MAUD FONTENOY FIRST WOMAN TO ROW ATLANTIC OCEAN WEST TO EAST (BBC Story)
(Maud successfully completed her voyage in La Coruña, Spain at 04:15 on Thursday 9th October 2003 after 117 days at sea)
To get an idea of just how difficult the west to east route is, in the cold waters of the north Atlantic (Maud started her voyage about 300 nautical miles north of where the Titanic hit an iceburg) where merciless gales abound, here are some statistics:
Out of the 37 people in 29 rowing boats who attempted the crossing ...
5 rowers died in the attempt (1 pair and 3 solo).
15 boats abandoned their voyage without finishing.
Maud was 1 of only 10 boats (8 solo) who succeeded against all the odds ... details
Trick question ... who finished the W-E Atlantic crossing???
The 4 hunky guys or the sexy chick on the rock??
It was Maud the sexy chick reading her book ... the 4 hunky Skandia Atlantic Spirit team guys were rescued after 21 days at sea ...
(remember the old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover")
(Not your book Maud it's a great read with a beautiful cover ... Robert ;)
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  Maud's 117 day row ...
 
link to Maud's official WEB Site
!!!YES!!! MAUD HAS THE RECORD!!! 
since Maud landed
Maud Fontenoy was rowing from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon (French territory off Canada) to Ouessant (France) a distance of
2036 nautical miles (3771 km) across the North Atlantic ocean, but near the end of the voyage she sensibly took a ride
South on some northerlies to the port of La Coruna in North West Spain .
Distance from Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to La Coruña, Spain is 2010 nautical miles (3722 km)
Her 7.5 x 1.6 metre (24.5 x 5.2 ft) boat weighing 350kg (770lb) empty, (800kg!! loaded) was specialy designed for the voyage
by Marc Ginisty.
Radio RFO Saint-Pierre et Miquelon Météo du Saint-Pierre et Miquelon la même chose
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Letter from Gerard d'Aboville to Kenneth Crutchlow of the Ocean Rowing Society ...
Dear Kenneth, you asked me what I think of Emmanuel Coindre's crossing and about the fact that my
record has not yet been broken.
First of all you will never hear me talking about records regarding ocean rowing. This is
a nonsense.
It is evident that an ocean rowing boat is unable to make real progress against a well
established wind.
That is to say: the time spent to cross an ocean will depend mostly on meteorological
conditions, or in other words - LUCK!
How can one compare crossings realized with weather conditions obviously different
from one row to another?
Who would dare to say that the one, who spent weeks and weeks to fight against a
head wind or to survive under sea anchor, would have less merit than a rower, who
encountering mostly favorable wind (as I did in 1980), made a fast crossing?
How many times I did think with admiration about Peter Bird, fighting on and on, for
weeks and months against head winds in 1993 -94, accomplishing, even if he did not
succeed, what I believe has been the highest performance of any ocean rower in
history.
Now, to talk of Emmanuel and to appreciate to his credit his performance, one has to
insist on the hardship of crossing from USA to Europe.
I do not unconsider merits of those who have succeeded in a trade-winds' crossings
but seamen know that on high latitudes it's an another world, especially as soon as
summer is over.
Kenneth, tell us how few did succeed on this west to east passage? (8 solo succeeded)
How many gave up? (15 solo gave up)
How many lost their lives? (3 solo lost their lives in the attempt)
And then compare those figures to those of the trade wind's passage.
Here are my reasons to admire Emmanuel and his challenge.
He is now part of the very exclusive family of those ocean rowers, who did it "the hard way".
If you compare the graph of Maud's voyage against Emmanuel's you will see that she was struggling against the odds even more than Emmanuel ... Robert
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MAUD'S LIVING HELL IN THE BIG STORM
When the storm hit Maud on the 27th August she suffered 15 capsizes in less than 15 hours, winds reached 45 knots gusting to 50/60 knots. Waves were breaking with heights exceeding 6 metres (20ft).
Maud was thrown about (literaly) for 2 days and got no sleep. Her sliding seat was ripped out and lost overboard.
"With each capsize it was the same physical and mental pain. The boat always remained a few minutes upside down before righting itself thanks to my efforts.
Water poured in through the hatches the compass and the ventilator. Two cases burst open and disgorged their contents on top of me, the ceiling light broke
and the ballast pump. I braced myself in with all my force, only the red nose clown that Marc gave me remained hanging in it's place.
My eyes were transfixed on it, it was my one hope of once again planting my feet firmly on dry land.
My mind filled with dread knowing that I had to suffer another 24 hours absorbing the forces of an increasingly hard wind and sea.
I realized that before I had never truly known fear" .... "I don't really care where I end up at this point, France or Spain, I just want to reach land" ...
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Maud's confused thoughts on 28th Sept were:
"It's the 8th day riding to the sea anchor. Life on board becomes inreasingly painful. The land does not
seem to get any closer. As time passes the number of things I miss increases. Who could have expected
a season with such unusual weather (Maud, you weren't out there for the other seasons, they had
their differences from the nice cosy average too, in spite of what Pierre may tell you ...Robert). The packets of freeze dried food go out of
date today, I hope they survive the rest of the voyage!!! Time passes slowly enough to make you lose
your mind ... simple everyday life becomes a trial ... Pilot struggles insanely against the restraint of the sea
anchor ... It's impossible to sleep ... I get thrown from one side of the cabin to the other not able to wedge
myself in (That's your fault Marc G ... Robert) "hold out", "have patience", "don't be discouraged", are phrases that resound in my head to the
crazed rhythm of the waves ... It would be impossible not to be affected by this nightmarish situation ...
Pilot speaks softly to Joséphine "how will we set up our Christmas tree with no decorations on board?" Joséphine
sighs like the wind, submerged in memories of meeting the family ...
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THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE FROM MAUD ON 20th SEPTEMBER WAS POSTED IN FRENCH ON HER OFFICIAL WEB SITE ...
(backgound info from Roland & Alex added ...)
"
By using all her concentration and small fingers on the problem of fixing the electric desalinator in the
morning Maud finally succeeded in making it spit a little water.
In her state of exhaustion Maud found it difficult to fasten the very heavy desalinator back up in it's place
so that it didn't come loose and get thrown around during a capsize ...
