Day 95 - Solar Issues And Tuna Escort
August 11, 2009 – 8:40 amLast night the tuna escort continued long into the early hours of the morning. It was strange to look down into the dark depths of the ocean and see around 400 tuna swimming alongside. Although as soon as I stopped rowing to take a picture they just carried on, did a loop and kept looping round until I took to the oars again. It seems these guys just don’t like standing (or should that be swimming?) still. There was barely a wave on the ocean and the moon was just past full meaning that only a handful of stars could be seen alongside the planets. There wasn’t a sound at all coming from the seas movement against Bo’s hull. It was really rather spooky but quite beautiful and something that neither video nor photos could show.
The only other news from yet another roasting hot and very still day at the oars is that since the fire we’ve noticed that the charge going into our batteries has reduced somewhat. In truth this might have happened earlier but we’ve only been all to aware of it since the fire. We’ve investigated at a top line level but couldn’t find anything that was definately wrong. Just before lunch I decided to go at it with screwdrivers drawn to solve the problem. It turns out that one of the large panels at the front of Bo and a smaller one at the rear just weren’t working at all. The one at the rear shows signs of the same discolouration that was shown by the panel that caused the fire but the one at the front looks flawless. The upshot of it all is that we have slightly less power than we had before and have to be a little more cautious with how we use it. Considering we now have the same amount of power as the average boat doing the Atlantic race at the start (but with 3 hours of less darkness) this is less of a problem than it could be and we just need to be cautious in the future.
36°24′46”N 167°40′17”W
Chris & Mick travelled 40.4 miles East-North-East (heading 72.9°) on day 95
They ended 2467.4 miles from San Francisco (40.4 miles closer than yesterday)
They covered miles 2574 to 2613 of the trip
Their average pace so far has been 27.5 miles/day towards San Francisco
They have 89.7 days remaining at this rate, so would arrive in San Francisco on 8 Nov 2009
Their target heading for the shortest route to San Francisco is East-North-East (heading 73.8°)
See where the boat is
Sponsor Thanks
Plenty of sponsors to thank today - this seems to be a very popular section of their trip:
- Remingium Lodge 7343 who’ve sponsored a total of 20 miles, 4 of them covered today (2580, 2590, 2609, 2620).
- Lee and Sherry Bruce who sponsored miles 2601-2608 - Lee is the crew’s weather man, and would like to politely remind the crew that he is in sales, not production.
- Richard Stagg who sponsored miles 2610.
- And Blake Gladman who sponsored mile 2612.
Thank you all.
Would you like to sponsor a mile?
19 Responses to “Day 95 - Solar Issues And Tuna Escort”
What about the trip line???
By Laser.Beam on Aug 11, 2009
From 8.30 this morning Dad and I gave up our usual listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 to make sure we didn’t miss our boy on BBC Radio Surrey at 8.50. The time passed by and no Chris. Then it was the 9 o’clock news but we didn’t give up. At last, after the playing of Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’, he was on - coming over loud and clear. Well done Chris! You answered the questions (unlike most politicians these days) and made sure the charities and the website got a good mention.
Welcome to anyone new to the blog as a result of the broadcast - we hope to read your comments soon!
By Mum and Dad Martin on Aug 11, 2009
… and now for something completely different. After the succesfull radio transmission, here’s some words from quizes & radio phone-in competitons.. Makes you proud to be British
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (BBC2)
Jamie Theakston: Where do you think Cambridge University is?
Contestant: Geography isn’t my strong point.
Jamie Theakston: There’s a clue in the title.
Contestant: Leicester?
BBC NORFOLK
Stewart White: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?
Contestant: I don’t know.
Stewart White: I’ll give you some clues: what do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?
Contestant: Arm
Stewart White: Correct. And if you’re not weak, you’re…?
Contestant: Strong.
Stewart White: Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten’s first name?
Contestant: Louis
Stewart White:Well, there we are then. So who had a worldwide hit with the song What A Wonderful World?
Contestant: Frank Sinatra?
JAMES O’BRIEN SHOW (LBC)
James O’Brien: How many kings of England have been called Henry?
Contestant: Er, well, I know there was a Henry the Eighth … ER. ER … Three?
