JesseMartin.Net
7th September 1999
ANOTHER week of terrible progress! In the past 16 days I've only averaged 50 nautical miles a day. I'm supposed to be in the strong westerly air flow but I've had varying easterlies and squally weather making constant movement in the right direction very hard.
I've been told that some people think I'm going to starve to death because of my food situation. This is not the case at all.
What I didn't reveal last week was that all through the voyage I have been sneaking into the next day's bag and only eating all the goodies.
So it's my own fault!
I have plenty left over but it's the nutritious food which I usually chose not to eat and it's these items which I'm now left with. At least I should be strong and healthy by the time I do get back.
David and Ben from Hill Crest Christian College wanted to know how my electrics were going since I lost the solar panel. There is no problem because the wind generator and the other panel are still working. The panel which was ripped off had stopped working anyway.
Two days ago, just after a squall had come through, I was looking over the water lost in thought. I'm sure this isn't new but I was thinking about the similarities between events in life and a rain squall.
When it's approaching it looks pretty mean, all dark and gloomy and then all of a sudden it hits with a torrential downpour, sending you off course and out of control. You can't see anything around you except mist and rain, but it doesn't last forever and eventually the first rays of sunlight peep through the tail end of the cloud.
This light refracting from the tiny droplets of water suspended in mid air puts on a show that is truly spectacular, and it's at that point you are the closest you'll be to heaven on earth.
It was this show that had captured my attention. Out to starboard was the most brilliantly colored rainbow I had ever seen. The dark clouds in the background made each and every color stand out as if they were alive with electricity. It was so close that I could see the end fading into the water only 30 metres away.
I concluded that the heavy pot of gold must have sunk but I didn't mind because I felt invincible to the passing squall or any nasty weather which this world could throw at me.
The thing is, had I not encountered the squall, then I would have missed this feeling of jubilation which I was now floating in. It made me think that sometimes bad times are just preparing the way for better things to come.