Just as Maud finished ... suddenly,
emerging from the fog, like Zorro on his
trusty steed Tornado, Roland Jourdain aboard SILL a 60 foot monohull,
appeared ...
(He was sailing with SILL's new owner Alex Thomson who was completing
a 1000 mile qualifying sail for the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race when they received a call to go to Maud's assistance.
Alex said "Thankfully Maud's satellite phone worked so we could pin-point her location as the boat was so small and white, we only spotted it right at the last moment.
We prepared 2 containers, one with 20 litres of water bottles,
and another with fresh and tinned food. Then I tied a 40 metre length of rope to the containers
and fed it out over the side as Roland steered SILL at slow speed alongside Maud in Pilot.
The moment Maud grabbed hold of the rope was an incredible relief!".) Coming alongside would have been impossible in a 30 knot wind!!
Maud's dream only lasted a few minutes, after a final wave of their hands the
knights dissapeared into the spray without even leaving their phone numbers!!
Whaooou!... was that a fairy tale or what!!
For a fleeting moment Maud was on a high, her knights in shining yacht had just
ensured her a new reserve of fresh water (one never knows, when Monsieur Désal
will start to work again) and she had enjoyed the pleasure of an
astonishing visit... after having drunk greedily, Maud set her small drift
anchor and started to prepare her cabin for possible capsizes.
While Maud waits for the next painfull 24 hours to pass,
she will remember the smooth large red boat, slipping through the water like silk making
more than 12 knots, passing her close enough to hear the halliards tinkle against it's mast.
It was a magic moment which Maud will not easily forget.
Thank you Roland and Alex for this show of maritime camaraderie ...
  
Allez Roland Jourdain ...
(Photos L'Equipe.fr & Studio Zedda)
Whereas Roland's SILL is designed to harness the raw power provided by the air/sea interface
Maud's poor PILOT struggles against the same forces. SILL's creators have given
Roland a machine with which he can celebrate man in tune with natural
processes. Maud must become the masochist beating her body and numbing
her mind against the same forces that allow Roland to soar like a bird in body, mind
and spirit ...
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Although Tori Murden was the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic, on her second attempt, using the cosy & warm Canary Islands to Caribbean (East to West) route ...
Tori failed to complete her first attempt using the more difficult, cold & exposed West to East route that Maud conquered, Tori abandoned her boat already having rowed 3,043 miles from the USA after receiving a severe battering from the remnants of Hurricane Danielle ...
(Tori capsized 15 times in three days (Maud capsized 15 times in 15 hours! that must be the capsize record?), and Tori suffered a mild concussion, a dislocated shoulder and multiple bruises)
However Tori's boat "Sector No Limits American Pearl" carried on without her and was later recovered off Portugal!!!
Atlantic Solo Ocean Crossings from West to East
It's amazing how the designers of both Maud's and Tori's boats did not provide any way for the occupants of the boats not to get thrown around when the going got rough!!!
There are safety harnesses in road vehicles, aircraft and on rides in amusement parks ... Why not in ocean rowing boats??
(check out the pathetic little safety handle in the photo of Maud's cabin ...)
"and Princess Di? In her accident only one person survived (the only one who
was belted in). The passenger compartment was essentially intact. For a
supposedly intelligent person to take to the road unbelted indicates either a belief in immortality or a death wish"
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MAUD HAS FIXED HER SOLAR POWERED DESALINATOR, BUT HER TEAM ARE KEEPING QUIET ABOUT HOW SHE DID IT ...
Our body is about 70 percent water. Maintaining the body’s water balance is a prime requirement for survival.
Water is a higher priority than food. We can probably live for weeks without food (hunger strikers do), but our survival will be measured in days if we have no water.
Because the digestion of food drains needed water from our body, we should not eat if we have no water.
Every bit of water that we conserve, even perspiration, in-creases our survival time.
While conserving water is vital, so is maintaining enough physical strength to cope with the ordeal of survival.
Survival experts recommend that we begin drinking rationed quantities of water soon after boarding a life raft, the amount depending upon how much we have been able to bring aboard.
They suggest drinking one half of the daily ration at a time, rather than sipping very small quantities.
Thirst may also be reduced by chewing a gum, or practically anything else.
However, this relief does not reduce the body’s need for water. Drinking seawater will exaggerate thirst, promote water loss through the kidneys and intestines, and shorten our survival time.
Anyone who has accidentally swallowed a mouthfull of seawater may imagine that drinking glasses of it would be impossible potentially dangerous and lead to kidney failure.
They would be correct, sea water is about 3 times as salty as human blood, normally the the fluid in body cells is about the same saltiness as the blood, but if we drink seawater the less salty water in the cells will
flow out through the cell walls into the saltier blood. This causes the cells to shrink and malfunction, resulting in weak aching muscles and an irregular heart beat a loss of concentration and mental function.
The bloods high concentration of salt causes the kidneys to get rid of the excess by producing more urine, so drinking seawater not only fails to provide fluid the body can use but also causes the body to lose fluid it is already using.
Dr Bombard said that he drifted for 63 days on a raft "without any food and water other than that which the ocean provided" and on the basis of this he recommends not drinking more than about a litre a day of seawater,
as he says he got sick if he drank more than this. But Bombard was not just drinking seawater he was eating fish (which the ocean provided), and the fluids in fish are ok to drink.
IN SHORT DRINKING SEAWATER IS ONLY RECOMMENDED IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION WHERE THERE IS NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE.
IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE LONG TERM HEALTH OF YOUR BODY.
BECAUSE DRINKING SEAWATER INITIALY RELEIVES YOUR THIRST IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO DRINK TOO MUCH.
LESS THAN A LITRE OF WATER A DAY MEANS HARD PHYSICAL EXERTION IS OUT OF THE QUESTION ... Robert
Note ... Maud was not in a "survival situation" she was surrounded by ships and rescue services, it was her team's decision to
allow her to suffer ...
  photos corbis.com & Alain Julien/AFP
Bruno Vogin, 36, and his monkey Mouguie left the Cape Verde Islands on January 9th 2002 in a liferaft to
try to emulate the experiment in ocean survival of Alain Bombard. Bruno hoped to reach the West Indies
in 2 to 4 months after a voyage of around 4500km.
Bruno and Mouguie were reported missing off Brazil on April 7th 2002. Their boat was found empty off the
coast of Amapa.
