I’ve talked before about the incredible amount of life I’ve seen every day in the ocean, during my seven weeks at sea, and the fish that have been my travelling companions since I set out. Well the other day I got a closer glimpse of one of the denizens of the deep that perhaps even I expected.

As well as the little stripy fish that live under the boat I am often accompanied by some larger fish that are called Dorado or I think Mahi-mahi. They have other names too I believe. They mostly seem to eat the flying fish that are in the sea here in abundance.

The flying fish come in all sizes and there are millions of them. When I’m in my cabin it sometimes sounds like a mini hail storm because there are so many of them leaping out of the water and hitting the outside of the boat. There are a bit of a nuisance too because if they land on deck they thrash about all over the place in an attempt to get back in the water. Often they do but they leave a scales and slime behind them and it takes quite a while to clean up the mess. If I don’t clear up it soon turns smelly, nasty and uncomfortable.

I was in the cabin tending to my wounds one day and applying some cream to my backside when one such visitor about the size of a mackerel landed on board with a thump and proceeded to leap and dance about all over the deck. In an attempt to get it back in the water before it harmed itself, or left me with extra house keeping, I quickly clipped my harness on outside and attempted to catch it and throw it overboard. But the ridiculousness of my situation occurred to me, naked, strapped in and covered in antiseptic cream, and I couldn’t catch the fish for laughing!

Eventually I did manage it get it overboard and it went off to whatever its future was. But it’s a few funny minutes of fun I’ll always remember.

Anyway the daily demonstration of the way the food chain works, bigger fish chasing and eating smaller fish came home to me with a bang the other day. I had gone into the cabin to better see what tunes were available on my iPod when there was a loud bang and the boat was almost lifted out of the water! My immediate thought was that it could be a whale! This was followed by other strong thumps and bangs and I wondered what on earth (there might have been a few words with f in somewhere in there too) was happening. I grabbed my video camera and nervously ventured outside to see what was causing the fuss. (I have to say here that I have so much confidence in the boat to cope with whatever is thrown at it now that I felt pretty safe. After all the boat has been on its side twice but never rolled over). I was in time to see a six foot long (two metres) Dorado leap out of the water in a desperate attempt to escape what ever was pursuing it. The fish went back in the water as a dark shape appeared below, there was an almighty swirl in the water and the Dorado disappeared from sight.

I managed to get some film of this and a few seconds later I saw a long black shape swim under the boat and away. It was a fifteen to eighteen foot shark that had shoved my boat aside in its attempt to catch its dinner for the day. It had taken the six foot long fish in one seemed to be one gulp. I must say the whole episode left me pretty shaken but I’m glad I was able to capture some of it on film.

My travelling companions were upset by this happening too and swirled around beneath my in confusion for some time. Then slowly, over the next few hours, they disappeared. But slowly over the past few days most have returned and life has settled down into its usual pattern. There was a similar event a few days ago when there were lots of bumping and knocking around the rudder one night and the next day most of my stripy, fishy companions had disappeared. Something must have eaten them during the night.

This morning, though most had been replaced by others and when I put my pan in the water to clean out some rice I had cooked they clustered around to share in my leftovers. I held the pan in the water to clean it and these fish are so tame they swim right in to nibble the food from the side of the pan. I share my meals with them every day and they are very tame and friendly when I get in the water to clean or tend to the outside of the boat. They are very curious and under water they will swim right up to my mask to investigate what is happening.

So back to my progress, and I finally am making good progress with the halfway mark approaching fast. I should hit that milestone sometime in the next week and from then on it’s all downhill (I wish!). I’m finally into the North East trade winds and that is helping me make better mileage each day. I still can’t believe it’s taken this long to get into the “Trades” but I’m there now so westwards we go now all the time.

Like most of us do too I made some mistakes and packed too much for my trip, but as I work my way through my supplies and discard things I can to save weight it all helps to make the boat lighter and faster. I am eating well now and cooking some of my food has other advantages too. I have to cook out side and usually hold the “Jetboil” between my legs to keep it stable. Because of this I won’t need to wax those parts of my legs when I get back! There’s a thought.

Thanks to all my regular texters. Keep them coming it’s so good to get messages and news from home. I got twenty in one evening the other day and that’s really encouraging. Even Scraggy’s jokes! (alias Pete the Fisherman)

Special thanks to Kenneth and Tatiana for updating my positions on the Oceanrowing website. The feedback from family and friends about how easy it is to see my progress has all been excellent. Thanks again. I’ll certainly be making a donation to the society when I get back. www.oceanrowing.com

Thanks to;

Heather

Sarah and Ant

Pat and Ron

Donna and Paul

Scottish Derek

Dyantha and Gavin

Rudyard Roy

Bruce M

Paul Carvill

Louise G

Kirsty

And Ian McCall (he’s my accountant, is there no escape?)

From your regular news there seems to be lots of climbing and walking going on and I’m sure Derek is picking off lots of winter routes. Others are disappearing off to the Lakes and Scotland.

In response to some of your questions;

-I think I can safely say that the only thing that doesn’t hurt are my eyes!

- To Emily and Jane, wonder no more – Rowing, sleeping or making a brew

- No cigars, sadly

- To Nigel – You can use my boat if you fancy it

- DC yes it was cloudy

- DC yes it was sunny

- There’s no chance I’ll run out of tea bags, I’m only about half way through my supplies of them

- Sorry Rudyard Ron, I’m a bit rusty with the sextant

- What’s wrong with Elton John, anyway it was Avril Lavigne most of today. I’m not sure about her lyrics sometimes but she provides a good beat to row to.

Bradley and Joel say Happy mothers day to Mummy

Finally I must mention again how impressed I am with my boat. It’s a privilege to be the test pilot for a unique sols design from Phil Morrison. The boat is light and fast (even with me rowing it) and has been built to a superb specification. As it’s a new design I’ve been able to trial and experiment with different rowing positions and weight distribution to improve overall performance and it’s great to be involved in such a project from the beginning.

Once again thanks for the fantastic design and build to everyone involved

Thanks everyone for your support keep it coming and I’ll send some more news soon.