Pacific Stage 2 Highlights
The highlights of Stage 2 – 104 days condensed into 1:40 mins. If only the voyage had been this easy!
It’s pretty dynamic, so get ready, brace yourself, pay attention, sit back and enjoy – here we go….!
Roz Savage Pacific Row Stage 2 Highlights
All due credit to Dawn Pasinski – hasn’t she done an amazing job?! Huge thanks also to ScubaDrew and Ray Hollowell for the stunning underwater and aerial shots, and Conrad Wade for the beautiful arrival footage.
In the third of my reviews of Stage 2 of the Pacific row, I look at the dramas, frustrations and triumphs of life on the ocean wave. Some you win, some you lose, but at least it stops life being boring….
Dramas:
Fortunately no major dramas this time around – no doubt to Texino’s disappointment. No broken oars, no capsizes, no airlifts, no Hunks on the Junk, and alas no Johnny Depp. The ongoing Tuvalu-Tarawa dilemma was probably the major stress-inducer of the voyage. But there were a few other heart-stopping moments, such as:
- On my first full day, trying to run the watermaker, and nothing happened. Wondered if this was going to be the shortest ocean row ever. After calming down and analysing the problem, I discovered that the intake hose had not been connected. Easily fixed.
- Watermaker stopped working altogether as I approached the 3-month mark. But fortunately I had enough water reserves to see me through.
- Discovery that the coordinates I had for Tuvalu were incorrect – so the chances of making it there were remote. Tarawa suddenly promoted to destination of choice.
Little frustrations:
- Satphone data connection working worse and worse, and then not at all for the last week
- Lazarus the Stereo being rather temperamental, sometimes with pauses of up to 15 minutes while he turned himself off and on repeatedly
- Boobies, boobies, boobies. And all their noxious emissions – both vocal and, errr, well, from the other end. But the trip would not have been the same without them, and it was brought home to me when they deserted me that I had become strangely fond of my smelly boatmates.
Little triumphs:
- For once, I managed not to lose my sea anchor. No hassles at all, in fact. The new cam cleats we fitted for the tripline worked a treat. Definitely a keeper.
- Sarong used as a side extension to the bimini – reduced the temperature of my rowing position by several degrees, protected me from sunburn, and stopped the bimini from flapping in high winds. And on the rare occasions when conditions were calm enough for the deck to stay dry, the resulting shady haven on the deck was a perfect spot for a mid-afternoon siesta, with a delicious cooling breeze wafting over my bare skin. Heaven!
Continuing my retrospective on Stage 2 of the Pacific, there are a few special moments that will live on in my memory long after my calluses have peeled off and my suntan/burn has faded. Share these with me as we bask in the afterglow of my voyage…
1. Spectacular departure from Hawaii, escorted out of the Ala Wai Harbor at sunset by a flotilla of outrigger canoes, sailboats, motor launches, and a solitary stand-up paddler. A moment to treasure forever. With a special mention to the crew of the Blue Lady who came out after dark for a final farewell. They would be the last human beings I would see for the next 104 days.
2. Crossing the Equator, featuring a countdown on Twitter, paying homage to King Neptune (or at least his very capable deputy, Squishy the Dolphin), and opening up my goodie bag to discover a mini bottle of bubbly. Then getting slightly tiddly and rambling on at length to my video camera about how great life is – until the battery went flat and saved me from embarrassing myself further.
3. Realizing that I was going to be able to make it to Tarawa under my own steam, when a long-awaited southeasterly wind arrived at precisely the right moment to help me past Maiana and into the home strait.
4. Nicole jumping overboard from the boat carrying my welcoming committee, and swimming over to Brocade to deliver my long-awaited cold beer. Now that’s what I call dedication!
5. The amazing warmth of the reception in Tarawa. Three hundred or so people on the dock, all smiling, and the dancers performing a traditional dance of welcome. Especially after so long of being alone, the emotion was almost overwhelming.
6. The little magical moments in the ocean wilderness that made every day special, the entertainments that Mother Nature provides to entertain the solitary seafarer – sunrises, sunsets, the light of the moon, and the always awe-inspiring spectacle of a canopy of stars and the Milky Way.
And deserving of a special section all on its own, my favorite Rozling moments, of which there are really too many to mention. What a great bunch of people you are! The impression I got from the ocean was that a disparate assortment of individuals evolved over the summer into a thriving community. It was fantastic to witness. You know that feeling you get when you introduce two friends who both know you but don’t know each other – and they really hit it off and you can just sit back and enjoy their newfound friendship? Well, that’s how I felt, but on a bigger scale. It was like a whole party-ful of people, arriving as strangers but soon finding common ground and the conversation flowing. The whole became greater than the sum of the parts. I hesitate to pick out individuals, but If I had to select a couple of laugh-out-loud moments from Roz’s Regulars…
- Richard in Austin, TX, for the alternative lyrics to the Village People classic YMCA – entitled ITCZ
- UncaDoug and his Bimini Bobbity Boobity Moon!
I hesitate even more to try and list the names of the stalwarts of the Rozling community, in case I miss somebody out and offend them for evermore. I apologize unreservedly in advance if I don’t name you here, but I think we’d all agree that special mentions should go to: UncaDoug, Richard in Austin, Karen Morss, Laurey Masterson, Sindy Davis, Joan in Atlanta, Naomi in NY, Greg from Conway Kayaking Company, John Kay… and, of course, the inimitable Texino.
To these and to each and every person who has visited my blog this year, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am honoured to count you as my friends!
[photo: Luxuriating in the feel of an ice cold bottle of water just after I arrived on land.]
I always enjoy, at the end of a chapter of my life, to look back and reflect. What were the highlights? What were the moments of drama? What went well? What could have gone better? And so, as I draw the line under Stage 2 of the 
Pacific row, here is the ocean-rowing equivalent of my Oscars speech…
Special thanks to:
1. The animals – for making this such a memorable voyage. I will forever remember the Hawaii-Tarawa voyage for the incredible number of wildlife encounters – and how close the wildlife came to my boat, as if they were making a personal visit to say hi and welcome me to their domain. I saw more pelagic critters on this leg than I have seen on both my previous major rows – combined and multiplied by ten. The final tally was something like this:
- whale shark (1)
- other sharks (dozens – thankfully not too close, apart from one that swam right under my boat)
- whales (a dozen or so, species unknown)
- dolphins (dozens)
- turtles (3)
- squid (3, on deck, very messy)
- remoras (any remoras is too many)
- pilot fish (regularly hanging out in the shade of Brocade)
- brown noddies
- booby birds (how could I ever forget? They came, they saw, they pooped)
2. The Rozling community – for being such active participants in my adventure. On this voyage, more than ever, it felt like we had a real dialogue going, rather than me being permanently in “transmit” mode. I could really feel the love, support and positive energies pouring through the slender umbilical of my satphone/data modem. Thank you so much for making the last three and a half months so special. I love you all!
3. TeamRoz – how could I have done it without them? I might have managed the rowing bit alone, but there is so much more to an ocean rowing voyage than just rowing. Nicole, of course, gets special mention, for putting in an amazingly productive and effective summer’s work. She always gives 110%, and I cannot find the words to express how much I appreciate her support in all shapes and forms – logistical, administrative, and emotional. And a good therapeutic laugh from time to time as needed. Enormous gratitude also to Mum, Rick Shema, Ricardo Diniz, Hunter and Traci Downs, Evan Rapoport, Ian Tuller, Conrad Wade, Daisy Hampton, Dawn Pasinski, Leo Laporte, Laureen Hudson and Sinead Martin for their energy, time and support over the summer.
Over the course of the next few blogs I’ll be posting more retrospectives on Stage 2 of the Pacific row – favorite memories, favorite Rozling moments, dramas, triumphs, frustrations, favorite foods, favorite books and lessons learned. I hope you’ll join me as I look back over this summer’s success!
Other Stuff:
TeamRoz left Tarawa on Tuesday. Just before we left I had a meeting with the President of Kiribati (of which Tarawa is the administrative center), who told me about the impact that climate change is having on his people, and what he intends to do about it. I’ll be blogging about this in due course. Stay tuned. It was a fascinating opportunity to find out at first hand how climate change is a very real and immediate threat to these fragile islands on the edge of the world.
Apologies for the lack of blogs and Tweets recently. Trying to get online in Tarawa was problematic, to put it mildly. I was still having to Tweet from my satphone, just as I did on the boat, and blogging would have challenged the patience of a saint.
We are now in Fiji for a few days – an unavoidable stopover while we wait for Friday’s flight to Hawaii. I was in culture shock last night when we arrived. After the extreme simplicity (and poverty) of life in Tarawa, Fiji is a big step back towards a US standard of living. In some ways it is a relief to be back within reach of a decent internet connection and decent fresh produce, but I wouldn’t have missed my Tarawa experience for the world.
I will tell more when I blog about my meeting with the President, but for now I would just like to express my huge gratitude to all the wonderful people that we met in Tarawa, who gave me such a warm welcome and made our time in their country so memorable. Thank you for the memories.
APOLOGY: I am profoundly embarrassed. I have been unavoidably offline for the last week, so had no idea of the row brewing over something I wrote in my last blog. I was not at all familiar with the US connotations of “Aunt Jemima”, and am horrified that some people interpreted this as a racial slur. Nothing could have been further from my intentions. During my all-too-brief time in Tarawa I developed the greatest respect and love for the people there. Apologies for any offence caused.
Remembering the huge problems we had trying to find a suitable place in Hawaii for Brocade to hibernate last winter between Stages 1 and 2 of my Pacific row, it is nothing short of miraculous that Nicole has been able to find an ideal spot here on the tiny, densely populated island of Tarawa. Brocade’s new home is at the Marine Training Centre, and we will be forever indebted to Captain Superintendent Boro Lucic, the smiling Montenegran who runs the Centre.
To give you some idea of just how miraculous this is, here were our criteria for Brocade’s temporary home:
- facilities for lifting a 1200lb boat out of the water
- under cover storage for boat
- something on which to store Brocade (her trailer is still in Hawaii)
- separate storage for boat’s contents
- security
The MTC has been able to supply all this – and more.
I spent all day there yesterday with Ian and Hunter. Conrad filmed us while we worked hard to empty the boat of every last food ration, waterbag and marine flare. There was an astonishingly large pile of stuff on the ground next to Brocade by the time we had finished. Then everything had to be sorted – stuff to store, to go back to the US, to be discarded. Many things had to be cleaned and/or dried. In the baking sun water evaporated quickly – from our bodies too, and we had to beware of heatstroke. Finally Boro loaned us some new recruits to help carry everything to the cool store room where it will spend the next few months, safe from rats, ants and the intense heat. Apparently Jason Lewis’s supplies were largely destroyed by rats. They don’t kill them here because they are supposedly the spirits of ancestors, but I am keen to avoid having my oatmeal eaten by somebody’s Great Aunt Betty.
It was a long, hot, sweaty day, but now Ian has clear space so he can work on the things that need to be repaired or enhanced before Stage 3. Today he is trying to fix the watermaker. No luck so far. Other things on our To Do list include:
- connect cable to external satphone antenna
- improve storage of sea anchor line (needs to be more secure, as Stage 3 will likely be rougher than Stage 2, with higher risk of capsize)
- add struts to bimini so it doesn’t flap in high winds
- replace stereo (Lazarus was working more consistently towards the end, but is clearly not in perfect health)
- plus, of course, get the boat shipshape and Bristol fashion, all lockers cleaned and bleached, decks scrubbed, and hull de-slimed.
So Brocade’s physique is on the way to recovery – but how is mine? I’ve regained 4lb in 4 days, which is no bad thing. My perception was that I’d eaten more and lost less weight this time around. So you could have knocked me over with a feather (possibly literally) when I stepped on the scales to find that I was 107lb – exactly the same weight as when I arrived in Hawaii last year, and representing a total loss of exactly 30lb in 104 days.
My skin is still rough and sunburned. I suffered from heat rashes and spots the whole way across, but they are diminishing gradually. I also have some nasty areas of sunburn on my face, which are peeling pinkly now. Hmmm, attractive. I am going to be one wrinkly old lady. Anybody know a good dermatologist? I’m not joking!
My hands, though, are the area of my body still showing the clearest evidence of my recent endeavours. I can’t fully extend my fingers nor clench them into fists – the skin is too tough, tight and callused to allow full movement. But they will recover in time. The calluses are already peeling off now that they are no longer needed.
Someone made a comment that I don’t look like someone who has just rowed 3,000 miles, but I’m not sure what such a person should look like. Maybe he expected me to have shoulders like a Russian shotputter’s. But unless I was taking muscle-enhancing steroids all the way across that wasn’t going to happen. I just don’t have enough testosterone in my body to get that kind of muscle growth. I’m sunburned, scarred and skinny – and hopefully a little bit wiser. And that will have to be evidence enough of my latest ocean adventure.
Note: I still have very limited internet access. The technical infrastructure here on Tarawa is not up to US standards, nor is it ever likely to be. We were told that many of the Pacific islands are going to benefit from new cables being laid across the ocean floor to deliver high data speeds and communications links. But Tarawa is truly in the middle of nowhere… and on the way to nowhere. So for the foreseeable future they will have to rely on satellite connections.
For me personally, this means I have not been able to download my emails, and accessing websites or webmail is slow or sometimes impossible. I still haven’t had the opportunity to have a proper look around my own website, which went live while I was out on the ocean. So please bear with me. Thank you!
A HUGE THANK YOU: From what I hear from Mum and others, there has been an amazing outpouring of congratulations in the Rozling community. I just wish I had the connectivity to be able to play a more active part in the celebrations. I feel a bit like the corpse at the funeral – a great party being held in my honour, and I can’t be there! But hopefully I will clamber out of my internet coffin shortly and get back to full online life – and we’ll just have to celebrate all over again then!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Nicole Bilodeau
[email protected]
For photography, b-roll and interview requests, please contact Nicole Bilodeau, Program Director for Roz Savage.
OCEAN ROWER AND ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGNER, ROZ SAVAGE, COMPLETES SECOND STAGE OF HER SOLO ROW ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN; MAKES LANDFALL IN THE REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI
Second Stage of Three-Part Voyage Inspires Action on Climate Change
TARAWA, REPUBLIC OF KIRIBATI—September 6, 2009—Roz Savage, ocean rower and environmental campaigner, made landfall today on Tarawa, a small atoll in the Republic of Kiribati, successfully completing stage 2 of her epic bid to become the first woman in history to row solo row across the Pacific Ocean. She launched this stage of her voyage on May 24, from Honolulu, Hawaii. She spent 104 days at sea, bringing the total number of days alone at sea for her Pacific crossing to 203 days. Savage uses her ocean rowing adventures to help inspire action on environmental issues.
Savage posted Twitter updates from her satellite phone for each the last 10 miles as she neared the finish line, providing fans around the world with a thrilling conclusion to a very exciting adventure. She wrote, “Into the last 10 miles. Quick chat with mum on satphone. She’s excited!” Two hours later, she tweeted, “7 miles has never seemed so far… sun is scorching hot now.” Upon arrival she wrote, “ARRIVED!!! Exhausted but very, very happy. Crack open the bubbly and toast the health of the planet.”
Savage was welcomed by hundreds of people at Betio Wharf on South Tarawa, where children greeted her with flower leis and local performers honored Savage with traditional songs and dances. Community elders of thanked Savage for bringing awareness to the issue of climate change, particularly on behalf of especially vulnerable low-lying islands and atolls, such as Tarawa.
“What a spectacular welcome – I’m so delighted to be here in Kiribati and to meet the wonderful people of Tarawa. Being here is especially poignant for me, knowing that this land and the people who live here are some of the earliest and most seriously impacted by the devastating effects of climate change. I promise to carry their story with me and hope that by sharing this adventure, people around the world will feel compelled to take actions in their own lives to reduce harmful carbon emissions.”
Savage’s voyage consists of three stages, each with its own environmental message. In Summer 2008, she became the first woman ever to row solo from California to Hawaii. Her 2,700-mile, 99-day journey took her through the outskirts of the North Pacific Garbage Patch. During the first stage of the row, she encouraged people to cut back on their use of disposable plastic bottles, cups and bags, thereby reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean.
Savage’s journey this year from Hawaii to Tarawa targeted climate change. She is a United Nations Climate Hero, and this December Savage will travel to Copenhagen where delegates from around the world will gather to negotiate a new global agreement on climate change. Savage hopes to share video testimonials from the people she meets in Tarawa with world leaders at the Copenhagen summit, highlighting the critical importance of immediate and aggressive action on reducing global carbon emissions.
The third, and final, stage of Roz’s solo row across the Pacific will take place in 2010, and will take her all the way to Australia.
AN UNLIKELY ADVENTURER
Roz is a British ocean rower, author, motivational speaker and environmental campaigner, who uses her trans-oceanic rowing voyages to inspire a movement towards sustainable living at both grassroots and global levels.
Roz first gained international attention in 2005, when after 11 years as a management consultant, she embarked upon a new life of adventure by rowing solo across the Atlantic. Her unlikely transformation from office worker to ocean rower, described with humor and soul-baring honesty in her blogs, captivated and inspired a worldwide audience, transcending barriers of language, culture, color and creed. Encouraged by this positive response, Roz continues to use her seafaring adventures to motivate others to take action on environmental issues and to face their own life challenges.
THIS YEAR’S MISSION: PULL TOGETHER
Pull Together is the theme for stage two of Roz’s row across the Pacific Ocean. This year her environmental mission is to take action on CO2 levels by inspiring people to walk more and drive less.
“The climate change crisis we face requires immediate action from every level of our global society, but the problem is so grave that many people are overwhelmed and simply don’t know what they can do to help,” says Roz. “That’s why I aim to inspire people to choose simple solutions that cost nothing and are easy to work into the busy routines of their daily lives. You might feel like one little choice doesn’t make a big difference, that it’s just a drop in the ocean. But those little choices and actions add up quickly – and they do make a world of difference.”
In consultation with distinguished environmentalists, government leaders and outreach specialists, Roz conceived an initiative to tackle the issue at both grassroots and international levels. Calling upon her supporters around the world to Pull Together, Roz issued a challenge: match her 10,000 oar strokes a day with 10,000 steps a day. An easy way for people to track their steps is to use a pedometer. The idea is to substitute walking for driving, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
A HIGH TECH ADVENTURE
Roz is an avid technology enthusiast and enjoys sharing her adventures through a variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. She regularly blogs and records podcasts, delighting her audience and allowing them to vicariously share and experience her thrilling adventures. The RozTracker is an interactive map that supporters use to track Roz’s progress across the Pacific and see exactly where she was when she posted blog updates, photos, videos and podcasts.
PARTNERSHIPS
Several key partners have recently joined Roz in her mission to take action on climate change. They include:
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There is a lot to do while I’m here in Tarawa, but – lazy cow that I am (?!) I grabbed the opportunity for a day off yesterday. By a “day off”, I mean an opportunity to stop, think, and clarify before hurtling on regardless. I suppose you’d think I’d had all the time in the world to think while I was rowing – and I did – but I always do my very best thinking when I have my pen in hand, blank page of my journal in front of me. And ocean thoughts don’t always make so much sense on dry land. It was time to get real.
But first let me tell you a bit about the sheer pleasure of being back on dry land. One of the best things about spending long periods of time out at sea is that it makes me appreciate the simple things of land life so much more. To wake up in a comfortable, clean, soft bed… to feel the warmth of the shower jets on my skin… to open a fridge and take out a bottle of refreshing cold water…
So it was with an immense feeling of wellbeing that I woke up in my hotel room yesterday morning. I lay on the floor to do my morning stretch-and-breathe routine, trying to remember how it goes. I went to sit out on the balcony overlooking the lagoon, which is actually very polluted, but from a distance it’s a gorgeous light blue, so different from the deep blue of the open ocean.
I flipped through my trusty spiral-bound notebook while I ate a breakfast of granola bars. I am a great maker of lists and notes, and it was half-full of the lists I’d made in the month or so before my departure from Hawaii. I felt the need for a fresh start, so I tore out the used pages, neatly trimming away the perforated edges before archiving them. Now I had a book of blank pages, ready for the next chapter of my life.
Continuing my theme of simplicity and fresh starts, I next cleared out my backpack. I’d been shocked when I took it off the boat, safe in its drybag, to feel how much it weighed. Did I really used to carry this around on my shoulders all day, every day?! No wonder I’m getting shorter! I found all kinds of junk that had accumulated in its many pockets – useful junk, put there “just in case”, but now some cases seemed too unlikely to justify the weight. Simplify, simplify, said Thoreau. So I did.
Feeling fresh and organized and ready to face the day, I joined up with TeamRoz and we got going. We headed over to the office of David Lambourne, the Solicitor General, to use his relatively good internet connection so Nicole could post the press release and Conrad could upload his video footage of my arrival for the media. The poor guy had been up all night editing 6 hours down to 6 minutes.
David, originally from Australia but now a permanent resident of Tarawa is fast becoming our local angel, as well as being a local mover and shaker. His wife, Tessie, is the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Kiribati. Somebody (oops, could it have been me?) made mention of massage, and he said that one of Tessie’s relatives does a great traditional Tarawan massage. A quick call to his house, and it was arranged. It was definitely one of the more unusual massages I’ve ever had. I was introduced to a multitude of David’s wife’s relatives, sitting in a row of small shady thatched cabanas on the lagoon side of the island, whiling away the hot hours. Two of them tended to me, while a small audience of aunts, sisters and children watched nearby. I sat on the palm matting under the thatch while I was rubbed down with oil and water, and my aching back muscles soothed with long, gentle strokes. Then I was sponged down with a wad of coconut wrapped in muslin and dunked in hot water. Coconut milk ran down my skin. A gentle breeze wafted in from the lagoon. It was all very nice indeed. I smelled like a pina colada.
My masseuse and I chatted as best we could across the language barrier. She is the same age as me – 41 – but has 8 children and 3 grandchildren. Her eldest child is 26 and the youngest is 7. Her husband died of cancer 4 years ago. What different lives.
I spent the rest of the afternoon communing with my journal in the cabana, covering several pages with thoughtful handwriting while the relatives around me chatted amongst themselves in the melodious language of Kiribati, played dice, crocheted, ate and snoozed in the shade. A litter of new puppies slept in a furry heap underneath the cabana. A pig lay in its pen, also comatose. Island life.
Towards dark David’s wife Tessie came home, and David himself arrived with Nicole, Hunter and Conrad. We sat in the cabana drinking toddy, the diluted sap of the palm tree. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever tasted, but very delicious. It smells strangely of hot dogs, but tastes much better – sweet and fresh. David told us they gather it by climbing to the top of a palm tree and shaving the bark at the site of a new palm frond to get to the rising sap beneath. As you drive around the island you can see the jars they attach to palm trees to gather the juice.
After sunset we sat on the beach under the palm trees, watching the moon rise over the lagoon as we ate a dinner prepared by the relatives. This is how their household works – David and Tessie work to support the relatives, in return for which the 20 or so members of the extended family provide them with cooking, cleaning, and massage services. Everybody’s happy.
The food was the best I’d had so far on the island. There is nowhere on a coral atoll to grow vegetables, so they are in scarce supply. Cabbage is about the only fresh veg available. So we had coleslaw with local tuna and chicken, and the ubiquitous white rice, washed down with coke, cold beer or a very nice New Zealand Pinot Noir according to choice.
Conversation was varied and interesting – including a lot of talk of climate change, which is very much on the minds of the Kitibati government. But more of that later. This blog is too long already. Ciao for now – more tomorrow. We have to go to the airport to collect Ian, who is arriving from San Francisco to help with the boatworks.
[Note: All travel by members of TeamRoz is balanced by carbon offsets to maintain our carbon neutral status.]
Other Stuff:
Just so you know… I still have very limited internet access. Tarawa is progressing fast, but its infrastructure is still a way behind US levels. David’s office has the best data speeds, but it still took Conrad 7 or 8 hours to upload his 6 minutes of video footage. I’m still having to post blogs via email, and Tweets via my satphone, and it’s not easy for me to see comments and other responses. So please forgive me if I seem a bit remote from the online dialogue. A more normal service will be resumed once I leave Tarawa in a couple of weeks.
Some facts on Tarawa – as gleaned by Nicole from the internet:
Tarawa Overview
Latitude: 1° 25′ North, Longitude: 173° 00′ East
Tarawa atoll is the capital of Kiribati, previously capital of the
former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
Tarawa is not a single town but a group of 24 islets (of which at
least 8 are inhabited) surrounded by a coral atoll. Apart from the
south where causeways link the islets, one needs a boat to
navigate around the main features.
The largest islet (South Tarawa) extends from Bonriki (southeast
corner of the atoll) along the entire south side of the lagoon to
Bairiki. A causeway now connects Bairiki to Betio (Japanese causeway).
The largest town, Bikenibeu, and the only airport on Tarawa, Bonriki
International Airport, are on the southeast corner of Tarawa.
Betio island, the chief commercial center of the country, is a port of
entry. The main hospital is located at Bikenibeu. The central
Government offices, Parliament building, President’s Office and
Residence, Central Post Office, Telecommunications Services Kiribati
Limited (TSKL), Library and Archives, and various other official
buildings are all on Bairiki islet.