The last radio contact with the maritime surveillance authorities was on March 5th 2002. The day before,
an Italian sailing boat brought drugs to Bruno to treat infected wounds on his legs.
("Drinking alcohol under the conditions of lack of water is suicidal")
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Maud and her team should have taken heed of these words by Mick Bird when rowing East to West across the Pacific ocean:
"If I can't get to Darwin or some point in Australia, I'll probably end up in Papua
New Guinea, Indonesia or Malaysia. It's going to be a tough leg and I can't be
too choosy. I'll consider it a success just to hit dry land on the other side
because that would finally complete the Pacific Phase for me and I would
have the longest of the three oceans under my belt. That will feel great. I just
want to stay safe."
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You are wondering why ocean rowers bother to keep up the pretense that their oars contribute in any way to their ocean crossing?
Well some of them don't ... "There were days I traveled 90+ nautical miles
without taking a single rowing stroke" and "With a 20-25 knot wind, no current and no rowing, my boat
averaged 4-5 knots." (Tori Murden Canary Islands to Guadeloupe 1999 first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean). If you've ever tried rowing a 35kg low profile rowing boat in windy choppy sea conditions
you will know that rowing a 350kg+ high windage monster in any other direction than downwind would be next to impossible. Rowing across the wind/sea
being rolled by the odd breaker would be a possibility and keeping the blades in the water may not be easy ...
Still the oars and sliding seat make a good exercise machine if you're bored lying around reading books or getting high on
superlatives in SMS messages from fans or contemplating your navel!!!
The drill is: in adverse head winds deploy the sea anchor, in favorable tail winds sail with them, there are no other options ... Robert
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Like Joseph le Guen before her in 1995 Maud is a Protégé of Gerard d'Aboville who rowed the Atlantic in
1980 and the North Pacific, West to East in 1991 . Joseph le Guen started on a June 13th like Maud and
completed the voyage in 103 days to France on September 24th 1995. But he headed further North at the
end of his journey. Joseph suffered from poor circulation which ended his transpacific effort in 2000 with 8 toes
having to be amputated after he was rescued by a ship in mid voyage.
If you want to better understand the man behind Maud's voyage read Gerard d'Aboville's books "Alone" and "L'Atlantique à
bout de bras" ("The Atlantic by arms alone") ... which may be seriously overstating the role his arms played in the trip
when you read quotes from other rowers like Tori Murden "There were days I traveled 90+ nautical miles
without taking a single rowing stroke" and "With a 20-25 knot wind, no current and no rowing, my boat
averaged 4-5 knots."
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Chantal, merveilleuse Maman et directrice en chef de l'équipe à terre. Il doit être difficile que le Maud s'ajuste sur la vie dans Meaux.
Maud aura gagné un nouvel ensemble de priorités de son expérience, mais ses amis et famille penseront toujours de la même vieille manière.
Maud sera maintenant assez grand pour voir au-dessus des petits problèmes des gens.
Maud peut être frustré par les arguments petits et inutiles banaux qui l'entourent, à un moment où le monde humain est dans l'agitation et a besoin
d'un régulier remettez sur le gouvernail de direction de la vie ... Robert
Maud cite quelques mots de Jacques Brel (Les Marquises) pour illustrer ces 91 jours de navigation, à l'approche de la terre ferme, redoublant d'efforts et de vigilance :
Le rire est dans le cœur
Le mot dans le regard
Le cœur est voyageur
L'avenir est au hasard
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WARNING FOR MAUD
!!cauchemar de fraise!!
Ne mangez pas à beaucoup de fraises avec de la crème
   
Vous pouvez obtenir un mal d'estomac
!!!!MAUD ARRIVED IN LA CORUNA AT 04:00 THURSDAY MORNING AFTER 2 DAYS WITH
NO SLEEP!!!!
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Oxford, city of serious
intellectual oarsmen
(and women?)
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(NOTE: links to charts of weather systems in the following text were only correct on the day it was written, as I did not save the images at the time but linked to live data ... Robert)
3rd/4th September ...
MAUD SHOULD THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT WHETHER TO CUT HER LOSSES, CONSIDERING HER INJURIES AND DAMAGE TO THE BOAT,
BY TAKING WHATEVER COURSE IS NECESSARY TO AVOID THE APPROACHING STORM, EVEN IF THAT MEANS ABORTING THE PLANNED ROUTE.
... IF THE ECMWF FORECAST IS RIGHT MAUD SHOULD NOT TRY TO TAKE ON A STRONGER STORM THAN THE LAST IN A BOAT THAT CAN'T HANDLE VERY LARGE BREAKING WAVES.
If you look at the surface winds link you will see that Maud is between SSW winds to the West of her
and NNE winds to the east of her. If she stays where she is she will get sucked up by the SSWesterlies into the path of bad weather approaching from the West Atlantic.
Her boat is a proven failure outside and inside in rough seas, she has a desalination system that barely works,
she is physically and mentaly exhausted and injured. It would be criminal to let Maud go North if there is
any possibility she could row SE and get into the NNEasterly flow and head South away from the Atlantic storms which she will probably not survive without a very expensive and risky rescue operation.
Using the weather links above I forecast on this web site that Maud was rowing into 5 metre waves (and the possible consequences) 5 days before
she rowed straight into the previous storm. Her team hopefully with access to far more information than me let her down ...
Read my words ... "MAUD AND THE PETIT PILOT CAN NOT HANDLE A SEPTEMBER GALE" ... "GET HER OUT OF THE HOLE THAT YOU GOT HER INTO" ... Robert
5th September ...
Well Maud's team seem to have decided to play Russian roulette with Maud's life as they have let her
be sucked into the SSW'ly flow (Instead of getting her to abort the planned trip and to row SE when the seas abated after the last storm as I advised) no doubt hoping that as the weather system moves east she will
then be pushed East by the following Westerlies. It seems they have reduced the living human person
Maud Fontenoy to a pin on a map of the Atlantic and they congratulate each other on the pins progress
with no regard to the wild and dangerous ride Maud will have to suffer so they can realize their dreams.
Maud will not reach home in this weather system, so that will leave her a sitting duck for any
more violent weather that eventuates, and there is already a nasty looking storm gathering itself together in the West Atlantic.
Rescue services and ships in Maudes area should be mindful of her predicament, and that it was NOT her
but her support team safe on the land that got this young woman into this.
