Day 36 - 7 Things You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask

There may be a few questions that have occurred to you, but for reasons
of propriety, politeness, or respect for my privacy, you have chosen not
to ask them. I know, if I were you, there would be a few things about me
that I would want to know but would hesitate to put in writing.

But I feel I am amongst friends now, so I am going to offer up some
tidbits of information for your delectation. But feel free to skip to
Other Stuff if this is more than you ever wanted or needed to know!

Q: How do you go to the loo?
A: Colloquially known as "bucket and chuck it". Or in fact I use a
bedpan instead of a bucket – takes up less space and fits under my side
deck. For, ahem, liquids only, I use a female urinal – a jug with a
shaped top. Dr Aenor gave it to me last year, and it rocked my world! So
much easier to use on a wildly pitching boat.

Q: How do you keep your toilet paper dry?
A: No hope of keeping normal TP dry, so I use wet wipes instead. First
use is as a general cleansing cloth – for face or whatever – then
recycled as loo paper. The ones I have for this trip are impregnated
with tea tree oil for extra antiseptic qualities.

Q: How do you finance your adventures?
A: A combination of donations through the PayPal button on my website,
corporate sponsorships, and revenue from speaking engagements. For this
trip I had quite a shortfall, but the advance on my book (Rowing The
Atlantic, due to be published on October 6 this year) helped keep the
show on the road. My overheads are really low – I don't have a home or a
car, so that saves me a heap of money – and people are often very kind
in offering accommodation and meals. So somehow it all works out.

Q: Are you, or have you ever been, married?
A: Yes, I was. My ex-husband and I were together for 11 years, but had
no children. We're still on very amicable terms. He has remarried and
lives in London.

Q: Do you ever miss, errr, male company while you are on the ocean?
A: Yes, but not often. It's not a very sexy situation living on a
rowboat! And it might sound strange, but I don't especially think of
myself as a woman out here. I'm just a human, focusing on survival. But
it's nice to rediscover my femininity when I get back to shore, and
return to being a woman rather than a rower.

Q: Do you shave your legs while you're on the ocean?
No. But I'm not a very hairy person so you wouldn't be able to tell.

Q: Armpits?
A: Absolutely!

[photo: taken yesterday – the other squid. The one that didn't land in a
mangled heap of inky gloop. It's quite pretty, really – certainly a lot
prettier than yesterday's gore-fest.]

Other Stuff:

Conditions remain as windy (20+ knots) and splashy as ever. It's like
trying to row a mogul field. I fell off my seat a couple of times today,
when broadsided by particularly large waves, and I never know where the
water is going to be. Airshots with the oars are common, while at other
times the oar digs too deep as a wave rises. Through advice and
experience the oar length is designed so that when a wave catches the
oar there is enough room for the oar handle to swing past the side of my
body, rather than jamming itself into my midriff. It doesn't always work
that way – if the boat is off-balance the handle still sometimes scrapes
my thigh or punches my stomach – but it's better than it would be if the
handles of my two oars overlapped as they do in a conventional sculling
boat.

Crave of the Day: a massage!

Rave of the Day: Richard Russo. I love his books. I listened to Nobody's
Fool on Stage 1 of my Pacific row, and am currently listening to The
Risk Pool. I just love how very, very ordinary the people and places
are. If reading about my ocean adventures is your escapism, reading
about normal life in small town America is my escapism!

Quick answers to quick questions:

Can I post a picture of the night sky? No. The only way to take a
picture of the stars with a normal camera is to use a very long exposure
– absolutely not feasible from the deck of a rolling rowboat!

Weather Report:

Position at 2110 HST: 11 11.177N, 169 57.338W
Wind: 20+ knots E, no signs of easing
Seas: 9-10ft waves, steep and choppy
Weather: mostly cloudy, some sunshine

Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:

As of Thursday, 25 Jun 2009. The easterly trade winds gradually abate
throughout the forecast period. Expect winds to subside to around the
15kt range (possibly less) by Saturday, 27Jun. Seas abate to 5-7ft.

Sky conditions: Partly cloudy with consistent cloud cover next five
days. Very isolated rainshowers.

ITCZ: The most active part of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
lies between 3N to 8N along 160-170W. In this area, winds in heavy
rainshowers have been 30-35kts. To the west of this area, the ITCZ is
relatively quiet.for now. If projected southwestward, Roz's current
coursetakes her west of 170W south of 10N and into the more quiet area
of the ITCZ. However, this could change depending on Roz's progress.

Forecast below is for a SWerly course.
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft)
25/1800-27/0600 ENE-E 17-22 6-9
27/0600-01/1800 ENE-E 12-17 5-7

Next Update: Monday, 29 June