The population is mainly Micronesian. Tarawa was occupied by the
Japanese (1941-43) and fell to U.S. marines after a bloody battle. In
the early 1990s the southern part of the capital, particularly Betio,
had one of the highest population densities in the world, leading the
government to resettle residents on less crowded islands.
They are 2 hours behind Hawaii Standard Time. (ie when it is noon in
Hawaii, it is 10 am in Tarawa)
Travel
Flights: The only flights into Tarawa (TRW) are Air Pacific flights
from Nandi, Fiji (NAN). They leave twice a week, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays.
From Honolulu (HNL), there are a few more carrier options. Air
Pacific flies from HNL to NAN as does Qantas, American, United,
Hawaiian and Air New Zealand.
Ships: Supply ships occasionally go to Fiji and Tuvalu.
Accommodations
There are a few options for lodging on Tarawa but we are staying at Hotel Otintaai. It is the main hotel in Kiribati. Fully owned by Government, the hotel is on South Tarawa with a good view of the lagoon. It is about a 10 minute taxi ride from the hotel to the airport. They have a restaurant, running water, clean rooms and
Internet (ish).
Here is the first set of photos from Roz’s arrival in Tarawa!!! Many more to come soon…
[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157622292416154"]
I stepped ashore, setting foot on dry land for the first time in 105
days. This was now my third arrival after prolonged periods at sea, so
I wasn’t surprised when the ground seemed to lurch beneath my feet. My
brain had adapted to being on a constantly pitching boat, so now it
was over-compensating when I stood on terra firma. I looked up at the
crowd of several hundred people that had come to greet me, and
wondered if my first act on arriving in Tarawa would be to topple over
like a drunkard.
Then two big hunky men in traditional island outfits approached and knelt in front of me, forming a cradle with their arms. “Thank heavens for local tradition” I thought, as I sank gratefully onto the proffered cradle.
I was carried to a plastic chair, and the hunky men were joined by several more who performed a local dance of traditional welcome. I felt like visiting royalty as I smiled appreciatively. They presented me with a coconut, its top lopped off so I could drink the cool, refreshing, sweet coconut water inside. It was exactly what I needed. I was feeling a bit woozy after my exertions. It had been an exhausting 3 days.
As I approached Tarawa from the south on Sept 4th, I hadn’t been sure if I would manage to make landfall under my own steam. Given the strong easterly winds that had prevailed over the previous few days, I thought it much more likely that I would get close to the island but miss it by several miles, and would need a boat to come out to catch me as I whizzed past.
But finally Neptune decided to give me a break. I had already made it safely past the island of Abemama (where Robert Louis Stevenson lived for a while). I was making good progress in a northwesterly direction, but there was a problem. Unless I managed to shift course to north- northwest, I would run slap into the island of Maiana. I had to choose whether to go south of it, which would mean I had no chance of getting to Tarawa under my own steam, or else east of it – which was the way I wanted to go, but was it possible? Under present wind conditions, no, it wasn’t.
Then, finally, the long-awaited southeasterly wind arrived. Woohoo! Now I was in fine shape. The wind only lasted a few hours, but I was able to ride it all the way up the east side of Maiana, which lined me up nicely for Tarawa.
I rowed late into the night until I was reasonably sure I was clear of Maiana and its reefs. Then I tried to grab a quick nap, but I kept opening one eye to squint at the GPS to make sure I wasn’t going to shipwreck. At one point I got up and rowed some more, just to make doubly sure. It would have been a real shame to get this far only to end up on a reef within sight of the finish.
So as I approached the final 20 miles into Tarawa, I had had less than 6 hours of sleep in the previous 48 hours, and the heat was brutal. The wind had dropped away to nothing and the sun was intense. When I got to 9 miles out, I really wondered if I was going to make it. After rowing 3000 miles, the last 9 seemed to loom very large. I put some good rocking music on to help me through.
And finally, mile by mile, I crossed off the final hours of my voyage. After each mile I posted another Tweet and had a bite of food. A boat arrived to escort me the last mile or two to land. On board were Nicole, Hunter (from Archinoetics) and Conrad (our cameraman). Also Rob, the New Zealand High Commissioner, who put his sea kayak in the water and paddled alongside me.
But I could feel that I was getting depleted. As I always seem to do, I get over-excited on my final day and push myself too hard. I arrive on land dehydrated, sunburned and exhausted.
The last mile was really tough. I wondered if it would ever finish. Rob told me I was rowing against the incoming tide. I was reduced to counting tens. Just ten more strokes. Then another ten. Then another ten. As I crossed my finish line of latitude, I collapsed backwards off my rowing seat.
But nothing that an ice cold beer wouldn’t cure (oops, ignore this bit, please, Dr Aenor!). Nicole knew what was needed. I heard some splashing as I lay on the deck with my eyes closed, and then Nicole’s head popped up over the side of the boat. She had jumped off the escort boat into the water and swum over to Brocade, beer in hand. It was a bit warm after its time in the water, but tasted pretty darned good regardless. Now that’s what I call a dedicated Program Director!
So now I am on Tarawa, quite possibly one of the most remote places on the world. I’m dying to tell you all about it, but this blog is long enough already, and the Solicitor General’s wife’s aunt is waiting to give me a much-needed massage. So I’ll sign off now, but will tell more tomorrow. I intend to blog every day until we leave Tarawa, probably Sept 17th. But internet access here is very limited, so please forgive me if I miss a day or two.
Photos and videos coming soon. Stay tuned!
[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157622292416154"]
UPDATE: Roz has ARRIVED in Tarawa!!! – 2pm Tarawa time / 4pm Hawaii time.
TeamRoz back in Honolulu relaying the plans for today…
As of 10:30am Hawaii time (which is what is displayed on the RozTracker), Roz is just 11 miles from the southern tip of Tarawa where she’ll be arriving. Nicole just called in via sat phone to let us know that the plan is for the film crew and support crew to leave by boat from Tarawa at around 2pm Hawaii time (12pm Tarawa time) to rendezvous with Roz.
From there, the boat will guide Roz through the treacherous reefs that surround the atoll to help her get safely to shore. This will be tricky, so it’ll take all of Roz’s efforts to stay on course and safe. She’s been rowing hard all morning… she can almost taste the cold beer, no doubt!
RozTracker GPS updates are now every 20 minutes, so check back often to see exactly where Roz is!
As soon as we have any photos, videos, and updates, we will be sure to post them to the RozTracker. In the meantime, spread the word in whatever way you can so people can follow these last few exciting miles!
GO ROZ GO!
GO ROZ GO!
GO ROZ GO!
[Photo: Children of Tarawa welcome TeamRoz to the airport. Can't wait to see Roz's reception!]
From Nicole:
Okay Rozlings, this is it. Tomorrow is the big day, the one we’ve all been waiting for. I apologize for the radio silence from me…the lack of a decent Internet connection has been maddening, especially in such a critical time. I tried uploading Tweets and Facebook updates yesterday to keep you looped in on all the great developments, but to no avail.
So, here’s the scoop:
Yesterday was a hugely successful day at the office. My top priority since we arrived was finding a reliable boat that would be willing and able to go a good distance out to sea (just in case) and help escort Roz safely in to Tarawa. As I mentioned in my last blog, things move slowly here and I was never discouraged, but knew we were running short on time.
Following a lead, Conrad and I headed over to the Tarawa Sports Complex and pretty much hit the jackpot. The US Navy was wrapping up a 2-week humanitarian project (called the Pacific Partnership 2009) with a closing ceremony. We’d met several of the American, Australian and Canadian soldiers since we arrived – after their work was done each day, some of them would head over to our hotel for dinner and a beer before heading back to their ship. They were all really wonderful guys, and the Navy doctor is the one who gave Hunter the eye drops he desperately needed for his conjunctivitis. In any case, we went to their closing ceremony and the President of Kiribati was there! We could hardly believe our good luck. After the ceremony was over, the Australian High Commissioner introduced me to the President and I was able to tell him that Roz would be arriving in the next few days. I told him about her mission – raising awareness for climate change – and he was so pleased, as this is an issue that is of the utmost importance to him. He was warm and welcoming, and delighted that Roz is coming to Tarawa.
After the ceremony, we were invited to drinks at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence. We had heard through the grapevine that the High Commissioner of New Zealand is a world-class champion rower and that he had a boat that might work for us, and we were eagerly trying to connect with him throughout the day. Lo and behold, he was at the party, so we were able to chat with him and he graciously offered up his boat to help escort Roz in safely. We were then introduced to a lovely guy named Emil who also has a large boat, and he offered up his time and assistance as well. Both gentlemen gave me their phone numbers and said all we’d need to do is call. Hooray! Mission accomplished. Uh, well…not quite. We still need Roz.
Today at 10 am, Roz phoned in to give me her update. She was really struggling with the currents. They were whisking her hard and fast to the west, making it increasingly difficult for her to head north to Tarawa. Not good. I gave her the excellent and just-in-the-nick-of-time news about the escort boats, and she was both delighted and relieved. She said the winds were due to change to south easterlies and wanted to carry on trying for Tarawa, but thought that most likely, she wouldn’t be able to get north of Maiana, which is just 20 miles to the south of Tarawa. Roz thought the most prudent thing to do was to schedule a rendezvous point on the south west side of Maiana, and asked if we could arrange that for 9 am tomorrow. Still hoping those south easterlies would kick in, Roz and I agreed to speak again at 4:30 pm to course correct if necessary.
At 4:30 Roz called and gave the final confirmation. Yes, let’s rendezvous at 9 am tomorrow in Maiana. It’s a bit surreal. Roz has been at sea for 104 days now, and as she hung up she said, “thanks so much for everything Nicole – I’ll see you in the morning.” Wow. It’s rather funny to hear her say that after so long!
I called Emil and Rob – the gentlemen who have offered up their boats – and they conferred and decided Emil’s boat would be the best option, all things considered. We will all meet tomorrow at 7 am at Bairiki Harbour and set out to rendezvous with Roz. She and I will speak again at 7 am to get her latest coordinates (we have GPS on the boat, too) and we expect it will take about an hour and a half to reach her.
I just spoke with Ricardo, Roz’s weatherman in Portugal—the south easterlies that Roz needs have kicked in over the past hour, so he seems to think that she’ll be able to row all the way in to Tarawa under her own steam. I know that’s what she’ll want, and if she can, super. We’ll be there, right alongside, just in case. If she needs a tow, we can do that too. All our bases are well and truly covered.
Tomorrow is a very big day indeed. It’s very late here, but I’ve still got quite a lot more work to do, so I’ll sign off for now and just say a massively huge and very heartfelt thank you to all of Roz’s supporters for following along and encouraging her the past 104 days. Please know that your positivity and enthusiasm means the world to her and helps keep her going through the rough times.
I also want to thank those of you who have also been so supportive of me, especially the past couple of weeks. This has been a wonderful project to be a part of for the past 2 years – and the moral support I’ve received from family and friends (and even some of the Rozlings!) has been amazing and oh-so-necessary. An extra special thank you to my Granny, my brother Brian, the Yellin Family, my favorite aunties Aenor and Melinda, Ian Tuller, Hunter and Traci Downs, Nancy Glenn, Ellen Petry Leanse and Evan Rapoport.
Good night everyone! We’ll put up photos, videos and other updates of Roz’s arrival just as quickly as we can.
Nicole
UPDATE (9/7, 1pm HST): Niu Hae Akala seems to be doing a great job of avoiding islands! After nearly slamming into Abemema Atoll a few days ago before taking a last-minute turn to the north to avoid landfall, Maiana Atoll loomed large on the horizon. But yet again, the island pushed the floating drifter to the north and around the small island. Interestingly, it then headed south as if it were trying to do a lap around.
This morning, however, has brought a change. Niu now appears to be returning to its typical northwesterly path. Perhaps the wind that picks up during the day is taking over. Or, to be completely non-scientific and start anthropomorphizing this sensor, perhaps Niu misses Roz and wants to go to Tarawa! Don’t we all?
As you may know, Roz deployed a floating ocean drifter device called “Niu Hae Akala” on the equator a few weeks ago (it was a stow-away on her boat since Honolulu). As one of the centerpieces of Project Niu, it is designed to teach students around the world about marine debris and how it is carried by ocean currents (since it floats just like plastic garbage). Since then, Niu Hae Akala (which has a satellite modem and GPS for remote monitoring) has headed due west for over 350 miles.
If you saw that Roz came within two miles of Abemema Atoll last night, then you’re already familiar with this area just southeast of Tarawa. Well, Niu Hae Akala and is now only 10 miles from landing on Abemema Atoll (as of 2:25pm HST on 9/4/09). Its next position update will be at 2:25AM HST on 9/5. Hopefully by then it will have “steered” north of land. Of course, this personification is inaccurate… it’s a buoy, it cannot steer!
Back here in Hawaii, those on TeamRoz that did not head to Tarawa this week are monitoring this situation closely. We just sent this message to Hunter and Nicole, hoping they’ll get it in time, or that Niu Hae Akala will avoid landfall…
To Hunter and Nicole,
You guys might need to plan another boating trip soon. Niu Hae Akala is headed **DIRECTLY** for that atoll that Roz nearly hit last night. It’s 10 miles away as of a few minutes ago, and is approaching at 1.3 miles per hour “steering” a perfectly straight course of 264 degrees. The drama begins as an expensive computer floats into an atoll…
Check out the Project Niu Tracker
(Niu Hae Akala is the pink path)
The trickiest bits of any ocean row are the beginning and the end. Of course it is not all that easy in the middle either, but at least there is no land to bump into there, so that’s one less thing to worry about. My main concern right now is trying to make a safe landfall. At the moment I am only twelve miles from land, but unfortunately that is not the land I want to go to.
It is Abemema Atoll*. I don’t know what’s there, but probably not very much. Certainly no airport, and definitely no members of my team. They are on Tarawa which is 90 nautical miles away from me, at an increasingly challenging angle. I need to be about 50 miles further north ideally, but I’m being whisked rapidly west by the winds and current. It looks as if I might run out of west before I make enough northern progress.
We do have a back-up plan: we’d already intended to have a pilot vessel to guide me through the reef . It is apparently very difficult to navigate even for those who know it well. So it would be very hazardous for said rowboat and rower better adapted to the mid-ocean. So if needs be, the pilot boat can come out a bit further and lasso me as I whizz past to the south of the island. The only problem being that we don’t yet have a pilot boat. But Nicole is working on it and I can only hope that she succeeds before I disappear past Tarawa into the great blue yonder.
So I am doing everything I can to hang onto those precious westerly miles. For every mile west I want to be making a mile north and I’m using the sea anchor to try and hold ground while I sleep. Last night this resulted in a very sad loss. It was about 10pm and I was just putting out the sea anchor for the night. As I untied the main line from a D-ring on the boat, there was a small clink and a gentle splosh. I looked in disbelief at my wrist. My watch was gone – my lovely, trusty, beloved G-shock Pathfinder watch. Solar powered, given to me by Casio a few years ago. It and I have been through so much together It had survived the airlift of 2007 and my row from San Francisco to Hawaii . I once thought I had killed when I went caving with my sister . Some grit and mud got into its buttons but it rallied even from that, only to be lost at sea just days before the end of this passage.
I still don’t know quite how it came to vanish . It had a metal wristband of the sort that should still remain around your wrist even though the clasp might come undone. So when I hooked it on the D-ring the strap actually parted company from the watch . It was like that horrible feeling that you get when the front door slams behind you and you realize that you have left your keys on the inside. Just too late to do anything about it. I would have given anything to rewind and replay the last three seconds. There are not many possessions that I am attached to: my laptop, my iphone and my watch are the three that come to mind. I loved the watch for the fact that it was solar-powered and never needed a new battery. It just lived on my wrist, telling me time, date, the day of the week, should I need it, the altitude, not that relevant at the moment living mostly at sea level, compass bearing, and barometric pressure. No fuss, no bother, just dependable. I even wear it quite conspicuously in the photo on the front cover of my book. But now it is no more, well it is, but by now probably 2 miles away under the sea. I hope that it doesn’t get eaten by a shark or a sea creature it wouldn’t do them much good at all. Having survived all that it has, I wonder whether it will ever turn up on a fish-monger’s slab somewhere, still working.
Oh well, watches can be replaced. It was only a thing, I keep reminding myself. Only a thing.
*Editor’s note: This was added by TeamRoz. We suspect Roz called it Bike, which is an islet on Abemema.
[photo: Tarawa from the air, taken by Nicole]
Update from Nicole:
It’s been a very busy day here in Tarawa, and I’m going to keep this short because I’m absolutely beat and I know that it will probably take at least 10 minutes just to upload this blog. The Internet connection here has been…well…let’s just say a challenge. Everywhere we go on the island, we whip out the laptops hoping to snag a signal, even for just a few moments, but with the exception of a couple of hours this afternoon, we’ve largely been unsuccessful. Believe me, the irony isn’t lost on us that Roz is at sea and has marginally better connectivity than we do on dry land!
In short, we have accomplished a lot, but there remains much to be done. Tarawa is a place where you have to know people to get anything accomplished…and we’re getting there. Here’s how it works: we meet one person, who will introduce us to someone else who works for the person that is exactly the person we need to know to accomplish X. This all happens on Tarawa time, which FYI is even slower than what we’ve all come to know as “island time.” The good news is that we’ve been getting really lucky. We’re meeting exactly the right people that can make miracles happen, and our new friends are bending over backwards to help us – we are so fortunate.
Today we had lunch with a wonderful Australian gent named David. He is the Attorney General of Kiribati and has been tremendously helpful. His wife is the Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, and she essentially made it possible for all of us to enter the country and has also fast-tracked the necessary approvals for Roz’s arrival. She reports directly to the President, so now we know that we’re legal! David also invited us to sit in his air-conditioned office and avail ourselves of the very best Internet connection on the atoll, so for a few sweet hours this afternoon, we were able to get much-needed work done online.
Another big thank you to our Kiwi friend, John who gave up an entire day guiding us around the island and making important introductions. He helped us secure the assistance of the merchant marines – they have generously agreed to help us extract Roz’s boat from the water and provide safe storage for us during the months between Stage 2 and 3. Roz’s boat weights about 1200 pounds and has a custom-built trailer, which we couldn’t transport to Tarawa. We’ll have to put something together here before we can take it out of the water, and the merchant marines are helping us assemble a crew to custom build a “cradle” for Roz’s boat – something that will be absolutely necessary for storing it safely.
The other very important piece of this puzzle is a safe landing area. We’ve consulted a number of on-island experts about the exact approach Roz needs to make to arrive here safely. It won’t be easy – there are tricky currents and shallow waters with boat-busting reefs that she’ll need to navigate, so my top priority remains lining up an escort boat in the next couple of days that can safely guide her in. The boat needs to be able to go at least 20 miles out to sea (just in case) and finding an able vessel on Tarawa is proving to be a challenge. I have a good feeling that today this piece of the puzzle will lock into place. Cross your fingers for us!
There seems to have been quite a bit of hubbub the past few days about the timing of things on Tarawa so I feel it’s necessary to make something absolutely clear: asking Roz to slow down was MISSION CRITICAL. It is not for party planning or PR purposes. When Roz made the call the call that Tarawa was the destination, we had less than 24 hours to move. We are in a third world country right now, and while the people here are incredibly warm, generous and accommodating, making the necessary preparations for Roz takes time. She can’t just show up. If she did, she’d be putting herself and her boat in very real danger. Roz has plenty of food and water, and is not at all in harm’s way by slowing down a bit to allow us time to make the absolutely necessary arrangements. I should also point out that since she’s changed course for Tarawa, she’s logging record mileage, so she’s not actually slowing down at all. Please know that this Team has nothing but Roz’s safety and best interests at heart. I would hope you’d also have some faith in your heroine – over the past few months, you’ve gotten to know her through her soul-bearing blogs. Do you really think she’d do something doesn’t want to do? There are a lot of moving pieces here, so I just ask that you be respectful of the process and the people that are working hard to make this happen.
Speaking of the team, many of you have been asking how we’re holding up. We’re okay, but definitely dealing with a few little health issues. Today I woke up feeling lousy with a bad headache, a terribly sore throat and blocked nose. Hunter managed to get conjunctivitis, which is really unpleasant. We managed to track down the US Navy doctor who is here through Saturday on a special project and he gave Hunter the medicated drops he needs to fight this off. I’m hoping my little bug buggers off soon too!
Well, that’s it for now. Roz and I will now be speaking every day at 10 am on our satphones. From now until she arrives, Roz and I will alternate days on the blog, so you can be kept up to date on both the land and sea parts of this grand adventure. Thanks all for your continued support and best wishes!
Nicole
[photo: amazing sunset captured on the lagoon side of Tarawa]
I’m back! Well, sort of. I’m having technical problems with my email which is how I post my blog. So I’m reading my blog over the satphone and I hope that Mum gets my message asking her to transcribe it for me, and I gather that I am not the only member of Team Roz having technical difficulties. I haven’t heard from Nicole since she arrived on Tarawa so they must be having problems there too (PHOTO: From Nicole, as she was flying into Tarawa).
I spoke to Evan today who is back at base on Hawaii and he says he has just had the one email from her since she left, so they were having some issues. So all in all it has been a challenging day for the Rozters. Right this minute, though, email is far from the biggest of my worries. My much greater concern is trying to hit Tarawa. Such a tiny speck in such a huge ocean and my boat is so difficult to maneuver with any precision so reaching Tarawa was always going to be like trying to land a parachute on a penny from 40,000 feet, Oh and given that I am not due to arrive there until September the 9th to give my team time to assemble. It is like trying to land a parachute on a penny at 3.23 and 35 seconds on a Wednesday.
If the weather was nice and calm as predicted with a gentle 8 knot wind from the east, this might be looking quite do-able, but as I speak at sunset on Wednesday – I’m on Tarawa time now – I am looking out at some of the roughest conditions I’ve seen on this stage so far. The wind is blowing at 20 plus knots and the seas are rough and steep. So life is erm . . . interesting.
Hopefully soon these communications issues will be resolved and this reminds me of Shackleton and his men when they had to split up the team. Some of them had to set out across the Antarctic to try to raise a rescue mission. The ones left behind had no idea whether the rest of the party had succeeded or perished in the attempt.
Obviously in the early days of the 20th century they had no satellite phones. So suddenly Nicole has been thrust back several decades into a world without internet. Ironically, even though she is now just 150 miles away from me, closer than at any other point in the last three months its never been more difficult for us to communicate with each other.
I left a message with Evan that I will try to call Nicole at 10am tomorrow so hopefully we can manage to make contact then. Meanwhile there is this wind to worry about . . .
Signing off now, next blog from me in a couple of days. Hopefully Nicole will manage to get on line to post her blog tomorrow. In the Meanwhile, thank you Rozlings for your ongoing support, love and encouragement, and its going to be an interesting final week, that’s for sure.
All the best for now. Roz.
Mauri from Tarawa!
Right now I’m sitting in my room at the Otintaai Hotel, watching the sunrise. It’s a bit surreal being here. I’m about as far away from…well…anywhere, as one could possibly be. I’ve lived all over the world and traveled to about two dozen countries, but for the first time in a long time, I now feel like I’ve really gone somewhere. These days when you travel, you can expect to see more or less the same things that you have at home. Experiencing something truly different these days takes quite a bit of effort. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to see Tarawa; low-lying islands and atolls in the Pacific don’t have much time left. Most estimates say that by 2050, places like Tarawa will be uninhabitable…they’ll be under water. Standing on terra firma here now and meeting the wonderful people who call this home, makes that even harder to wrap my head around I’m so looking forward to what the next couple of weeks have in store for us.
Let me back up a bit and fill you in on what transpired yesterday. Hunter, Conrad and I boarded the 737 jet in Nandi, Fiji and were surprised to see that it was packed full – who knew so many others were heading in this direction? The 3 hour flight was smooth and uneventful. I had a window seat and every once in a while, I’d look down at the glittering blue expanse of open ocean. It can be mesmerizing and certainly humbling… The last 30 minutes of our flight provided jaw-dropping views of tiny little islands and atolls scattered like marbles across the sea. I’ve just never seen anything like it.
The moment I stepped outside the plane, it was very clear we were on the equator…it was stiflingly hot and humid. There was a pretty strong breeze, but it didn’t make a lick of difference. As Conrad said, “this is the first time where I’ve felt wind that just doesn’t help.” We were greeted at Bonriki airport by our new friends, John and Linda. John is from New Zealand and has lived here for 14 years with his wife Linda, who is I-Kiribati. They’ve been a tremendous help to Team Roz – they booked our hotel, a rental car, and are helping us secure a filming permit as well. They drove us to the hotel last night and after we dropped off our things, they joined us outdoors for a drink and we plied them with questions. We’ll be meeting up with them again today – we are so grateful for their help! And thank you Maarten Troost for the introduction!
To give you a little more context about Tarawa, the following are a few brief excerpts from Maarten’s book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific:
“Located just a notch above the equator and five thousand miles from anywhere, Tarawa is the capital of Kiribati. Kiribati is a country of thirty-three atolls scattered over an ocean area as large as the continental United States.”
