September 7, 2007

I woke up this morning to winds from the northeast.  To my surprise, I had traveled 28.6 nautical miles overnight.  This was 10 nautical miles more than usual.  I rowed for about six hours after breakfast.  While I rowed, I listened to a book on CD by Tom Clancy called “Red Storm Rising.”  I rowed even farther before lunch.  Then I took the afternoon off to write this dispatch.  The day’s total came to 54.4 nautical miles.  It was a record so far on this trip!

I have been on the California Current for a while.  Now I am rowing on to the North Equatorial Current.  A current is a flow of ocean water in one direction.  The North Equatorial is the longest, unbroken ocean current on the Earth.  It begins near Costa Rica and runs to the Philippines, which is more than 7,000 nautical miles.

I am truly in the middle of nowhere!  But land is never too far.  Out here on the ocean, it is just 4 to 6 kilometers below me.

Two days ago, I ate the last of the salami and finished my tortillas.  My cabin is free of the extra clutter of food bags.  I can now stretch out my legs in any direction.  I was like a worm in an apple.  I had to eat to make room for myself!

I have been told that students wonder what I eat.  I will talk about that in the next few dispatches.  The doratos (mahi mahi) are nowhere to be seen.  When they show up again, fishing is easy.

After 60 days at sea, I am now using my fourth can of propane fuel and third roll of toilet paper.  Maybe we should have a contest to guess how much of each I will use.

As I get eat more and have more room, I should be able to tuck away some of my trash bags.  Those will be nice to leave at Christmas Island.