I reported yesterday that the batteries haven’t gone above 12 volts in a long time. This afternoon, though, they jumped to 13 as if it took a lot of effort to get past the 12 barrier but once there they were fine. I’ve had four nice sunny days in a row now too, which doesn’t happen often, so I was able to keep the laptop charged up with enough power to produce a report.

Last night the GPS was showing another fairly straight northerly line, so bang went the few miles I might’ve made to the west. I was back at the oars again in the morning to win back some distance to the south, but it was very difficult and around noon I ended up stuck on a 317-degree north-westerly course that I’d never reach Papua New Guinea with. The strong northerly current seems to be the one that’s prevailed.

If I keep rowing in that direction I’ll land up on the western side of the largest island in the Solomon archipelago, New Britain, which is the uninhabited side and littered with reefs. Not the best place to land, basically. The eastern side is more accessible with no reefs, rocks or mud flats off the coast, but as I wrote yesterday, it’ll still be an ordeal as the only inhabited part is to the north-east. Maybe I’ll have to tie a solar panel and a battery to my back so I can keep making reports from the jungle! The eastern side is still the safest bet, though, and it looks like I’ll be giving that option more of a priority. Naturally it’d be nice if I could get to Papua, but trying to make that journey when it’s very unlikely to succeed and could be very dangerous won’t do anyone any good.

My back is still hurting from the knock it received a few days ago, and my body’s developed a few more complaints today too. I’m suddenly having a lot of trouble with my bottom, and I’ve got gaps between the lumps of hard skin on my hands that have burst open. My left rowing shoe has fallen apart and it was the last of the four pairs I’ve used. I’ve tied it back together again with elastic, which isn’t ideal, but it’ll just have to last the rest of the way. It’s almost 12 o’clock now anyway, and high time to go to sleep. I can rest easy tonight too, as it’s now up to the current to determine where my journey ends.