We’re eating freeze-dried food to which we add water and then heat--much like they do in outer space. This is to make sure it doesn’t go moldy and is as light (to carry) as possible. We need to about 8,000 calories a day to stay fit and healthy--the normal human diet is closer to 3,000 calories a day. Mostly there is lots of pasta and sauces, but on Christmas Day we treated ourselves with mince pies and dehydrated reindeer stew as a treat!
We listen to lots of music during the rowing to stay motivated. We like to listen to loud rock songs or dance music to stay upbeat, but it can’t be too high tempo or we find ourselves all excited, which leads to faster rowing and us getting too tired! We’ve also been listening to lots of audio books to pass the time. It’s really fun listening to books like Jurassic Park with some very amusing dinosaur sound effects!
The best activity each day is being able to call home. Being away from home and our families is very hard. It was especially hard to not be with our children over the Christmas holidays. Every other day we’re able to call home and talk to those we love. Each day we also speak to Tom S., our team manager, about how we’re doing, what course we need to steer to take advantage of the weather, and any news from home.
We’ve not done much reading this week. We row for two hours before having two hours to rest. During our rest time, we need to eat, fix any problems, clean the boat's hull or get some much needed sleep. Unfortunately this means that we don’t get much of a chance to read. We do listen to audio books, though.
