It was a beautifully sunny and hot day and there I was sitting on the balcony of my hotel room in the West Indies. I was looking out to sea and had a large gin and tonic on the table beside my chair. The gentle breeze was wafting the trees along the beach and the murmur of the palms and the ocean was lulling me off to sleep. If only someone would stop knocking on the door trying to get in…..

 Actually it was 05.30 a.m. and I sat up with a jolt remembering where I was, but still wondering who could be knocking on the door at this time in the morning, and how had they got onto my boat anyway? I have to admit to a few moments panic while I pulled myself together and peered out to see what was happening.

 I’ve mentioned previously about my travelling companions, the fish that have kept me company almost since I began my voyage. If you remember too, I told you how the flying fish keep me entertained leaping out of the water to escape their pursuers and how they sometimes land on my deck. Well this time it was one of the metre long Dorado that had leapt out of the water onto my deck, knocked my rowing seat off its runners and dived head first into the foot well. There it had got stuck and was frantically trying to free itself again. As it was thrashing about its tail was beating a loud tattoo on my cabin hatch and that was what woke me from my pleasant dreams!

 I pushed it out of the way and eventually managed to man-handle it overboard with some difficulty. They are incredibly strong and seem to be made of muscle from one end to the other. Once I had got rid of it and put my seat back into its proper place it took me another hour to clean up all the blood and slime it had left behind. It’s essential to clean up straight after any fish have been on board, as the days soon heat up now and the smell of rapidly going off fish skin/scales/slime is not very nice at all. Even though it’s in the fresh air and is washed over by the waves from time to time the smell seems to cling to everything if it isn’t washed off straight away.

 I’d intended to have another hour or so in bed that morning but as the fish had gone to the trouble to provide me with an un-scheduled alarm call I decided to do some other chores before I started my day’s rowing.

 I carefully took my water maker filters out and changed them for new ones and then methodically checked and put everything back exactly as it had been. Feeling pleased with myself I turned the machine on to test it and was rewarded with a pathetic little dribble in response. I admit that I felt panic rising as I hastily went back over everything and looked around to make sure I hadn’t omitted to put some vital part back in the machine during re-assembly but no, it was all there. I searched all around the casing to see if I could discover some way of priming it or releasing an imagined airlock somewhere inside and it was then that my hand found the stop tap, which I had of course turned off to stop sea water coming in through the inlet while I carried out my maintenance work.

 So on to the next job which was to attempt repairs to my broken external phone aerial. It was damaged during one of the storms and had been getting progressively worse as time went by. The iridium phone I use needs to be able to “see” the satellite it wants to connect to. But the external aerial means I can make calls from the comfort of my cabin without having to go outside and put my harness on etc. A broken aerial shouldn’t have caused me a problem really as I have a spare. Unfortunately it’s sitting waiting for me on my desk in my office at home, so I had to attempt repairs to the existing one. I took it to pieces and then re-assembled it having kind of spliced the two end bits together and hey presto it worked straight away. I just hope it holds out now, but as the weather is considerably warmer and more settled now it’s not a big problem to make calls out doors if it gives up the ghost.

 I also cut my hair and had a shave which made me feel really clean – until a wave came in about twenty minutes later!

 

Now back to the present for a few minutes. I’m just making my dinner as I pass my messages on this evening; I’m having rice and vegetable casserole. There’s a gentle breeze and a lovely sunset.

 Most of my favourite foods have gone now and I have no Moroccan black olives, no Puccini mushrooms, no artichokes and no salted anchovies so my pasta specials just don’t taste the same somehow! However I’ve still got lots of M&S delights and some Lloyd Grosman sauces left.

 As you’ll have noticed I’m making much better progress now and am well over half way to my destination. I seem to have got my second wind and the “Trades” are helping. For a few days thought here has been little or no wind at all and it’s been like rowing in syrup, in a sauna. The oppressive heat, when it is still, saps my strength and I had a couple of days suffering from heat exhaustion, which really slowed my progress. The chart I use shows the sea for my entire voyage, but it’s too big to handle flat out so I’ve been working with it folded in half. It was a real motivator when I passed the halfway mark and I turned it over. Now I’m always looking at where I’m going to, rather than where I’ve come from.

 

 As always thanks to you all for your messages, please keep sending them.

 

Here are a few responses to some of your questions and comments;

 
Hi Paul Quinn – no I don’t have email, just dictate my blog to my faithful scribe George.

 Thanks Ed for setting up the links to the other rowers.

 Hi Louise – I wish I’d bought a caravan instead!

 Hello Cath – Well done! – Lot’s of wobble fish, mostly at night

 Jetboils – 2 down 1 to go.

 No I’ve no alcohol on board, so it’s back to one of my favourite dreams

 Great joke about the nurse Scraggy – I’m still chuckling when I picture it.

 

 And a few hellos

 

 To Kelly and family

 Thanks to family on Trinity with the boxer dog

 Rose and Rod

 Phil and Gill

 Sandra and Terry

 Carly and Jenna

 The Kellys – did he win?

 John and Elaine – I know the reason why and have the answers

 Hylda and Roy (as a man of the cloth could you request some more wind for me please)

 Hello Sarah Allen’s friend – you didn’t leave your name

 Hi to all at Macc Express

 Happy 70^th Aunty Sue

 Thanks to Patrick – I hope the book sales are still going well

 Thanks also to Rudyard Pete – I keep taking some video, thanks for the offer. I’ll see you when I get back

 

 Happy Birthday Elaine – all my love

 
And to you too Bradley – happy birthday

 
With a special hello to Joel

 
Finally I’ve got a little project for Dave Collis. Dave let me know the answers to the following if you can.

 Every day at some time or another I am accompanied by various birds of different sizes, but I don’t know what they are.

 The first and most common fly alongside me in pairs or multiples of pairs and have a 2 to 3 ft wingspan. They hardly ever seem to beat their wing and just glide along. I’ve mentioned before how the flying fish jump out of the water to escape their pursuers, well these birds catch and eat them as they fly (who’d be a flying fish?). The birds are dark browny grey with a white or mottled underside.

 The second is a very dark, almost black it has an 8 to 10 inch wingspan and has a white V shaped marking on its tail. There is a similar but less distinct markings on its wing. It is very agile and is even around me in the darkness sometimes.

 The third is white with a two to three foot wingspan and dark tail feathers. Unlike the first two this one flaps its wings a lot.

 The fourth one is the one I have seen least. It is almost hawk like in appearance and is all black with a white cap on its head.

 So that’s all my news, info and gossip for now. Don’t forget to send me a message if you can and I’ll be in touch again when I’m closer to my target.

 The site is www.iridium.com and then click on send a satellite message at top right of home page.  The box then comes up where you type in phone number and then box to type in message (160 characters max). You don’t bother with the return email box.