September 16

Position N28.21 W17.25

Dear Friends:

After a fine beginning, the 13th became a drudge of a day.  I had a good
cry at my oars as I watched my friends depart.  The first and second days are always the most difficult.  The despair of the departure was stronger
this time.  I rowed for twelve and a half hours, progressing barely 12
miles south of Los Gigantes.  I turned in just after sunset.  The wind
kicked up about an hour later, moving in a nice direction from the north.
The swells were a bit confused and small breaking waves led me to put out my
small sea anchor.  This was unnecessary in terms of the weather, but my
stomach was not enjoying the rock and roll.  This turned out to be a
serious mistake. 

When I awakened the next day, I was only 6 miles from Los Gigantes.  The
anchor had caught a current that took me Northeast.  Very sad, I started my
day early.  I rowed for eight hours trying to push the boat south into a
5-10 knot head wind.  A current continued to carry me north.  At 1:00 PM I
spoke with Gerard and Christophe.  They suggested I sleep during the day to
take advantage of the wind if it should change again in the evening.
Gerard asked if I'd considered going north around Gomera.  I explained
that I was worried about the possibility of a wind form the north running
me aground.  Yes, this is "extremely dangerous" Gerard said.  About 1:15 PM
I went in for a nap.  At 2:00 a great wind came out of the north and I
jumped to my oars.  By sundown, I'd regained all of my lost ground plus a
few miles.

When I woke around 3:00 AM, I was 3.6 miles from Los Gigantes.  This upset
me quite a lot.  I resolved to try to circle Gomera to the North.  I rowed
to the North Point of Tenerife.  Once I cleared the point, I picked up a
nice wind from the East.  Fearing I might run aground on Gomera to the
West, I pushed North.  Rowing parallel to the swells was difficult.  Waves
kept washing over the boat and I was very wet for most of the morning.  I
fought these side swells all morning.  Terror of running afoul of rocks has
a wonderful way of settling a sea-sick stomach.  For several hours I feared
I would lose the battle and be forced to call out a boat with an engine to
give me a tow before it was too late.  But by late in the afternoon I was
far enough north to let the boat run with the wind.  Late in the evening
after 18 hours of straight rowing, I had my first meal in three days.  It
is a good thing I did not try to round Gomera to the North on the first
day.  I needed to go in circles for two days to get over my sea-sickness
and settle into the task at hand.

This morning I rose at 6:30 AM with Hierro Island to my Southwest and Palma
to the North.  I've enjoyed favorable winds all day of between 10 and 20
knots.  By the end of the evening I should be clear of land: out into the
true ocean again at last.  While I will soon miss the smell of land, I do
not like the constant worry of running into an island in the middle of the
night.

All for now.

As ever,
Tori