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October 18, 1998

San Francisco to Hawaii, Second Attempt. Update #27

27. Date: Sun, 18 Oct 98 03:15 GMT
Latitude: 29 degrees 43.221 minutes North
Longitude: 131 degrees 55.880 minutes West
Wind NNE, Force 4
Current Heading 220(M)

Another blistering day, adding to the sizable bites taken out of the chart in the past few. There is however a corresponding psychological and physiological price to be paid for this opportunity to 'make hay while the sun is shining; cumulative fatigue. In the waking hours our bodies are constantly reacting to every shifting whim of the ocean felt through Moksha's light frame. Thousands of hidden nerves and muscles subconsciously working all of the time to keep us balanced. The result is deeply wearing. Moksha is also too small a boat to sustain a varied lifestyle for more than one person. Some of you, eg, are maybe reading this over Sunday morning coffee, enjoying the ritual of the weekend off in order to start work Monday morning with a rejuvenated mind and body. For us this is not possible. The one sleeping compartment and severely limited space do not allow it. There is no distinction for us between Mondays and Sundays, night and day. We never get to 'knock off' for the day -the pedaling never stops. Everything takes on a 'greyness' after a while and it takes great fortitude or will and a creative mind to keep motivated. Liken it to eating a ton of plain rice siting in front of a blank wall. Sure, there's beauty in it if you look hard enough. But it's difficult to see the beauty in anything once chronic tiredness sets in.

Lewis & Smith,

Posted on October 18, 1998 5:58 PM