“To picture Kiribati, imagine that the continental U.S. were to conveniently disappear leaving only Baltimore and a vast swath of very blue ocean in its place. Now chop up Baltimore into thirty-three pieces, place a neighborhood where Maine used to be, another where California once was, and so on until you have thirty-three pieces of Baltimore dispersed in such a way so as to ensure that 32/33 of Baltimorians will never attend an Orioles game again. Flatten all land into a uniform two feet above sea level. The result is the Republic of Kiribati.”
“The total landmass of Tarawa is twelve square miles. This figure is illusory, however, for it creates the impression of a block of land, and this Tarawa is decidedly not. Its twelve square miles of coral are divided into elongated slivers, narrow islets crowned with the tufts of palm trees, prevented from becoming a unified whole by myriad of channels linking the ocean with the lagoon, and stretched out over a reef extending nearly forty miles. The reef itself is shaped like a tottering inverted L, with the western side open to the ocean.”
“There are, simply, too many people on South Tarawa, particularly on the islet of Betio, which has the world’s highest population density, greater even than Hong Kong. Unlike Hong Kong, a city in the sky, there is not a building above two stories on Betio. Some eighteen thousand people, nearly a quarter of the country’s population, live on Tarawa.”
Roz will be posting the next update, and will continue to do so from now on. In the meantime, Team Roz will be busily preparing for her arrival some time next week. We have to scope out locations for her to come in safely, and meet with a few people we’re told might be able to help us arrange for an escort boat to see that Roz navigates through the reef safe and sound. Today is going to be a big day…we have lots to do. Wish us luck!
[photo: A bird's eye view of one of the many atolls in Kiribati]
Bula from Fiji…and from the other side of the international date line!
Team Roz arrived safe and sound at Nadi International Airport just before 3:00 pm local time. Please forgive my mistake on the blog this morning – I said we were arriving on Monday, September 1st and of course, I meant Monday, August 31st. That blog entry was rife with errors, and I can only ask your forgiveness – it was a rather hasty entry written at the airport gate and I was a bit sleep deprived!
The 7 hour flight was great – very smooth and the plane was practically empty. As you can imagine, the view from the sky as we descended into Fiji was pretty spectacular. Conrad got out the camera and did some filming – I hope the video captures the incredible colors from the various depths of water. Just stunning!
We breezed through customs and were all relieved that none of our food rations were confiscated. (I think I brought enough granola bars and dried fruit to feed all of Tarawa for a week!) We waited for about 20 minutes for a shuttle to our hotel, which is just a few minutes down the road. We checked in quickly, unloaded our bags in the rooms and headed immediately for the restaurant – we were all famished. Cold beers and a good lunch was just what the doctor ordered.
Sitting outside, we all remarked how similar this part of Fiji is to Hawaii – Hunter noticed that the plants surrounding us are just like the ones in his backyard at home. The hotel has a lovely little pool surrounded by a nice garden, and since our flight to Tarawa isn’t until noon tomorrow, I think we might get a little dip in the morning.
So, I know this is all terribly fascinating stuff (wink, wink) but the reason you’re all here is Roz and you’re itching to hear more about her! Our girl is doing great, not to worry! Many of you are wondering why her position is no longer being posted to the RozTracker, and why she’s not blogging and Tweeting anymore. Don’t worry – this is just temporary. Roz is taking a few days to collect her thoughts and just enjoy some peaceful, contemplative time alone before arriving on Tarawa. She’ll be back to blogging in just a couple of days.
It’s important to point out that I’ve asked Roz to grant her Team one really big favor. In fact, it’s a huge favor. I’ve asked her to slow down. That’s a big ask of someone who has been alone at sea, rowing for nearly 100 days. But I had to make the request – I only found out on Thursday that we’d be going to Tarawa and as you know, we’re scrambling to make all the necessary customs and immigration arrangements for both Roz and her boat.
The other reason I’ve asked her to slow down is for her Team. The earliest we could get the rest of them to Tarawa is Tuesday, September 8th. They’ve been a huge support for Roz throughout this amazing mission of hers and are now coming halfway around the world to support her and toast her arrival – it would be an incredible shame if they missed it by just one day! So Roz has graciously agreed to slow down.
One last great piece of news that I just received: Roz is featured today on CNN! You can take a look at the excellent story by journalist Matt Ford here. Okay, I’d best run, my battery is just about to die. More to come tomorrow…from Tarawa!
Nicole
UPDATE (8/31): Just got an email from Linda in Tarawa and learned that we won’t need visas after all – whew! ;o)
UPDATE: September 2, 2009, 9:43am HST
Roz has re-enabled GPS tracking in the RozTracker.
All data that was hidden for the past few days is now available.
August 30, 3009, 12:03pm HST:
For those of you who have been closely monitoring the RozTracker, you will see that Roz’s position has not updated for almost a day now. Per Roz’s request, we have turned off position updates. In Roz’s own words from her Tweet, “going offline for a few days. to be alone. back sept. 2, tarawa time!” We are still collecting all the GPS data every hour and will update the tracker on September 2, when Roz directs us to do so.
As you have seen in the past two days, Nicole has been writing the blogs. These will appear on the RozTracker at Roz’s last position (August 29th at 12:03pm HST). You can of course see them in the journal as well, since the points will all start to cover each other until GPS positions are turned on again.
If you’d like, you can follow Nicole on her very own EpicTracker as she heads to Tarawa to meet Roz. She’s accompanied by Hunter and Conrad. You can also follow EpicTracker on Twitter to see how their trip to Tarawa is going. Enjoy!
Up and at ‘em everyone! Today’s the big day! Team Roz is on the move…
Saturday was a fantastically busy day. I raced around getting clothes and gear packed for Roz and myself, and spent lots of time on the internet and on the phone, tying up last minute details. New contacts and very helpful information from Tarawa continued to trickle in about clothing requirements, accommodations, phone service, and immigration. As the updates came in, I forwarded it all on to the other members of Team Roz so we could accommodate accordingly. Finally, I packed up the Yellin’s studio where I’ve been staying since Roz and I arrived in February.
I was all ready to go, but…did I mention that my car chose this week of all weeks to explode? Well, it did. Billowing smoke on the highway, followed by a powerful explosion and my little Corolla’s pathetic end. But I digress. This inconvenient turn of events only meant that I was marooned on the North Shore without a ride into Honolulu. It’s about an hour away. I finally managed to convince two lovely friends to give up a prime Saturday night and schlep me into town – hooray!
At Hunter and Traci’s house, we opened up our cases, spread everything out and downsized in a big way. I ended up leaving half the clothes and half the dried nuts and granola bars behind. We exchanged emergency contact details, scanned our passports and booked our hotel in Nandi, Fiji, where we’ll arrive at about 1 pm on Monday, September 1st. Whew! We said our goodnights and set alarms for 5 am. After a much needed shower, I popped open the laptop, ready to type up the day’s blog, but I couldn’t get on the password-protected wireless network. Everyone had gone to bed exhausted and I just didn’t have the heart to be a pest. My apologies to all of you for not getting a blog posted on time!
That brings us to today. Check in at the airport went perfectly and we’re now waiting, bleary-eyed but excited, at the Air Pacific gate. Some new information came in overnight from our new friend Linda in Tarawa: apparently we may actually need visas. Yikes. According to the information we found on the state department website, visas aren’t required, but Linda says she’s seen Americans get sent back on the very same plane on which they arrived. Ugh. I’m really hoping we get lucky…in any case, we’ve scanned all of our passports and emailed them on to Linda. She’s very graciously offered to take these to immigration for us straight away and get the process started. She and her husband John have even offered to pick us up from the airport in Tarawa! We are so grateful for their help.
They’re getting ready to board, so I’d better get this posted. I’ll write more on the plane…that is, if I don’t pass out from exhaustion within five minutes of boarding!
Aloha from Honolulu – we’ll update you again once we get to Fiji.
Nicole
[photo: L-R Conrad, Nicole and Hunter waiting at the gate in Honolulu, just before boarding...yes, we look SLEEPY!]
UPDATE (8/31): Just learned that we won’t need visas – whew! ;o)
HONOLULU, HAWAII
“Whatever I say in the next 10 minutes, please promise me you’ll still be my friend…that you won’t hate me?”
When you hear such a plea, you just know that whatever follows will be some pretty serious news. The fact is, I knew it was coming. Wednesday’s rowing conditions were so wretched for Roz that I was certain she’d call me very soon to discuss a different strategy.
The call came the very next day. Roz agonized over the decision, but with a broken water maker, leaky reserves and dwindling food supplies, attempting the Herculean effort necessary to hit Tuvalu seemed to be far too dangerous. We just had no way of knowing how long it would take for Roz to push far enough south and east, or frankly, if it was even possible. Beyond the safety issues, Roz’s very first book tour is just around the corner – and come on, she just can’t miss that!
Yes, truthfully, I was a bit crestfallen to hear the news. I wanted to see her reach that goal of getting as far south of the equator as possible on Stage 2, because I’ve learned just how important that will be for setting her up for a successful Stage 3. I suppose it’s selfish to admit, but I was bummed that we’d have to start from square one – especially because after so much time and effort, things had finally just fallen into place with Tuvalu. The country was positively buzzing about Roz’s impending arrival. She was to be given the warmest of welcomes along with safe haven for her boat until Stage 3. But that’s how these things go. It really only took me a few seconds to get over the disappointment. I didn’t have time to mope about it, anyway – there was far too much to be done!
The minute I hung up with Roz on Thursday morning I hopped on Skype with her weatherman, Ricardo, in Portugal. He informed me that with the currents and winds now totally in Roz’s favor, she could easily average 40 miles each day and make landfall as early as September 5th. My stomach twisted into knots and my palms started to sweat. I had little more than a week to get Conrad the cameraman and myself there and make all the necessary arrangements for Roz’s arrival. That may not sound like such a big deal, but with only 2 flights each week into Tarawa, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy…
Today (Friday) was unbelievably hectic. I managed to find flights for us after all, on Air Pacific, the only airline that flies to Tarawa. After much rather enjoyable back and forth with a heavily accented Fijian named Alex, I was able to book the seats just before the office closed for the weekend. Hooray!
At noon, I met up with a former Peace Corps volunteer named Darin, who lived on Tarawa for three years and is now married to an I-Kiribati woman. What an amazing font of knowledge he was! I took copious notes, the details of which I’ll share with you tomorrow. Trust me when I say that the information gleaned from Darin is worth a blog on its own…
Shortly after my meeting with Darin, I raced over to Bank of Hawaii before the close of business to collect all the Australian currency I’d ordered the previous day. We need to take loads of cash because there aren’t any ATMs on Tarawa, and in fact, none of the businesses there even accept credit cards. As the teller counted out the rainbow colored bills (it looks remarkably like Monopoly money) I started to exhale. Things were falling into place…at last.
I must say here that ever since Thursday, I have been thanking my lucky stars (several times a day) for J. Maarten Troost. Maarten’s first book, The Sex Lives of Cannibals, is about his life on Tarawa. He was there for two years while his wife worked for a nonprofit organization. He is a brilliantly funny, exceptionally talented writer – I can’t recommend his books highly enough. If you’re a regular to Roz’s blog, you may remember that earlier in the voyage, she listened to an audio book called Getting Stoned with Savages. After reading her blog, Roz’s friend in California decided to contact Maarten and let him know that Roz just might end up on Tarawa, and perhaps we should all connect. Lo and behold, he replied! I’ve been picking his brain ever since. He’s been so gracious, not to mention an absolutely priceless resource for Team Roz. He’s made invaluable introductions to people living on Tarawa that can help me arrange logistics for storing Roz’s boat, and he’s given me very helpful tips on dress, social norms, telecommunications, and transportation around the island. Please join me in sending a huge thank you to Maarten!
One last piece of excellent news: the Team Roz contingent on Tarawa is rapidly growing! Hunter Downs, CEO of Archinoetics (the company that developed the RozTracker) will be accompanying Conrad and me on Sunday morning. What a relief…his wife Traci, COO of Archinoetics, will join us a week later. The entire Archinoetics family has been an absolute rock for me and Roz the past couple of months. Their unwavering support of time, resources and most importantly, a whole lot of love, is so gratefully appreciated. Rounding out our happy little team is Ian Tuller, our dear friend from San Francisco. He was here with us in Hawaii before Roz’s departure in May to oversee the refurbishment of the boat, and will resume his role as director of boatworks. We absolutely could not do this without this amazing group of people…and it certainly wouldn’t be nearly as fun, even if we could!
So buckle your seatbelts, kids! Off we go, to one of the most remote places on planet earth. (Really, before Roz, had you even heard of Tarawa???) Yes, we’ve had to scramble to accommodate the new game plan…that’s an understatement. But it’s going great so far, and no matter what, this promises to be one heck of a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. I’m so glad you’re all coming along for the ride!
~Nicole
By the way, I’ll continue to send updates from our journey. If you want to follow me on Twitter, my handle is @nics_dolcevita.
[Photo: Roz and Nicole aboard the Brocade in San Francisco in 2007]
It seems to be my karma in this lifetime to be faced from time to time with tough decisions – and this one is up there in my Top Ten Tough Decisions Of All Time. I spent most of last night agonizing over it. The
night seemed hotter than usual in my cabin, and I was – literally and metaphorically – sweating over my options.
It had been just a week since I declared my intention to head for Tuvalu. My weatherman had assured me it was possible, although certainly not easy, requiring me to cut directly across the prevailing winds. And
I wanted to believe it was possible, not least because Tuvalu has become synonymous with the human impact of climate change, which is the key message of this stage of my row as we approach the crucial summit in Copenhagen. I knew getting to Tuvalu would be challenging, but I was prepared to put in the hard work to make it happen.
However, a few things had changed during the course of the last week. I had discovered that the coordinates I had for Tuvalu were for the westernmost island, not the capital Funafuti, which is the easternmost island. This would make it much harder to reach the capital than I had realized. Then some brisk easterly winds had halted my progress for 36 hours while I waited on the sea anchor – this had two implications. First, it would only take a few more days of such winds to put Tuvalu beyond my reach. And second, if I had to use the sea anchor on a regular
basis to stop westward drift, it would take me much longer to get to Tuvalu. And time was limited – by my water supply.
Since my watermaker stopped working I’ve been relying on my reserves of water, but some of my water bags had leaked. And my water consumption is much higher than it has been on my previous rows, due to the heat. So less water supply + higher water requirement = bad news. I do have a backup manual watermaker, but I was already going to have to row 16 hours a day to maintain the necessary tight control over my course, so then pumping water for 2 hours a day (manual watermakers produce water drop by drop, rather than a steady stream) was not an attractive option.
So the worst case scenario was pretty bad. There was now a substantially increased risk of running out of water, and possibly missing Tuvalu altogether and spinning off into the great blue yonder. Oh, and the food situation wasn’t looking too good either. I was concerned.
After churning all this over and over in my head for half the night, part of me still resisted changing my mind. I wanted to go to Tuvalu! My imminent arrival had been announced on the radio, I was due to meet with members of the government, we had storage arranged for my boat… and of course I wanted to find out more about how they plan to be the world’s first carbon neutral nation.
I was unbearably hot in the cabin, so I went out on deck to cool down. I looked up at the stars and the setting moon. They helped me get a sense of perspective on the issue. Ultimately, although the message is important, it helps if the messenger is a) alive, and b) has not had to rely on some fossil-fuel guzzling means of transport to come rescue her if/when she seems in danger of disappearing over the horizon with no water and no food. So, it seemed, the choice was clear. The sensible, responsible thing to do would be to change course for Tarawa. I could reach it relatively easily (or as easy as ocean rowing ever gets) well
before I ran out of sustenance – and without having to rely on outside intervention.
So I swallowed my pride and admitted to myself that it made sense to change course. First thing this morning I rang Ricardo, my Lisbon-based weatherman, and we talked it through. He was totally supportive of my decision. Then I spoke with Nicole, my program director. She, too, fully supported me – even though this meant that a lot of the fantastic preparations she’d lined up for Tuvalu were now moribund, and she’d have to start over again with Tarawa. By the end of today she had already worked miracles – people had been informed, flights were booked, and plans were coming together.
I feel hugely relieved by this decision. It has been a tough one, but the cold dread and anxiety of what might happen if I missed Tuvalu has been lifted from me. It would otherwise have hung over me every day until I made – or failed to make – landfall.
So now it is all suddenly very imminent, and the energy levels in TeamRoz have skyrocketed. With just 300 nautical miles to go, I am hoping to arrive in about 2 weeks, around Sept 9th, so this doesn’t leave much time – and lots to do. On Sunday Nicole and Conrad (our filmmaker, who by the grace of the many generous Rozlings is going to come out to Tarawa to film my arrival) will leave Hawaii for Tarawa to start lining up the multitude of logistical arrangements.
I’d like to take a final opportunity to enjoy some “alone time” before I make landfall. Call this my Walden time. So I’m going to go incommunicado and take a few days out from social media, and hand over to Nicole to do the blog. Her life is going to be much more interesting – and hectic – over the near future anyway. She will be posting updates on this blog from tomorrow until Sept 2nd, when I’ll return from my self-imposed exile, and from then until my arrival Nicole and I will blog on alternate days. Amongst the trials and tribulations of an expedition program director, she’ll be sharing details of the preparations for my arrival, her first impressions of Tarawa, and how she is being assisted by celebrity contacts (thank you to author J Maarten Troost!).
I hope you’ll enjoy these final stages with us. I’m really excited to see how everything develops over the coming 2 weeks. Nicole and Conrad are going to have their work cut out – to find boat storage, boat transport, accommodation, even internet access – and, of course, a source of ice cold beer! So join with me in wishing them huge amounts of good luck in pulling all this together in an impossibly short timescale. They are going to need it, but if anyone can pull off a miracle, it’s TeamRoz!
[photo: Go west, young woman! Tonight's sunset was a bit drab, so here is one from the archive…]
Conditions were perfect today – if I wanted to go west. I could have made 40 miles to the good. But unfortunately more west is the last thing I want, so I have spent the whole day with the sea anchor out. The oars have lain idle, and I’ve finished the day further away from Tuvalu than I was at the start. I wonder if Neptune didn’t like my equatorial offerings. Perhaps Ginger Snap isn’t his favorite flavor Larabar, because he was not being generous to me today.
It’s ironic. Today I have been listening to “The Astonishing Power of Emotions” by Esther and Jerry Hicks. They are talking about aligning with your better self – the idea is that when we want something, we only have to allow it to happen. The universe WANTS our wishes to be granted. When we allow this fulfillment of our desires to take place, we feel good. When we resist, we feel bad.
And the analogy they use is a canoe on a river – and they urge their listeners to “let go of the oars” and go with the flow.
As I sit here on the sea anchor, resisting the strong tradewinds that are trying to push me west, this analogy seems either too apt – or not apt at all. I’m all in favor of going with the flow – but which flow am I meant to be going with? The natural flow of the tradewinds heading west, or the man-made flow that is drawing me towards Tuvalu?
I really appreciate all the comments urging me to focus on the positive, take it as it comes, etc. It’s all fine in theory, and knowing myself as I do I know that they will eventually filter through into my attitudes and thinking. But just at the moment, as I come up on 100 days on the ocean and with no end in sight, it’s sometimes a struggle to put it into practice. Today I have been a total grouch. Nothing more you guys can do – apart from keeping the encouragement coming. And allow me my pity party for now. With your help, I’ll get through it. I just need to keep my head together and keep on pushing.
[Photo: I'm told that when you smile, the smiling muscles actually interact with your emotions and make you feel better. So here I am, giving it a try. Hmmm, not convinced. Another bottle of bubbly would probably be more effective!]
Other Stuff:
I’ve tried to stay busy today so as not to get too introspective, but there isn’t an awful lot to do on a 23-foot rowboat. I scrubbed the decks, and tried once again to fix the watermaker but was unsuccessful. I edited and uploaded a video of my Equatorial celebrations for tomorrow’s video RozCast on YouTube (with me performing traditional ocean dance…!). It was too hot in the cabin to spend much time in there, so I mostly lay on deck in the shade of my bimini between my rowing seat runners and listened to Jerry Hicks. Lying on the deck is not super-comfortable, especially now I’m a bit more bony than I was at the start of the voyage, but it’s not bad if I manage to arrange my limbs in just the right way around the runners and the rowing seat. I had to duck into the cabin from time to time to avoid sudden rainshowers, but otherwise it was quite pleasant – when I managed to forget the fact that I was heading the wrong way.
Thank you for all the really fab comments on my last blog. They seriously cheered me up – a much-needed tonic. Especially liked the idea about having Johnny Depp greet me in Tuvalu – now THAT would be a powerful motivator! Although he may not be that impressed by a semi-starved, grimy, sea-spotty waif with matted hair pitching up on the beach. Where is a floating salon when I need one?!
Great to see comments coming in from the people in Tuvalu. I’ll be with you just as soon as I can. Please reach out across these last miles and reel me in!
UncaDoug – I really appreciate the trail of carrots scattered across the ocean. Bit I wonder if you could let me know where they are? Maybe by latitude would be easiest? There might be some nights when the prospect of an upcoming carrot motivates me to spend a bit longer at the oars!
Weather report:
Position at 1950 HST: 00 22.169S, 178 49.774E
Wind: 20kts ESE
Seas: short, steep wind waves about 6ft
Weather: sunshine and showers
Another hasty blog, while I wait for the heat to go out of the day before starting my night’s rowing…
Today has not been an easy day. Poor old Ricardo, my weather guru, has been taking an e-bashing while I berate him via text for contrary winds and adverse currents. It is the unhappy lot of the weatherman to take the rap for the weather that he predicts – as if he had personally selected and inflicted the frustrating conditions on me.
I would normally be a bit more reasonable, but I today was tired and cranky. On the ocean I like to get into a routine and stick to it, but as I near the final stages that is not going to be an option. I will have to seize opportunities when they arise. I was rowing until 2am last night to make the most of the cooler conditions and calmer winds after dark. By the time I’d bathed and put the boat to bed, there was time for just 4 hours of sleep before getting up at 6.30 to start rowing again – and those precious few hours were disturbed by the new booby-in-residence tap-dancing on the roof of my cabin every time a swell came along. This booby is quieter and less belligerent than his predecessors (although just as poopy), but has taken up a regular position on the sleeping cabin rather than the storage cabin, so it gets a bit annoying when he patters around to regain his balance when the boat lurches.
So today I’ve been a bit discombobulated, my mood not improved by rowing just to stand still. If I was making 40 or 50 miles a day I could row till the cows come home (or should that be till the boobies roost?), but rowing many hours a day to make 15, or even 5, miles, is psychologically challenging, to put it mildly.
The other drawback with less sleep is that there is less recovery time for my poor body. In these sweltering conditions there is a significant risk of the return of the baboon-bottom rash that plagued the early stages of this row. I have two seat covers, which I usually rotate and rinse at the end of each shift. But now I am rotating them as soon as the spare one is dry, to try and avoid this very painful affliction.
So I plod on, trying to remind myself of all the good reasons to go to Tuvalu, and not to think about Tarawa, just 440 miles away straight downwind… I’ll keep the faith, and I really do believe it is all going to work out in the end – and then this difficult stage will be just a memory, and it will all have been worth the effort.
Postscript: I was psyched up and ready to row most of the night. I’d had an extra-big dinner followed by a Jocolat (chocolatey organic Larabar) and a rocking soundtrack ready on my iPod. But ze weather, once again she spit on my plans (to be said in French accent). The wind rose – and from the wrong direction. So the sea anchor is out. I’m all caloried up, and no place to go. Boo.
[photo: the new booby-in-residence]
Other Stuff:
Thank you to the Good Vibes Team and all the others who have sent such wonderful words of encouragement. Thanks especially for the reminders to stay present in the moment and not worry about the future. Very wise words. Too easily forgotten – so keep reminding me, because it is SO true. And the one part of this situation that I have control over(ish!) is my mind.
Apology: Although I mentioned them both in the same blog, I did not intend to imply any connection between my having the incorrect coordinates for Tuvalu and the transition to a new weatherman. So, in case there was any misunderstanding, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Rick Shema of weatherguy.com. I’d also like to thank him deeply for his professionalism and accuracy in guiding me through the first stage of my Pacific row, and thus far in the second. Thanks also to Rick and his family for all the kindness and hospitality they have shown to my mother and me during our time in Hawaii. I wish Rick all the very best for the future.
Weather report:
Position at 2220 HST: 0028.678S, 178 56.319E
Wind: for most of the day 10kts SE-SSE, now 18kts SE
Seas: 2-4ft swell SE
Weather: hot and sunny, scattered cumulus and some cirrus cloud
Ricardo’s Update:
YOU WILL HAVE GOOD PROGRESS AS SOON AS YOU FEEL THE PRESENT WIND BACKING, ALL THE WAY INTO MONDAY AT LEAST. WED WONT BE VERY GOOD AT ALL. YOU MAY WISH TO TRY THE DROGUE AND SEE HOW THAT GOES. WHEN FACED WITH 13KN FROM SE GO FOR SPEED
IF YOU CAN MAKE UP TO 210 BUT SLOW DOWN IF YOU ARE PUSHED TO MORE THAN THAT.