DARYL DENHAM’S DRIVETIME (VIRGIN RADIO)
Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland ?
Daryl Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland ? Ireland ?
Daryl Denham: (helpfully)It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel ?
Contestant: No.
By Cath on Aug 11, 2009
Morning Chris and Mick,
You are doing brilliantly well. Having just been tossed around in wild surf of Atlantic coast in France (about 1 metre from the shore!)I cannot imagine what it is like to be in the middle of the Pacific!
We are currently on lovely teacher holidays but thought you might like to know that Class 5 and yourselves made the Craven Herald! If you visit http://www.cravenherald.co.uk and type in Pacific in the search box an article should pop up - Sat 1st Aug. And there are four of your followers in the T-shirts! (sorry if this is old news to some!)
Keep going boys, it is a truly incredible challenge.
Sue Marshall
(en vacance from High Bentham Primary School)
By Sue Marshall on Aug 11, 2009
Great to see the kids in the local paper, a much better looking boat than “Bo” as well, doesn’t look like they’ve had any on board fires Martin and Dawson, and they have appear to still have their line tied securley to bows of their craft, some lessons there chaps.
Sue, I do hope the children’s geography is better than the journolist whose headline “Bentham schoolchildren keep tabs on Atlantic adventurers” is just a few thousand miles out!
Fortunatley the children teachers and even the intrepid duo come out of the article with all the credit they deserve for their money raising efforts! Are the children still at Bentham Primary is September or are they going to Big School to spread the messageof “Bo” on the Pacific far and wide?
By Biff on Aug 11, 2009
And to reinforce LB… What about the trip line?! I’ve been on tenterhooks!
By Biff on Aug 11, 2009
Afternoon Mick and Chris, checking in to see how things are progressing - nicely it seems.
Having an entourage/fan club of 400 tuna must be quite novel - caught any yet?
And to think they hang around whilst you get back on the oars is wicked. Some groupies eh!
By Dizzie Blonde on Aug 11, 2009
Biff, in Blackadder they talk about “tenterhooks” but I thought it might be a mis-quote from “tenderhooks” that they use in game butchery.
Which do you think they meant?
By Laser.Beam on Aug 11, 2009
Laserbeam,
Am i glad you asked the question in regards to “Tenterhooks”… Having watched Griff Rhys Jones on BBC’s Britians Rivers on Sunday i can confirm its Tenterhooks - which are used in making woollen cloth, they are used when drying the oils from the woollen cloth and to prevent the cloth shrinking…the rivers in question were the Seven and the Wye…going through Wales there is obviously a lot of Sheep (another educational clip for Class 5)
I never thought i’d get to use that fact so soon, having also thought it was Tenderhooks myself.
Or may be both Tenderhooks or Tenterhooks is correct,
Oh no i think i’ve started another topic.
Glad to see you both pushing on…sorry i’ve not written for a while…and please tell us about the trip line.
By Olly on Aug 11, 2009
Well done Ollie you can have a star, and well noted Olly. Gald to see you were concentrating when Mr. Jones was commenting on “Tenterhooks” on Sunday evening. LaserBeam I belive the phrase AAAAAHHHHH!!!
By Biff on Aug 11, 2009
Being on tenterhooks means being under great stress or tension while waiting for a result or outcome. It has been suggested that the phrase stems from tent hooks, which are used to hold a canvas under great tension, keeping it watertight, but its origin is far older. In bygone days, newly-produced cloth would be attached to hooks and atretched across large frames known as ‘tenters’, coming from the Latin word ‘tendere’, meaning ‘to stretch out’. Anyone, or anything, stretched to the limit later became known as being ‘on tenterhooks’.
Sadly, I can’t claim the above as original work. The whole paragraph has been lifted verbatim from “Red Herrings and White Elephants”. This fine tome, by one Albert Jack, examines the origins of the phrases we use every day. I just knew it would come in handy one day! Best regards, Pedant (Snr).
