JAMIE

'This too shall pass.'

A Tom Hanks quote that I keep returning to throughout the day and the night. For both the good times and the bad, they will pass. Cherish and persevere.

Our autopilot issues returned, initiated by a change in settings to the deck repeater by Ewan during a pirate scare last night.

The head of the naval academy in Lima warned us that on the border of Peruvian and international waters, some unregistered fishing vessels operate; dabbling in a bit piracy. We were reassured that they wouldn’t be interested in our somewhat odd looking vessel, however to give any of these types of boats a wide berth was wise.

At approximately 23:00, Ewan, solo on his second night shift, spotted the lights of a fishing boat off the stern of Rose Emily. Over the course of an hour they were seemingly heading directly towards us. A quick look at marine traffic on his phone but no AIS was found (an automated alarm system that most commercial vessels have on board to help avoid collisions). He changed course, slowed down, and they passed approximately 500m to port.

They of course weren’t pirates, but in the pitch dark open ocean, a mind that is quite heavily sleep deprived likes to convince you otherwise.

In changing course, the autopilot on the deck light was adjusted. We assume this somehow messed with the settings, as over the course of the next 2 hours all three of us had to be up, myself manually steering inside the stern cabin, Ewan attempting a reset on deck, and Lachlan on the oars keeping up forward momentum. The boat slowed, we hand steered, we spoke to our boat builder Mark, and after a further two hours we regained use of the autopilot system.

The combination of sweat and salt water is beginning to take its toll on our bodies, in particular our back sides. Rash there was always inevitable, but this bad at this early stage is a slight concern. Rinsing down after every rowing shift with fresh water, however with so many hours on the oars there’s next to no rest or healing for these tender areas.

I solo row as the sun rises. The lower back ache is ever present, made worse by the multi directional waves created by this sea state. And yet I feel remarkably good. Instant coffee in my baby beaker sippy cup, squashie chews to my left, Taylor Swift on the speaker, life is good.

Low wind all morning and afternoon result in a long, sweaty slog. Morale pretty low, the prospect of a week of this same weather weighs heavy on the mind. This too shall pass, we hope. But the creation of Singalong 2.0 lifts the spirits. Singalong was the original playlist we played every evening for golden hour during our Atlantic row.

A daily highlight that mentally prepared us for the night shifts ahead.

We row into the sunset, screeching at the top of our voices to Beluga Lagoon, The Waterboys and Leif Vollebekk. But these golden moments too will pass and the night shift beckons.