Be nice to spiders, warns Maud
Feb 18, 2005 09: 46 EST
Maud is on her 36th day at sea and has traveled 3202 km (1989 miles). Here’s her latest:
Ocean litter?
"The swell is well-formed and it’s difficult to see the horizon. My radar detector starts ringing. I think I haven’t heard well. Here, in the middle of the ocean, I’m not really prepared to have any company (from human beings I mean). But again, a loud ring. I look at the horizon carefully. Ah! There it is; it was hidden by the waves. A metallic mass, reflecting the sun, comes towards us."
I, Robot
"OCÉOR stands at attention. Pétula disappeared in a boot. I put my trousers on ( it’s the first time since the departure, there are still some Peruvian soles in the pockets) and take my binoculars. There’s no doubt: A huge gray floating unit is coming nearer.
In such moments, my heart always beats faster. I turn around in my cockpit. I can’t believe the size of that boat. I can tell you, in such moments you feel very small and vulnerable. Quietly, the huge steel robot is going ahead; it seems not to see us. Are we so unified with the ocean that we become invisible?"
“…like an ant beside a human foot.”
"Determined and powerful, he passes close to us without even taking notice of us. Pétula would have liked talking to them. For me, the further it passes the better it is.
The humans are waiting for me in Polynesia.
And I have to acknowledge that I feel like an ant close to this cargo ship, like an ant beside a human foot. That’s probably why I’m incapable to kill an ant or a spider! There’s always a bigger one than you.
Remember this..."
French rower Maud Fontenoy set out from St. Pierre et Miquelon, (French) Canada on June 13, 2003 in an attempt to become the first woman to row across the Atlantic West to East. 117 days and an arduous journey later, she reached that goal on October 9th, 2003.
She had been drinking sea water, fought off sharks, and tumbled in 30 feet waves. In the final weeks she was caught up in endless circles in the North Atlantic. Cargo ships brushed pass her like giant, frightening ghosts in the night.
Injured and badly beaten she pushed hard towards east, but the strong wind and the waves took her south without mercy. She arrived at the rocky coast in agitated seas and darkness, where not even the tow ship would go out to get her. But she never gave up and she stole the heart of hard core explorers for her fighting spirit, and her romantic messages in the midst of brutal storms.
This time, Maud plans to row solo from Peru to French Polynesia, mid-Pacific to follow the route of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition. She left from Callao January 12, 2005 at 17h40 (22h40 GMT).
Image of 'Ocean Spider' courtesy of deviantart.com
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