Finally, a clear sky to start the day. Still lots of moonlight. I was up at 4 am, and instead of reading to fall asleep, I jumped outside and put 2 hours of magnificent paddling in just my board shorts. Lekker and cool. No rain squalls and no beating sun ☀ I noticed a […]
The day started early. 3 am. Could not get back to sleep. Grrr. Grabbed the kindle and thought that I would get the sleep to come. It usually did. An hour later, I was still reading. Ok, let’s do some paddling. Open the hatch, and it’s all dark. The moon is hidden by the clouds. […]
It started as usual, with my alarm blaring, “Do you like American music” Violent Femmes, reminding me that in 5 minutes, it was scheduled time with the shore team. I flick the Thales VesseLINK switch to the on position. This takes place at 09:00 South African time. Unfortunately, it’s still dark where I am. […]
I have reached the point where I have enough emergency water to reach Brazil. There are 2L per day, which I will start to use to help lighten Osiyeza. Lighter = faster. When I get to Salvador, I estimate Osiyeza will be 15-20% lighter from my own weight loss, water and food. All this reduction […]
This is not my first time taking a kayak across an ocean. It is in fact, the 4th time! What? The first time was a trip to Seychelles with Martin Coetzee. We each took a surf ski and lashed onto the guard rails. Each day we would jump off the yacht with a […]
What great paddling conditions we are having out here. All the elements lined up in the right direction. I have worked out that when I paddle Osiyeza at a slight angle to the swells, she gets into a rocking rhythm. I am not exactly sure if this motion somehow reduces the water friction or gets […]
Following on from the other day’s random thought of airbags in aeroplanes, I saw my first aeroplane today, belting across the sky. A flight heading to Rio, I am guessing by the heading. They should be there in only a few hours. When I was younger, it would depress me when I saw an aeroplane […]
For something different, I slept the other way around. Feet forward. It was an odd experience. I am not sure what to make of it. Was it better, and if so, what makes it so? I think I need another night or two that way around to make up my mind. One negative is I […]
Started listening to another EBook today. Michael Caine “Blowing the bloody door off and other lessons in life.” I put my cheap waterproof Bluetooth speaker under my seat. My phone, which is playing the ebook, remains inside, away from the ocean clutches and on charge. I use my Garmin Quatix watch to control the volume […]
Min Dae seemed just the other day! Today I have less than 2000km to go, which should be about 20 days. It may be a little longer if my back does not start to feel better. There was almost murder on the dance floor. I slipped on the aft solar panels when I checked […]