THU WILL BE DUE EAST MOST OF THE DAY 14KN AVG GRADUALLY DROPPING AND BACKING TO WHAT WILL BE A SUPER START TO THE WEEKEND. WIND WILL DROP TO ALMOST NOTHING ON SATURDAY AND WILL CONTINUE VERY LIGHT THROUGHOUT SUNDAY, WITH A
TENDENCY TO PICK UP FROM ABOUT 160. THIS WILL QUICKLY SHIFT TO 090 BY MONDAY AT LESS THAN 6KN. SHOULD THESE CONDITIONS MATERIALIZE AS IT SEEMS, YOU HAVE HERE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WEATHER WINDOWS FROM NOW TO TUVALU AND YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT YOUR ALL TO GAIN PRECIOUS METRES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
EAT UP. POWER UP AND SHOW ME THOSE MUSCLES!
As I enter the final 500 nautical miles to Tuvalu, I will be counting on
some good fortune – and some seriously hard work.
Just a very quick update tonight – really just to let you know I am
still alive and rowing like a woman possessed. As Ricardo put it, the
next few days are “mission critical” – if I am going to make it to
Tuvalu, I need to make the most of the relatively calm conditions
prevailing at the moment to try and make some progress back to the east.
So I will have to spend longer hours at the oars – around 16 hours a
day, not including time for meal breaks.
This was quite challenging today. The good thing about calm conditions
is that there is little wind to push me the wrong way. The bad thing
about calm conditions is that there is no wind to cool me down – and at
one stage this afternoon I seriously started to worry about the
potential for heatstroke. The sun was shining intensely, and although
most of my body was in the shade of the bimini (sun canopy) I could feel
the heat scorching my shins. And I was glugging water like it was going
out of fashion – certainly not like a woman with a not-yet working
watermaker.
But now the sun has set and it is a lovely night for rowing. The
crescent moon is keeping me company – as is a bird that has taken up
roosting rights on my aft hatch for the night. I feel well, and am
rowing strongly. I’m only taking this break now to recharge my GPS. So
far this voyage I have confined the GPS to the cabin, but as I enter the
final 500 nautical miles and steering becomes more critical, I’ve taken
to placing it near my rowing position so I can see more accurate
information about my actual course than my compass alone can provide.
It’s also very motivating to see the miles ticking away on its little
screen – and with a tough rowing schedule ahead of me, I’m going to need
all the motivation I can get.
So I’d like to ask you, my dearest Rozlings, to continue to give me your
support and encouragement during this final countdown. I’m afraid I
won’t have time to respond to your comments as I have done in the past –
all non-rowing activities are being curtailed – but I will be reading
them nonetheless. Keep me in your thoughts – and send me some good
vibes, good weather, and good wishes!
Weather report:
Position – as on RozTracker
Wind: during the day mostly 10kts, ESE-ENE. Since sunset, no wind.
Seas: 3ft swell from E
Weather: some scattered cumulus, but mostly clear skies
Other notes: as at 8pm, combined effect of wind + swell + current
resulted in a SW drift of 1.0kts, resulting in a westward movement of
0.6kts when not rowing.
If I was underwhelmed by crossing the International Date Line, today I have been overwhelmed by crossing the Equator. It has been quite an emotional experience – and that’s not just the bubbly talking – and I’m trying to figure out why this might be.
It could be because crossing the Equator had assumed such massive significance in my mind as a Very Difficult Thing. I had maybe allowed myself to get just a bit freaked out by the difficulties encountered by my predecessors in human-powered vessels. And sure, I’ve had my fair share of battles with the elements in trying to get through the lower latitudes, as the winds and currents thwarted my attempts to get south.
But, as with so many things in life, the reality was not as bad as the anticipation. Or it might be because the Equator, unlike the IDL, is actually a geographically significant line. The IDL is a man-made line, allowing us to segment our world into convenient time zones. It could have been located anywhere, and is just where it is because it lies opposite the equally random line of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich – set by British geographers in the days when Britannia ruled the waves. The Equator, on the other hand, is a natural line marking the mid-point between the Poles. It is the line where the Earth is nearest the sun. It is where the Earth is spinning the fastest on its axis. It has a greater sense of significance and reality than the IDL.
Anyway, for whatever reason, today felt very special. I am now a Trusty Shellback, a Pollywog no more. And now I am in the Southern Hemisphere the water will be going down the plughole the opposite way – or would be if I had any plugholes on board. Crossing the Equator was actually quite a busy and time consuming thing to do. I had to pay homage to Neptune and his cohorts (Squishie the Dolphin, with his courtiers Quackers the Duck, the Robin, and the Other Duck). I had to offer gifts – a Larabar (Ginger Snap flavor), and a dollop of California sunshine (a spoonful of Lemon Ladies marmalade). I had to make a sacrifice (I wasn’t prepared to offer a chunk of hair, for fear of spoiling my elegant coiffeur (???!!) so Neptune had to make do with the leavings pulled out of my hairbrush). And I had to deploy the ”coconut” for Project Niu – and then jump in after it to photograph it in the water.
The coconut is actually a high-tech data-gathering device created by the team at Archinoetics, one of several devices that have been let loose in the Pacific to send back information and photographs. The one I deployed today is called something in Hawaiian (Evan, help me out here) which translates as “Pink Savage”. It felt strange to deliberately deposit a large and non-bio-degradable object into the ocean, but as an educational device the end justifies the means, so I am sure Squishie, sorry, I mean Neptune, will understand. I just hope the Niu doesn’t travel faster than I do. That would be embarrassing.
Then, duties done, it was time for my treats. With a sense of eager anticipation I opened up the yellow drybag that Liz and Nicole had given me before I left Hawaii. The girls had done me proud. There was the ”bling” – a many-stranded necklace of plastic beads, and some pink face paint, both of which I promptly put on. There was the jokey gift – a cooking spatula with a wooden handle. There was the declaration admitting me to the ocean domain as a Trusty Shellback, a Pollywog no more. There were the edible treats – a snack bar and some Sharkies. And, oh bliss, there was the miniature bottle of bubbly. Thank you girls!
I must be the world’s cheapest date at the moment (had there been anybody about to take advantage – which there wasn’t). After 3 booze-free months, the 2 glassfuls of bubbly went straight to my head in the nicest possible way. As the sun set I was sitting on deck feeling happily woozy, admiring the pink and grey clouds, full of oceanic bonhomie and thinking there was really nowhere else on earth I would rather be than at the Equator on such a beautiful day.
[photo: Pulling the bubbly back on board after a brief chilling in the ocean (in the net bag that usually contains my beansprouter) – while Neptune/Squishy the Dolphin looks on]
Other Stuff:
After not seeing another vessel for 3 months, today, on MY Equator, there were intruders. A container ship was just sitting there, doing nothing much. I think I could hear a faint sound of a bell ringing repeatedly, so presumably they were having their own Equatorial celebration. I tried hailing them on the VHF radio, in hopes that they might cruise on over and bring me some additional water supplies – or even some more bubbly – but there was no reply. Guess they were too busy partying.
Although I’ve taken the evening off – largely due to the after-effects of the bubbles – tomorrow it will be back to the oars with a vengeance. I’ve still got 500 miles to go, and I need to make some East if I’m going to have any chance of hitting Tuvalu. Ricardo tells me conditions are going to be calm, so it’s a prime opportunity to head back towards the IDL and set myself up for the final push for home.
For the record, I crossed the Equator at 18:42:02 Hawaii Time, at longitude 179 12.359E.
Weather report:
Position at 2210 HST: 00 00.860S (yayyyyy!), 179 09.371E
Wind: variable but light throughout the day. Generally 0-10kts, S-E.
Seas: swell of about 4ft, SE
Weather: sunny and fine, scattered cumulus cloud. Very hot.
Today, with the Equator so tantalizingly close, everything seemed to slow to a snail’s pace. A snail with a ball and chain attached, even. The wind was in the southeast (not helpful) and I’m still in a north-flowing current (also not helpful) so the oars felt heavy and every stroke felt like a weight-lifting exercise.
Truth be told, I was getting pretty fed up with the whole business. Progress is very motivating. Lack of it is not. It’s a bit like trying to lose weight, and when the scales are being cruel the temptation is to say “forget it” and have a cake to cheer yourself up. But of course the only way to make progress – whether it be losing pounds or rowing oceans - is to keep the faith and carry on.
Morale was given a boost mid-afternoon when I picked up a text message on my satphone. It was from Ricardo, my new weatherman, saying “GOOD EFFORT GIRL. I CAN TELL YOU ARE TWEAKING YOUR COURSE AS MUCH AS POSS. GOOD AVG SPEED ALSO. RIC.” His assessment was maybe too flattering, but just then I needed those sweet little lies. Sometimes it’s just good to know that there are people watching, and that my efforts are being recognized – especially when my course on the GPS screen looks so discouraging.
This is a funny thing, because under normal circumstances I would have said that I don’t care too much for the opinion of other people. Of course, we all want to be liked, even approved, but generally I now steer my own course in life without considering whether it will please others. I just do what I do and they can like it or lump it.
But even the most independent-minded of us still appreciate some positive feedback from time to time, and that is why I cherish the comments and Tweets of the Rozionados. It’s good to know I am not alone, and that my every mile, my every effort, is monitored, appreciated, and commented on.
Meanwhile, during breaks from the oars, I’ve been getting ready for my Equatorial celebration. With less than 15 miles to go, I hope it’s not premature. I’ve dug out the mysterious yellow drybag labeled “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 0 LATITUDE”. It was given to me by Nicole and Liz before I left Hawaii. I’m dying to take a peek but am resisting the urge – although I have given it a few squeezes, like an impatient kid with a Christmas present.
My gift and my sacrifice are at the ready, and in the absence of a crewmate or captain to represent Neptune, I have pressed Squishie the Dolphin into service as his representative. I didn’t happen to have a trident on board, but a fork makes a passable quatrent (or whatever it is called). I think Squishie looks rather regal, and look forward to paying him homage when I reach the magic Latitude Zero, which, with a bit of luck and more slogging, might be tomorrow.
Other Stuff:
This afternoon I saw a shark swimming alongside my boat. A proper Jaws-type shark, rather than the blunt-headed, vegetarian whale shark I saw a few weeks ago. But this one was just a tiddler – about 3 feet long – so I didn’t feel too apprehensive that he might eat me/my boat/my oar.
Thank you for the overwhelmingly positive response to my decision to try for Tuvalu. Good to hear I’ve got you on the edge of your seats. Me too! I do wish I had a crystal ball so I can see how all this is going to pan out. Or there again, maybe it’s just as well I don’t…
Marv asked if there is a backup plan. Of course there is. I always have a Plan B! First, if within the next couple of weeks it becomes evident that Tuvalu will be impossible, I can still change course for Tarawa. Second, if I can get close to Tuvalu but not quite make it, there is a research vessel due to be in the Tuvalu area in early-mid September, and they have offered to assist if required. Pushing on to the Solomons or Australia are not really options – not without a functioning watermaker, although I still hope to resolve that problem. Also, as it has taken me so much longer than expected to get through the ITCZ, I would require a resupply of food if I was to extend my voyage all the way to Australia. And I would have to cancel my book tour – and possibly all our plans for Copenhagen. So I very much hope it won’t come to that. It really IS Tuvalu or bust!
Will – for sure, I will give it my bestest. In fact, I think that is what I would want to be able to say on my deathbed – that I always did try my bestest. Nobody can do more than that. Thanks for giving me the word!
Tom B – your wife might just be right! But I hope that the eventual result will speak for itself. The Richard Byrd book sounds really interesting. I always love reading about people having a worse time than I am!
Christa – thanks for the info on Tuvalu. Only 6 prisoners? Mind you, I don’t suppose there’s much mischief you can get up to on a sandspit – and making a getaway would be quite a challenge too!
To Richard, my minstrel. Funny that recently I’ve been listening to books by George R R Martin, set in the court of some imagined medieval-ish place and time. So jesters, troubadours, singers and minstrels are very vivid in my mind right now. And you perform the role admirably – I very much appreciate your contributions to the Rozling community, as well as your thoughtfulness in considering how best you could enhance our enjoyment of the adventure. Thank you!
Donna – great questions. I’ve made a note of them for a future blog – and/or they are answered in depth in my book, Rowing The Atlantic, due out Oct 6. Available for pre-order on Amazon, and if you send your Amazon confirmation email to [email protected] you can claim your special, limited edition Larabar bookmark, made from the wrapper of one of the many Larabars I am munching my way through on this crossing!
Weather report:
Position at 2300 HST: 00 13.624N, 179 27.693W
Wind: 15kts SE this morning, backing slightly this afternoon. Dropped to 9kts briefly after a squall, then revived to 15kts E.
Seas: swell from SE-E about 4ft
Weather: morning sunny and hot. More cloud this afternoon. Couple of passing rainshowers.
SUNDAY EVENING WIND WILL DROP AND BACK TO SLIGHTLY NORTH OF EAST WITH SPEEDS OF 3 TO 6 KNOTS. AS SOON AS YOU ARE ABLE, HEAD 170. THIS IS MY SUGGESTING AT A HEALTHY COMPROMISE BETWEEN WIND ANGLE AND EFFECTIVE SPEEDY COURSE TO TUVALU- WHILST STILL KEEPING YOU IN A SAFETY NET. I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU ABOUT 40 MILES FURTHER EAST BEFORE WE START CONFIDENTLY CURVING YOU AROUND TOWARDS TUVALU. THINGS WILL BE GREAT UNTIL TUESDAY AND YOU SHOULD MAKE GOOD PROGRESS DURING THAT TIME. WED/THU NOT IDEAL AS WIND WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE TO 9-11KN FROM EAST AND THEN FROM ABOUT 110 DEGREES (SE). FRIDAY AND SATURDAY HAS A 30% CHANCE OF PROVIDING YOU WITH NE WINDS 12 KNOTS. IF THEY DO MATERIALISE,
THEY SHOULD STAY AROUND FOR AT LEAST 4 DAYS.
As I approach the end of my third month on the ocean – and with the Equator less than 30 miles away – things are hotting up. I feel like I’m entering the final phase, as I will soon be into the last 500 nautical miles of my row, and have finally decided on the identity of Island X. In case you haven’t already watched my announcement in the RozCast on YouTube, here it is…
I am going to aim for (cue drum roll) – TUVALU.
It’s an interesting choice, that’s for sure. Bordering on the insane, some would say. Given the option to take a straightforward run directly downwind and down current to Tarawa in the west, I’ve decided instead to aim due south – across prevailing winds and currents – for Tuvalu.
So, why am I making life so difficult for myself? Well, I’d already mentioned that it would set me up better for next year’s Stage 3 to Australia. Plus, this stage of the row is all about climate change, and nowhere on earth symbolizes that better than Tuvalu, which is already being impacted by rising oceans and has declared its intention of being the world’s first carbon neutral country.
But I knew all this before, and yet was still reconciled to aiming for Tarawa instead, as I just couldn’t see how it could be physically possible to get to Tuvalu.
So what caused my change of heart? It was all due to an email from a Portuguese weatherman, with the subject line “GUT FEELING”. In the message Ricardo Diniz explained that he believes that even at this late stage, and at this longitude, I can still make it to Tuvalu.
At first my reaction was “He must be on drugs if he thinks this is possible”, but over the course of the next few days the idea took hold – not least because Ricardo is an expert on weather and ocean routing, and I trust his opinion implicitly. I first worked with Ric during my Atlantic crossing in 2006. My friend Adrian Flanagan, who was attempting a solo vertical circumnavigation of the world in a sailboat (i.e. via the polar regions) had been doing my weather forecasts for me as he sailed, but then he made some pathetic excuse, like having to navigate around Cape Horn or some such thing (??!) and handed me over to his weatherman – Ricardo. And Ricardo and I have stayed in touch ever since. He has just recently routed my friend Sarah Outen in her successful solo row from Australia to Mauritius, as a result of my referral.
So it is with delight that I am able to announce that Ricardo is now joining TeamRoz as my weather guru for the final stages of my row to Tuvalu. After all, it was he who talked me into this crazy decision, so it seems only fair that I should give him the responsibility for helping me make it happen.
It’s lucky I have such faith in Ricardo. Or else, quite frankly, I would be terrified. When I decided on Tuvalu it was before we discovered that I had been given the wrong GPS coordinates, and in fact there is even less westerly wiggle room than I had realized. To make it across the tradewinds to Tuvalu really is going to be an enormous challenge. It is a go-for-broke, out-on-a-limb, OMG-what-am-I-doing kind of a commitment. It’s scary and crazy. But it just might work. I couldn’t have a better team behind me, so we’re going to go for it.
Please give me your good luck wishes, hopes, prayers, whatever you can to help me and my team make this happen. We’re going to need all the help we can get. As I said in the RozCast, I just hope that Fortune - and Neptune – will favor the bold. Or my decision will look Loony Tune.
[photo: Ricardo Diniz at sea]
Other Stuff:
For most of today the winds have been light, but mostly southerly. A light headwind is better than a strong headwind, but still not ideal. The wind rose towards sunset and is sending me in an unwelcome westerly direction, but Ricardo assures me it will die away by Monday so I can regain some ground to the east.
Overall the day has been notable mostly for its temperature. With no wind to cool me, it has been almost unbearably hot, and I’ve been covered in sweat and sunscreen. Pheweee. Even sitting in my cabin now I am sweating away, and the wind is warm and muggy.
UncaDoug – you’ll be so proud of me. I am going to report my crescent moon sighting. I first saw it at 2010 Hawaii time, just as the sun was setting. About 30 degrees above the horizon, and a bit to the left of the setting sun. Cloud cover was about 20%. And I can see it now, from my cabin, a slender crescent just now being swallowed up by a cloud. Oops, there it is gone. I hope this is all the information you need to report the sighting. Oh, and my position at 2010 was approx 0 28.5N, 179 52E.
Laurey – I seriously wish I could turn the temperature down! Today was sweltering, and even now that it’s dark it’s still sultry and stifling. Phewee!
Joan – thanks for buying the round of drinks for Roz’s Regulars – and for the suggestions for Neptune. I’ve now got the perfect present lined up – wait and see!
And thanks to Jer, Amy, Miss Inquisitive, Meg and Chris, too, for your comments.
Walt – I like your view on my entitlement to be a Golden Shellback, but I have to take issue with you on my “downwind, down current ride to Island X”. I don’t know which Island X you are thinking of, but for sure it’s not the one I’m aiming for! Nope, I’ve decided to make life REALLY interesting for myself… check out the YouTube video for the announcement! Ah, now I’ve just seen your later comment, and see that you have. I know, I know. It’s borderline insane. But it has to be worth a try, at least….
And finally, another beautiful contribution from Richard in Austin, Texas. Richard, I don’t know what you do for a living, but if you’re not a full-time poet or lyricist, you’ve missed your vocation!
The “muse” for this poem was actually one of your posts, a few weeks ago. You brought up the International Date Line, and the environment, and suddenly this little story came into my head. I could have used a few more weeks to work on it, but asking you to “hold your position” just east of the IDL (while I work on it) was obviously an impossibility. Congratulations on your amazing progress, and on reaching the IDL!
INVISIBLE LINES
Years ago,
When we were young,
Our love burned brighter,
Than the sun.
We were in love,
And cared for the land.
And the stars and the seas,
Ate from our hand.
Our passion did last,
For quite a long while,
As I loved your humor,
And you loved my smile.
But, I loved the planet,
And you loved your things.
Our goals became different,
For whatever life brings.
I looked to the future,
And saw a green earth.
You looked at our checkbook,
How much are we worth?
I believed in the future,
What our planet could be,
I saw crisp clean air,
And a crystal blue sea.
You believed in “things”,
You wanted much more.
A procession of “stuff”,
Coming in through our door.
We started to differ,
We started to fight,
Our once happy ending,
Now in need of rewrite.
And sometimes one crosses,
An invisible line,
Things suddenly change,
And the planets align.
Without even speaking,
We know it is time,
To follow our hearts,
To recapture springtime.
I am rooted in the future,
You are rooted in the past.
I care about greenness,
You care about cash.
So now, out of love,
I must go my own way,
Because, I am tomorrow,
And you’re yesterday.
Bravo, Richard!
Weather Report:
Position at 2200 Hawaii time: 00 27.734N, 179 50.460E
Wind: 0-5kts, S-SE most of the day, 12-18kts E late evening
Seas: 3ft swell from SE
Weather: hot and sunny with very little cloud. Some rainclouds around mid-afternoon and again towards sunset, but I dodged the showers.
I’d also like to give a big thank you to Rick Shema of weatherguy.com for providing me with weather forecasts since my departure from San Francisco. Rick, I’m so grateful for all that you’ve done to help me get this far!
An Irish friend of mine once said something was “so far east it’s west” which I’d never heard before, but it made perfect sense. Like something being so bad it’s good, or so embarrassing it becomes funny, or so insane that it’s genius. And today – I am so far west I’m east. Because this afternoon I crossed the International Date Line.
I didn’t really mean to. I’d rather hoped that I would manage to cross the IDL and the Equator at the same time. Of course, I might still do that, if I wiggle back east a little bit, to reach that magical intersection, but it would have been fun to cross them both for the first time at the same time. But ah well, the weather has long since shown her utter contempt for my plans and schemes, and today was no exception.
The day had been still and calm until about 2pm, when the clouds came over and a strong wind blew up from the south, sending me off on a sudden westwards trajectory – heading straight for the IDL. There wasn’t much I could do about it. No matter how hard I rowed, I was still heading west, whether I liked it or not. If I rowed I would only get there even faster.
So I decided to sit it out and watch the countdown on my GPS from the dry refuge of my cabin, so I hunkered down, watching the numbers tick away on the little screen as the distance narrowed between me and tomorrowland.
It’s funny – you imagine that you ought to be able to feel something when you cross over the IDL. Like in a Hollywood movie when someone steps through the mirror into an alternative reality, there ought to be some kind of strange ripple effect like a tremor passing across a pool of still water. Or at the very least there ought to be a big black line across the ocean, stretching away into the distance towards the North and South Poles.
But no – there’s nothing. The GPS goes from 179 59.999W to 180 00.000E – and that’s it. No chorus of angels (or mermaids), no special effects, nothing. Just another gust of wind and another heavy spatter of raindrops. And the weather in tomorrow is remarkably similar to how it was in yesterday (cloudy, rainy, and windy).
Just goes to show – there’s no point putting off until tomorrow what you can do today – because from someone on the other side, I can tell you that tomorrow is not so different. The world (and I) are just one day older. So you may as well do it today, because you’ll rarely regret doing something sooner rather than later.
[Photo: For the record, I crossed the line at 15:57:02 Hawaii time – and here is the proof.]
Other Stuff:
Note: I am going to continue using Hawaii time for the remainder of this crossing – otherwise it will get too confusing trying to figure out when I am due to record podcasts, call Nicole, or whatever. So I’ll continue to post weather reports as at Hawaii time. FYI, the sun now rises at 7:59am my time, and sets at 8:07pm.
Another note: apologies for the problems with the Tracker. Solaradata, who provide my tracking unit, have been conducting a server transfer and it has evidently generated some random location points. Apparently the issue was that positive latitudes between 0 and 1 were being displayed as 0 to –1. Evan has been working closely with them and assures me the issue is now resolved. To be sure, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time – just as my lat and long are getting interesting! Thanks, Evan, for getting it sorted out so quickly.
Yet another note – and this is the IMPORTANT one! I’ve come to a decision on Island X. But I’m not going to post it on this blog just yet. If you want to know NOW what I’ve decided, check out today’s video RozCast on YouTube. You can locate it via the RozTracker – or maybe Nicole or Evan can post a link to it as a comment on this blog. Yes, I’m trying to get more of you to view my RozCasts!
And final note: you might observe that in the photo the distance to Tuvalu is excessively optimistic. This was based on incorrect lat and long – an error which has now been corrected.
Apparently I need to think of a gift AND a sacrifice to offer to Neptune when I cross the Equator. I’m not feeling very inspired. Any ideas? I thought of sacrificing a cuddly toy, but that would leave some very upset schoolchildren somewhere. I realize you don’t know what I have on board, but maybe some suggestions as to generic kinds of gifts or sacrifices that Neptune might find acceptable?
Commiserations to Peter Bray, a former British commando who was attempting to row the North Atlantic. His attempt had to be called off when Hurricane Bill threatened his safety. His boat is apparently only 3 metres long – or about 10 feet. That is TINY! I hope that he will get over this setback, and better luck next time.
Eco Champ of the Day is Judy: ”Oh Gosh, Roz, there are a lot of us lurkers out here. I featured you on my blog over a month ago, and I know some of my readers are following you. As for your purpose … we’ve switched to reusable grocery bags, we already own two hybrid cars but now we are grouping our errands to use the cars more efficiently. Of course, we recycle. And we’ve raised the thermostat for the house during the day to 79F, and are trying to wean ourselves from it on all but the most humid days. It’s a small token, we know, but the consideration of eco-saving is now one of our “household words”. I’m not much of an athlete, but I’m a champion rooter! Ra! Ra! Roz! Judy”
Thanks, Dale, for your message. Your granny sounds like quite a lady! Do feel free to contact my team at [email protected].
Walt – a good estimate on the crossing of the IDL. But we both reckoned without the squall!
Amy – thanks for spreading the word. Nice to hear about fellow Rozlings meeting up!
Jennifer – those links sound interesting. Thank you. I can’t follow them up from here (I have email only – no internet browsing capability) but will try to find time to take a look when I’m back on dry land.
