This Was Never Going To Be Trivial
Day: 13 — Position: …
Odometer since Guam: about …M
Distance to Balikpapan on Borneo: …M
Sea surface temperature: 84.0F - 28.9C
OCEAN ROWING RECORDS AS RUNNING TOTALS
Solo career total in days: 1,066 (New World Record)
Overall career total in days: 1,150 (New World Record)
Solo career total in miles: about …M (New World Record, more than March 1 value)
**Note: Circumference of the Earth along the equator is 21,600M long
———oOo———
I hope I won’t regret relaunching from Guam. The options other than relaunching were shipping my rowboat home or storing my rowboat on Guam to better time the seasons next year.
A weak low pressure system passing to my south changed my winds to ESE, also shifting the currents ahead of me to northwesterly. I am on para anchor now waiting for the NE trades to return. The longer that I delay rounding Mindanao, the higher the storm risk. So I am looking at all options at this time. The adage: “one day at a time” is not at all comforting me right now.
I had chosen the path clockwise around Borneo to Java Sea to keep me away from the tropical lows in April and later tropical depressions or storms May onward. Obsessed with fighting toward Hong Kong, it seems that I committed too late to this southerly route to Asia by 2-4 weeks. So the seasonal gates are shutting down around me to negotiate the options toward mainland Asia.
The counter clockwise rotating lows that pass near me advance west toward Mindanao; their southern extent turns winds westerly especially in the south side of Celebes Sea near Sulawesi. Similarly, when the NE trades that I so desperately need right now return, they too circle over Mindanao to point east. There is a CCW current in the Celebes Sea as a result. These winds and currents were reasonable until last week but everything is changing rapidly. The volatility of these patterns were a bit of a surprise to me…
So to make a long story short, I am considering stopping this crossing in the Philippines. Depending on the winds, I would get closer to Mindanao then receive a tow into a port in southern Mindanao like Mati City. I will announce the final decision via this blog.
Please stay tuned.
Erden