”IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME FOR YOU TO KICK ASS AND ROW 20HRS A DAY NOW IS IT”
This was the focal point of Ricardo’s email which greeted me this morning, many many hours ago – the idea being to optimise the SE winds. It is now 2000 and the sun has just gone to bed, leaving me to go back out to play in the rain and the dark. I started rowing 12 hours ago and have just had my first extended break of the day. ‘Twill have been one whole hour of respite from Soggyville. Deep joy.
I’m not optimistic of clocking 20 hours at the oars, not if I’m to carry on and do the same again and again until the end, but I’ll squeeze as many more hours out of the day as is feasible without compromising my safety. It’s easy to pull an all nighter on land when its called for, from time to time, but out here 84 days in and with goodness knows how many more to go, I have to be sensible and just make sure every hour on the oars is as effective as it can be.
Yours, with matchsticks in her eyes,
S x
PS
84 miles to the 70’s!
PS
Richard – There’s no pre-bosh warning given, thus it was not filmed.
Xtina – I need to show you how to eat a mars bar sometime – you’re not supposed to cut it up!
Zanah – Enjoy the final run in m’dear. I’ll still be truckin’ in one month, methinks… Will visit in the new term.
Mars Bars – how does Xtina cut a Mars bar up, they don’t make them big enough these days. They used to say a “Mars a day helps you work rest and play”. I eat two just to be able to play.
sarah
like a million others, we read your blog daily with first morning coffee.
like a million others, we marvel at you. as long as there are humans like you, our species has hope.
cheers and fair wind and always one more mars bar.
dick and maggie
Hi Sarah,
Glad the wind has come round. We’re thinking about you and wishing power-to-your-elbow as you keep vigil at the oars. Picture yourself in a trireme or galley, sharing the strain with fifty fellow rowers and an annoying bloke banging out the rhythms on a drum. Sorry about the rain – somehow Australia and Mauritius sound hot-tropical not wet-tropical and it’s hard to imagine that you keep scudding into lumps of low-flying cloud.
Well, your true Outen grit is kicking in – every time you think you can’t row another stroke, you go back for one stroke more, and then just one more, and one more…. And, all of a sudden you’ll have joined-up-the-dots, and you’ll be there.
best wishes Jane
Sarah and Charlie Chase
Now come on ~ you get a knife place the large ‘ish bar onto a cutting board, then cut it downwards into straight small pieces and slowly does it, have one then another and then another and so on, making it last quite a looooong time.You can dunk one in your coffee if you feel like it, (but no sugar allowed in that coffee)
Can be quite sickly but when Sarah said she ate a whole chocolate Orange then I did feel it would be ok for me to sort of enjoy A Mars bar which i haven’t dared to for quite awhile …
So I did.
Great to hear you are rowing lots ~ need you to be in ile Maurice when we are!!
TX
Hi Sarah – have you had Mars bar krispie cakes? Melt Mars bars in a pan and add rice krispies. DELICIOUS!
You are amazing and we are enjoying your blogs.
With lots of love from the Dades xxxxxx
Pace yourself. You may need a 24 hour stretch at the end so be sure to save one.
Today I thought you might like something on the silly side. I hope you like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, because “IT’S”……..
WHIZZO CHOCOLATE COMPANY
PRALINE: (J.C) Hello again. I am at present still on film, but in a few seconds I shall be appearing in the studio. Thank you.
(Cut to studio. A door opens. Inspector Praline looks round door. )
PRALINE: (to camera) Hello. (He walks in followed by Superintendent Parrot and goes to desk) Mr Milton? You are sole proprietor and owner of the Whizzo Chocolate Company?
MILTON: (T.J) I am.
PRALINE: Superintendent Parrot and I are from the hygiene squad. We want to have a word with you about your box of chocolates entitled The Whizzo Quality Assortment.
MILTON: Ah, yes.
PRALINE: (producing box of chocolates) If I may begin at the beginning. First there is the cherry fondue. This is extremely nasty… but we can’t prosecute you for that.
MILTON: Agreed.
PRALINE: Next we have number four – “crunchy frog”.
MILTON: Ah, yes.
PRALINE: Am I right in thinking there’s a real frog in here?
MILTON: Yes. A little one.
PRALINE: What sort of frog?
MILTON: A dead frog.
PRALINE: Is it cooked?
MILTON: No.
PRALINE: What, a raw frog?
(Superintendent Parrot looks increasingly queasy.)