Doug – thanks for your suggestion about the solar kettle – but my kettle only has one orifice, and that is the very small water spout. I have been using a thermos mug to rehydrate my meals, and that works just fine, thank you. As I said, the ambient temperature is extremely warm!
Achates, Seattle Dave and Meg – thanks for the tips. Will see if I can resurrect the stove when I get back to dry land. As I said, I’m really not missing it for now, so will spend my energies on rowing rather than stove maintenance! As I said, I really don’t need any advice or suggestions, as I still have plenty of those left over from my stove-less state on the Atlantic!
Texino – now THERE is a novel approach for solving the overpopulation problem. Cannibalism. Can’t think why the global leaders aren’t pushing that one…!!!
Weather report:
Position at 0850 HST: 00 47.061N, 179 58.950E
Wind: very light this morning, 0-5kts E. All over the shop this afternoon, 20+ kts from S or SE mostly.
Weather: hot, sunny morning. Heavy cloud and frequent rainshowers throughout the afternoon and evening.
Forecast is for wind to back to the East, and drop to almost nothing by Monday.
It’s that stage of the journey. The stage when Stuff Breaks. I hesitated before telling you about these things, as I didn’t want to cause any consternation, but hey, I just can’t keep a secret from my Rozlings. But before I go on, I’d like to say most emphatically DON’T PANIC!!! There is no need for airdrops, rescue missions, or even advice. These matters are NOT serious, and will have very little impact on my ocean lifestyle.
About a week ago, my cooking stove stopped working. It was a veteran of Pacific Stage 1, and despite Scott’s heroic achievement in cleaning it up when it looked to be beyond salvation, it had never regained its nice, strong, clean blue flame. I hadn’t used it very much, being mostly on my rawfood diet, but just recently had rediscovered the joys of hot porridge or a hot dinner at the end of the day. But the flame was yellow and sooty, and soon my kettle was coated with a thickening layer of black.
And then the stove stopped working altogether. Propane was coming through, but it wouldn’t light. It probably needs no more than a good clean with a gas stove maintenance kit – but I don’t have one on board.
But it’s really no big deal. On the Atlantic I managed for 3 months without a stove after my camping stove (very different model) broke. Freeze dried food can still be reconstituted – it just takes longer. I’ve had several delicious curries since the demise of the stove, that suffered not at all from being served at a very warm ambient temperature rather than piping hot.
Mick and Chris of goldengateendeavour.com are now on their THIRD cook stove, so that shows just how vulnerable these things are when exposed to salty ocean conditions for extended periods.
The second casualty is – yet again – my watermaker. It isn’t the same problem as on the San Francisco-Hawaii leg. I do try not to make the same mistake twice, so after that bad experience, when the watermaker locker flooded and caused the electric pump to corrode, I have two spare pumps on board this time. So, naturally, this time the pump is still in fine fettle, but something else has gone wrong. Not quite sure what it is. The pump runs but neither fresh water nor waste brine emerge from the two outlet pipes.
I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to fix the problem – first of all on the phone to Spectra Watermakers in San Rafael, then underneath my boat, braving remoras to check the through-hull intake for any possible blockages (jellyfish have been known to get sucked in and cause a problem), then mucking around in the bilges to dismantle, clean and reassemble various pipes and filters. But all to no avail.
But no worries. I have enough water on board to keep me going for a couple of months – and I hope to be making landfall well before then – and also a manual watermaker kindly donated to me by the Hunks of the JUNK raft with whom I traded food for water in mid-ocean last year.
So (sigh), this is just the way it goes. Even the most robust equipment is rarely designed to spend several months at a time exposed to such harsh conditions.
The good news is that Lazarus the Stereo, having been extremely temperamental almost since Day 1 of this row, is being good as gold at the moment. But I’ll say that in a very quiet whisper, as it seems that I no sooner praise a piece of equipment than it packs up on me…
[photo: Yet another sunset – but this one is pretty dramatic, don't you think?! I wish I could share the Pacific skies with you more effectively. One little rectangular photo just doesn't do them justice. They are often spectacular, frequently breathtaking!]
Other Stuff:
I see there is a lot of speculation going on about when I might cross the International Date Line and/or the Equator. As I write, I am now 58 nautical miles from the Equator, having crossed 1 degree North this evening (woohoo!), and 13 nautical miles from the IDL. Current course is southwesterly…. But when I pick up the oars in the morning I might change course to aim more for one than for the other. In fact, I know I will be – but I’m not quite ready to tell you about my decision yet, as there are some external dependencies. Sorry to be such a tease, but all will become clear in due course. So for now you’ll just have to carry on guessing…!
Meanwhile, there is a special International Date Line Sale going on in the Store at rozsavage.com. So it would be a great time to mosey on over there and check out the special deals, which also raises a bit of money to support my projects. And we’ll just rename it the Equatorial Sale if that becomes more appropriate!
Eco Champ of the Day (and we haven’t had one for a while – where are all the Eco Heroes?) is Connor. Thanks for your message, Connor! Here is what he had to say…
Hey Roz,
Love what you are doing! We are trying to recycle more, carpool more (when we do have to drive) and use less water (especially hot water). We wash clothes with cold water, and I have started taking cold showers, especially after a hard workout (I am a rower too), and I actually find it refreshing.
A tip for all the rozlings who do have to drive, especially on long trips. After telling them about it for just about ever, my parents (I am only 16) realized the benefits of cruise control. On a trip from our home in Pittsburgh to Toronto, my mom used cruise control on the highway, and her fuel economy went from 28 to about 36!
Great job Connor – and thanks for sharing!
Richard in Virginia – a loyal but lurking Rozolyte – thanks for your message, and for introducing yourself at last. I find it so strange, but also very flattering, to think that there are people like you that I will probably never meet, but in some small way I am a part of your lives. Thank you for speaking up!
Doug – thanks for the carrots. I hope my rate of carrot consumption is going to accelerate over these final stages. Chomp, chomp! (And good for my night vision too…)
Weather Report:
Position at 2300 HST: 00 57.786N, 179 47.233W
Wind: very variable. 10kts E this morning, 0-8kts S-SE this afternoon (was rowing into a headwind for a while), then back to the E
Seas: 3-5 ft
Weather: generally fine and sunny, some cloud, including one huge raincloud this afternoon that was probably responsible for the headwind
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:
Latest tracker reported your position as: 01 31N 179 02W as of 18Aug 0641HST.
As of Tuesday 18 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been SEerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some light rainshower activity. The heaviest of rain was north of 05N. Lighter SEerly winds are to your west to Tarawa with heavier and widespread rainshowers. South of the equator there are stronger ESE winds 17-20kts. The SEerlies shift to Nerly 5-10kts by late tonight. Then shift to SEerly and increase in speed to 15kt range with 20kts possible. Winds return to Eerly and abate to 5-12kts by the morning of the 21st.
Widespread clouds with deep convection are north of your position along the ITCZ axis. West and south of your position, skies are partly cloudy with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered, light to moderate rainshowers.
Ocean currents: No significant change from last report
Forecast (low confidence)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
18/0800-18/1200 SE-E 5-12 2-4
18/1200-19/0000 E-N 5-10 2-4
19/0000-19/1200 N-SE 5-10 2-4
19/1200-19/2100 SE 7-15 2-4
19/2100-20/2100 SE 10-20 3-5
20/2100-21/0600 SE-E 10-15 3-5
21/0600-23/0800 E 5-12 2-4
Next Update: Thursday, 20 August
You might be wondering what the latest news is on my selection of Island X – will it be Tarawa? Or will it be Funafuti in Tuvalu?
I wish I could tell you. The question is still being hotly debated in TeamRoz. It would be the million dollar question – except that our budget isn’t that big. It’s at least a fifty dollar question though.
Distance-wise, there is not much in it. 482 nautical miles to Tuvalu, 517 to Tarawa (approximately). But on the ocean not all miles are equal. Some are upwind, some are downwind, some are across-wind. Although the ocean may look flat, it is more accurate to think of it like a ski resort. Downwinds are like well-groomed ski slopes. Upwind I’d need a chairlift. Across the wind I’d be cross-country rather than downhill skiing. I’m not sure what the ocean equivalent would be for off-piste, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to try it.
On the one hand, I would prefer to go to Tuvalu:
a) because it would set me up better for making it to Australia next year, and
b) because it would be better for my climate change message – Tuvalu being the current “poster child” of climate change thanks to their recent announcement that they intend to be the world’s first carbon neutral country, with a target date of 2020.
BUT
From where I am now, I am doubtful that it is possible. Given that the winds are generally E-SE, I suspect that I would get pushed too far west before I could get far enough south. For example, see the RozTracker for the last couple of days. My bows have been pointed as south as they can be, but the best I can do is 90 degrees to the wind – and the wind has been from the south, so the best I can do is west. No nicely groomed ski slopes heading the way I want to go.
There is a fine line between being adventurous and taking unnecessary risks. If I got tempted into trying for Tuvalu, but ended up missing landfall altogether, or having to be towed some significant distance to make it into port – either of these would NOT be cool. I would definitely be off-piste (and piste off).
But then will I end up cursing myself next year – if I find myself heading for Papua New Guinea instead of Australia? Will I wish I’d tried a bit harder for Tuvalu?
So, when in doubt, postpone the decision until there is more information available. Even if I was set on Tarawa, my plan would still be to push south beyond the Equator to get south of all these tricky old currents and weather systems, and then to take a sharp right and row downwind to the west, before looping up slightly to get to Tarawa, which lies just north of the Equator. By happy coincidence, this is also initially what I would do to get to Tuvalu.
So I’m going to go south as much as I can, and see what longitude I’m at when I reach the Equator. By then I’ll have new weather information and can make a better informed decision.
Of course, this doesn’t make life easy for Nicole and the rest of TeamRoz who are planning to come out and meet me. The suspense continues. Meanwhile, I am heading rapidly towards tomorrow – the International Date Line is now just about 35 miles away.
[photo: My rather old chart donated by Captain Vince of the White Holly, printed back in the days when Tuvalu was still called the Ellice Islands. But hopefully they're still in more or less the same place, although they might be getting smaller as the seas rise…]
Other Stuff:
Thanks for all the messages from the Rozling community. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we were all able to assemble, from all around the world, and get together in one room for a huge party when I finish this row? I would love that! Maybe we can figure out a way to do it in virtual reality.
Naomi – don’t worry about your knees. I try to take the strategy of NOT worrying about things – just preparing for them. Only time will tell if your knees will bear up. But do take some painkillers and anti-inflammatories with you just in case… and if your walk has to turn into a drive, well, never mind. It won’t be worse, just different!
I especially enjoyed this message, which I think also came from Naomi, although it was a bit difficult to tell from the way it was formatted in the email I received: ”I thought of you when I read this today on my FaceBook page: “The difference between “try” and “triumph” is the UMPH!” Isn’t that just a GREAT message?!
Hi to Carol, Greg, Sue, Brennan and Conor – thanks for your messages!
Weather report:
Position at 2300 HST: 01 23.451N, 179 25.178W
Wind: 0-20kts but generally around 15kts, S backing to E during the day
Seas: 3-6ft, SE, quite steep and choppy at times
Weather: mostly blue skies, some cloud – cumulus and cirrus. Could see some rainclouds around but they kept their distance several miles away.
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:
Latest tracker reported your position as: 01 31N 179 02W as of 18Aug
0641HST.
As of Tuesday 18 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been SEerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some light rainshower activity. The heaviest of rain was north of 05N. Lighter SEerly winds are to your west to Tarawa with heavier and widespread rainshowers. South of the equator there are stronger ESE winds 17-20kts. The SEerlies shift to Nerly 5-10kts by late tonight. Then shift to SEerly and increase in speed to 15kt range with 20kts possible. Winds return to Eerly and abate to 5-12kts by the morning of the 21st.
Widespread clouds with deep convection are north of your position along the ITCZ axis. West and south of your position, skies are partly cloudy with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered, light to moderate rainshowers.
Ocean currents: No significant change from last report
Forecast (low confidence)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
18/0800-18/1200 SE-E 5-12 2-4
18/1200-19/0000 E-N 5-10 2-4
19/0000-19/1200 N-SE 5-10 2-4
19/1200-19/2100 SE 7-15 2-4
19/2100-20/2100 SE 10-20 3-5
20/2100-21/0600 SE-E 10-15 3-5
21/0600-23/0800 E 5-12 2-4
Next Update: Thursday, 20 August
The ocean is like a sensory deprivation tank tonight – utterly dark and silent. There isn’t a breath of wind, and the overcast sky is hiding all but the few brightest stars.
It’s been a funny old day. It got off to a slow start. You might have noticed there was a significant delay between my last blog and its photograph being united online. The reason was that immediately after I emailed the blog last night I lost the ability to make data calls from my satphone, so the email bearing the photo could not be sent.
I tried again first thing this morning, again to no avail. So I spent a while on the phone to Rob at Remote Satellite Systems International trying to identify the source of the problem. He thought it was probably the network rather than a problem with my onboard equipment. I’m not sure if this proved to be the case – I know he was working with the network people, and it seems to be working okay tonight – so I’ll just be grateful that we’re in business again. For a while there I was worried that we might be blog-less for the rest of the trip!
So with the technical hassles, and a call to base, it was pushing 10.30am by the time I got to the oars. For most of the morning the wind was coming out of the south, at about 20 knots, so the best course I could make was west. But during the afternoon the weather has become progressively more and more subdued, and the wind more and more flukey.
As the afternoon wore on a deep hush fell over the ocean, at one stage broken by the gentle exhaling sound of dolphins arcing through the waves. I saw about a dozen dolphins, but they didn’t come close.
Occasionally the wind would muster a bit of enthusiasm and lift my red ensign flag for a minute or two, before lapsing back into calm. The sky was overcast but far from a flat grey – clouds of all textures, shapes and patterns created a varied skyscape, and probably accounted for the weird, lumpy and uneven breezes.
I can’t help but absorb the mood of the ocean, so tonight I’m feeling a bit subdued myself, and tired after a long day rowing. So I’m going to call it a night. I’m off to my bunk to dream of friends, food and family. And nice brisk, invigorating easterly winds… Bring ‘em on!
Weather report:
Position at 2300 HST: 01 30.255N, 178 57.656W Wind: 0-20kts, S-SSE Seas: 2-4ft swell, SE Weather: some big black rainclouds this morning, after that as described above.
No update to last weather forecast from weatherguy.com.
I was none too keen on the idea of going over the side to scrub barnacles off Brocade’s bottom, but my little bit of underwater photography a couple of days ago had shown that the barnacle situation was getting serious, and I was concerned that my underwater hitchhikers might be causing extra drag and slowing me down. And obviously with a high-speed, hell-for-leather expedition like this (???!!!) every second counts. So it was time to overcome my abhorrence of strange leech-like fish attaching themselves to my nether regions and brave the waters once again.
I put on a pair of lycra shorts to protect myself from any particularly personal assaults, and took the plunge. I could feel some fish tickling around my legs, but it wasn’t too bad at first. Then I saw the first of the little remoras, wiggling away as hung on to the side of the boat. I don’t know what it is about these small grey fish, but I just find them absolutely repulsive. There is something about their wiggliness, as well as their tendency to suction onto me, that gives me a bad attack of the heebie-jeebies every time I see them. I squealed girlishly, shuddered, and pressed on with my de-barnacling chores, working as quickly as I could.
I was shocked by the condition of the outside of the boat. I’ve never seen it like this before. I’m used to the gooseneck barnacles, but not the amount of green growth, presumably algae of some sort, that is flourishing on Brocade’s once-lovely silver paintwork. She looks like she’s been at sea for about 3 decades rather than 3 months. This is going to take some serious cleaning up when I get to Island X.
Barnacles duly removed, I put my foot on the grab line and pulled myself up onto the deck using the oars as handrails. Something came with me. It was a 3-inch remora, attached to my right calf. Yeeeuch. The silly creature hung on until I was all the way back on board and it had no way to return to its natural element. I have to confess to a very petty revenge – I left him until he was almost at his last gasp before I returned him to the ocean. But I suspect I’ll have no more luck training remoras not to cling than I did training boobies not to poop….
[photo: Barnacles – and not the sort to be found in yacht clubs around the world, propping up the bar with G&T's from 11am onwards….]
Other Stuff:
After a couple of days of good southerly progress, today the wind moved from the East into the Southeast, slowing me down. It was a very light wind, so I was still able to make some southerly progress, but not as much. I generally row at right angles to the wind, so if the wind is from the East then I can point due South, but if it is Southeast then I have to point Southwest – so today my course has been more West than South. But that’s fine too. The forecast is for the wind to shift back to the East early tomorrow – so it would be nice if that turns out to be right.
Twitter panic – sorry for any consternation caused by a random Tweet that was generated by my Dopplr account, saying I was returning to San Francisco today. I don’t really use Dopplr any more, but must have set up some general dates on my account many moons ago, in which I thought that Stage 2 might be ending around now. Please be assured, I am NOT returning to San Francisco today. The row goes on!
Thanks, as ever, for a lovely batch of comments. I am now reaching terminal discomfort in my cabin after responding to various TeamRoz emails and writing this blog (try sitting with a hot laptop on your knee in a rolling cabin in sweltering equatorial heat after a long day’s rowing) so will cut this short – but just wanted to let you know that Mum is now back online and emailing me the comments on a daily basis. Thanks to Nicole for standing in while Mum was e-ncommunicado – and thanks to Mum for yesterday’s blog. Yes, we did have to airdrop Mum and a hairdresser out in mid-Pacific just to get that photo done…!
A quick thank you to Doug for the hike report – and for the (financial) carrot. Yum!
Weather Report
Position at 2245 HST: 01 25.599N, 178 39.425W Wind: 0-10 knots, SE Seas: gentle swell, 3-5ft, SE Weather: clear, hot and sunny, with a band of small cumulus clouds passing over during the afternoon
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
As of Thursday morning 13 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some rainshower activity to your north. SEerly winds 10kt is south of your position to the equator. The SEerlies eventually shift to Eerly 10-15kts by today. A further shift to the north will keep the winds north of east until late on the 15th. Then shifting to SEerly for a brief period before returning to Eerly by the end of the forecast period. The widespread clouds mentioned in last report have cleared to partly cloudy skies with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers. Ocean currents should be light SSWerlies (flowing towards the NNE) at about 0.1 to 0.2 kts in your area to about 00 30S. To the north of you beginning at about 3 30N there is a band of Eerly flowing current of about 0.5 to 0.7kts. South of the equator along your longitude there is a band of Werly flowing current of about 1.0kt.
Forecast (low confidence) Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est 13/1200-14/1800 E 5-15 2-4 14/1800-15/1500 E-ENE 5-15 2-4 15/1500-15/1800 ENE-E 5-15 2-4 15/1800-17/0600 E-SE-E 5-15 2-4 17/0600-18/0000 E 5-10 2-3
Next Update: Monday, 16 August
Today would have been my father’s 80th birthday. But he died 5 years ago, so he will be forever 75. Given this special date, today seemed an appropriate day to post a guest blog by my mother. Those who have been following my blog since the Atlantic will be well acquainted with Mum, especially after she had to step in and update my blog after I lost all
communications 24 days before the end of the crossing. She had no more idea what was going on than anybody else did, so there was some impressive improvisation and ad-libbing on her part that would have made any TV presenter proud – even while she was worried sick about me.
So, without further ado, over to my poor long-suffering Mum…
Some Mothers Do Have ‘Em is the name of a TV show in the UK- but not many mothers have a daughter like Roz. Yes, I am proud of what she has, and is, achieving, but she has given me some heart-stopping moments along the way. Like the day she first told me she was going to row across the Atlantic.
A few months before she set out, Roz invited me to go and stay with her in Emsworth on the south coast of England, where she was living at the time, to help with fitting out the boat. What a wise move that was on her part. She got me so involved in the whole project that it was no longer what she was doing, but what we, together, were doing.
This involvement came at a good time for me. It was just a year since my husband had died, and gave me a new purpose in my retirement days. Many a time people asked if I was worried about her. I think that we were so closely involved, that she was not a separate entity – out there on the ocean- but very much a part of our togetherness. I hope you can understand what I mean. I lived all the time with the reality of what Roz was doing.
However, in her various ocean crossings there have been tough, worrying moments. Leaving out some of the minor shocks, there came the day that her satphone packed up, leaving me without any communication with her. The boat rolling over three times during her first time attempt to depart the Californian coast. Watermakers packing up on the first leg of the Pacific crossing.
Even when our sons or daughters are adults, it is still the longing of a mother to protect and guard her family. It can be hard when we feel helpless, that nothing that we do can solve the problems; I am sure that many a mother has felt this, in all sorts of circumstances. We have to try to raise our children to be independent, capable of making their own decisions, and looking after themselves. To quote a book that I know rather well: “Now these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” The greatest gift we can give, no matter what they do.
I have not been quite so closely involved with Roz’s activities this year, for several reasons (I have been busy with a double hip replacement, and two weeks ago I moved house), and just so grateful to Nicole for being there for Roz. I am standing on the side-lines, watching, yet Roz is still very much in my thinking and feeling, my daily life and tasks.
Thanks, Mum – I can’t even begin to imagine the emotional hell I put you through while I am out on the water, and I can only say – thank you, you’re one in a million.
[photo: Mum and me]
Other Stuff:
On this crossing no two days have been alike – until today. Which was very much like yesterday. Very, very hot, calm conditions, with the weather pretty much leaving me alone to do my thing – my thing being to row steadily and sweat profusely. I’ve made another 18 miles south towards the Equator.
Finally at around sunset today I finished uploading my video messages, so normal Tweeting service should be resumed tomorrow.
Thank you to Roz’s Regulars for some great messages!
Doug – your message about the Booby Training Center gave me a good laugh. No boobies today though – in fact only one solitary bird all day to break the monotony. Only other wildlife sighting was a few jumping fish.
AH – loved your take on the 7 Habits – thank you! I listened to “Three Cups of Tea” a few weeks ago – and can definitely vouch for the fact that having a powerful sense of purpose allows people to overcome all kinds of inhibitions.
Gary – “Take it easy, but take it” – wise words. And to share a secret, I find motivation a huge problem too. It was so much easier in the days when I was rowing crew and had a coxswain yelling at me to keep going. But actually, having said that, I’m finding motivation easier and easier the closer I get to my goal So I suppose one idea is to have interim targets and milestones – like keeping tally of how many meters you have rowed overall, and reward yourself every once in a while. Has to be worth a bottle of champagne, surely! (Champagne isn’t too calorific either – that’s why the supermodels drink it! Or maybe it’s just because they can….)
Weather Report:
Position at 2240 HST: 01 33.737N, 178 16.106W
Wind: 0-5kts, E
Seas: 2-4ft, E
Weather: hot and sunny, clear skies, hot. Towards sunset ranks of little fluffy clouds passed over, then cleared again.
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
As of Thursday morning 13 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some rainshower activity to your north. SEerly winds 10kt is south of your position to the equator. The SEerlies eventually shift to Eerly 10-15kts by today. A further shift to the north will keep the winds north of east until late on the 15th. Then shifting to SEerly for a brief period before returning to Eerly by the end of the forecast period.
The widespread clouds mentioned in last report have cleared to partly cloudy skies with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers.
Ocean currents should be light SSWerlies (flowing towards the NNE) at about 0.1 to 0.2 kts in your area to about 00 30S. To the north of you beginning at about 3 30N there is a band of Eerly flowing current of about 0.5 to 0.7kts. South of the equator along your longitude there is a band of Werly flowing current of about 1.0kt.
Forecast (low confidence)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
13/1200-14/1800 E 5-15 2-4
14/1800-15/1500 E-ENE 5-15 2-4
15/1500-15/1800 ENE-E 5-15 2-4
15/1800-17/0600 E-SE-E 5-15 2-4
17/0600-18/0000 E 5-10 2-3
Next Update: Monday, 16 August
(with no disrespect intended to Steven R Covey, author of The 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People)
Today it occurred to me that it takes a rather peculiar skillset to row
across an ocean. Almost anybody could do it – if they wanted to – but
there are a few abilities that are particularly useful. So here are my
suggestions for the 7 Habits of Reasonably Effective Ocean Rowers – and
I’d be interested to hear if you have any other suggestions to add to
the list.
1. Ability to make 2.5 gallons of fresh water last for a week. This one
was absolutely necessary last year when both my watermakers broke. FYI,
2.5 gallons is about the size of a toilet cistern. And that had to serve
for drinking water, rinsing beansprouts, rehydrating freeze dried meals,
brushing teeth, and washing.
2. Ability to spend 100+ days alone at sea without going crazy. This is
possibly the toughest one. Even though obviously I am very entertaining
company (?!) even I get a bit tired of my jokes after a while…
3. Ability to contort oneself into a tiny sleeping cabin. Yoga helps.
4. Ability to attach a lanyard to almost any object – to prevent
accidental losses overboard.
5. Ability to find something new to photograph after 80+ days at sea,
with nothing but a 23-foot boat, sea, sky, oneself, and the occasional
passing sea creature
6. Ability to open a Larabar without tearing the wrapper. After having
now consumed about 1000 Larabars over the course of the last 3 years, I
am now quite the expert.