6th September ...
With any luck Maud will take the hint from the wind Gods and row towards Spain/Portugal with
the WNW'ly winds the Gods have so kindly provided her to prevent Maud being an easy target for
wicked September gales that like to trap unwary sailors further North. Hell Maud you've rowed
across the Atlantic with a boat that can't handle a bit of rough stuff, leaks like a sieve in
it's preferred position sliding down wave faces, your team should have given you 2 proper
desalinators since you are living on dried food and a spare sliding seat (The list goes on and on).
You've done your bit to more than could have been expected, your team failed you ...
Stepping ashore on the warm sunny coast
of Portugal will be a great end to an incredible journey and you will still have achieved your major goal wherever
you set foot ... Allez a la plage Maud ... Robert
(They have surfboat clubs with lots of big strong rowers in Portugal who will appreciate what you have done!!!!!)
7th September ... Maud made good progress towards Portugal today with the NW winds roaring up behind her.
Every nautical mile she can make SE will take her further away from the dangerous developing storms to the North West of her.
... We hope you will soon be able to walk up the beach with your feet scrunching in the hot sand Maud and sip
an ice cold drink of juice ... (In a dangerous development if you look at the surface winds you will see that Maud may have been
picked up by some strong WSW'lies unless she can keep rowing SE and get out of their clutches) ... Robert
8th September ... Maud headed due East for 49nm today which is an average of 2 knots.
Over the last day Maud got the Eastward ride towards Spain from a small low that was passing North of her but
the Azores high is pushing in behind the low which will initially give her stiff
NW'ly winds that will blow a Maud fatigué SE towards the coast of Portugal and a repos bien gagné ... Robert
(If Maud can manage 35nm per day for the 350nm to Portugal she will make landfall in 10 days)
9th September ... Maud headed ESE for 37nm today which is an average of 1.5 knots (Steady as she goes!!).
Maud must have put a good effort in on the oars of her 24 foot 350kg+ monster (My Hayden 18 foot surf ski weighs 20kg) today, from the surface
wind chart you can see the winds weren't always helpful ... Robert
(If Maud can manage 35nm per day for the 242nm to Portugal's Costa Verde she will make landfall in 7 days ...Allez Maud)
Maud's closest landfall is Corcubion 204nm in Spain (Can be strong currents and confused seas
off this Costa da Morte (Coast of Death!!!) but she could get there in 6 days ...
10th September ... 195nm to Corcubion in Spain ...
235nm to the marina "Viana do Castelo" Costa Verde ... Portugal
Maud needs to get ashore before her only remaining "emergency" desalinator breaks down because then she will
have to be rescued. Trying to cross the longitude through Ousseant is now not a sensible option ... Robert
11th September ... 168nm to Corcubion en Espagne,
215nm to the marina "Viana do Castelo" ... Portugal
Today Maud made 34nm slightly North of due East, so over the last 5 days Maud has averaged 36nm per day,
if she can maintain that average she could reach Spain in five days, but that depends on
the winds as she approaches the Iberian peninsula. The bottom of her boat is probably covered in weed after 3 months at sea
in spite of the antifouling so it must be like rowing through syrup. Also she has no sliding seat to really put the power on
to her 350kg monster ... Robert
12th September ...
145nm to Corcubion en Espagne,
200nm to the marina "Viana do Castelo"   ... Costa Verde ... Portugal.
Another 27nm closer to a hot shower, change of clothes, fresh crunchy salad and human companionship ... A small high pressure system is passing to the North of Maud (see surface winds )
Maud will get some headwinds from the ENE but as the system moves across the current fresh NNE'lies off the Spanish/Portuguese coast should ease and the winds should be light.
If Maud wants to make Spain it looks like she'll have to do some serious rowing, so if the bottom of Pilot needs a clean so she can make reasonable speed
Maud had better get on the case (No risky stuff Maud!!;) ...
13th September ... If Maud is not able to make headway rowing across the NE wind
(using the little dagger board to balance Pilot sideways to the wind) I'm afraid she is doomed to sit out in the ocean for weeks.
You do not try to swim straight back to a surf beach if you get caught in a rip, you swim sideways out of the rip and then back to the beach.
If Maud rows ESE or SE even if she has to drift down the Portuguese coast as far as Lisbon in the Northerlies she will eventually
make land, and the weather should be warm and sunny on the way ... Robert
14th September ... Maud had a bunch of SSW'lies march through her area today and she decided to take a ride
North with them, taking her further back into a "wind no mans land". If her team is working to some sophisticated master plan
to bring Maud home safely, it alludes me at the moment. After watching Maud's progress over the last few days in conjunction with the surface wind charts one could be forgiven for
believing that "ocean rowing" is really "ocean blowing".
May be a strong hull with lots of forward windage capable of planing down wave faces is the way to go hey Marc. Then you just head for the gales and go for it (would need
a comfortable seat with full safety harness in case of capsizes (seat can be rotated 360) and your head in the plexiglass dome
and foot peddles (that work whichever way your facing) to operate the rudder. (May be a rudder that can be pumped to give a bit of push down the wave face to get on the plane!!)
Maud's team says: "Spanish coasts are not more than in 180 nautical miles, but the closer she approaches, the more risk to be struck by the "Great South" increases. What's good in making the big loop!"
Well I say that is a big generalization and if the 350kg+ Pilot is capable of making way forwards while using the oars then reaching the Portuguese coast in light Northerlies should be a breeze.
It seems that because of the teams fixation on rotating clockwise around the Azores anticyclone they are leaving Maud to
languish in anguish until hit by the next full on westerly gale.
Maud!!! you're out there doing it tough while your mamby pamby team sits at home in Meaux sipping wine, it's time to make your own decisions!!!
show some attitude, give your team the finger, it's your life, you've done a great job we're proud of you ... Allez Maud ... Robert
PS In the worst case scenario, if you get close to Portugal and some stiff NE trade wind becomes too much for you a fishing boat can always be arranged to pop out and tow you in,
but that is unlikely for the next week on present forecasts ... (The longer you are at sea the more likely you will have to be rescued anyway)
15th September ... In their paranoia to avoid the imaginary "big loop" Maud's team have put her into
a "little loop" (like a water particle as a wave passes it so Maud progresses in a circle as the weather systems pass over her)
The only way Maud will be blown to France is by strong Westerly winds. In a heavy gale she will not be able to use her hand pumped desalinator (even if it keeps working) but rescue will be impossible
in such wild conditions and bad visibility so blowing to France is not an option. If she rows SE towards Portugal, once she gets a bit South she will be rowing across any NNE winds off the coast.