By Dad Martin on Aug 11, 2009
From Wikipedia:
In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker’s dialect. The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original, but plausible in the same context (”old-timers’ disease” for “Alzheimer’s disease”). This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase. Classical malapropisms generally derive their comic effect from the fault of the user, whilst eggcorns are errors that exhibit creativity or logic.[1] Eggcorns often involve replacing an unfamiliar, archaic, or obscure word with a more common or modern word (”baited breath” for “bated breath”).[2]
The term “eggcorn” was coined by Geoffrey Pullum in September 2003, in response to an article by Mark Liberman on the website Language Log, a blog for linguists.[3] Liberman discussed the case of a woman who substitutes the phrase egg corn for the word acorn, arguing that the precise phenomenon lacked a name; Pullum suggested using “eggcorn” itself.
Examples
for all intensive purposes instead of for all intents and purposes
hone in instead of home in
just desserts instead of just deserts
old timers’ disease instead of Alzheimer’s disease
on tenderhooks instead of on tenterhooks
on the spurt of the moment instead of on the spur of the moment
once and a while instead of once in a while
pot marks instead of pockmarks
preying mantis instead of praying mantis
sore grapes instead of sour grapes
splashy instead of plashy
tow the line instead of toe the line
wanton to do instead of wont to do
By Laser.Beam on Aug 11, 2009
Fantastic! I must admit I wouldn’t normally give Wikipedia the time of day, but I enjoyed this extract enormously. At the risk of showing my ignorance though, I must confess to never having come across the adjective ‘plashy’. Presumably, it refers to the sound made by a pair of oars as they come into contact with the somewhat irregular surface of the Pacific Ocean.
Whilst on matters linguistic, I half-heard a verbal gem from (Stephen) ‘Fry’s English Delight’ on Radio 4 this morning. I believe he was talking about the translation of English sayings into Russian. Thus, the expression “Out of sight; out of mind” came across as “Invisible idiot”. Hmmmm!
By Dad Martin on Aug 11, 2009
Nope, it seems my Pacific analogy was slightly off-beam. Breaking the habit of a lifetime, I logged on to the aforesaid Wikipedia to be greeted with the following:
“plashy (comparative more plashy, superlative most plashy)
1.Watery, wet, waterlogged.
2.Marked by flecks of colour, as if plashed with paint.”
So there you have it……while ’tis true that the Pacific is both ‘watery’ and ‘wet’, it must be admitted that ‘waterlogged’ seems a mite understated!!!!!
By Dad Martin on Aug 11, 2009
Hi both….NEW TO the BLOG I last met Chris at Remigium Lodge in December 2008. It was a warm and dry place, in the west of London. I find it hard to visualise the total contrast of your present position. Congratulations to you both, you are doing wonderfully, not just for the Charities you are supporting, but to tackle such a challenge with such a positive outlook. Keep rowing: I know silly thing to say what else could you do when you are just over half way…but from the stats you are nearer the finish than the start. We in the Craft are proud of you….both
Peter Martin VO to Remigium (No relative)
By Peter Martin on Aug 11, 2009
I live for the day when I meet someone who says they did something ‘on the spurt of the moment’
What about the trip line?
Alex Bellini also had a soggy solar panel. Maybe ask Laser.Beam what he suggested - I seem to remember him offering some clever suggestions. L.B?
By Margaret on Aug 12, 2009
Radio Norfolk Quiz 1988:
Announcer “which American state has the most A’s in its name?”
Contestant (in broad Norfolk swampy dialect) “is it Tennessee?”
I know this to be true for two reasons: 1) I heard it whilst driving and almost crashed my car laughing; 2) I was schooled on the Norfolk Broads and can attest to the level of intelligence of some of the kids in my class.
Mick, TLW Crab Air went out last night with another ex-RN ‘82 veteran. Needless to say he didn’t go the distance. Although give the boy his due, we finished in Pats at 04:45 on Saturday night/Sunday morning and he had hung in there til then.
Aye
TLM
By Typical Lightweight Matelot on Aug 12, 2009
TLM I carried you to your car!! Then went on to picallos!
Last night surprised me, I thought all matelots where typically light weight. But your obviously a special case. Found your watch yet?
Mick and Chris keep rowing , good effort.
John.
By John Hanafin on Aug 12, 2009
In regards to Margaret wanting to meet some one “who says they did something ‘on the spurt of the moment’”….
I believe its safe to say that were all produced “on the spurt of the moment”…just speak to your parents.
By Dr Loly on Aug 12, 2009