7. Ability to find something to be happy about and thankful for, even on
the worst of days. Essential.
[photo: it struck me we hadn't had an underwater photo for a while - so
here is a pic of one of my ocean-going Rozlings, who is usually to be
found hanging out under my boat]
Other Stuff:
I’ve had a lot to be happy about and thankful for today. After 10 days
in the attempt, I finally crossed over 2 degrees North. That has been
the toughest degree yet. 3 degrees North took 8 days to cover the 60
nautical miles between degrees of latitude. Others have generally taken
between 3 and 5 days. I don’t know exactly how many miles I actually
traveled to achieve these 60 miles of southerly progress, but I’m
guessing it must have been over 120. Ah, if only I could travel as the
booby flies!
This achievement was all the sweeter because at the moment I’m rowing
directly against the current. It isn’t a big strong current, but nor am
I a big strong rower. So I was pleased to make headway. The winds have
been very light today – mostly just 3-5 knots – so my mileage was very
much my own work. King Neptune just left me alone for long enough to
allow me to make some headway – for which I thank him.
Apologies for total Tweetlessness today and yesterday. The reason is
that I have spent most of the last two days trying to upload three short
video clips – the regular RozCast, plus one for the Discovery Channel
(Blue August) and one for the UNEP International Children and Youth
Conference taking place next week in Korea – which I had hoped to attend
but obviously I’m still bobbing around in mid-Pacific. My satphone has
been tied up all day while I try repeatedly to get the uploads through.
I have really poor satellite phone reception this close to the Equator,
so the transmission keeps dropping out. Every time I take a break from
rowing I restart the transmission – and come back at the next break to
find it broke off again the moment my back was turned. It took all day
yesterday to upload the RozCast clip, and all day today for Discovery
Channel. Tomorrow I hope to get the UNEP clip uploaded. And I’m just
trying not to even think about the cost….
Thanks to the Rozling community for all the great comments,
especially…
Caroline H – would love to see you the next time I am in London for some
reflexology – that would be a real treat. And thanks for the food for
thought – I probably won’t blog about it, but it will be a fun thing to
think about – and make me extra glad to be out here!
Doug – There IS a day spa in Tuvalu/Tarawa, isn’t there?!
Ellen – hope you had a blast at rowing training camp. Thanks for
spreading the word!
Claire – thanks for the great message.
A special thank you to Mick and Chris for their message. Honored to be
called their “Pacific Sister”. I think often of my Pacific Brothers, and
hope to see them in San Francisco for a post-row beer if the timings
work out. If I can’t be there, I’ll leave some money behind the bar at
the South End Rowing Club!
Richard – I just have to share your poem. It made me laugh out loud!
ODE TO A BOOBY
Booby, booby, over the sea,
Why have you abandoned me?
Was I unkind?
Did I drive you away?
Have you found another boat,
On which to play?
I miss you now.
I didn’t before.
Did I hurt your feelings,
With my swinging oar?
It was just that,
I’m sensitive to smell.
And frankly, my darling,
You reeked to hell.
And now also know,
I’ve got things on my mind.
What with rainstorms, and currents,
And remoras on my behind.
So you can see, my sweet,
That you’re in my thoughts,
Although our friendship, probably,
Will come to naught.
I’ll remember you, though,
And I’m not blaming,
But frankly my love,
You needed toilet-training.
ROFL!!!! (or should that be RODL – for Roll On Deck Laughing?!)
Weather report:
Position at 2310 HST: 01 51.091N, 177 59.227W (yayyyyyy!)
Wind: 3-8kts E-ENE (happy days!)
Seas:2-4ft E
Weather: some cumulus cloud at sunrise, clearing to devastatingly blue
skies and hot sunshine. Scattered cumulus passed over late afternoon,
then mostly clear again, but another band of cloud on the horizon as the
sun set. There have been no squalls or rainshowers for several days now
– which is just fine with me!
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
As of Thursday morning 13 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there
have
been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some rainshower
activity to your north. SEerly winds 10kt is south of your position to
the
equator. The SEerlies eventually shift to Eerly 10-15kts by today. A
further shift to the north will keep the winds north of east until late
on
the 15th. Then shifting to SEerly for a brief period before returning to
Eerly by the end of the forecast period.
The widespread clouds mentioned in last report have cleared to partly
cloudy
skies with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate
rainshowers.
Ocean currents should be light SSWerlies (flowing towards the NNE) at
about
0.1 to 0.2 kts in your area to about 00 30S. To the north of you
beginning
at about 3 30N there is a band of Eerly flowing current of about 0.5 to
0.7kts. South of the equator along your longitude there is a band of
Werly
flowing current of about 1.0kt.
Forecast (low confidence)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
13/1200-14/1800 E 5-15 2-4
14/1800-15/1500 E-ENE 5-15 2-4
15/1500-15/1800 ENE-E 5-15 2-4
15/1800-17/0600 E-SE-E 5-15 2-4
17/0600-18/0000 E 5-10 2-3
Next Update: Monday, 16 August
Last night I had a dream about Mick and Chris, who are currently rowing the north Pacific (goldengateendeavour.com). In my dream I was taking a look around their boat, Bojangles, and was staggered at the size of it. It had a cabin so high you could stand up in it – and, luxury of luxuries, a FLUSH TOILET!! No doubt Mick and Chris would find the contrast between my dream and the reality extremely amusing.
I wonder how Mick and Chris are bearing up physically. I got an email today from Sarah Outen, my friend who has just finished rowing solo across the Indian Ocean. She lost 18kg, which is about 40lb, in 124 days. Mick and Chris will be at sea for 5-6 months, so they might lose even more.
Me? I’m not doing too badly. I lost about 25-30lb on each of my previous long crossings. I’d guess I’ve lost less this time, maybe about 15lb, but it’s hard to tell, having neither scales nor mirror.
I’m happy I’ve managed to avoid the tendonitis that made my Atlantic crossing so miserable. I just have the usual ration of minor oceangoing maladies – a touch of toothache (probably a minor rumble from my impacted wisdom teeth) which should go away in a few days. Ongoing spots and rashes from the saltwater and heat. Blisters and bloodspots on my feet where the rowing shoes rub. And an oddity that always happens – fingernails parting company with fingers. They don’t fall off, but the white extends down towards the quick, and it takes a while for them to get back to normal when I reach dry land.
So I’m not exactly feeling at my most glamorous, and would seriously love a good long shower, but if I ever start feeling sorry for myself I just thank my lucky stars that I am not Mick or Chris and crossing the whole Pacific nonstop. At least I get to do some sightseeing along the way – and who in their right mind would row straight past Hawaii without dropping in?!
[photo: Not much to take photos of today. So here is last night's sunset.]
Other Stuff:
Today the weather gods were kind. Conditions were pushing me due west but by aiming my bow south I was able to row across the waves to make another 8 miles closer to the Equator. I have made up the latitude that I lost when a southeasterly caught me in its jaws and dragged me kicking and screaming back up to 3 degrees North, and am now the furthest south I have ever been (in a rowboat, anyway). The forecast is good, so I am VERY cautiously optimistic that I might make further progress south over the next few days. But still just taking it as it comes. Expectation only invites disappointment!
Today I posted my regular weekly video to my editor – so the latest RozCast should go live on YouTube in the next 24 hours. In this week’s RozCast there is a pre-recorded section where I talk about the environment, and then a short video from the boat where I show you what a pair of rowing gloves looks like after just a couple of weeks at the oars. Enjoy!
Thank you to all the Rozzles for your comments. Rozta’ Bill – especially appreciating you keeping a weather eye out for my fortunes. I’m tired now after a long day rowing so I’m afraid I’m not going to acknowledge all the comments individually, but please know that I really do appreciate them. BTW, we seemed to lose Gregory of the Conway Kayak Company in the transition to the new website – he was one of Roz’s Regulars but has gone MIA. Gregory, if you’re out there, drop us a message at [email protected] and let us know you’re okay!
Weather Report:
Position at 2315 HST: 02 05.378N, 177 44.862W Wind: 10kts ESE-E Seas: 2-4ft E Weather: mostly clear and fine, with just a very few scattered clouds. None of those pesky ITCZ-ish squalls or rainshowers – thank heavens!
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
As of Thursday morning 13 Aug 2009. According to measured data there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts over your position and some rainshower activity to your north. SEerly winds 10kt is south of your position to the equator. The SEerlies eventually shift to Eerly 10-15kts by today. A further shift to the north will keep the winds north of east until late on the 15th. Then shifting to SEerly for a brief period before returning to Eerly by the end of the forecast period.
The widespread clouds mentioned in last report have cleared to partly cloudy skies with minimal convection.
Forecast sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers.
Ocean currents should be light SSWerlies (flowing towards the NNE) at about 0.1 to 0.2 kts in your area to about 00 30S. To the north of you beginning at about 3 30N there is a band of Eerly flowing current of about 0.5 to 0.7kts. South of the equator along your longitude there is a band of Werly flowing current of about 1.0kt.
Forecast (low confidence) Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est 13/1200-14/1800 E 5-15 2-4 14/1800-15/1500 E-ENE 5-15 2-4 15/1500-15/1800 ENE-E 5-15 2-4 15/1800-17/0600 E-SE-E 5-15 2-4 17/0600-18/0000 E 5-10 2-3
Next Update: Monday, 16 August
Oh boy, this is going to be another short blog. 10.30pm already, and only just starting to write…
I was pleased today to hold my own against a very brisk wind coming out of the southeast, which was threatening to push me north again, but actually has allowed me to go almost due west. I really don’t understand how these things work – other southeasterlies have had me zooming northwest at an alarming rate of knots, but this one has been relatively benevolent.
So that’s the news regarding where my body is at. As for where my head is at, today I’ve had to work harder than usual at being present in the here and now. My thoughts keep wanting to take off into the realms of panic. Usually it’s will-I-ever-get-out-of-here or the great Tuvalu/Tarawa debate. But today there was a new one. Today it was the I’m-going-to-run-out-of-food panic. Of course I’m not going to run out of food – or only if I get well and truly marooned in the ITCZ. I’ve still got enough food for another 50 days or so, but try telling that to my mind once it gets into one of its loony-loops. I must have mentally run through my full inventory of food about ten times today, until I just wanted to hit the Off button on my brain.
But as the day went on I got more successful at countering those Negative Nellie voices in my head. Every time I caught myself spiraling into a tizzy, I would pull myself back and focus on just being present in the here and now – admiring a cloud, listening to my audiobook, enjoying the contrast between a blue wave and a white foaming crest… until 5 minutes later it happens all over again – but that’s brains for you. I don’t try and fight the thoughts (well, not much) but simply to reduce and reduce the amount of time between when the spiral starts and when I notice it’s happening – and then to stop the spiral, breeeeaaaathe, adjust and refocus.
I also keep humming “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and reminding myself of my little Zen Dog. I’ve quoted him before, but I’ll quote him again for newcomers to the blog:
He knows not where he’s going
For the ocean will decide
It’s not the destination
It’s the glory of the ride.
[photo: My compass (and rowing shoes). The wind is coming at the boat broadside on the port beam, i.e. the right hand side of the picture - so you can tell it's coming from the southeast]
Other Stuff:
Thank you for all the great comments on my spiritual blog yesterday. I’m glad it provoked some thoughts and feedback rather than an embarrassed silence – so I feel justified in baring all before you. Thank you!
Laurey Masterson – thanks for your lovely message. Good to find out more about you and your life. I’m sure I will make it to NC in the near future. Nicole’s granny is moving there soon too, so I have many reasons to visit!
Robert Gandy – good for you!
Steve Maskell – great to hear from you, and I love that image of my oarstrokes spinning the world beneath me – maybe a bit like the Native Americans believing that it’s their job to make sure the sun rises every morning. So, in that case, I’d better carry on rowing then!
I missed the meteor shower! Only just got the comments about it –and it was last night, darn it. I was rowing until 11.30pm so must just have missed it. Boo!
Weather report:
Position at 2300 HST: 02 13.327N, 177 25.169W
Wind: light this morning, then 20 knots SE-ESE for the rest of the day
Seas: 4-6 ft SE
Weather: some overcast this morning, then generally fine and sunny with high cirrus clouds
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 39N 177 05W as of 09Aug 2335HST.
As of Monday morning 10 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts and little significant rainshower activity in your area. 10kt Eerly winds extends to 01 30S then increase to Eerly 15-20kts then shift to SEerly 0-20kts. Winds continue to be very shifty next couple of days becoming Eerly 0-15kts by 1500HST 11Aug. Then shifting to SEerly 0-20kts by 12Aug 1200HST. Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there remains widespread areas of low level clouds amongst scattered areas of deep convection. There is a significant area of deep convection south of the Equator centered near 03 00S 175 00W. Rainshowers, squalls, and thunderstorms in areas of deep convection.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
10/1800-10/2100 E-SE 0-20 2-5
10/2100-11/1800 SE-E 0-20 2-5
11/1800-12/1200 E-SE 0-20 2-5
12/1200-14/0600 SE-ENE 5-20 2-5
14/0600-15/0000 ENE-SE 0-20 2-5
Next Update: Thursday, 13 August
Recently Marv H asked me if I am religious, or spiritual in any way. It is supposed to be taboo to discuss politics, religion or sex…but well, hey, what are blogs about if not to break taboos? So (taking a deep breath) after butts, boobies, bird poop and exploding squid, now we move onto The Meaning Of Life….
I am a preachers’ kid (yes, the apostrophe IS in the right place – BOTH my parents were preachers) but I do not count myself a religious person. But I do have a strong belief system that I have evolved over the few years since I stepped out of the rat race to get a fresh perspective on life. I have done a lot of reading and thinking – as well as simply observing – and have been especially influenced by Aldous Huxley’s “Perennial Philosophy”, “Conversations With God” by Donald Neale Walsh, and the teachings of Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer.
I believe that there is more to this world that can be perceived with the five human senses. It would surprise me if reality in its entirety could be witnessed through sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. We evolved these five because they are what our physical body needed for survival, but I am sure that there are other dimensions to reality. Although we can’t perceive these other aspects directly, we CAN see the effects that they have on our sensory reality if we try playing around to make them work for us – like, for example, the Law of Attraction.
The way I see it, one of these other dimensions that we can’t physically see is a kind of pool of energy that unites us all – call it God, the Source, the Oneness, the Universe, or whatever you will – and that this force exists in every single living being in the world – or even the universe, if there is life on other planets.
To try and illustrate this… in a sense we are united physically by the Earth. We all stand on it, sit on it, or lie on it – or in a building that rests on it. We’re not floating several miles above it, or off in space somewhere. We are all in some way physically and directly connected to the Earth. Similarly, we are all united spiritually by this unifying force. We are connected to it by whatever that magical thing is that makes us into living beings rather than just inert lumps of flesh. That spark of life force, or your soul, or your heart, or your energy – whatever you call that thing makes you a living, moving, sentient being – is what connects us all to each other.
And this energetic field that connects us all is also, I think, where we can draw things to ourselves that cannot be explained through the laws of logic or the perception of our five human senses. When we act, talk, or think, our actions, words and thoughts reverberate through that field and create consequences in the visible world.
So, that’s the basis. But what does that mean in real life? How does this belief system influence how I live?
First, I will always treat other people with respect – in fact, I will treat them as I would want to be treated myself – because we are all connected. So if I hurt them, I hurt myself.
Second, I believe that we owe it to ourselves, and to everybody else, to be the very best person that we can be in this lifetime. Because we are all connected, when one person strives to be better, it raises everybody up.
Third, I’ve found the best way to be the best person I can be is to put ego aside, and to tap into that greater force – to ask it, what is my purpose? How can I serve the whole? When we take our guidance from that collective energy, by listening to our heart, we can be sure that we do the right things for the right reasons. It also enables us to make sure what we do is the very best that can be done, because we do it not alone, but with the enormous resources of energy and inspiration that lie in that pool of collective consciousness.
I do not claim that my belief system is “true” – I claim only that this is what I have CHOSEN to believe, based on my experiences, and because these beliefs serve me well. It makes sense to me, makes me happy, gives me a sufficient feeling that I am in control of my own destiny, while also allowing a bit of room for those magical moments of serendipity that make me believe there is a sense of justice and harmony in the world.
But I also freely admit that there are many other ways to perceive the world, and many other belief systems that can be construed based on the same evidence. We only have to look at any scientific controversy to see that intelligent, rational people can look at the same data and arrive at radically different conclusions.
So I have no problem with other people believing whatever they want to believe – provided that their belief does not impinge on my personal freedom. And similarly I would never dream of foisting my belief system on anybody else.
I think it is up to everybody to figure out what works for them. I’ve put a lot of thought into my own system of spirituality. To me there is nothing in life so important as those big questions – who am I? Why am I here? What is the point of it all? And that we all owe it to ourselves to spend time and effort thinking about these questions – if we want to be happy.
Wow, this is a very personal blog, and I feel almost shy about baring my soul to this extent. But, hey, I’ve bared just about everything else this voyage. So why not my soul too?
[photo: feel free to think I'm crazy, but at least I'm happy!]
Other Stuff:
This morning I had just 13 miles to go to get to 2 degrees North. If the weather had been like yesterday I would have done this today, no problem. But the weather wasn’t, and I didn’t. The wind veered round from E, to ESE, SE, until I was being blown north again. At the moment the wind is looking undecided as to how mean it’s going to be. Will it let me off with just a temporary hold-up at this latitude, or will it be a total b*****d and blow me all the way up north again? Who knows. I’m deliberately not thinking about it – or at least, rapidly redirecting my thoughts every time I do start thinking about it. It will be what it will be.
Apologies for not updating you on the fate of the fish that I invited to supper last night, on the condition that he provide the main course – or, in fact, BE the main course. Truth be told, he was a dead loss. I started trying to cut the flesh off him, but as you may have observed from the photo, he was built for speed, not supper, being long and skinny rather than plump and round. So, basically, there was so little meat on him that he was a total waste of space supper-wise. So I recycled him over the side of the boat and resorted to freeze-dried curry instead, which with the addition of some powdered coconut milk was very yummy indeed.
Dave Finnigan – your film concept sounds very interesting. I do have a contact at Lucasfilm. Could I ask you to get back in touch with me when I am on dry land, and we will follow up then? You can contact me at [email protected]
Dale – thanks for the reminder about enjoying the here and now, and being present in the moment. I’ve actually become much more aware of that in the last couple of days, and have been working on it – and am feeling much more content as a result. Thank you for the timely reminder.
Margaret Taylor – thank you for your very special message. You in turn have inspired me. I hope that we both reach the far side of our challenges as better and stronger people.
Amy Olmstead – I will be sure to give you a shout if and when I make it to Austin!
Rozta’ Bill – alas it looks like the UH forecast was overly optimistic. Hey ho! I listened to Tribes the other day. Really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Pretty inspiring stuff!
Thank you to Robert Pfeiffer, Roman Lyubimov, Andrew M Reed and Laurey Masterton for their kind donations – all very much appreciated. Thank you, Rozlings!
Jerome, Judy, Joan, Sebastian – great to hear from you too. Thanks for your comments!
Weather report:
Position at 2215 HST: 02 09.407Nm 177 12.476W Wind: 5-20kts, sometimes E, sometimes SE, sometimes in between Seas: 3-5ft NE Weather: showers this morning, overcast for a while, mostly clear skies with scattered showers this afternoon, clouding over again towards nightfall
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 39N 177 05W as of 09Aug 2335HST.
As of Monday morning 10 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts and little significant rainshower activity in your area. 10kt Eerly winds extends to 01 30S then increase to Eerly 15-20kts then shift to SEerly 0-20kts. Winds continue to be very shifty next couple of days becoming Eerly 0-15kts by 1500HST 11Aug. Then shifting to SEerly 0-20kts by 12Aug 1200HST. Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there remains widespread areas of low level clouds amongst scattered areas of deep convection. There is a significant area of deep convection south of the Equator centered near 03 00S 175 00W. Rainshowers, squalls, and thunderstorms in areas of deep convection.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums) Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est 10/1800-10/2100 E-SE 0-20 2-5 10/2100-11/1800 SE-E 0-20 2-5 11/1800-12/1200 E-SE 0-20 2-5 12/1200-14/0600 SE-ENE 5-20 2-5 14/0600-15/0000 ENE-SE 0-20 2-5
Next Update: Thursday, 13 August
… are in short supply right now. There are lots of flashes of lightning around the dark horizon as I write this blog, but those are the only flashy-type things happening on this bit of ocean right now.
I’m absolutely stupid with tiredness, so I’m going to keep this really short – with apologies for my brevity. But I needed to let you know I’m still alive!
Headline is: it’s been a good productive day at the oars. I’ve regained another 23 miles of lost latitude, and am almost back to where I was before the wind and currents started sweeping me north.
I won’t say the weather has been helping me, but it hasn’t been hindering me either. For most of today there has been no wind at all – which has made for VERY hot rowing conditions.
There was a notable exception at about 2pm, when a big cloud came over and in the space of a minute – literally – the wind went from 0 knots to 40 knots. It lasted about 10 minutes, and then subsided again almost as quickly. I was caught off-guard, with the sun canopy up, and it was banging about like a demented thing. But fortunately no damage done.
So, in the absence of wind assistance, I’ve been rowing my little heart out, and am now as pooped as a booby-pooped poop deck. So I’m going to bed. Sorry! Will try to be more creative tomorrow.
[photo: Continuing the aerial bombardment of my boat, this chap landed on my deck this morning. Any offers as to identity? I'm guessing that big pointy thing on his schnozz is going to be indicative of his name – or is it just a very small marlin? Baseball cap included for scale.]
Other Stuff:
Rave of the Day: rediscovered a bag of powdered coconut milk from Wilderness Family Naturals, and added a spoonful or two to my dinnertime curry. Delicious!! Definitely my new favorite meal.
Crave of the Day: white fluffy towels and crisp white sheets. Ahhhh, sigh!
A new batch donations has come in – thank you Rozlings!! Special thank yous today to: Edward Gutman, Ian Wilkie, Jennifer Eggers, Nancy Glenn (special hello to Nancy!), Bill Spinks, Mary Dionne, Keith Ferstl, Margaret Taylor, and Sarah Watson. (Thanks, Sarah!!!!) This is SO kind of you – it’s not just the money, it’s knowing that you care. I truly appreciate your generosity of spirit.
Weather report:
Position at 2310 HST: 02 16.105N, 177 02.609W Wind: as described above
Seas: 2-5ft E
Weather: as described above
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 39N 177 05W as of 09Aug 2335HST.
As of Monday morning 10 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 7-12kts and little significant rainshower activity in your area. 10kt Eerly winds extends to 01 30S then increase to Eerly 15-20kts then shift to SEerly 0-20kts. Winds continue to be very shifty next couple of days becoming Eerly 0-15kts by 1500HST 11Aug. Then shifting to SEerly 0-20kts by 12Aug 1200HST. Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there remains widespread areas of low level clouds amongst scattered areas of deep convection. There is a significant area of deep convection south of the Equator centered near 03 00S 175 00W. Rainshowers, squalls, and thunderstorms in areas of deep convection.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums) Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est 10/1800-10/2100 E-SE 0-20 2-5 10/2100-11/1800 SE-E 0-20 2-5 11/1800-12/1200 E-SE 0-20 2-5 12/1200-14/0600 SE-ENE 5-20 2-5 14/0600-15/0000 ENE-SE 0-20 2-5
Next Update: Thursday, 13 August
Maybe the ocean took notice of my frank expression of views last night.
Maybe I used the Law of Attraction to bring some good conditions into my
life. Maybe the prayers of my Rozlings were answered. Or maybe it was
just time for the weather to change. But for whatever reason, today
brought an easterly wind and some good mileage in the right direction –
which was very welcome.
I’ve now made up 15 of the 40 miles of latitude I’d lost over the last
few days. I don’t know how long the conditions will last, but I rowed
until I couldn’t row any more to make the most of the opportunity.
I was once wary of getting over-hopeful of good progress, or pessimistic
about my chances of making landfall. Neither of these are helpful or
constructive lines of thought, as I just have to take each day as it
comes. They are really best just ignored until I am in a better position
(literally) to make a decision.
So I distracted my rebellious thoughts by focusing on other things
entirely. I turned to happy daydreams about my future – both near and
longer term. This is my favorite kind of fantasizing, in a rather Walter
Mitty-ish kind of a way. Some people have a happy place that they
conjure up when they need to distract themselves. Instead of a happy
place I have my happy future It’s like a kind of positive meditation,
and even in the worst of times it can stop me dwelling on negative
thoughts.
And the astonishing thing is that my Walter Mitty daydreams, which I’ve
been having for a number of years now, are developing a spooky habit of
coming true… I’m really starting to have to be VERY careful about what I
wish for!
[photo: heralding a brighter day - a gorgeous Sunday sunrise this morning]
Other Stuff:
It’s that time of year again! All around the world (well, in the US
anyway), teachers andstudents are starting to head back into the classroom
after the summer vacation. If you’re a parent or teacher and you’d like to
share my adventure with your children, please check out the resources on
the education section of my website. Quite a number of teachers are
already using my row as a fun, engaging way to get kids excited about a
variety of subjects: geography, math, science, social studies, just to
name a few.
