Day 35: Swimming with the Fishes

After much less deliberation than expected, I went in the water tonight around 7PM and scraped the bottom of the boat. I couldn't see the bottom, but from my map my best guess is that it was between 8,774 feet and 8,869 feet deep (2,675 to 2,704 meters)! I actually didn't plan to go in the water today, as the seas aren't all that calm (10-15 feet, maybe?) and by the time I started thinking about it, it was already getting late in the day.

Here's how it went down... Rowing along in the middle of the PM shift, and the boat's feeling slower than ever. I still haven't scraped barnacles and it has probably been long enough for there to be some growth under there. Maybe I'll see if I can feel anything under the waterline? So I reach under as far as I can and to my surprise the hull is like a shag carpet of barnacles! Bad news...

So I think, OK, well, I hear there are supposed to be light winds next Tuesday; I'll go under then. Then, well, winds are supposed to be good until Monday night; do I really want to waste five days of good winds by not scraping the bottom? Nope.

So I dig out my mask, snorkel, and barnacle scraper (a plastic cement spreader), tie a rope around my waist (other end to the boat, obviously), and I'm ready to go...technically. Then I climb over the grab rail and proceed to sit on the gunwale for at least 5 mins, thinking... "what time of day do sharks typically feed?"...and "don't freak out if you go under and see a Dorado. It's not the same as a shark"...and "it's OK, you can put this off till tomorrow"...

Then finally I'm in the water...first thought is "oh, crap I'm in the water!" Second thought is "scrape like hell'...so I do. All the way around the boat, and barnacle carnage everywhere. Small fish with black and white vertical stripes stuck around to feast on the now-homeless barnacles, but they were the only fish I saw. I even put my head under the water to scope out the hull to be sure I got every last one, bow to stern. At one point I even looked down and saw nothing but bright blue, which was actually slightly reassuring.

I clamber out of the boat wet and cold, but mission accomplished! In hindsight, and based on my terrible mileage numbers for the past week, it seems that I started to slow down around Day 25, which means I need to scrape the bottom about every three weeks. That means I'll have at least a couple more reasons to go for a dip before Antigua.

Thanks to all who have supported this expedition and important research at Yale Cancer Center with a donation to Row for Hope. If you haven't donated, or if you would consider donating again, it would be much appreciated. To donate online use the link in the upper right-hand corner of this page or visit www.rowforhope.com.

Paul