I spoke with Sarah this afternoon. She is well….and has NO blisters to speak of!! Isn’t that great?
Weather not so good today….big , wet waves and rain, ALTHOUGH wind is in good direction.
800 nm on gps so that’s good too.
On a sad note ….her EINSTEIN (does the gps work) is sadly in demise…she thinks he got very wet !! She has a nother one as back up, and is hoping that possibly if she can get Einstein dried out she may be able to revive him. ( I will keep you posted).
Another sad note is that she has now finished ALL her fresh food, so is really looking forward to getting to Mauritius for more FRUIT!! (She loves her fruit and will often eat 5/6 pieces a day when at home. I call her the “fruit bat”). Don’t worry though folks, she DOES have plenty of food. ( I know because I helped her to pack it all up).
She’s in good spirits and has asked that I pass on to one and all her thanks (for donations and support). She is also sending her best wishes to the Woodvale Racers and commiserations to those who have sadly had to drop out.
Helen
Just keep plugging away, am full of admiration and am sure your fresh fruit will be over the horizon. M A
Hi Sarah
Good to hear all going well. Libby really appreciated your call today and said you were ‘buzzing’ in your usual positive way. We’re celebrating Will’s 14th birthday tonight…….!!!!
Lots of love from us all,
Anita, Lars, Will, Jonny, Jalfrezi, Gladys, Doris and Alice xx
Theres a fruit tree on every horizon Sarah.. keep pushn west, we’re well behind you! Graham
Hi Helen
Don’t worry I’ll keep the Fruit Bats at bay. Sarah will have plenty of fresh tropical fruit awaiting her. What is her favourite?
Anyway, you will have the opportunity to vet the Fruit quality as we shall have the pleasure of welcoming you ahead of her in Mauritius!
Toodooloo
Marcel
Electronic Navaids – who needs them ? They just help you get lost quicker. 🙂
Chart, Compass, Clock were good enough to find Oz. You’ll smell land when close.
If Einstein goes into permanent sulk, at least those ashore can still monitor the tracker. Geoff Holt’s Marinetrack device kept going for the duration even though it thought it was mounted on a submarine!
sarah thanks so much for my voicemail i was so surprised and it made me smile lots and lots!!!
i hope you are doing well despite your lack of fruit!!!kasper doing well and term had started so a bit hectic which is what i like!!
good luck and i look forward to reading more of your blogs
alxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The most important maritime ‘RULE’ regarding lookout is that it is kept 24 hours everyday whilst at sea (Rule 5 of Coll Regs). I fail to see how this is humanly possible for one person to do, in fact I have read here that she went for a kip. ROFL.
Can someone explain to me why she is being encouraged to do this and why the ‘Auths’ did not veto it from the off. Same goes for the ’round the world solo’ peeps. Wake up! You are breaking International law.
I guess in Sarahs case if she has a sea anchor set whilst sleeping then she might have dispensation in that she is not ‘under way’
Keep sailing lass, there will be lots of fruit when you get to dry land,
good luck from Bill & Wee Jeannie
Hi Sarah, your progress is fantastic…..I can see that Marcel will make sure that you have plenty of fresh fruit when you get to Mauritius…keep that in mind and keep rowing, you doing great.
For “BJM”:
If you read the rest of the blog and Sarah’s site you will find all the answers you seek. You could direct your displeaure constructively towards all the high tonnage out there that drive around with nobody on the bridge and fail to respond on Calling Frequencies (even in high-density shipping lanes).
Hi Sarah, good ship shs here, keep going your are simply the best. Love and best wishes Hallie & Elliot
BJM it really is a very fair question as it does seem on first pass that every solo mariner break Reg 5 if they sleep. The answer has to ‘limbs’; –
1. for there to be a prosecution there would first have to be an ‘incident’ that evidenced failure to maintain a proper lookout as per the rule. In the absence of an incident it would be difficult to prove the allegation to a legal standard – and in any event, what authority would bother. But this is not just about pragmatism, it goes to the working of the rule, and whether it is actually broken? Which raises the second limb –
2. you left out the words “as appropriate”, which is clearly written into the rule. This is important because in the absence of this ‘qualitative’ element to the rule, it could be argued that just as a solo rower asleep on an open ocean is not keeping a lookout, so too is a mariner who in looking out west is breaking the rule by not looking out east at the same time. The effect of “as appropriate” could be taken to permit reasonable distraction such as writing the log, keying data into the plotter, and cooking, eating, sleeping – anything so long as you don’t crash as a result. Of course if you were then involved in a collision you may find the onus of proof difficult to discharge, but if you are not involved in a collision it would be equally difficult for an authority to argue that you have not maintained an “appropriate” lookout – which brings us back to 1.