The weather is pretty stable off Portugal for the next week or so (It should be warm and sunny) so if Maud's desalinator self destructs
from continuous use it should be easy to rescue her (even tow her in) ... Will someone please contact her team and beat some sense into their
heads ... Or send Maud an SMS she can't ignore ... Robert
16th September ... Maud is riding to her sea anchor and feeling melancholy ... may be Maud would feel more positive and achieve a better result rowing South across the winds.
If she could row further south she would gradualy be able to turn more East as the wind turned more to the North until she reached the Portuguese coast.
Allez Maud ... Robert
(Looks like Maud is going to be rudely assaulted by Southerlies on Saturday,
the Southerlies may extend to the Portuguese coast (Where are your precious Northerlies now Gérard d'Aboville et Pierre Lasnier )... Robert)
17th September ... A well developed small depression with 30knot winds south of the centre is now approaching Maud from
the West and will probably pass North of her (Thank God I'm not out there, make plenty of reserve water & hold on tight Maud).
She is still riding to her sea anchor and drifted only 9nm West today.
Once again Maud's team have shown their expertise at placing her directly in the path of the dangerous
sector of an approaching storm ... (Someone should airlift Maud out of Pilot & replace her with Gérard d'Aboville et Pierre Lasnie;)
(Say Maud got moderate Westerlies and was making as much as 50nm per day it would take her 10 days to make the coast of France. It
is very unlikely that she will get ten days of continuous Westerlies, so double that to 20 days. That means she will be sitting
out in the Atlantic/Biscay until October. Who knows what storms will pass across her in that time???)
18th September ... Maud averaged 1.2 knots ENE over the last day ...
I must admit that before Maud hit the big storm I
was warning her not to get trapped in the winds of the Azores high which she used to give herself a ride
across the Atlantic from West to East. But after seeing how her boat handled quite a mild storm by East
Atlantic standards it was obvious that she should have continued south with the remains of the Northerlies
from the storm and headed for the Portugese coast. The winds off the Portugese coast were forecast to
be and have been quite favourable for her to reach the shore had she been there.
However whether it is a factor in their decision making process or not Maud's backers stand to lose from
her not triumphantly landing on French soil. Also they seem to be relying too much on the efficasy of the "
Admiralty Sailing Directions for the World" which are averages of winds over several years, and not tuning
their minds in to the actual weather conditions that are unfolding now in Maud's area (Or if they are maybe
it doesn't suit them). Maud's team are encouraging visitors to her official web site to SMS her positive
thoughts so she won't be depressed by her present predicament (Which Maud's team is responsible for),
they probably envisage messages such as "hang in their brave and beautiful Maud I know you can do it" ... Maud is not stupid,
she knows she can only last out there as long as her backup hand pumped desalinator holds out, she
knows that if a really big storm comes through and she can't make water it will be too rough to rescue her
and she will probably die of dehydration (and starvation, she only has dried packet food that has to be
mixed with water). So let's not send Maud banal messages telling her everything will be allright when it
probably won't ... On the other hand she is out there doing it tough whether she wants to be there or not
so try and send her usefull tips that could help her alleviate the unenviable position in which she finds
herself (also good short jokes & mouth watering food descriptions) but remember not to flatten her
satphone batteries!!! ... Robert
19th September ... You're wondering how Maud managed to make 56nm NE today, well the other day she stripped off
and slipped over the side into the black cool deep Atlantic ocean and scraped the barnacles off her Pilot's bottom!!
That must have been scary, she didn't know what might have been lurking under her hull ... waiting for a tasty Maud snack ...
With a clean hull Pilot should perform much better in rough conditions, such as the front that is going to pass
Maud. Behind the front are North Easterlies, which she could use to take her south if she has a mind to ...
20th September ... Maud's team are no doubt congratulating themselves on her 51nm NE drift today, but there is a storm SW of her with winds
up to 40 knots circulating around the centre (what goes up must come down?). Let's hope Maud can handle the storm if it effects her (
She could get 3 or 4 days Westerlies out of the depression if it passes far enough North of her not to be dangerous, at 70nm per day with a clean bottom she could cover 280nm
which would be a few miles short of her finish line (The longitude through l'isle de Ouessant).
On the other hand Maud could get blown fast NW as the storm approaches her and then South after it passes her.
The storm looks to be getting pretty wild on the satellite cloud photo I'm glad it's not me out there ...
There is still the problem of water and food and it would not be good to be blown onto the North Spanish coast in a Northerly gale
Maud spent several hours of the day (19th) feverishly trying to fix her electric desalinator
She wasn't helped by her less than thoughtful boat builder who omitted to put a stopcock on the through
hull fitting for her desalinator. So Maud could not take the pipe off the fitting without flooding the boat (Well
done Marc Ginisty). Fortunately Maud found a plug so stop the hole.
Her shore team thought the pipe or fitting may have been blocked with a foreign object!
(It would probably have been better to only disconnect the pipe at the top end first and blow down it to see
if it was clear) . The exercise reopened a cut on Maud's finger
and the desalinator did not burst into life as Maud had hoped. ... Robert
A word from Maud ...
"A special thought for Jacqueline Bouvier. Thank you for your
call on Thursday evening which touched me much."
"Linda, thank you for your initiative. I trust you completely."
21st September ... Maud has started her NNW drift as the storm approaches her from the West ...
If the ECMWF medium range forecast for the next week is correct it looks as though Maud is going to get blown back south again
in the little loop ... The conditions will probably be quite pleasant out there after the storm has passed except for the fact
that Maud's will be recovering from the bruising sustained in more capsizes (Wave heights at the Brittany buoy North East of Maud peaked at over 4.5 metres !!!
as the storm passed close to it) and her kidneys will be failing as she dies of thirst while experimenting with drinking seawater ...
