17 Feb 2005, Yorkshire
I wish I could say that I enter a Zen-like trance and elevate my mind to a higher plane, contemplating matters of great magnitude and cosmic significance while my body gets on with the job at hand.
But I'd be lying.
Music is the only thing that gets me through the brain-crushing tedium of a four-hour ergo. Cheesy seventies and eighties hits are favourite. Wa-wa-wa-wa-Waterloo...
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10 Feb 2005, Yorkshire
Boils on the bum, and how to avoid them: lesson I.
Many an ocean rower has been brought low by salt water boils on the backside. It may not affect boat speed but it can certainly affect morale. Determined to avoid getting a raw bum deal, I asked for help from Fourth Element, who specialise in chafe-free garments for divers, surfers, and anyone spending a lot of time around salt water.
After driving all the way to their offices on Lizard Point for our meeting, I was relieved when they agreed to support me by donating some of their cool kit. Here I am, wearing their Hydroskin top, which will also protect me from UV rays - very important out on the water for a fair-skinned person like me.
Must go - time to put the shorts through the chafe test on a 3-hour ergo...
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03 Feb 2005, Yorkshire
Yesterday someone asked a very good question - won't I lose all my hard-earned fitness if I spend April swanning around on the yacht Steamy Windows?
I'd been worried about this, so I'd done some research. Apparently endurance fitness is much more resilient than, say, strength. If my training programme was based around building up lots of muscle bulk by lifting weights in the gym, that muscle would very rapidly disappear at sea when it's not needed. But my training programme is geared towards building up endurance, and that shouldn't suffer too much if I take 3 weeks off.
In fact, the break from routine could do me a lot of good - physical adaptations take place during rest, not during exercise, so a good training programme should include adequate recovery. And psychologically, it will be good to have a break from these long slogs on the WaterRower.
It's not like I'll be totally inactive, either - during the 2 weeks at sea I guess I'll be running around bracing the mainsail, or whatever the hell it is that sailors do. And I'm told that just being on a boat will be good for my core strength, as you're constantly using your back and stomach muscles to hold yourself upright against the motion of the boat.
And while we're ashore I can go running. So I think I'll be OK.
The ocean experience will be absolutely invaluable. I'll hopefully find my sea legs, which could make the difference between success and failure in the race. I've heard it rumoured that alleged 'food poisoning' has defeated a significant number of ocean rowers.
I'll also be able to practice my navigation, make sure my technology works at sea, learn about marine instrumentation, use Russ's Atlantic planner to plan my race course, and most importantly, test out my Green People sun cream.... Definitely worth skipping a few gym sessions for!
Roz Savage travel writer and photographer
Website: www.rozsavage.com E-mail: roz@rozsavage.com
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01 Feb 2005, Yorkshire
'It doesn't matter so much what you decide, it's the way you apply your decision.'
Alasdair McGregor was talking at the Olympia Adventure Show about lessons learned from his Atlantic rowing experience in 2003, when he and Andrew Vinsen were the first British crew to cross the line in Barbados.
Later, as we were having a few bevvies in the pub with the Woodvale guys (organisers of Atlantic Rowing Race), I asked him what he'd meant. 'Just that you can't dither. Be consistent. Make a decision based on the information you have available at the time, and stick with it. Or maybe decide a point at which you'll review it. But don't waste a lot of time worrying about whether it was the RIGHT decision.'
Ranulph Fiennes put it another way, in his book Beyond the Limits:
'When you can't make up your mind and the experts' advice is contradictory, keep an open mind, balance all likely factors, plan for a bad scenario and go for the best compromise solution. Then, once you've made your decision, stick to your guns.'
Timely advice. I'd been dithering about where to live for the summer while I kit out my boat - Devon, where I'd be nearer the Woodvale people, or Brighton, where I'd be nearer London. And also dithering whether to take up an invitation to crew on a friend's yacht, Steamy Windows, from Cape Verde to the Azores - invaluable ocean experience, but expensive to get the necessary flights. And also dithering about what laptop to use during the race - whether a ruggedised laptop was really necessary, and whether to forsake Mac for PC for compatibility reasons.
But no more deliberations. Based on the information I have right now, Brighton, Steamy Windows and PC it is. Onwards and upwards!
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