Yes of course we do, but rowing also quickly became the easiest thing to do on the boat.
Persistent northerly winds and beam seas over the first several days were probably the hardest rowing days, and since then our bodies have adapted, and we have turned into lean, mean, rowing machines. We now feel most awake, alert and alive when we are pulling this beast of a boat through the salty seas. It is everything else that we do that has become the most challenging and exhausting to execute.
Perhaps the most mentally and physically fatiguing task is putting on our clothes after waking from a nap (4 to 5 times a day). It sounds like a joke, but it requires a certain amount of flexibility, balance, and core strength to get dressed while on your back in what feels like a washing machine. You awake from coma-like sleep and muster up the strength to slide on one article of clothing at a time, carefully attempting to avoid touching the mostly naked, sweaty, and stinky beast beside you.
Cooking probably comes in a close second as the next most tiring activity. It feels like you use the same amount of energy to cook than what you end up receiving from the food. Making a decision of what to cook and how to cook it, finding the food and cookware, balancing the stove and pot with the waves, stirring the food so it doesn’t burn, serving the food into containers as fast as possible so it stays hot and yummy to eat… all this in an area about the size of a small shower which, unfortunately, the space is also used as. We get by though, and eat well! (Read what we’re eating on board)
So next time you see me back on land and I ask you to pass me something that is a short reach away, please understand that at the moment it feels like everything out of my reach is a mile away. It’s awesome to get a pep talk to put on sun lotion, brush your teeth, and wash yourself, but at the moment I’d rather just stare at the endless waves of blue, think happy thoughts, and not bother contemplating what I will next do.
Nappily yours,
Markus