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July 7, 1999
Hawaii to Tarawa Voyage, Update #68
Day 65. Wednesday 7 July 1999 0309 GMT
Wind ENE 5. Heading 260M
Latitude: 01deg 06.977N
Longitude: 177deg 55.776E
Another dream day for miles made good on the chart. The difference between the conditions as they are today and the way things were a few days ago - struggling to make 10 miles a day against an adverse current and wind - is almost beyond comparison. The idea of the ocean turning against us again is an awful thought. And yet is always possible. Nothing is guaranteed when a guest of nature's raw forces.
It is hard for myself as a human to accept this, as my innate nature is to grasp onto pleasurable things and be repelled by those that cause me discomfort, pain or suffering. Also I am a product of an environment (on land) over which humans have so much control. But as has been demonstrated over and over again on this voyage (and all the others for that matter), as soon as I make a judgement call on what is good or bad, pleasurable or not, I am automatically setting myself up for disappointment. It is the hardest thing, only 300 miles from land and all that it represents, to remain indifferent to these optimum pedaling conditions, in the same way that was so hard to remain indifferent when the conditions were less than great a week ago*. But I think it is the prudent thing to try and be at this time. For it is these last few days before making landfall, that by attaching great expectations to, can seem longer than the rest of the voyage put together should the conditions indeed change again for "the worse."
*The emotional tone of some of my past updates tells the real story more often than not!
Back to the grind...
Jason Lewis,
The Moksha motor
Posted on July 7, 1999 5:41 AM