22nd September ... not so fast .. if you check out the surface wind forecast
you will see that in the short term Maud is going to be assaulted by Easterlies so she had
better fix up her desalinator because Roland's can of water will run out soon (but then we don't really know what
Roland dropped off for her do we?;) ... Robert
23nd September ... For one reason or another it looks as though Maud is going to be drifting around the ocean for a while yet,
it is critical that she has a supply of fresh water ... Robert
24th September ... Maud has moved East from roughly 15 degrees West to 10 degrees West in 16 days.
At that rate she will cross 5 degrees West (her finish line) in about another 2 1/2 weeks on 11th October ...
unless she decides to Row/Go/Blow South? (She RGB'd 36nm SSE today)
25th September ... You are wondering why ocean rowers bother to keep up the pretense that their oars contribute in any way to their ocean crossing?
Well some of them don't ... "There were days I traveled 90+ nautical miles
without taking a single rowing stroke" and "With a 20-25 knot wind, no current and no rowing, my boat
averaged 4-5 knots." (Tori Murden). If you've ever tried rowing a 35kg low profile rowing boat in windy choppy sea conditions
you will know that rowing a 350kg high windage monster in any other direction than downwind would be next to impossible. Rowing across the wind/sea
being rolled by the odd breaker would be a possibility and keeping the blades in the water may not be easy ...
Still the oars and sliding seat make a good exercise machine if you're bored lying around reading books or getting high on
superlatives in SMS messages from fans or contemplating your navel!!!
Maud is doing the loop as the winds change again. If she was able to row across the wind/sea she would not have to suffer such ignominy,
but could break out of her loop sideways.
The drill is: in adverse head winds deploy the sea anchor, in favorable tail winds sail with them, there are no other options ... Robert
26th September ... Adverse headwinds = sea anchor = backward drift at 1/2 knot. Don't expect to see any more progress
out of the sail boat without a sail until the winds are favorable!!! Just give up pretending to be a row boat and install a mast and sail then you could even sail up wind.
Why not join Roland Jourdain's crew then you could really have fun ... Robert
("sacre bleu! vous êtes un hérétique Robert nous vous brûlerons au pieu!!!")
27th September ... a few tasty Northerlies are going to be served up to a starving Pilot but whether Madamoiselle (Senorita) Maud chooses
to accept these gifts from Eolus is another matter because after that the ECMWF forecast is predicting strong Southerlies seems like Maud is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
She may have missed the boat to Spain/Portugal by making the wrong moves after the big storm ... Robert
28th September ... May be we should rename "Pilot" "YoYo", Maud's back to where she was yesterday ... On the 26th 3 golden yellow butterflies
circled and landed on Maud's boat for a short rest ....
Perhaps the boat could have a pedal powered generator like the old flying doctor radios in Australia. Then
when you are blowing with the wind, you pedal every day charging a bank of batteries. When the wind is against you
just switch on your electric propulsion unit and power out of trouble. It would not be cheating because human power was used to provide the electricity for
the motor. (Of course you could cheat a bit with plenty of solar panels)
Since ocean rowing is mostly ocean blowing and when it is not more power is needed than one person can put into a pair of oars, the batteries act like a spring which
the puny human winds up over a few days/weeks, then releases all that stored energy in a few hours/days to improve his position relative to a problem weather system that is
blocking his progress ... (Anyone want to sponsor me Canaries to Caribbean in such a vessel??? but probably a Tour de France cyclist would
make the best engine!!!) ... Robert
29th September ... be interesting to see how Maud's team utilizes the weather approaching Maud from the West, if I was Maud I'd
jump on the first passing ship after telling the team my satphone was dying and leave them to track Pilot's
GPS beacon while I sunned myself on a beach in la Nouvelle-Calédonie
Windspeed=50knots fetch=280miles duration=23hours ==> wave height > 40ft/12m
Windspeed=50knots fetch=75miles duration=23hours ==> wave height > 20ft/6m
... check it out with the Wave Machine
Will there be more northerlies than southerlies in the next week? that is the question ...
Will both cause more damage than forward motion, deploying a sea anchor in radical conditions may not be possible,
Maud's team should go with the flow and land Maud on the easiest and fastest coast to reach as events unfold ...
(Spain/Portugal/France/Britain/Ireland, Maud needs her well earned rest guys, time to put Maud first) ... Robert
30th September ... Maud is nearly back to her position 5 days ago ...
Some words from Roland Jourdain who uses the same weather expert, Pierre Lasnier, for his routing
advice as Maud:
"The skipper always makes the final decisions onboard his vessel, I am the first sensor,
it's me who sees the clouds, measures the force of the wind, knows the sea conditions best and the
behaviour and state of the boat at all times. Sometimes the wind on the chart seems favourable, but the sea
prevents us from making headway. Then I feed back to Pierre Lasnier all the data I have, and that
influences his analysis of the situation. We then discuss together which would be the best route to take. It
is a cooperative process, I am not being guided like a robot by my land based meteorolgist." (from L'Equipe.fr)
That's fine for Roland Jourdain, his 60ft yacht Sill with it's astounding speed and ability to tack upwind
gives Bilou (Roland's nick name) a multitude of options ... But Maud just sits out in the ocean like a cork getting
blown with the wind, her only options are her rudder her forward dagger board and her sea anchor. This makes it much more difficult
for Pierre Lasnier as he has to forecast the state of the wind and ocean and Maud's forecast position relative to them a long time ahead.
Maud is more like a robot being driven by her land based meteorologist.
Numerical weather prediction models are only as good as the data they start with, however sophisticated the equations or
powerful the computer/computers. From a given set of initial data a sub grid level disturbance or gaps in data coverage can completely change the forecast a few days out
so forecasts beyond a couple of days can be wildly inaccurate for a given position, although they may broadly resemble the big picture.
So there's a lot of luck involved in achieving a good outcome. Sometimes you just have to go with what the atmosphere/ocean throws at you.
You can't be too fussy about your destination, which seems to have been Pierre Lasnier's undoing in Maud's case ... Robert
1st October ... Maud is now just SE of her position a week ago, she needs to head SE as fast as a heavy Pilot can be rowed, a
large anticyclone is forecast to build WNW of her generating NE then East winds extending right across the Atlantic.
