Day 31 – Tea

We have shocking and deeply distressing news to report from Ocean’s Elite.

They are running low on tea.

The shear magnitude of this startling revelation cannot be underestimated. Those with a military background will understand the restorative powers of a hot wet (hot drink). It boosts morale, sharpens mental focus and gives a team something to look forward to. We don’t know their TPD (teas per day) score for the crew and so potentially closer monitoring of rations could have saved them from being in this position. Yesterday’s message was short but the implications were clear.

We might have to row back to Gran Canaria for teabags and milk powder. Stores Officer currently walking the plank. On a plus note got loads of chewing gum if you need any!

Ocean’S Elite

It’s all good humoured fun but all joking aside a cup of tea can work wonders. I’m just happy that the team appear to be taking the news with their trade mark good spirits.

Aboard Rowing Stones the same acceptance of things that cannot be changed is being applied to their watermaker. They have noticed that the watermaker was starting to make a different sort of noise, as though it was being put under greater strain when desalinating sea water. We worked through a standard check list of likely items which could be causing the issue but sadly none of these effected a suitable resolution. However, the unit still continues to make water at the expected speed and hasn’t broken yet. We believe that the issue lies within the bowels of the main watermaker unit itself which is most definitely a non-serviceable part (at least while the crew remain at sea though). There’s every chance that the unit will continue to produce freshwater from now until the crew arrive in Barbados, without further issue but we’d like to remind readers that even if there are issues then the crew have a manual water maker which they can use to make sufficient water for their needs and even if this breaks then they still have 120 litres of water onboard which is more than enough for the crew to use for up to 10 days.

Ocean rowing is all about recognising those things which cannot be changed and learning to accept them. This is all part of the challenge. We cannot repair the watermaker now and we cannot manufacture extra tea bags. As with most things aboard an ocean rowing boat, the best way to get through the situation is to get on the oars and row as fast as you can to your destination.