Day 37: Rock n roll again
Last night Osiyeza started to move around a bit more than in the previous few days. All locked up inside, I struggled to get some decent shut-eye in. I put it down to not wanting to miss my Cape Talk interview, which was at 03:20 my time.
Only when I went for my first session did it dawn on me that the wind had increased and was gusting 20kt, and the sea was building but from multiple directions. Shows what a lack of sleep can do to the sensors.
The past few days, I have been managing to crack 100km per day. Based on today’s speeds, I am confident I am now on the Easterly conveyor belt. Strong East winds plus up to one knot of current will definitely give me an extra push.
As you know, I try to hide from the sun as much as possible. Midday, I like to hide inside Osiyeza, have something to eat, jot down some thoughts for the blog and read the kindle. This usually knocks me out for at least half an hour. The problem now is the temperature; as it keeps increasing, so does it inside Osiyeza. Today it was 34° inside. It’s still the lesser of two evils, but it’s like a little sweatbox. The mattress looks like a dead body has been outlined and traced in sweat. ♨
The highlight of the trip so far happened in the afternoon. I am not sure what made me look behind, but the first thing I saw was a fin sticking out of the water with a dark shape below.
I jumped inside and grabbed the first camera I could find, which was my cell phone. It was a Blue Marlin and was longer than me. It was cruising up to the rudder and then moving down the side and back again. It must have had its eye on the poor pilot fish that have been with me for many days. They must have been using the keel as protection.
I grabbed one of the waterproof cameras to try and get some underwater video, but before I could, the Marlin took off at lightning speed and proceeded to do three jumps high into the air, one after the other. Slamming down sideways each time and then was gone. I waited and watched for a while and saw another smaller Marlin swim near the stern, but it quickly disappeared.
Marlins use their long award-like bills to stun their prey, and on a few occasions, they have miss judged where the boat is in relation to their prey and have speared right through the hull of ocean rowing boats. Their bills snap off, leaving it sticking through the boat. Luckily most bunks are above the bottom of the hull, and no one has been injured yet, but it’s quite a shocking thing to happen. I am now convinced that it was a Marlin that was shaking Osiyeza’s rudder the other evening.
I wonder if the two Pilot fish are still around. I slipped the waterproof camera over the side, and much to my relief, they were both cruising next to the keel.
I did another interview so check out Die Burger newspaper today and Netwerk24 online.
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