MILTON: We use only the finest baby frogs, dew picked and flown from Iraq, cleansed in finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope and lovingly frosted with glucose.
PRALINE: That’s as maybe, it’s still a frog.
MILTON: What else?
PRALINE: Well don’t you even take the bones out?
MILTON: If we took the bones out it wouldn’t be crunchy would it?
PRALINE: Superintendent Parrot ate one of those.
PARROT: (G.C) Excuse me a moment. (exits hurriedly)
MILTON: It says “crunchy frog” quite clearly.
PRALINE: Well, the superintendent thought it was an almond whirl. People won’t expect there to be a frog in there. They’re bound to think it’s some form of mock frog.
MILTON: (insulted) Mock frog? We use no artificial preservatives or additives of any kind!
PRALINE: Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words “crunchy frog”, and replace them with the legend “crunchy raw unboned real dead frog”, if you want to avoid prosecution.
MILTON: What about our sales?
PRALINE: I’m not interested in your sales, I have to protect the general public. Now how about this one. (Parrot enters) It was number five, wasn’t it? (Parrot nods) Number five, ram’s bladder cup. (Parrot exits) What kind of confection is this?
MILTON: We use choicest juicy chunks of fresh Cornish ram’s bladder, emptied, steamed, flavoured with sesame seeds whipped into a fondue and garnished with lark’s vomit.
PRALINE: Lark’s vomit?
MILTON: Correct.
PRALINE: Well it don’t say nothing about that here.
MILTON: Oh yes it does, on the bottom of the box, after monosodium glutamate.
PRALINE: (looking) Well I hardly think this is good enough. I think it would be more appropriate if the box bore a large red label warning lark’s vomit.
MILTON: Our sales would plummet.
PRALINE: Well why don’t you move into more conventional areas of confectionery, like praline or lime cream; a very popular flavour I’m led to understand. (Parrot enters) I mean look at this one, “cockroach cluster”, (Parrot exits) “anthrax ripple”. What’s this one, “spring surprise”?
MILTON: Ah – now, that’s our speciality – covered with darkest creamy chocolate. When you pop it in your mouth steel bolts spring out and plunge straight through-both cheeks.
PRALINE: Well where’s the pleasure in that? If people place a nice chocky in their mouth, they don’t want their cheeks pierced. In any case this is an inadequate description of the sweetmeat. I shall have to ask you to accompany me to the station.
MILTON: (getting up from desk and being led away) It’s a fair cop.
PRALINE: Stop talking to the camera.
MILTON: I’m sorry.
(Superintendent Parrot enters the room as Inspector Praline and Milton leave, and addresses the camera.)
PARROT: If only the general public would take more care when buying its sweeties, it would reduce the number of man-hours lost to the nation and they would spend less time having their stomachs pumped and sitting around in public lavatories.
We have always understood that a chocolate orange is for sharing…..so who did you share yours with as we didn’t get offered any!! W’s T shirt now very dirty as he does not want to take it off – hows that for advertising your little venture?? Loads of love.xx
Hi Sarah,
I think it’s sensible to take it a bit steady now whatever the temptation to make the most of the weather. Conserving energy now always gives you the option of a sprint finish!
I was with Andy on a Bronze practice this week-end and he told me you might be joining us in the Peaks for the Silver. Brilliant! It’ll do marvels for the girl’s motivation.
We’re following your progress daily and thinking of you all the time.
Much love and respect from SES Business Studies
Don’t push it too hard sarah. You’ll get there, but we don’t want you falling asleep.
i hope when you visit us again we can meet your marvellous Mum.
Take care,
jill and Stan.
Hi Sarah,
I’ve been meaning to write for a while, since hearing you on your birthday on Radio 1. You were so eloquent, focussed, fun and inspiring…I really really admired you and was so impressed and enthused by this exceptionally strong young woman. You made me wonder what my next big challenge is to be….
Good luck Sarah…and take care. Sue x
hi sarah,just when i think you can’t get any more awe inspiring you go and row for 20 hours!to paraphrase and slightly alter the meaning of that line from “when harry met sally”ithink i’ll have what she’s having………on the mars bar issue i’m firmly in the you don’t cut them up!unless of course over time they have fashioned themselves into a loaf like structure then i think it is ok.
easy for me to say but don’t overdo it,rest is important as of course is sleep,sure that the tweedles will keep an eye out for you.
hope the weather stays on your side!
best wishes to you and dippers
ian