The education section is designed to be a collaborative resource for
teachers of all grade levels who want to upload lesson plans and
classroom materials, share ideas and communicate with teachers around
the world. There’s even a gaming section that uses SCRATCH, an
MIT-developed gaming code that is easy enough for children to use to
create games – which can be a fantastic learning tool.
Please remember that this is an entirely user-driven part of the site -
this means that we need teachers to create, not just use the content. So
if you know a teacher, please do share this with them. Get creative -
and I’d encourage you to use social media tools to share your classroom
experiences with others, and with the Rozling community. Get those
creative juices flowing!
This section of my website is created and moderated by Jacob Tanenbaum,
a technology educator from New York City. Jacob contacted me after he
followed along with my Atlantic crossing. He was bitten by the
adventuring bug and, inspired by my Atlantic exploits, he applied for
and was accepted as a NOAA teacher at sea (the US National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration). A big thank you once again to Jacob for all
the work he did to make this part of my site a reality.
The donations continue to roll in from the Rozlings – thank you all SO
much for your generosity!! We will now definitely be able to bring
Conrad out to film my arrival on Island X, and have some very useful
funds left over to start paying my $10,000+ blog bill (i.e. the cost of
uploading blogs via my satellite phone) for this stage of the row. I am
very touched by your kindness. Today’s thanks go to:
Suwin Chan, Karen Oppenheimer, Lawrence Heim, Michael Matson, David
Reed, Gavin Knight, David Bell, Jerome Blackman, Cyndie Blake, Charles
Pierce, David Bludworth, and Alicia Foley.
Also special hellos and thank yous for some great comments, particularly
to Mitch and his wife, Leslie Layton, Ene, Meg, Sebastian, Achates,
David, Michelle, Dana, all of Roz’s Regulars, and Amy in Austin. There
seems to be quite a chapter of Rozlings in Austin – I really hope I can
get there sometime and meet you all! Thanks also to Lori for her kind
words – and a big hi to your two children as well! And Charlotte Vick –
you’re on!
UncaDoug – thanks for the info on the Southern Cross. Good to know
that’s really it – makes me feel like I’m maybe not so far from my goal!
Steve in Cincinatti – thanks for nominating me for CNN’s Green
Inspirations! I’ll reproduce your comment here, just in case anyone else
feels inspired to do likewise – which would be much appreciated!
This is for Roz, but directed more to her faithful followers. I just
nominated Roz for CNN’s Eco Solutions’ Green Inspirations. The
following is an excerpt of the story:
“We’re looking for the everyday heroes and exceptional people who
are making a difference. They may be well known or someone in the
public eye you think deserves more recognition. Whoever they may be,
send us an email to nominate your green inspirations and we’ll
feature them on Eco Solutions”
The email to send more nominations is http://www.ecosolutions@cnn.com
I specifically pointed out one of favorite passages thus far, Day 76
Positive Thinking: an epiphany.
Best wishes to you Roz.
And best wishes to you too, Steve – and all the other wonderful Rozlings
who are such an endless source of inspiration, support, and strength to
me.
Weather report:
Position at 2300 HST: 02 39.272N, 177 04.481W (yayyyy!)
Wind: 5-15kts E-NE (yayyyy again!!)
Seas: 3-4 ft NE
Weather: blue skies, scattered cumulus, two teeny weeny little
rainshowers
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 16N 176 22W as of 06Aug
1107HST.
As of Thursday morning 6 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there
have been Eerly winds up to 20kts and rainshowers in your area, which
might help explain your gain in westward longitude. Eerly winds extends
to the Equator then shift to SEerly 0-12kts. Winds will be very shifty
next couple of days becoming Serly 0-15kts by 1600HST 06Aug. Then
shifting back to Eerly 0-12kts by 08Aug 0000HST. Forecast aids indicate
Eerly winds 0-15kts persist for remainder of the forecast period.
Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed. According
to satellite imagery, there remains moderate convection with rainshowers
and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud activity south of
01 00N.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate
rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial
regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
06/1800-08/0000 S 0-15 2-5
08/0000-11/0000 E 0-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 10 August
The ocean and I had serious words tonight. Well, actually, I suppose I did most of the talking. And it was not Happy Talk – so much for South Pacific, the musical, from which the song comes. In fact it was very Unhappy Talk.
I won’t repeat it here, as it was mostly unrepeatable, but it was words to the effect that I’m tired of having to fight so hard for every degree of latitude, and it would be really nice if for a change I could make progress and actually hang onto it instead of being pushed so far back that even if/when the conditions become favorable again it’s going to take me days to make up for the ground I’ve lost. Having been within 13 miles of the line of latitude at 2 degrees North, I’m now almost all the way back up to 3 degrees North. By rowing standards that is a long, long way to re-row.
I try to tell myself that these are just imaginary, man-made lines of latitude, and aren’t really important, but psychologically it would be quite tough to cross back over 3 degrees North – in the wrong direction. I have the lines of latitude written up on a writeboard in front of my rowing position, and I cross them out as I pass them, like the Count of Monte Cristo marking off his days in prison. I’d hate to have to un-cross a number.
In keeping with the recent theme of the Law of Attraction and positive thinking, I had decided to give vocal vent to all my frustration, and let the ocean know just exactly the kind of improvement I expected to see in its behavior from now on. For my part I would stop obsessing over the numbers on my GPS and start enjoying the ride – but I would enjoy it a lot more if it was taking me in the right direction so I can make landfall and start getting on with all the very interesting and exciting things I’ve got lined up for the rest of the year, thank you very much.
[photo: a turtle that popped up to say hello this morning]
Other Stuff:
THANK YOU, ROZLINGS!!! You are all wonderful, generous, lovely, supportive people and I love you all. Okay, so my love might be somewhat financially motivated, but whatever, I still think you’re all GREAT! This outburst of love and affection has been prompted by your amazing
response to my plea for help with raising money so we can bring Conrad the Filmmaker out to Island X to record my arrival and interviews with locals on the subject of climate change. We had an offer of $2,500 provided we were able to match that sum with donations from elsewhere.
And, in the space of JUST 48 HOURS we have achieved just that! We were halfway by this time yesterday, and I’ve just received an email from Nicole my program director to let me know that today we reached our target. So, in addition to yesterday’s thank yous, I’d like to express my gratitude to:
Mark Scarpa, Kenneth D Scott, Chialing Jolly Young, Jane Heritage, Eric Kauzmann, Patricia Luebke, William Mosley, Robert Locher, Susan Patterson, Naomi Durkin, Jeffrey King, Richard Cort, Anthony Swift (especially!), Barbara Henker, Claire Winston, Anna Sonderegger, Roger Mercier, Eric Mccallum and Mylene Paquette.
If you intended to contribute but hadn’t got around to it yet, donations are still most welcome. My satellite phone bill (voice and data) is likely to be over $10,000 for this stage of the row. Data uploads form the greater part of this bill. To upload a blog with a photo costs about $15, to record a podcast about $45, and to upload the short video segments for my RozCasts on YouTube is closer to $80. At the moment funds are getting very low, but with a bit of help we can keep the Roz Show on the road (or on the row!). Thank you also for all the big Rozling hugs winging their way across the Pacific waves to me to console me after a tough day yesterday. Hugs back to you too. And please send some more today because it has been another toughie…
I really enjoyed reading the responses to my blog yesterday about my eco-epiphany. I’m glad that the idea resonated with so many of you. When it came to me it had the feeling of something special, like one of those Big Ideas that comes from outside yourself (like my initial idea to row across oceans, in fact). I’ll be including the idea in a speech that I hope to be giving later this year (details coming when confirmed – but it would be the most important speech of my life so far if it happens), and it will also form part of the book that I’m planning to write in the early part of next year – a very personal take on sustainability and the future. I’ve copied your comments into my working documents so I can refer back to them later. Thank you!
Thanks to Captain Phil Renaud for the lovely message. Great to know that you’re following – and congratulations on your own great efforts to preserve our oceans.
UncaDoug – Fallen Leaf Lake sounds absolutely gorgeous, and your description has got me pining for dry land! I hope you have a great time. I’ll miss your comments though, so hurry on back! BTW, I think I can see the Southern Cross, even though I’m not in the southern hemisphere yet. Is that possible?
And finally special hello to one of Roz’s Regulars and one of my greatest cheerleaders, the Lemon Lady Karen Morss. Thanks, Karen, for your amazing energy and support!
Weather report:
Position at 2210 HST: 02 53.961N, 177 02.529W
Wind: S slowly backing to ESE throughout the day, 3-15kts
Seas: 3-5ft, SE, but there seems to be a current that pushed me due north whenever I’m not rowing
Weather: sunny with scattered clouds
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 16N 176 22W as of 06Aug 1107HST.
As of Thursday morning 6 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 20kts and rainshowers in your area, which might help explain your gain in westward longitude. Eerly winds extends to the Equator then shift to SEerly 0-12kts. Winds will be very shifty next couple of days becoming Serly 0-15kts by 1600HST 06Aug. Then shifting back to Eerly 0-12kts by 08Aug 0000HST. Forecast aids indicate Eerly winds 0-15kts persist for remainder of the forecast period.
Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed. According to satellite imagery, there remains moderate convection with rainshowers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud activity south of 01 00N.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
06/1800-08/0000 S 0-15 2-5
08/0000-11/0000 E 0-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 10 August
I wish the title of this blog referred to a newfound ability to overcome adverse winds through the power of positive thinking – but unfortunately it doesn’t. A glance at the RozTracker will show that the weather and I were not of the same view as to where I should be going today.
No, the title refers to a mini-epiphany I had last night as I was trying to get to sleep, and once I’d had the mini-epiphany I was so excited about it that all hope of sleep was gone, so I got up and rowed under a full moon until 3am while I considered my new insight. It was the result of several topics that have been under discussion on this blog over the last few days. The environment. The Alchemist. The Law of Attraction. And maybe a little soupcon of serendipity too.
The idea that popped into my head was this… It seems to me (and I could be wrong – it’s rather difficult to keep my finger on the pulse from a small rowboat a thousand miles from anywhere) that most of the climate change debate focuses on climate change, i.e. The Problem, and I think it might be more helpful to focus on sustainability, i.e. The Solution.
To draw a parallel… when I was living my old life as a management consultant in London (as discussed in yesterday’s podcast), I knew there was something wrong. The fact that I was not happy was a giveaway. I didn’t feel good about my work, and not feeling good, as Esther and Jerry Hicks point out, is a clear indicator that you’re out of whack with your life purpose.
But I didn’t know that then. I just knew my life sucked. So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was wrong with it. I wrote volume after volume of my journal trying to analyze the problem. I even had a few therapy sessions – until the extortionate cost of the therapy became almost as stressful as the issue I’d gone into therapy to resolve. In short, I was obsessed with The Problem.
Then one day I hit on a better idea. This was when I did my obituary exercise – I sat down and wrote two versions of how I might be remembered at the end of my life – the version I wanted, and the version I was then heading for. The version I was heading for was ordinary, mundane, pleasant but not exciting. The one I wanted was exciting, passionate, rich, and unusual. The huge difference between the two made it clear that I would need to make some big changes – and the direction that those changes should take.
I was no longer focused on The Problem. I wasn’t even focused on The Solution. I was focused on Where I Wanted To Be. And after even more hiccups, wiggles, waggles, zigs and zags than my current course from Hawaii, I got myself on track for that ideal obituary. There were some dramatic changes – I lost my job, my income, my home and my husband along the way – but I barely looked back, and certainly not with regret. None of these losses felt like sacrifices – because I was so invigorated by my vision of the future. I was moving powerfully TOWARDS an exciting new life, not AWAY from the old one.
So, to go back to the environment. Wouldn’t it seem so much more motivating if we were focusing on Where We Want To Be – collectively –instead of focusing on The Problem? Wouldn’t it be invigorating if we had an attractive, shared vision of a sustainable future, that would keep us moving forwards instead of bogging down in petty political haggling and clinging onto the past? Wouldn’t it be so much more FUN if we were focused on all the exciting aspects of this brave new world instead of dwelling on things we have already lost forever?
If you subscribe to the Law of Attraction, we get what we focus on. If we focus on The Problem, we perpetuate the problem. If we focus on What We Really, Really, Really Want – then that is what we will get. And hopefully what we want is a green, sustainable future.
And finally, let’s bring in The Alchemist. In that book the hero is on a quest in pursuit of his “own personal legend”. The climate change conference in Copenhagen this December gives us an opportunity to pursue our collective human legend. What will it be? Is our legend going to demonstrate courage? Or cowardice? Commitment? Or confusion?
In 200 years time, will our descendants look back at this pivotal moment and admire us as visionaries? Or will they look back and wonder what the hell we were thinking? In fact, if we don’t find the courage and the commitment to create our green, sustainable future, will there even be any descendants? Or will the human race be history?
Whether you believe in climate change or not, and whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, doesn’t really matter. What does matter is What We Really, Really, Really, Really Want – and rising to make that vision a reality.
Me? I’m excited. I can see an amazing future in which humans have risen to be heroes, our better selves, and have pulled together to create a clean, harmonious world. And that’s where I’m going to put my focus.
[photo: taken this afternoon - looking for the silver lining]
Other Stuff:
Damage limitation mode today. The wind has been from the southeast all day, and I’ve been swept relentlessly northwest, diminishing my chances of making landfall on my preferred choice of Tuvalu, as well as making for some rather discouraging statistics in my logbook. Despite rowing all day (and half of last night) I’ve now lost 20 miles of southerly progress. The forecast is for the wind to move into the east at midnight tonight – but with all due respect to weatherguy, I’m the last person in the world to pin future happiness on a weather forecast.
And then, just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, a booby bird landed on my boat and crapped all over my solar panels. Sigh. Is this a rowboat, or just a public convenience for passing boobies?
To be honest, I’m feeling a bit low and could do with a big hug. In a rather selfish way it cheered me up to get an email from Mum this evening saying that Mick and Chris of goldengateendeavour.com have also had a tough day or two – just goes to show that this ocean rowing lark is not as easy (???!) as it looks!
But there WAS some good news to cheer me up, and is increasingly true it came from the Rozling community. In yesterday’s blog I put out a plea for donations to pay for a filmmaker to come to Island X to record my arrival for posterity – and also record interviews with locals about the impact on their lives of climate change. And I am DELIGHTED to announce that in less than 24 hours we are already half way to our target of $2,500!
It was especially lovely to see the list of donors and discover that some old friends have evidently been following my fortunes, although keeping a low profile on the comments. Donations have varied from $10 to $300, and are all very much appreciated. Our total so far is $1,287.38. I’d like to give special thanks to:
Katie Donigan, Michael Dimas, Sajeev Pillai, Sindy Davis, Angela Hunt, Steve Gronek, Frederick Graus, Katharine Weber, Darren Mace, Douglas Brown, Lorrin & Nina Lee, Cece Gannon, Mark Hensel, Doug Grandt, Karen Morss, Ginny from Silver Lining Images, Ene Timusk, Ike Stephenson, Joan Sherwood, Abigail James, James Crittenden, Tim Mussche, Julian Gall, Jeffrey Roberts, and Clark Sargent.
If you haven’t yet got around to making your donation and would like to help out, please go to rozsavage.com and click on the PayPal button. And remember, these donations are being matched up to a maximum of $2,500 – so in effect you are giving TWICE as much!
Hawk – great idea to auction some memorabilia to raise funds, but I won’t be auctioning off any oars just yet, as I need them for Stage 3.But there WILL be an auction on eBay of various other items at the end of this stage. Baseball caps for sure – I’ve got about 10 on board – and probably rowing gloves and various other items too… although most things don’t look too great after 100+ days at sea. And nor do I!
UncaDoug – I loved your idea about the “carrots” to encourage me on my way to Island X. Thank you for the donations – and I have forwarded your suggestion to Evan as a possible future development on the RozTracker. Nice one!
Jo – thanks for the support on RowPro/Oarbits – much appreciated!
Sindy – the Pageant of the Masters sounds fun!
Joan – 23 is my favorite number. For no reason other than that my birthday is December 23, and my only sibling’s birthday is May 23. So it just seemed significant.
Marv H – spiritual and/or religious? That’s a big question, and I might well devote a blog to it. But in brief for now… no, I am not religious, but I would say that I am spiritual . I definitely believe in the existence of an energy that can’t be perceived with the 5 human senses. Yet there is also a scientific basis for it – my belief is based not so much on faith as on my own life experiences.
Weather report:
Position at 2050 HST: 02 33.338N (sob!), 176 52.735W
Wind: 10-20kts SE
Seas: 3-5 ft SE
Weather: early squall, then sunny and fine most of the day, but with big
black clouds rolling in towards sunset
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 16N 176 22W as of 06Aug 1107HST.
As of Thursday morning 6 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 20kts and rainshowers in your area, which might help explain your gain in westward longitude. Eerly winds extends to the Equator then shift to SEerly 0-12kts. Winds will be very shifty next couple of days becoming Serly 0-15kts by 1600HST 06Aug. Then shifting back to Eerly 0-12kts by 08Aug 0000HST. Forecast aids indicate Eerly winds 0-15kts persist for remainder of the forecast period. Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed. According to satellite imagery, there remains moderate convection with rain showers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud activity south of 01 00N.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rain showers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
06/1800-08/0000 S 0-15 2-5
08/0000-11/0000 E 0-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 10 August
(And no, we’re not talking about my backside again – this is about posterity, not posteriors!)
Thursdays are my multimedia day. I record my segment for the regular weekly RozCast and email it to my editor in California for her to slot into our prepared recording, and I record my live podcast with Leo Laporte. It takes time and a considerable amount of money (my satellite phone doubles as my data modem for uploading content, and I expect the bill to be over $10,000 for this stage of my row) but to me it’s worth it. I can’t imagine doing my adventure without the support and participation of my wonderful Rozlings!
So today, with matters multimedia in mind, I’d like to put out a plea for help. It may seem a little premature, but we are optimistically starting to think about plans for my arrival on Island X – either Tuvalu or Tarawa. And we’d like to make sure that the event is recorded for posterity. It’s not something we can come back and recapture at a later date!
There is a talented young filmmaker in Hawaii, called Conrad, who did some work with us before my departure. He is willing to come out to Island X to film my arrival, and has generously offered to donate his time and use of his expensive pro camera equipment free of charge if we can just manage to cover his flights and accommodation.
We have received an offer of $2,500 from an individual in the US, but only if we can match it with fundraising of our own. The resulting $5,000 total would cover Conrad’s costs, and would also help towards Nicole’s flights – oh, and mine, so I can get off Island X in time for my book tour!
So there is $2,500 there for the taking, IF we can find contributions to match it. Some of you are already contributing, either occasionally or on a regular basis – which I appreciate HUGELY – but I hope that if you have enjoyed my blogs, Tweets, videos and/or podcasts, you might feel moved to make a donation, whether you are a regular donor or not. I am very much looking forward to making landfall, and I’d love to be able to share this special moment with you.
Also, Conrad and Nicole have been discussing a shooting schedule, and in addition to my arrival they are planning interviews with government officials, adults and children on the island to capture eyewitness evidence about how they are coping with the effects of climate change. We plan to share this footage with officials at the United Nations Environment Programme, so that they can share these important testimonials with world leaders at the upcoming climate change summit in Copenhagen this December.
So, much as we Brits hate to talk about money, I’m holding out my sun-bleached, seawater-stained baseball cap and asking if you would please chip in with a few dollars to help me out. No contribution is too small – it all adds up!
Thank you!!
(To donate, please go to rozsavage.com and click on the PayPal button in the top right. All donations received from now until we reach our target, and/or the end of my row, will be counted towards the gift match.)
[photo: Distant dolphins – see below]
Other Stuff:
Just when we thought I might have broken free of the ITCZ… Today has been dismal. Weather-wise and mileage-wise. Even the appearance of several dozen dolphins failed to lift spirits much – they were too far away for me to see them properly.
I woke this morning to find my world grey and dank, and all around the horizon I could see big black clouds with legs of rain. As the sun set the view was much the same. The only variation during the day has been the occasional thunderclap and flash of lightning, and the wind, which has been blowing intermittently from the southeast (not good) and south (even more not good). The dolphins seemed to catch the mood of the day. They surfaced briefly and slowly, showing none of the joie de vivre that sometimes makes them leap and cavort like at Sea World. I filmed them for a while but they didn’t come close so most of my footage will be of grey sullen sea, and grey sullen sky. As I write the south wind is strengthening and eroding some of the progress towards the Equator I made yesterday.
Here’s to a brighter day tomorrow – or some donations would cheer me up
too! 
Speaking of being cheered up, thanks to Roz’s Rowsters for a bumper crop of great comments! I’m glad you enjoyed my Austen-ish dialogue yesterday – I had fun writing it, so I hoped you’d have as much fun reading it!
Thanks also to Richard in Austin, TX, for the update on Johnny Depp. Ah, to be on a chat show sofa with JD… sigh! Fuel for happy rowing daydreams!
Rozta’ Bill – hope you enjoy the Larabars! And I suppose I do get a kind of commission, as they generously provide me with my supplies of bars for my voyages. But yes, for sure, I do mention Larabars on a very regular basis and I know I’ve won over a lot of converts!
Kristen – lovely to hear from you. Thanks for the link about Tuvalu – we were actually talking about that on the Roz Rows The Pacific podcast this morning. It would be ideal if I could make it to Tuvalu – but even Tarawa will be seriously impacted by climate change, as will all the islands of the south Pacific – and Australia, which is the most likely destination for displaced islanders. So wherever I land up, I’m sure I’ll have some stories to take to the climate change conference in Copenhagen this December.
Serendipity/Law of Attraction – so I stand corrected, but will use my lack of a ship’s dictionary as an excuse! But I still hold that they are not opposites, because with the Law of Attraction I don’t think you can EXPECT to bring these things into your life. It’s more creative than that. You wish for them, you form the intention of receiving them, but then you let it go, and trust to the Universe to provide. As someone once said to me, you don’t take your broken watch to the watchmaker and then tell him how to fix it. Likewise, you take your intention to the Universe and then trust it to figure out the best delivery mechanism – so the end result may often appear serendipitous. IMHO.
Weather report:
Position at 2130 HST: 02 15.317N, 176 31.523W
Wind: 0-15kts, E-S
Seas: 1-4 ft, E-S
Weather: totally overcast, no sunshine. Frequent rain, occasional
thunderstorms.
Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest tracker reported your position as: 02 16N 176 22W as of 06Aug 1107HST.
As of Thursday morning 6 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there have been Eerly winds up to 20kts and rainshowers in your area, which might help explain your gain in westward longitude. Eerly winds extends to the Equator then shift to SEerly 0-12kts. Winds will be very shifty next couple of days becoming Serly 0-15kts by 1600HST 06Aug. Then shifting back to Eerly 0-12kts by 08Aug 0000HST. Forecast aids indicate Eerly winds 0-15kts persist for remainder of the forecast period. Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there remains moderate convection with rainshowers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud activity south of 01 00N.
Sky conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. Scattered moderate rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums) Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est 06/1800-08/0000 S 0-15 2-5 08/0000-11/0000 E 0-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 10 August
Prudes and Prudence
My Jane Austen audiobook binge is over. I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility,
and Pride and Prejudice. Northanger Abbey was a short, fun romp of a
story. But I bogged down in Mansfield Park. The plot was too slight, no
more than a vehicle for indolent ladies tittle-tattling about each other
and the eligible beaux of the county. And was there ever so insipid a
heroine as Fanny Price? I wanted to give her a good shake and tell her
to stand up for herself.
But as I rowed along, stark naked under a tropical sun in the middle of
the Pacific, it did make me start thinking with amusement of how
different my world is from that of Jane Austen’s genteel young women of
two centuries ago. Their opportunities were so limited. Imagine me
putting in an appearance at the Pump Rooms in the fashionable city of
Bath (NOT stark naked, obviously), and how I might appear to a couple of
Austen-ish characters, Miss Chastity Ironknickers and Miss Prudence
Pursedlips…
“Who is that woman over there? For I cannot call her a lady. There is
too much of coarseness in her countenance.”
“Upon my soul! Look how brown her face is. Her complexion is that of a
common farm laborer. And her hands! Those are not the hands of a lady of
refinement. In all my life I never did see such a lack of gentility.”
“I believe she must be Miss Rosalind Savage. Word has it that she is
quite the explorer, although for the life of me I cannot imagine why
anybody would want to explore beyond the precincts of our elegant city.
What one cannot find in Bath surely is not worth finding.”
“I heard tell there was a scandal. A divorce. So maybe she travels to
escape the censure of polite society. What on earth can she be doing in
Bath? Surely she cannot be in search of a husband, for who would have
her, with such a very unfortunate reputation?”
“To be certain she will never make a good match with such baseness of
appearance. Or is she accomplished? Is she in possession of a fine
fortune?”
“No, quite the contrary! Her father was a clergyman, and not of the
established church either. He was (voice lowered) a nonconformist. A
Methodist. With barely a farthing to his name. I believe she married
well, but threw it all away to pursue this life of adventure in remote
quarters of the world. What a very curious woman, to prize adventure
over prudence.”
“You speak truly. And yet, there is something redeeming in her
countenance, think you not? She has a spark of vivacity, as if she finds
pleasure in life despite being such an impoverished creature with not a
hope of finding herself a good husband. She smiles often and sincerely.”
