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October 8, 1998
San Francisco to Hawaii, Second Attempt. Update #17
17. Date: Thu, 8 Oct 98 02:50:10 GMT
Latitude: 33 degrees 55.597 minutes North
Longitude: 126 degrees 49.371 minutes West
6:40am... Been pedaling now for about 20 minutes since taking over from Steve's graveyard shift (1am-5am). At this time in the morning the suggestion of dawn is in the east and it's no problem to stay awake.
Last night, however, was a different story. I fight fatigue using every means possible; pinching myself, slapping myself in the face, visions of being run down by a fleet of cargo ships, listening to 'The FooFighters' at full blast. I got so desperate at one point that I even put on 'They might be Giants'. Music so painful to listen to you're almost guaranteed to stay conscious.
With dawn closing in behind, Moksha is following a narrow corridor of pale steel light from the westward moon set. There is no need to follow the hypnotic swing of the red LED compass light as I know just by periodically checking the milky way ahead that we are still on about a 265 degree course. It's calm enough, but at one point Moksha's bow nods skyward on a small crest and comes down with a loud slap. Now Steve is a light sleeper. At this unexpected sound he jerks sharply upward cracking his head a real hum-dinger on the bulkhead. Boom!! I feel it resonate through the timbers of the boat. "What was THAT??" he says. "THAT" I almost let escape from my lips "Was your big, fat melon nearly putting a HOLE through the sleeping compartment!" Dry Brit humor is a little much to deal with at this early hour... Even for a Brit. So managing to staunch an additional caution against the perils of head banging in confined spaces, I muster some compassion and offer "Bad luck... You OK?" instead. But it goes unheard. He's either fallen asleep again or knock himself out.
Dawn is my favorite part of the day out here. It's very personal and loaded with meaning. The ritual of greeting the new born sun, the same we bade farewell to yesterday evening at sunset, is a ritual I sorely miss on land. For one, You can't see the wretched thing if you live anywhere near a city and secondly, you are considered somewhat of a freak by other people if you're alive and kicking at that time of the day. But you get a real charge that you carry with you for the rest of the day. And like most quality things in life, it's simple, free and takes just a little effort!
-Jason
Lewis & Smith,
The Moksha crew
Posted on October 8, 1998 5:38 PM