Such an enjoyable birthday
Day: 22, Odometer: 778M
Distance from start: 685M
Nearest land: Pt Conception, 404M due 053T
Waikiki Yacht Club: 1750M due 259T
Solo career total: 866 days
Overall career total: 950 days
Today is my birthday. I turned 60 in fine health and fitness. My mind is active; in there dreams are always cooking, plans incessantly hatching, trickster forever distracting, the sage constantly steering me back on course. My well used body has had its setbacks over the years but I came back wiser, mindful of recovery willing to show up for my daily dose of training, breathing and moving, making every rep count as I do my oar strokes out here.
Years of challenging my mind to push myself physically, has taught me that human body is adaptable to endure great hardships. When directed well on the path to a self-imposed challenge, a yardstick against which I may choose to measure myself, those hardships translate to accomplishments others will not consider possible. When I set myself a goal so majestic as a circumnavigation by human power (also completed by only one other person in history — British adventurer Jason Lewis), 15 Guinness World Records had to happen along the way. I had to become that person, grow into the one who could set those records.
A 16th record was added to that list for career total in days rowed on The Ocean, surpassing 937 on day nine after departure from Crescent City. This had to happen because my journey continues and records will keep registering. I have always said that the journey provides, mostly referring to friendships made, help received, lives touched. A growing list of records is another way to measure that abundance.
So today started with a satellite phone call at 02:00 by my time to a live noon show by Zeynel Lule on “Tele 1 TV” in Turkey. He had arranged an interview with my 89-year old father and 10-15 minutes after they began, I was to call in to surprise him. I think it worked. Then at 06:45, I had a trial call with the popular radio show Geveze also in Turkey, for an interview to take place tomorrow morning.
The boat is tracking well so I took time to sleep in then brought out my BGAN Explorer 510 satellite modem. Holding it by my left hand propped on my left shoulder against my head, I pointed it to the geostationary satellite for best connection then placed a brief FaceTime call to Nancy. I then posted a few updates to social media before I began downloading apps that I was missing on my dedicated iPhone for this crossing. That took forever becoming a costly affair as I pay by the megabytes transmitted. All was going well then nothing was happening…
The BGAN had run out of battery. I pulled out the 12V charger I was sent with it but the round plug at its end would not fit the jack on the BGAN — it was the wrong size! I had never used this charger leading up to my launch because I had the more convenient wall charger, setting up was easy with a charged battery. Now that wall charger is at home in the boxed piles that I left behind. So, while it was entertaining, that BGAN will not see any use until after Waikiki.
Making water and writing this update is rounding my day. I will send this to Nancy for posting, step outside for a few hours of movement then before I retire for the evening, I will open the bottle of fine cognac that our friends Tom and Sveta Lynch offered at my launch. I will splash the first cap full at sea in dedication to those who are still out there, who never returned to their loved ones. The second will be a toast to fellow ocean rowers and adventurers who push the boundaries of human performance in what they do. Third to explorers who let their curiosity lead the way and have their fix of adventure in pursuit of knowledge. Fourth to friendships that have endured over the years, family and partnerships that make possible what a lone human may find challenging.
I’d better stop there with the toasts and to make sure that the earlier toasts are just sips :)
Erden