All yesterday Maud was wallowing in the centre of a low (NOT an anticyclone as in her log) she got soaked to the skin and was thoroughly miserable
Maud's clothing and sleeping bag are losing their insulating properties through continuous use for over 3 months and the weather is getting colder
so Maud may have to give up or risk dying of hypothermia (If her team routed her south it would help!) ... Robert
2nd October ... The low Maud was in the centre of moved SSW giving Maud SE winds that made her drift NW 12NM. The high building
WNW of her should allow her to move SE towards the Spanish coast but as she progresses south the winds will swing through N to NE then E
so she needs to get going towards Spain as soon as possible ... Robert
3rd October ... Maud's team, for reasons they have not yet disclosed, in the face of impending strong Northerlies from the high to the WNW of her
allowed Maud to drift NE in a brief burst of SW winds ... Come on Pierre, stop beating Maud's head against a brick wall, let her go South ... at least it's warmer down there!
There is a belt of very strong NE winds forecast off the coast of Portugal Sunday, but by the time Maud get's anywhere near them they will be long gone according to the ECMWF medium range forecast.
SE is probably the go for Maud if she can adjust Pilot to drift in that general direction blown along by the Northerlies ... Robert
4th October ... Although Maud has only moved 1/2 degree East in the last 10 days she has managed 2/3 degree East
in the last two days. She is now at 10 degrees West with only 5 degrees to go to her finish line at 5 degrees West.
However although there are Westerlies East of her Maud's best bet is still to head as much SE as she can in the Northerlies over the next few days.
By using a small amount of dagger board she should be able to sail crabwise towards the East although the wind will be coming from the Northern sector (NW through NE)
I just read the following from Maud's log of 3rd Sept written by Maud's team, I have left the machine translation of it because it doesn't deserve any better:
("CAUTION! CAUTION! GENERAL OPINION ALL NET SURFERS: Let us announce untrue sites weather, programmed not to expect that bearing winds of Western sector? Let us repeat: Be extremely vigilant - you do not trust there especially... and this, even if you want to see Miss Maud arriving very quickly! The truth here: PILE is in a zone of winds of North having to turn North-eastern. It slows down of four irons not to go to land on a Spanish beach. In three days, a depression with winds having to exceed the 40 N?uds, is announced...")
Of course we know there are strong winds forecast off the coast of Portugal but not the North West coast of Spain ...
These winds will be long gone by the time Maud gets anywhere near there assuming she chooses to take a ride SE on the Northerlies ...
Where Pierre got the idea of Westerlies from I don't know, may be he had a few too many bouteilles de vin Espagnol? ... Robert
Maud's backers have a financial interest in her arriving in France because of all the media hype it would generate so may be
Maud's team are trying to frighten the living daylights out of her by inventing nightmares to the South so that she will sit around where she is waiting for the mythical southwesterlies to blow her home.
Trouble is that sitting in Biscay waiting for weather is a risky business, as you can see from the winds forecast for North Biscay/English Channel!!!
Pierre you are forecasting for Maud the tortoise not Bilou the hare.
You should put Maud's interests first or someone else should take over her routing...
The French Navy might be a good choice ... Robert
5th October ... Maud's team got her to put the breaks on again today because of their imaginary "depression with winds exceeding 40 knots"
The strong winds forecast off the Portuguese coast are about as relevant to Maud at the moment as hurricane Kate!! (Kate could influence Maud in a few days)
One can only surmmize this latest mirage is just part of her teams ongoing psychological warfare against her
landing anywhere except a point of their choosing ... Will someone with an authority she can't refuse to respect
please phone her and discuss her options ... Robert
6th October ... Maud's up up and away!!! no pesky sea anchor for her, she made 32nm SSE towards Spain and is only 105nm from the Spanish coast ...
She will need to use her daggerboard and rudder to crab Eastwards as much as possible without losing speed towards La Coruña. The various numerical prediction models
are fairly much in agreement with the position of the high to the West of her, but it is difficult
to forecast the winds on the Eastern extremity of the high, they could be anywhere between NW and NE and hopefully not, but perhaps even E.
That said, sailing;) SE with the Northerlies from the high would seem to be easily the best option, especially as there is some heavy weather developing in North Biscay ... Allez Maud ... Robert
7th October ... Maud successfully guided Pilot SE for 33nm towards Spain today. As Maud closes the Coast the winds will come more from the East as the surface airflow
makes it's way around the North West corner of the Iberian peninsular. That has it's advantages as she is unlikely to get thrown up on the rocks by the northerlies as her team were suggesting!!!
Maud can always cut within shouting distance around the corner and down the West coast if she needs searoom ...
3 more days till Maud is close to the Spanish coast, but then she will slow down as she finds it more and more difficult to hold a SE course as the wind turns more towards the E.
Imagine Maud's excitement when she will finally see the clouds over the coastal mountains of Spain, the first sign of land after months at sea ... Robert
8th October ... Maud pulled a surprising 57nm SE out of her bag of tricks on her row from 11:48 on 6th to 12:48 on 7th ...
She is almost far enough East to take advantage of some Westerlies blowing along the North Spanish coast, but they are forecast not to last beyond Wednesday 7th night ...
then they may change to Northerlies, so Maud might be better to Head for La Coruna than Gigon ...
Maud needs someone with local knowledge who has her best interests at heart and is not on her support team to advise her ... Robert
(NEARLY A FULL MOON WILL HELP MAUD CLOSING THE COAST AT NIGHT ... But tidal currents will be stronger)
This may be almost the last entry before Maud's arrival in a North Spanish Port ... Robert
9th October (00:00East Australian time for me) ... Maud made a perfect approach to the Galician coast of Spain and La Coruna for the wind regime she was in.
Now Maud has less than 30nm to go and is averaging about 2.5 knots so she should arrive in La Coruna sometime on Thursday. Maud must not hang around chatting to tourists as there could be some light offshore winds
late Thursday and Friday.
Thanks to everyone that followed Maud's progress on my site, I'll leave it up for a while after Maud docks in La Coruna ... Robert
Please put any comments about the site in the guest book at the bottom of this page ...
Photos: AFP & La Voz de Galicia ...
 
!!!!MAUD ARRIVED IN LA CORUNA AT 04:15 THURSDAY MORNING AFTER 2 DAYS WITH NO SLEEP!!!!
Maud's team could not charter a boat to go out and support Maud on her way in,
so she had to make her own way down the coast of Galicia to La Coruna at night, which is why she kept well offshore.
