavy rainshowers,
thunderstorms, and lightning normally associated with the ITCZ.
Currently, the convergence area of the ITCZ lies between 11N and 4N

Next Update: Monday, 22 June

18 comments:

  1. Roz, speaking of moon phases, watch for the first appearance of the crescent moon following the June 22 new moon. You may see it Monday evening, but most likely Tuesday the 23rd. I observe and report at http://www.CrescentMoonWatch.org/ every month.

    You need long and lat, local time, GMT, cloud cover, angel of crescent to the sun, left or right of sunset. Your report will blow them away ... I will alert them to the possibility you may report. Or post on your blog and I will report for you.

    Re: Parallel universe and black holes ... I think your veering west has something to do with the missing shower gel ... and my lost sock ... keep veering west and you will find the gel ... and my sock -- the blue one with a black hole in the toe ;-D

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  2. Roz, you are a rockstar! I just heard of your endeavor and I'm hooked, no pun intended! What an amazing thing to do. Living in NJ we have a tough enough time just driving around the corner or navigating the local shoprite on Friday's when the Senior's are all out!

    My hats off to you or .. maybe I'll keep it on with all the head butting and burning going on.

    Blessings and light and hey....have you seen God yet? Just wondering. She says hi!

    I'd love to hear back from you - but I realize you've got your hands full.

    Good luck.
    Maria L. Pomponio

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  3. Roz -now here is a suggestion for leg 3...can you have Roz trackers on your shower gel??

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  4. Speaking of bottoms, the sea floor in the region you are entering looks to be quite mountainous. I wonder if sea life at the surface is different, variable currents? convection?

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  5. Anonymous5:09 pm GMT

    I am wondering about the marinelife around you.
    Are you seeing much of it, beside the birds
    and little fish? Also, do you ever see sharks or consider them when taking a plunge?

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  8. Anonymous5:30 pm GMT

    Roz, congrats on making it to the Official Google Blog. You definitely have real fans and admirers at the G. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/blogger-is-turning-10.html

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  9. I can't wait to hear the seven great things tomorrow!

    And regarding your shower gel, you'll probably find the others as you need them :)

    Claudia-RSA

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  10. I wonder if stupid comments on your blog rate anywhere in your pet peeve list?

    Even with all your problems this time around you seem to be having a better time of it than the last couple of times. Missing soap is a whole lot better in the grand scheme of things than a broken water maker. (Unless you are hiding those types of issues again. . . )

    Keep up the good work.

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  11. Every time I read your blog, I am amazed at what you're doing. Just amazed. :)

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  12. Hi Roz, I'm Hari from india. Gr8 to see your blog. Where are you now? My family prays for your safe voyage. How do you manage to charge your laptop/satphone? Are you on a kayak?
    regards, n bon voyage
    Hari

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  13. Hi Hari, my name is Nicole and I'm Roz's program director.
    You can find out more about Roz's boat and her voyage at www.rozsavage.com. You can follow along with her journey by checking out the RozTracker. Take a look at the top right hand side of this page - you can click on it and see all of her blogs, Tweets, videos, photos and her actual location in the sea.
    All of Roz's electricity on board is supplied by the solar panels. Have fun checking out her site, and thanks so much for following along from India!

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  14. OMG! I hate those noises!! I know your plight, I can spend all night at anchor on my boat searching for noises as the boat rocks. I've got pillows crammed in lockers, bungs in all the cupboard holes, wine glasses are lashed down. What I can't quiet are the wires for the electronics that run through our new aluminum mast. grrrr... The old wood mast didn't have that problem.

    Oh, I also am wondering about what the mountains are going to do to the ocean you are crossing through. You are between the Johnson and Palmyra Atolls making a beeline for the Kiribati Islands. Can you see anything?

    I'm not doing well with my walking. According to my new RozPedometer I manage about 3400 steps a day; of which 2100 are walking the dogs every morning. I need to figure something out here. Going paddling tomorrow in Ventura Harbor.

    Chat later, Sindy

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  15. Anonymous4:01 am GMT

    Roz...I'm writing from Guam and I think it's amazing what you're doing. Good luck on your voyage...the ocean is looking beautiful this summer!

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  16. Anonymous5:38 am GMT

    Can the person who maintains this blog delete the spam entries? It annoys me greatly (and I suspect others feel the same) to see those scumbags leeching off of Roz' blog...

    LS

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  17. Roz:
    1. Noises on board. That's horrible. We used to have everything in soft bags and jambed into deep lockers, so generally we heard nothing but water and wind. I would spend time finding the noises and stop them else i would go nuts, but that's just me.
    2. Lost gel. They are rolling round somewhere. See point 1 & fix 2 birds with 1 stone.
    3. Loose flapping things. Stop all flapping, tie stuff tight. Noisey stuff will fray and tear in no time.
    4. Inconsiderate waves. Refer Murphy's Marine Law about the biggest wave arrives just after a change into dry gear, or in the 5 second interval when your wetweather gear is off.
    5. Winds that blow you the wrong way. Add a mast and sail next time. :-)

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  18. The full moon in the middle of the ocean with all the night stars is absolutely amazing.

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