AS Spike says, it has previously been pointed out that Sarah has a SeaMe radar multiplier set with an alarm and she makes a VHF Securite call when it goes off, or radios any traffic directly.
But BJM if you ever get charged yourself don’t hesitate to call me to defend you:)
And Spike is absolutely right to suggest there is vastly greater concern of high tonnage not manning the bridge which seem extraordinarily prevalent.
Keep up the amazing work Sarah!! All your efforts are really inspiring 🙂 Also after reading Geoff and Spikes comments I feel a little bit more enlightened about Mariner Regulations, genuinely interesting stuff!
Hello Helen from Don– Geraldton Western Australia
Please give Sarah our very best wishes and good luck as she battles those big waves
Kindest regards D
BJM’s point is a valid one.
There is a maritime saying which is not of course written in law-“might is right”.
Spike is quite correct in what he says, I have spent many many years on the open sea and seen this. But you will not find an Australian vessel doing this.
I hope Geoff hasnt based his advice to Saras family on the basis of an equal fault in a collision?
My comment a while back related more to a fishing vessel with a hard working bloke colliding and causing her demise-and having to live with it, wondering what he should have done different?
Driving down a highway hoping everyone else will get out of your way is not accepted-why should it be on the marine highways?
Probably not totaly germane, but is the sea route that Sarah is taking any more or less busy than the typical Atlantic routes?
Ken…..I believe that the route Sarah is taking is LESS busy than the Atlantic routes. I am not totally 100% sure, but that is what i have been led to believe.
Helen
Excellent progress happening at the moment Sarah. Well done.
Plus I finally found the tracker for Indian Ocean Race doesn’t come up if you google it. http://www.indianoceanrowingrace09.com/progress/
Sarah is more than holding her own against any and all of these boats – their tracks resemble a herd of cats and the distances are mostly less than Sarah’s been doing – and that includes the fours and doubles!Several have given up already.
Mum check it out – you’ll be even prouder.
Way to go Sarah!
Hi Sarah,
Good to get your call – definitely an Einstein moment in Euston to share that space-time bubble with the Indian Ocean! Also loved your Radio 2 show and hearing about the whales and, ulp, potential squallus….
Talking of squalls, hope the threatened storm has passed over without paying you and Dippers too much attention – wonder if your own Einstein is a-go-go again, or still under the weather?
Lots of activity on your Justgiving page after Radio 2 – you have inspired loads of people to support us,so a big thank you to everyone!
Enjoy le weekend – well, Days 23, 24, and 25 to you….best Jane
hi sarah,sorry to hear you’ve run out of fruit!hope all is well with/on the boat and that you’ve kept the wind but lost the waves,my thoughts are with you
regards
ian
Best Wishes. Caught your interview on R&M. I’m full of admiration for what you’re doing.
I wasn’t sure how to report this so I thought I’d leave a comment about it. The pages with older blog posts on, such as http://www.sarahouten.com/blog/page/2/, are not viewable. They’re shown as blank. The source code of the bank page has some comments generated by WP super cache which might help in tracking down the fault.
Thanks for the update Helen. I’m a bit of a fruit bat too!
Sarah is such an amazing person. Total inspiration. Please pass on warm feelings from me and my family.
Lots of love
tom watts
xx
(guy’s brother)
Hi Sarah, Sarah here from Perth, Geoff Holts friend . Glad to say that you have inspired Matt, he is amazed by your journey (he thinks you are mad to) but for a teenager who is just into skating and msn, your dedication and strength has made him realise that anything is possible even if it is really hard work and that you are rowing, he still cannot get over that, actually l dont think any of us can. But just to let you know you have touched our lives to and we all read your progress, at home and at work. Now where did you send those english chocolate bars?