“Indeed she does. And there is a merry glint in her eyes that some of
the gentlemen here might mistake for actual good looks. But, my dear,
when compared with two fine ladies such as ourselves, with all our
accomplishments and good breeding, the gentlemen cannot fail but to
deplore her earthiness, and to appreciate our greater virtues. In short,
she is aptly named, and we need concern ourselves no more with the
infamous Miss Savage.”
Hmmm, I think it’s just as well for me that I wasn’t born 200 years
earlier. I feel very lucky to have the opportunities and choice that I
do. I haven’t always known just what to do with that range of
opportunities, or which path to choose, but now I’m very happy with the
track I’m on, thank you very much – and I will just have to hope that my
coarseness of complexion does not blight my life for evermore…
(with apologies to all Austen afficionados)
[photo: Several people have asked for pictures of the night sky. Not
easy to oblige from a tippy boat with only basic camera equipment, but I
was rather pleased with this kind of impressionistic view of the moon,
taken tonight. I hope you like it too!]
Other Stuff:
VERY pleased with progress today. I’m nearly 30 miles closer to the
Equator than I was this time last night. That’s half a degree of
latitude! Conditions have been mostly quiet and calm, and although some
wind assistance would have been welcome, I’ll take what I can, and I’ve
rowed long and hard to make the most of this window of opportunity. I
don’t know when I can start breathing easy and dare to hope that I’m
through the worst of the ITCZ, but tonight I go to bed one very cheerful
and satisfied rower. And please, oh great Universe, oh wondrous Oneness,
if I could have some more of the same tomorrow, that would be ever so
nice. Ask, believe, and receive!
Marv H – you suggest that serendipity is the opposite of the law of
attraction, but my understanding is that they are the same thing.
Serendipity, or synchronicity, is when you get something that was just
what you wanted, be it information, a person, or a thing. That’s how I
see it, anyway!
UncaDoug – Dr Wayne Dyer is GREAT! I’ve listened to a couple of his
workshops while on the boat, and he’s got a great sense of humor as well
as an important message. I recommend “How to get what you really,
really, really, really want”. And it’s true – the more you start
focusing on your synchronicities (and offering a silent word of thanks
for them) the more they happen. It gets to be like a game – really good
fun – and very rewarding!
Jess – perfectly put. Energy flows where attention goes. I love it!
Markus and Cece – thank you for your most wonderful comment. I still
smile when I think of that video of Eleanor in her mini-Brocade, being
towed around the garden by an increasingly breathless Uncle Markus!
Please tell her I think she’s pretty cool too….!
And another Marcus – as in Marcus from the JUNK raft and Anna – thank
you for your lovely message! I would love, love, LOVE to come to your
wedding. But it’s right in the middle of my book tour. I’m due to be in
LA on Oct 8, but am due to be at quite a lucrative speaking gig in
Boston on Oct 17. Darn it. If anything changes I’ll be sure to let you
know – but either way we must get together while I am in LA. I miss you
too!
Thanks to all the zoologistically inclined Rozlings who wrote in about
the whales. False killer whales seems to be the general consensus –
thank you zoogurus!
Weather report:
Position at 0100 HST: 02 19.022N, 176 18.763W
Wind: mostly 0-5kts, E, although it did get up to 20kts at one stage
this morning
Seas: mostly 1-3ft E
Weather: overcast and showery this morning, hot with scattered clouds
this afternoon, clearing towards nightfall. Lovely moonrise just after
sunset – moon close to full.
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest Roz tracker reported your position as: 03 06N 175 48W as of 03Aug
0238HST.
As of Monday morning 3 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there is
SE winds 0-8kts in your area with moderate to light rainshowers. South
of the equator, more of the same. Wind direction should to shift more
ENEerly 5-15kts today then, SE 5-15kts on 01 Aug becoming light and
variable and possibly SW 5-15kts.Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as
previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there is moderate convection with heavy
rainshowers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud
activity to your south.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy. Scattered heavy rainshowers, squalls,
and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial
regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
03/1800-04/1200 SE-E 5-15 2-5
04/1200-04/1800 E-NE 5-15 2-5
04/1800-05/0600 NE-E 5-15 2-5
05/1800-05/2100 E-SE 5-15 2-5
05/2100-06/0600 SE-S 0-10 1-4
06/0600-07/0000 Light and Variable 1-4
07/0000-08/0000 SE 5-10 1-5
Next Update: Thursday, 06 August
Yesterday’s GPS trail looked like a line of Arabic script – a wonky line going from right to left. Today’s looks like… well, a lot more like a GPS trail should look. A more or less straight line south-southwest, with only the occasional kink and wiggle showing where squalls interrupted my push southwards.
Last night when I retired to my bunk at 1am I was anxious that the elements seemed to be pushing me north-northeast, back the way I’d come, but I was too tired to row any more. So it was with a sense of trepidation that I turned on the GPS this morning, wondering where I might have drifted during the six hours I’d been away from the oars. But to my delighted surprise the screen showed that I’d traveled southwest – not very far, admittedly, but definitely in a helpful direction.
And today has continued generally good. The wind has been fickle, swinging through all points of the compass, but so light that I have been able to set my course without being pushed around too much. I crossed over 3 degrees North – and then another 13 miles south beyond that.
This evening I was listening to a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks about the Law of Attraction, a concept I’ve been familiar with for 6 or 7 years now. The idea is that whatever you focus on, you attract into your life. The trouble is that many people focus on what they DON’T want, rather than what they DO want. And the Law doesn’t discriminate between the two – you still get it whether you want it or are determined to avoid it.
Generally, I absolutely agree that the Law holds true. I’ve seen it operate in my own life – both positively and negatively. Fortunately now that I know about it I’m much better at using it to my advantage, and many spooky serendipities have convinced me that it really works. I get goosebumps when I feel it happening, and it seems to happen more and more as I get clearer about my intentions.
But does it apply to weather? Of that I am not convinced. I’ve been feeling a lot more positive the last couple of days. I’d be hard pushed to say whether I am feeling more positive because of the good progress, or if the good progress has been as a result of my more positive feelings. My suspicion is that weather obeys the laws of physics over the law of attraction – or maybe I just keep seeing those big black squall clouds bearing down on me and lose my focus on the positive. I’d be really interested to know if anybody has any stories to report of ”mind over meteorology” – aka anti-rain dances!
[photo: Still trying to identify the whales I saw the other day - here is a picture of the whale at the surface. Sorry - no pictures of the whales smiling, so I don't know if they had teeth or baleen (what are baleen anyway?!). Also apologies to people who get this blog via Feedblitz - if you want to see the photo you'll have to come to rozsavage.com because we are still unable to fix the problem with posting a photo as an attachment to my blog. Sorry for the inconvenience - but there's loads of good stuff on my new-look website so I hope you'll enjoy taking a look anyway!]
Other Stuff:
I haven’t received comments today, so apologies for not acknowledging the recent comments, questions and quips from the Rowsters. But Nicole did send me through the responses to yesterday’s Tweet – “so quiet out here you could hear a fish flatulate” – which seems to have caused much hilarity in the Twittersphere!
Weather report:
Position at 2310 HST: 02 46.988N, 176 10.299W
Wind: 0-5kts, N-S
Seas: 1-3ft
Weather: mostly fine with scattered cloud, increase in squalls this
evening
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest Roz tracker reported your position as: 03 06N 175 48W as of 03Aug 0238HST.
As of Monday morning 3 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there is SE winds 0-8kts in your area with moderate to light rainshowers. South
of the equator, more of the same. Wind direction should to shift more ENEerly 5-15kts today then, SE 5-15kts on 01 Aug becoming light and variable and possibly SW 5-15kts.Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there is moderate convection with heavy rainshowers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud activity to your south.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy. Scattered heavy rainshowers, squalls, and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
03/1800-04/1200 SE-E 5-15 2-5
04/1200-04/1800 E-NE 5-15 2-5
04/1800-05/0600 NE-E 5-15 2-5
05/1800-05/2100 E-SE 5-15 2-5
05/2100-06/0600 SE-S 0-10 1-4
06/0600-07/0000 Light and Variable 1-4
07/0000-08/0000 SE 5-10 1-5
Next Update: Thursday, 06 August
It was a beautiful night to be rowing. Conditions today were tricky – a
changeable wind and a strong north-flowing current presented me with
difficult choices to find the least of the navigational evils. I decided
to push west and try and get out of the strongest of the current,
although without knowing how far the current extended this was rather a
leap of faith.
But whatever the wisdom of my strategy, the long day at the oars has
brought some compensations. After sunset the skies cleared and the moon
shone clear and bright, highlighting the billowing upper contours of the
scattered cumulus. The wind had dropped away to not even a whisper and
the ocean was silent and calm. The gently lapping waters reflected the
moon in a bright path of ripples to the horizon.
When I looked over the side of the boat as I was brushing my teeth, I
saw something I’d never seen before – a shoal of a hundred or so fish,
each about 6 inches long, slowly synchronized-swimming alongside my
boat. They were only visible while their bodies reflected the moonlight,
so when they entered the moonshadow, or swam too deep for the moonlight
to reach them, they seemed to disappear like shy ghosts.
I would say it was a magical night – but alas the magic does not extend
as far as a miraculous change in the current. It’s still pushing me
north.
[photo: sunset over rougher seas – taken last Friday]
Other Stuff:
CONGRATULATIONS, SARAH!!! Today my friend Sarah Outen made landfall in
Mauritius after becoming the first woman to row across the Indian Ocean.
The crossing took her 123 days. Huge congratulations to Sarah on a job
superbly well done. I know how much hard work she put into the
preparations as well as the row itself, and she thoroughly deserves her
success. Check her out at sarahouten.co.uk.
Congrats also to her meteorologist, Ricardo Diniz, for bringing her in
safely. Ricardo was briefly my weatherman for my Atlantic crossing
(until my satphone broke and I couldn’t receive forecasts any more) has
emailed me a few times recently to ask about various aspects of ocean
rowing, all the better to advise Sarah, and I know she has greatly
valued his support. Well done, Ric!
I continue to be amazed by the quality of the poems submitted for the
award scheme. What a lot of talented Rozionados we have! Thank you for
all the submissions so far. I’ve just proposed to Nicole that we put
them up on the website so they can be appreciated by all. I’ll keep you
posted.
Weather report:
Position at 0030 HST: 03 06.876N, 175 59.708W
Wind: 0-15 knots, S-SE
Seas: 1-4 feet
Weather: light overcast most of the day, occasional sunshine, occasional
showers
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com
Latest Roz tracker reported your position as: 03 06N 175 48W as of 03Aug
0238HST.
As of Monday morning 3 Aug 2009. According to measured data, there is
SE winds 0-8kts in your area with moderate to light rainshowers. South
of the equator, more of the same. Wind direction should to shift more
ENEerly 5-15kts today then, SE 5-15kts on 01 Aug becoming light and
variable and possibly SW 5-15kts.Uncertainty remains in the forecast, as
previously discussed.
According to satellite imagery, there is moderate convection with heavy
rainshowers and squalls overhead and to your north. Minimal cloud
activity to your south.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy. Scattered heavy rainshowers, squalls,
and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial
regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
03/1800-04/1200 SE-E 5-15 2-5
04/1200-04/1800 E-NE 5-15 2-5
04/1800-05/0600 NE-E 5-15 2-5
05/1800-05/2100 E-SE 5-15 2-5
05/2100-06/0600 SE-S 0-10 1-4
06/0600-07/0000 Light and Variable 1-4
07/0000-08/0000 SE 5-10 1-5
Next Update: Thursday, 06 August
After all my whingeing and whining recently, I just had to share this
smile-inducing contribution from Rozling Richard in Austin, Texas. It
cheered me up no end on a rainy Pacific Sunday night. I hope it does the
same for you, wherever you are.
(With apologies to The Village People and YMCA)
ITCZ
Young girl, you’re out there all alone,
I said, young girl, with just your trusty sat-phone,
I said, young girl, ’cause you’re so far from home,
It can seem to be real lonely.
Young girl, you’re surrounded by friends,
I said, young girl, we’re along ’till the end,
I said, young girl, winds will change again
And you will head for Tuvalu.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
Oh the rains will fall and the winds will blow,
And everything will seem real slow.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
It can seem like a jail,
Until you lasso a whale,
And head for some iced cold ale.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
Oh yes we’re stuck in the I.T.C.Z.
You must go east to get west,
Yet still you feel blessed,
And Tuvalu would be a real rest.
I.T.C.Z.
I.T.C.Z.
(fading out)
Although, given the nautical nature of my enterprise, maybe we also need
some alternative lyrics for ‘In The Navy’?!
[photo: Another shot of one of the whales that came to visit a few days
ago. This photo is having to be uploaded to the blog separately by Evan,
so please make allowances if there is some time lag between seeing the
text and seeing the photo.]
Other Stuff:
Francois, thank you for the stats on shark populations. They are truly
shocking, and I will share them here so that other Rozionados can goggle
at these figures:
From François Schiettecatte
I just heard podcast # 54 and wanted to put some figures to the number
of sharks which are disappearing from the oceans. In 2006 the estimate
for sharks killed for the fin trade alone is 38 million, and estimates
for the total number of sharks killed every year range up to 100
million. Shark populations have declined by 70% worldwide in the past
two decades alone, and the East Coast of the United States has seen a
90% decline in shark population since the 1970′s. Worldwide sharks kill
about 10 human beings a year. Sourced from This Week in Science
25 November, 2008.
So, we kill an estimated 100 million of them each year. They kill 10 of
us. Is it just me, or does there seem to be something a bit out of whack
here? Not saying the numbers should be equal, obviously not. But do we
really need to kill so many of them? And what does this do to the whole
ocean ecosystem when you all but remove the top predator?
Ocean update: Today started out calm, got livelier from mid-morning to
late afternoon, and then died away to dead calm again. This has allowed
me to make some more progress south. I’m now within just a few miles of
3 degrees North. I mentioned to Leo in our last podcast that I wanted
the doldrums to be more doldrummy, i.e. how I’d imagined them, as a
region of mostly calm seas and no winds, with just the occasional squall
to liven things up. Well, it looks like I might have got my wish, for
now, at least. But the forecast for tomorrow is for winds from the
southwest – not good at all.
Thanks for all the very positive feedback on the super-duper new
revamped rozsavage.com. I’m glad you like it! Just a reminder, if you
find any glitches, broken links or other bugs, please zap us an email to
[email protected] If only the awesome Evan and the Archinoetics
(sounds like a 60s rock band) could revamp rozsavage herself as
effectively
.
Speaking of awesome, it’s high time for a long overdue THANKS A MILLION
to my amazing and ever hardworking program director, Nicole. Apart from
her guest appearances on the podcasts while Leo was away, you might not
have heard so much about Nicole recently, but she has been working away
behind the scenes, putting heart and soul into supporting the
multitudinous aspects of TeamRoz’s operations. She is now based in
Hawaii, and worked long hours alongside Evan last week to help implement
the new website. She has also been super-busy working on our long-range
plans for the last quarter of 2009, including the book tour and the
climate change conference in Copenhagen. Thanks to her efforts, there
are some seriously exciting plans in the pipeline, which I am just
itching to share with you but it’s a bit premature. I’d like to invite
all the Rozlings to share with me in thanking Nicole for her good work,
I couldn’t do what I do without her!
And thank YOU, my dearest Rozlings, for all the words of encouragement
during my recent travails. These have not been easy days, but your words
really help to give me strength. It’s good to be reminded that the
mileage isn’t everything, and that sharing my adventures, its ups,
downs, and wiggly bits, is what it’s really all about, and hopefully
inspiring a few people along the way.
Rozta’ Bill, thank you so much for the analysis of my progress so far.
That really cheered me up. I don’t get to see the big picture very
easily, my GPS only shows me the last 3 days, and the lists of lat and
long coordinates in my logbook don’t make it easy to visualize how
things are going overall. So I really appreciated the overview. Thank
you!
Achates, Prime Minister of Reality? I am immensely honored by the
title. I do always try to tell it as it is, or the way I see it,
anyway, and I try to see clearly, and I don’t have any agenda other
than trying to spread a bit of clearsightedness to others. So I thank
you greatly for your accolade. I take it as a great compliment.
Cece, thank you for sharing my story with the inmates in Santa Rosa.
Funny, several of the books I’ve been listening to here include
accounts of time in prison (Nelson Mandela, and a couple of works of
fiction), and I’ve seen a lot of parallels between my imprisonment on
this little boat and their plight. Especially the ones in solitary!
Jonathan Grimaldi, thank you for the encouraging words, and for the
dollars. Both much appreciated!
Naomi, thanks for the offer of matching up blog questions with answers.
Nobody is doing that at the moment, and I’m not sure there’s a need. But
in the future there might be. I’m planning to produce a book of my blogs
from the Atlantic crossing (2005-6) and if it goes well I’ll do the same
for the Pacific. I’ll keep you posted and give you a shout if I need
help. Thank you!
John H, the birds are last month’s worry, as you correctly surmise. Got
bigger worries on my mind now than poopy boobies
now it’s loopy lats
and longs!
Quick answers to quick questions:
Q: How many birds are with you now?
A: None on board at the moment. There was quite a gathering all around
me yesterday, though, scores of brown noddies (I think) swooping and
hunting for crustaceans. Nice to have the company!
Q: Do you take any days off or partial days? It seems that a body needs
a break from time-to-time.Does the weather dictate those days off?
A: I did take a couple of days off earlier in this row, when, not to
put too fine a point on it, my butt was just so sore that I could sit
on it only with the greatest discomfort. As it happened, conditions at
that time were very favorable and I was still making good mileage
despite not rowing. Apart from that I just take breaks during the day,
sometimes dictated by weather (squalls) and sometimes dictated by a
temporary breakdown in motivation!
Weather report:
Position at 2130 HST: 03 04.432N, 175 45.502W
Wind: 0-20 knots, S-E
Seas: 2-6 ft
Weather- mostly overcast but bright
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:
Feedblitz blog email reported your position as: 03 36N 175 08W as of
29Jul 2200HST (6hrs ago). Eastward motion is the preferred direction
while in the equatorial counter current.
As of Thursday morning 30 July 2009. According to measured data, there
is ESE-SE winds 7-17kts in your area with moderate to light rainshowers.
South of the equator, more of the same. Uncertainty remains, as
previously discussed. Forecast is for wind direction to shift more
ENEerly 5-15kts today then, SE 5-15kts on 01 Aug becoming light and
variable and possibly SW 5-15kts.
According to satellite imagery, there is light to moderate convection
with heavy rainshowers and squalls overhead and south to the equator.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy. Scattered heavy rainshowers, squalls,
and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial
regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
30/0600-01/0000 E-ENE 5-15 2-5
01/0000-02/0000 ENE-SE 5-15 4-6
02/0000-02/1200 Variable direction 1-5
0-10kts
02/1200-03/1200 SW 5-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 03 August
Today was a brighter day, metaphorically if not literally. In fact, the
weather has been fairly dismal, overcast all day and I’ve been playing
hide-and-seek with squalls, trying to coordinate them with meal breaks
so as to minimize rowing time lost while also minimizing getting
drenched and wind-flayed. This morning I felt like I was in the eye of a
storm, big black rainclouds loomed all around while I paddled along,
watching them all with suspicion, wondering which of the big bullies
would get me first.
But at long last, for the first time in many days, I’ve made some
double-digit mileage in the right direction. This has been a VERY
welcome change after the meandering wiggles of the last few days. For a
while the faintest of breezes was even blowing from the north, the
first time I have seen my red ensign flag flutter in that direction
since Day 2. The boost that gave me was more psychological than real,
but that was the kind of boost that I needed.
Towards evening conditions became more settled, and I’ve rowed late,
until midnight, listening to Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen,
enjoying the romantic complications of the Dashwood sisters. It all
seems very far removed from the life of an ocean rower
Other Stuff:
Sorry, no other stuff tonight. It’s nearly 1am and I want to get some
sleep so I’m not tired tomorrow. Who knows what conditions it might
bring, and I want to be ready for anything!
By 1.30 this afternoon, after 6 hours of rowing and 4 squalls, I had
managed to almost complete a jagged circle and was nearly back where I’d
started. This was discouraging, to put it mildly, and seemed very unfair
as I’d been pointing my bow south the whole time. It was the winds and
currents that were responsible for the circularity of my course – and
just when I thought I’d got out of the swirling winds of the ITCZ.
Imagine how your hand moves if you are rubbing your stomach. The
orientation of your hand stays the same, even while it moves in a
circle. That is more or less what my boat had done , just a slightly
larger circle, although not much.
But I’ve realized something new within the last few days , that I
sometimes lose my sense of perspective. It’s a drawback to having a GPS
that will give me my location to within a matter of feet, and will draw
my course with unforgiving accuracy on the screen if I zoom in close
enough. When I’m struggling to make progress, the temptation is to zoom
in close to try and make the progress look greater. But the close zoom
also cruelly shows up every last wiggle, waggle, zig and zag in my
course.
It occurs to me that this is a metaphor for one of my failings on dry
land , although I’m better than I used to be. I have to guard against a
natural tendency to focus on the details rather than the big picture, to
lose sight of what I have achieved while looking at what still needs to
be done.
So in both situations , at sea and on dry land , I have to remind myself
to adjust the zoom, step back, and get things in perspective. I don’t
want to see the low-flying booby’s eye view of my course , better to go
for the high-flying frigate bird’s view.
[photo: No photo today , while my blog is being transferred to the new
platform (see below) we are a no-photo blog, but hopefully fully
pictorial service will be resumed shortly
.]
P.S. After looping the loop this morning, conditions became much more
conducive to progress, improving throughout the afternoon and evening. I
enjoyed a glorious sunset while taking time away from the oars to munch
on a rawfood pumpkin seed cookie and savor every last moment of both
cookie and spectacular sky.
Other Stuff:
Great news, Rozlings! After a couple of weeks of ongoing issues caused
by the new version of Internet Explorer, TeamRoz decided to bite the
bullet and fully redesign my website. Superhero Evan and the genius team
at Archinoetics have been working furiously around the clock the past
week to transfer all the content over. They were able to send me a
low-resolution screen grab over my bog-slow Iridium data link, so I’ve
had a glimpse of the new look , and I’m really delighted with it. Much
more like my original concept for the site, and I think you’ll find it
much more intuitive and user-friendly.
One major change that you’ll need to know about is that my redesigned
website now hosts all my blogs and comments. So although you can still
read them in Blogger, if you want to comment, you’ll need to come to
rozsavage.com. The idea is that we want to make my website your one-stop
shop for all things Roz, rather than splitting the traffic between the
main site and Blogger.
I think you’ll agree that the new site is much cleaner, sharper and
easier to use! The team will continue to make little adjustments in the
weeks ahead to bring more robust features and new ways to interact with
the Rozling community, so stay tuned! If you have any
suggestions or comments, or need to point out any glitches, please do
send them our way at [email protected] or by commenting on this blog.
Enjoy!
Thank you to the amazingly creative Rozettes who have been sending in
poems for the $10k award. I am impressed and touched by your endeavors ,
and I definitely don’t envy Nicole the near-impossible task of picking
just one for our application!
Thanks also to Anna Farmery for the blog mention at The Engaging Brand.
She also links to the two-part interview we recorded last year , one of
the most enjoyable podcasts I’ve ever done. Hope to see you, Anna, when
I’m back in Blighty for good natter and a glass of something
celebratory!
I haven’t had the comments through by email today, so apologies for not
being able to make my comments on your comments. Mum usually sends them
to me, but she has been busy moving house today, so I think we can
forgive her in the circumstances!
Weather report:
Position at 23.50 HST: 03 34.329N, 175 30.778W
Wind: Variable this morning, 20 knots E this afternoon and evening
Seas: 4-7 ft E
Weather: squalls on and off all morning, cloudy with some sun this
afternoon, a couple more squalls this evening.
Weather forecast, courtesy of weatherguy.com:
Feedblitz blog email reported your position as: 03 36N 175 08W as of
29Jul 2200HST (6hrs ago). Eastward motion is the preferred direction
while in the equatorial counter current.
As of Thursday morning 30 July 2009. According to measured data, there
is ESE-SE winds 7-17kts in your area with moderate to light rainshowers.
South of the equator, more of the same. Uncertainty remains, as
previously discussed. Forecast is for wind direction to shift more
ENEerly 5-15kts today then, SE 5-15kts on 01 Aug becoming light and
variable and possibly SW 5-15kts.
According to satellite imagery, there is light to moderate convection
with heavy rainshowers and squalls overhead and south to the equator.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy. Scattered heavy rainshowers, squalls,
and possible thunderstorms.
Forecast (low confidence due to extreme variability in equatorial
regions and naturally occurring small scale fluctuations in
direction/speed in the Doldrums)
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) est
30/0600-01/0000 E-ENE 5-15 2-5
01/0000-02/0000 ENE-SE 5-15 4-6
02/0000-02/1200 Variable direction 1-5
0-10kts
02/1200-03/1200 SW 5-15 2-5
Next Update: Monday, 03 August
We recently released a completely new version of this website. We hope you like it. If you have any comments, whether good or bad, please use this page to let us know your thoughts. Below is a running log of the updates that we’ve made.
New Website Update Log
