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July 30, 2000
Solomons to Australia voyage - Update #12
Lat/Long as of 12.15 hrs local time
12 degs 57. 92’ S
153 degs 18. 26’E
Day 13. Wind SE 20 knots. Heading 200
Fatigue and salt sores are all the rage on Moksha these days. Fatigue was always going to be a problem on this voyage once it became apparent from the start that we’d need to keep the cranks turning to avoid being swept westward. We haven’t had even one hour off – let alone a whole evening like we’ve occasionally done on previous voyages – to do something completely different other than pedaling. The result of this rather grueling regime we’ve put ourselves under is that neither of us have slept for more than 4 hours in any one of the 13 nights since leaving. But tonight was going to be an exception. In celebration of crossing the half way point of the voyage we had planned to take off a couple of hours to cook a nice meal, listen to some music on the Moksha internal PA system and pretend we were a million miles away from the Coral Sea and all its delightful characteristics. But by 5 ‘clock this afternoon the seas looked even bigger than ever, and the thought of trying to sit somewhere comfortable enough to strum out even a few strains on the guitar started losing its appeal rapidly. So we’ve opted for postponing our big night out until the ocean calms down a little.
I’ve finally figured out what the whole salt sore thing is about (finally, after how many days at sea now?). It all boils down to A. Wet conditions and B. Rotation of clothing/footwear. I got to thinking why salt sore have become such an issue so early on in this trip (both of our backsides are red-raw with little sores and April has a couple of hum-dingers under the straps of her sandals that have burnt through the layers of skin to the flesh) and yet were of no real issue to Chris and I throughout the last voyage. The only thing different on this voyage is the amount of time we spend pedaling in wet conditions, our wet skin rubbing against wet material that is rubbing against a wet pedal seat/sandals. So, without a copious resource of either dry clothes or fresh water to rinse the salt from our skin/clothes (which we obviously don’t have) the only other remedy that seems to work is rotating the shorts and sandals we wear to vary the friction areas on our rear ends/feet.
Although fatigue becomes a 24 hour all over mind/body malaise with time, it’s during the night shift that it really gets to business on you. At the beginning of a shift you normally feel OK. Then as the hours roll by your head becomes heavier and heavier until it lolls hopelessly in defeat. At this point one part of your body (i.e. your head) has unofficially called it a day and gone to sleep. But there’s obviously a breakdown in communications somewhere down the line because what usually happens is the legs keep pumping away and you can continue like this for a good distance like some sort of zombie Energizer battery-bunny with its head cut off before the legs figure out what’s happened. Occasionally the mind suddenly wakes up, remembers what its supposed to be doing and snaps the head smartly into the upright position again. But this is usually a rather traumatic affair (as anyone who has fallen asleep at the wheel of a motorcar going 90mph will know) and if repeated too often in one night can leave the person with mild effects of whiplash.
Rather than go for the recommended option of getting more rest, April, not wanting to miss out on even a minute’s opportunity to keep the boat moving forward to Cairns, has devised this clever contraption (see photo) to keep her neck and head upright whilst pedaling. This way the now official Moksha Energizer Bunny (she looks a bit like one too don’t you think?) can fall asleep at anytime and keep on going…for hours….and hours….and hours….and still look refreshed at the end of her shift.
Jason
Posted on July 30, 2000 2:31 PM