Maud that was a really inspired piece of night navigation (and facing the wrong way to see the lights too)
(Maud's dad chartered a boat and left Wednesday night
to go and look for Maud and tow Pilot the last 8nm into the harbour ... La Voz de Galicia)... Robert
SMS MAUD AND OFFER HER A JOB, OR SPONSORSHIP TO DO SOME OTHER DARING DEED ... Robert
TRANSLATE YOUR MESSAGE TO FRENCH Don't worry, bad French will give her a good laugh!
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to Maud
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.... thanks to the nice guys at 
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Click in the message box, type your thoughts to Maud then click "send message"
(Maud's satphone number is already entered, leave "reply email" blank, message must be less than 160 characters)(Bonjour Maud=12 characters)
"Viana do Castelo"
Ports
Roads
The Lisbon guys had a good time in France with the English, French and Aussie rowers even though it was flat calm with no waves!!! 2 of them crewed with the English and finished 4th out of 14 crews ... Maud landed in La Coruna at 04:00 Thursday morning ... !!!YES!!! MAUD HAS THE RECORD!!!
Hey guys imagine one of you having to row that big surfboat on your own, that's
what it's like for Maud!!
MAUD'S LIVING HELL IN THE BIG STORM
When the storm hit Maud on the 27th August she suffered 15 capsizes in less than 15 hours, winds reached 45 knots gusting to 50/60 knots. Waves were breaking with heights exceeding 6 metres (20ft).
Maud was thrown about (literaly) for 2 days and got no sleep. Her sliding seat was ripped out and lost overboard.
"With each capsize it was the same physical and mental pain. The boat always remained a few minutes upside down before righting itself thanks to my efforts.
Water poured in through the hatches the compass and the ventilator. Two cases burst open and disgorged their contents on top of me, the ceiling light broke
and the ballast pump. I braced myself in with all my force, only the red nose clown that Marc gave me remained hanging in it's place.
My eyes were transfixed on it, it was my one hope of once again planting my feet firmly on dry land.
My mind filled with dread knowing that I had to suffer another 24 hours absorbing the forces of an increasingly hard wind and sea.
I realized that before I had never truly known fear" .... "I don't really care where I end up at this point, France or Spain, I just want to reach land" ...
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to Maud
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It takes 5 strong men using their weight as mobile ballast & a steering oar to hold a surfboat on track down a wave ...
... and even then it is common for the surboat to broach(turn side on to the wave) and roll ...
Maud's petit Pilot has a HUGE skeg/rudder combination which would definitely be a liability in surf as the lift
from this massive hydrofoil at high speed, especially if you applied hard rudder to correct the broach, would roll the boat down the wave and may turn it upside down!!!
It is possible that if you applied hard rudder into the broach while the boat was still traveling at high speed that the
force on the skeg/rudder would help to keep the boat upright in a carving turn up the wave face!!! (easy for me to say I'm not out there doing it;)
Well I guess Marc Ginisty designed the hull of Pilot to be most efficient at holding a course drifting down wind (steering board like a sailing raft + skeg/rudder) at well under planing speeds
as he knew most of the trip would be like that ... the inside of her cabin also doesn't look as if it's designed for a wild circus ride
in spite of Marc's clown ... not surprising Maud had trouble holding on and the flimsy fluoro lamp broke etc ... (You strap yourself in on the wild rides at the fairground)
In Maud's recent 2 capsizes ("Maud found herself in the middle of a new storm. Winds of 35 knots and waves as high as five meters. She did not get any sleep during the night and the boat capsized twice; "You are lost and you choke, it is over very quickly but there is still enough time for panic to set in".")
If we plug the approximate wind/fetch/duration data as 30/280/23 into the "
wave machine" it gives us a wave height of 14.1 feet / 4.3 metres.
(The average winds in the Maud's area from the satellite surface wind chart were less than 30knots had a fetch of about 280nm and a duration of 23 hours (The system was moving East quite fast))
(Significant wave height -- The average height of the highest one-third of the waves in an area of the ocean)
Usefull Info
Surf Heights!!!
A POSSIBLE WAY OF MAKING GROUND PERPENDICULAR TO THE WAVE DIRECTION USING THE LARGE SKEG/RUDDER ...
As the boat starts to surf down the wave wait till it picks up a good speed (planing) then turn across the wave in the direction you want to go.
As you make the turn at speed the force on the skeg will tend to lean you into the wave face. As the
boat slows down to displacement speed (not planing) use the rudder to straighten the boat up for the next wave. If you keep repeating this cycle you can use the wave energy to drive you sideways along the wave fronts.
In short turn across the wave at high speed, turn down the wave at slow speed. (If the boat starts to broach at high speed down the wave and you try use the rudder to turn it back down the wave face the forces on the skeg/rudder
will tend to capsize you down the wave face.)
With many kilos of seaweed adorneing the bottom (removing it will destroy a whole mini ecosystem) maneuvering on the wave face would not be possible of course!!! How to clean it off and the encrustations without taking any undue risks, that is the question???
Some brave souls have been known to dive under and scrape it off ... oops bye bye little boat ... hello BIG fish!!! ... Robert
(Marc ... try pulling your model of Maud's Pilot fast through the water with the rudder turned, you will find it flips over on it's side ... Robert)
(You could try the model in a wave tank with simulated seaweed;)
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mouse over the image until the coordinates on the status bar match to FIND MAUD ...
(If the mouse coordinates look wrong, refreshing the page should fix it ... )
4km resolution infra red satellite image centered at Lat= 45.92° N Lon= 14.00° W (location X 128 Y 37) "METEOSAT 7"
 
Raw data courtesy of the Space Meteorology Group NASA Johnson Space Center
Infrared processes group
Global Hydrology and Climate Center
Responsible Official: Dr. James E. Arnold (jim.e.arnold@nasa.gov)
Page Curator: Paul J. Meyer (paul.meyer@nasa.gov)
Last Updated: Sat Aug 23 13:33:07 2003
(UTC)
Merchant ship laboring in heavy seas as a "huge wave" looms astern. "Huge waves" are common near the 100-fathom line
in the Bay of Biscay off the West coast of France. (Published in Fall 1993 issue of Mariner's Weather Log)
Maud et le petit Pilot probably espèrent that they don't encounter anything quite that big!!
(Click on the picture to calculate wave heights from speed/fetch/duration of wind)
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