In the Middle of Nowhere
Day: 31 — Position: N20 08’ W178 50’
Odometer since Waikiki: about 1,200M
Distance to Northern Marianas: 2,026M
Water temperature: 81.9F - 27.7C
OCEAN ROWING RECORDS AS RUNNING TOTALS
Solo career total in days by Waikiki: 925 now 956 (New World Record)
Overall career total in days by Waikiki: 1,009 now 1,040 (New World Record)
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Solo career total in miles by Waikiki: 22,173M now about 23,355M
Overall career total in miles by Waikiki: 25,153M now about 26,335M
** Ralph Tuijn (NL) leads this with 35,635M
The numbers by the time I reached Waikiki are as recorded in the Ocean Rowing Society database. ORS uses the great circle distance between start and finish positions. They will adjudicate the additional time and distance that I will have rowed to my point of landfall on mainland Asia then append those to my career totals.
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Before I write the rest, I would like to share the good news that I received from Dr. Jay Barlow at NOAA for whom I am gathering ambient sound data: “In total, you recorded 122 hrs. of data during 7 deployments. I found two different kinds of beaked whales on one day, Aug 20th (your longest recording day).” His associate Jennifer McCullough confirmed that those were two different individuals, one a Blainville's Beaked Whale and the other a Cross Seamount Beaked Whale. This news made the entire discomfort of life on my rowboat worthwhile.
I was really challenged between California and Hawaii. Moving the rowboat in the direction I needed was mission critical and the light drogue effect that the hydrophone caused when deployed was not helping. So I advanced the rowboat more than I gathered data. When I read that I had just 122 hours of recording in 80 days, that meant that there are still huge gaps in the data and our understanding of these creatures.
This time with more following seas since Waikiki, I am trying to be more regular with the sound gathering. I wish this were a sailboat with the express purpose of capturing sounds round the clock, which would not be as sensitive to the light pull of a device dragging in the water.
I must note that I have not seen a single ship since Oahu disappeared in the haze on my stern, other than the USCG Cutter MUNRO on Oct 13; not even my AIS display showed anything around which can sometimes pick up vessels beyond the horizon. Birds and White-Tipped Sharks have kept me company.
The seas have been swift; with relatively less effort than during the 80 days up to Waikiki, I traveled 1,183M west of there since my relaunch. In just another couple days, I will be across the dateline at 180th longitude which is only 65M west of me.
The three Frigate Birds that were soaring effortlessly above me yesterday, are pushing their range. The nearest land is now the Lisianski Atoll 450M due my NE. Midway Islands are at about 490M due 8T from me.
I am surprised to still see a few Noddy Terns around, which I thought typically do not venture more than 80-100 nautical miles from land. These must be alighting on the water, which other than the obvious discomfort of rough waves, is a big risk as they can become breakfast for a shark at daybreak.
The Sooty Terns are plentiful. The juvenile sooties have taken a liking to the black plastic tip guard for my VHF antenna. Every other day one will fly by, stay with my boat momentarily facing the wind and nibble on the guard while in flight. I don’t know why that piece attracts them, which makes me fear that they also pick up plastic pieces off the water, which is very likely.
If you have not seen it, there is a documentary which captures the plight of the magnificent albatross, also named after them, surrounded by plastic garbage on Midway Islands that I mentioned above. These Islands are now part of the huge protected patch of ocean the size of Gulf of Mexico, designated as the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. I introduced this monument, which has become a UN World Heritage Site, in my Oct 22nd update. Please take a look at the documentary trailer at https://www.albatrossthefilm.com to get a glimpse of the tragedy unfolding out of sight despite being so far away from humans, from those who actually are fully responsible. You will never think of plastic the same way…
If I hear a flying fish land on my deck at night, I can typically hear the flutter and locate it. I would rather it grow and multiply or become food for the birds than be wasted on my deck, creating a stinky mess in the process. So I make a point of returning those to sea, preferably while alive.
Shearwaters glide gracefully along the length of the waves, using the deflected wind to propel themselves. They move quickly so I can imagine what a surprise it had to have been when one of them hit my VHF antenna the other night and fell on deck. I heard the thud of its landing but no accompanying fluttering like the flying fish. Curious, I took my headlamp to find the bird with its wings spread flat with one tangled in my ankle tether line. It just stayed there looking stunned, perhaps trying to process what had just happened or having a “deer in the headlights” moment with my bright lamp.
I stepped out of my cabin, gently gathered the docile bird folding its wings properly. Then once I had control of it, I unfolded each wing to make sure there was no obvious damage. I honestly have no idea what I could have done to help that creature had it been injured. When I launched it downwind and up a bit, it immediately took to flight as if nothing had happened. That was a moment of relief for me. I could go back to sleep.
Erden.