Shore team update 7 - Q + A with Tom and other news
While the last update was sent out less than four weeks ago, we wanted to send out this one for the benefit of the Warwick West State School pupils who are following Tom’s progress. The school year in Queensland finishes on 9 December so it’s essential that these school children receive information about Tom before they finish for the summer holidays.
For some time now, Tom has been making good progress in a west south westerly direction towards the Northern Cook Islands; but more of that later in this update. Let’s look at some other news.
Inland fans
One of Tom’s cousins teaches Year 5 at a primary school on Queensland’s Darling Downs. The Warwick West State School (WWSS) is in Warwick, about 150km south west of Brisbane. This class has been following Tom’s adventures closely, requesting regular updates from their teacher. We recently contacted Libby and asked if her pupils would like to submit questions to Tom about his trip. These questions were answered via a recent satellite phone call with the Shore Team.
Q 1. What sea creatures have you seen?
A. I’ve seen lots and lots of different varieties of sea life: whales (one came under Maiwar!); turtles; dolphins; sharks; flying fish; dorado; puffer fish; crabs; stingrays; pilot fish; and lots of other fish I haven’t been able to identify.
Q 2. What sea creatures have you eaten?
A. I packed a fishing rod and have managed to catch and eat dorado and tuna. I’ve also eaten flying fish, but only those that have accidentally landed on Maiwar’s deck.
Q 3. What’s the roughest weather you’ve experienced?
A. I encountered a very large wave that tipped Maiwar on her side and flooded the deck and part of the cabin. I designed Maiwar with a number of safety features in case of such events.
Q 4. We know you designed Maiwar to withstand roll-overs. Have you experienced any so far?
A. I’m guessing you’ve seen the video of my mates and me testing Maiwar’s self-righting capacity in the Brisbane River. I’m pleased to report that so far no roll-overs have been experienced.
Q 5. Have you seen any pollution?
A. Fortunately, no.
Q 6. What, if any, plastic have you seen?
A. I’ve only seen a few small items such as drink bottles and I only saw them near the fishing fleet off Ecuador.
Editor: Tom wants everyone to know that plastic in the south Pacific Ocean ends up on Henderson Island. Part of the Pitcairn Island chain, Henderson Island becomes the dumping ground for all rubbish floating in the Pacific. The South Pacific Gyre, the largest of the five oceanic gyres, is a giant current that moves in an anti-clockwise direction and dumps rubbish on this UNESCO World Heritage Site. An internet search of “Henderson Island” will provide a number of interesting articles on this topic.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619818114
Q 7. What unusual objects have you seen?
A. I haven’t seen many, but the two below are the most memorable:
(i) Life ring: It had fallen off a boat and hadn’t been in the water for too long as there were no barnacles on it, but it was covered in small crabs (not baby crabs but small, adult crabs); and
(ii) Soccer ball: However, on closer inspection, it turned out to be a puffer fish. I saw it being attacked by pilot fish. The pilot fish are about 15cm (6 inches) long and when I go into the water to clean Maiwar’s hull they nibble my toes. Fortunately, it’s not an unpleasant experience. The pilot fish live up to their name and are constant companions. There are about 100 on escort duty at any time.
But wait, there’s more …
Here’s a question that wasn’t asked by the WWSS pupils but Tom thought they’d be interested to know:
Q. Have you seen any pirates?
A. No, thankfully.
Australian Geographic magazine
Subscribers who are familiar with Tom’s website will know that Australian Geographic (AG) is a financial sponsor. The November/December 2022 edition of Australian Geographic magazine contains a short story about this progress. Please note that when the copy was submitted to AG in early October the detail about his first landfall being The Marquesas was correct. However, as we now know, the winds and currents had a different idea.
Radio NZ
One of Tom’s subscribers recently told us that Tom featured on Radio New Zealand. Kennedy Warne did an excellent 15 minute story about Tom and his adventure. You can hear Kennedy’s story at the following link:
Two Aussies are rowing across the Pacific Ocean
What are the chances of two Australians rowing independently east to west across the Pacific at the same time?
Another Australian is doing something similar to Tom. His compatriot is Michelle Lee. Michelle set out from northern Mexico in early September to row non-stop across the Pacific. She’s making good progress but has experienced similar difficulties in the northern hemisphere as has Tom south of the equator. We wish Michelle every success in her endeavour.
Commemorative home brew
The Shore Team was recently reminded that one of Tom’s cousins likes brewing his own beer. Steven visited us from interstate a few weeks ago and when he arrived had a six pack tucked under his arm. Naturally we assumed he was going to share these beers. However, as soon as he removed one of the stubbies from the pack it became obvious that we were wrong. “They should be ok for about six months,” Steven told us. After a quick bit of mental arithmetic, we decided that if Tom isn’t home by March it’ll be a matter of waste not, want not and he’ll be able to read about our enjoyment of the home brew. Steven’s artistry and creativity doesn’t stop at brewing. He also designed the label. Thanks, Steven. Tom’ll be thrilled to learn about your generosity. The Shore Team will let you know in due course just how much the home brew was enjoyed!
How Tom’s going with the rowing?
In our last update we noted that 117 days after he left Lima, Tom was about 400 nautical miles north of the Marquesas, with no chance of making those islands his first port of call. At that time, the best options for Tom seemed to be Kiritimati, north of the equator, or the Northern Cook Islands around 9 degrees south of the equator. Either way he would be adding over 1,100 nautical miles to his first leg. At the time of writing, after rowing for 140 days since leaving Lima, Tom has come well south to be more that 7.5 degrees below the equator, and on track to make a landfall at Penrhyn, one of the Northern Cook Islands. He is currently 390 nautical miles east north east of Penrhyn, and over 4,400 nautical miles (8,500 km) from Lima.
Where is half-way when you don’t know where you’ll end up?
On 2 November Maiwar’s position was roughly equidistant from Lima and from Brisbane; Tom was halfway between his starting point and his hoped-for destination of Brisbane. Only time will tell whether he was more than, or less than half way to his ultimate destination. Tom is now 60 percent of the way to Brisbane.
Thank you all very much for your interest in Tom’s progress, for your financial assistance, and for your ongoing messages of support.