4 July - Aggressive Sea
Day 12, odometer 408M, distance from start 348M
Solocareer total 856 days
Overall career total 940 days
Overnight on July 1, my starboard cabin wall was slammed repeatedly by fast moving waves that ride over the gentler swell. It made me think how many more of these the boat could take and what if a dolphin were riding the same wave with its added thrust, would that be enough to cave in the thin plywood wall? I am speculating that it was such a wave that took out the cabin of Peter Bird’s rowboat and him along with it. The upturned remains of his boat had no signs of either one of them.
The side arriving waves interact in a curious way with the boat. The wave first starts lifting the boat then leaning it away from the wave. Each wave has a circular movement built into it; like a rolling wheel on the surface. When near the top of the wave, the rowboat gets a shove in the direction that it is leaning then items in the cabin lose friction and start sliding to the lee side, if not taking flight. That includes the rower trying to sleep! Its a clear reminder of why I tie myself to four anchors when inside the cabin while in storm conditions. But yet, this was unexpected.
It turned out to be similar to the Diablo Wind Condition: a low formed east of Mendocino, enhancing the winds and extending the fetch on the Pacific high and adding NE wind driven fetch into the mix, making for fairly aggressive cross seas. In that melee, one wave broke over my starboard gunwale and swamped my entire deck, tipping the boat to port and tossing me to same side inside the cabin. As I rowed down the coast, a half dozen of these coastal lows formed. I’m not sure whether they enhanced or caused the NW winds, but the end result was the same for me: a rowboat held captive by land.
I waited a few seconds to observe the resulting tub of water outside, trying to feel whether another was lurking just behind it. With water sloshing inches from the cabin hatch, I quickly opened it ajar and grabbed a floating bag of nuts and closed the hatch. I next targeted the bottle of water, and closed again. I repeated that process until there remained nothing floating within reach to grab and bring inside.
During this nervous struggle, the water was draining out of the deck side scuppers and the bilge pump emptied the footwell. Once we were fully afloat again, my quick tally identified a few items on deck had washed overboard. Nothing that significant, but I was mostly upset at allowing the sea to claim these plastic items from me. My pleas for cleaner oceans left me feeling terrible that anything had washed over. The plastic waste problem in The Ocean is already catastrophic. I had to do better.
Once outside, I collected some extra cordage then tightened down the two extra food bags and my bag of refuse, thankfully spared. Other items went into what little hold space I had remaining. I now have a clean deck freed of loose items.
Ever since I launched, I have been struggling to break free of land’s grip. Jason Christensen wrote that this year the north ridge of the Pacific High is currently further north and further west than normal years. Also the jet was setting records for how far north it was these last few weeks. The combined effect was the persistent NW wind condition that I was experiencing. I never got a break until this point, often requiring rowing long hours to maintain my west heading. Yesterday, I finally passed 122M west of the marina at Monterey which was the launch point toward Waikiki together with Louis Bird in the 2016 edition of the Great Pacific Race. We set the course record that year for our class of rowboats, my 15th registered Guinness World Record.
With above average heat and drought in Southern California and with Jason’s explanation above, the cold NW winds blow relentlessly. I must confess that I am struggling with the way this row is evolving.
Jason indicates that 35-40 knot NW winds and 12 foot seas will develop on Tue-Wed off Cape Conception where the coast turns east toward Santa Barbara and LA. Combined with a southerly swell arriving across those wind waves, that will quickly turn into a cauldron of boxing seas. We have the valuable insights by Nicolai Maximenko at the University of Hawaii as well on the best course of action.
Starting tonight, I have NNW winds in my forecast. On Tue-Wed, a cold front will pass over my location after which I am supposed to receive northerly winds. Then about 130M south of where I am now, models show that I will find northerly winds on Friday. This will be “the corner” where the trade winds and coastal winds will split on Thursday. I must remain west of 124W longitude to take best advantage.
I am here resting in my rowboat as I write this blog, expecting long hours on the oars starting tonight if necessary to yet again maintain my west heading while Jason monitors how “the corner” evolves.
Please stay tuned; this saga continues!
Erden