I took this photo by mistake, but I quite like it. Roz with earbuds. In coffee shop, not Pacific.

Yesterday I received the good news that Audible.com are giving me 10 book credits. This certainly won’t be enough to get me all the way to Australia (or wherever), but it all helps. Leo Laporte is also giving me his latest selection of audiobooks, and I still have a few left from my last row, although I’ve listened to all the ones that looked good.

This is the message that I sent to Audible through their website contact form:

Hi Audible

I am a British ocean rower. In 2005 I rowed solo across the Atlantic, and I am now about to embark on the final stage of a 3-stage row across the Pacific, a total distance of 8,000 miles from San Francisco to Australia.

I couldn’t do what I do (at least with any shred of sanity left intact) without my audiobooks. Each of my ocean voyages takes around 100 days, during which time I am totally alone. The audiobooks are a fantastic diversion for me – they help me escape from the monotony of sea and sky, day after day. My imagination can take off into magical worlds of fantasy and sci-fi, or I can educate myself and expand my mind with works of non-fiction.

I have a rule that I can only listen to audiobooks while I am rowing. It helps motivate me to get back on the rowing seat for up to 12 hours of rowing a day. I listen to between 70 and 80 books on each crossing.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse of how much audiobooks mean to me.

With thanks and best wishes
Roz

My growing collection of book-loaded iPods. I put them in a waterproof Aquapac bag when in use at sea.

I received this response:

Thanks very much for writing to us about listening as you row. In the 14 years I’ve been at Audible, I’ve heard lots of stories about where people listen, but yours is the most exciting. I admire what you are doing and am glad that Audible can play even a small role to help.

So now I have to carefully consider how to spend my precious 10 credits. Last year I got 100 credits from Audible.co.uk (and am still hoping they will contribute again, but am still waiting to hear) which completely spoiled me. I didn’t need to be quite so selective. With just 10 credits to play with for now, I am considering how to get most bang for my buck.

My main criteria for an audiobook are:

1. Length: even if it’s a really great book, a 4-hour audiobook loses out to a 24-hour audiobook.

2. Escapism: edifying though non-fiction often is, on the ocean I’ve largely given up on edification. Life is hard enough already. When faced with yet another day of sea and sky and little silver rowboat, my imagination craves stimulation. Books that take me temporarily into a different time and/or place are a welcome escape from row-row-row-reality.

3. Quality of narration: the best book in the world can be ruined by poor narration. Most Audible.com readers are excellent, as I’ve really appreciated when I’ve listened to some readers associated with other audiobook companies. I have an iPod full of free audiobooks – free because they were written over 100 years ago so the copyright has expired, and because the readers are maybe less than professional.  Project Gutenberg and other volunteer organizations are digitizing thousands of public domain works.  I especially enjoy the bits that somehow missed the edit, e.g. in the midst of a Charles Dickens an unexpected aside like: “oh bugger, I messed that bit up – let’s try it again”. This would never happen on Audible.

I’m attaching my wishlists from Audible and Goodreads (Goodreads, incidentally, has a good iPhone app), and would welcome any comments or recommendations.

Audible Wish List

Goodreads Wish List

You can see the books I read on Pacific Stage 1 on my new Bookshelf page. It’s still under development – my wonderful, long-suffering mother has been charged with the unenviable task of posting the rest of the links to Audible and Amazon.

And yes, if you click through from my site to purchase, I do get a commission on the book and anything else you buy from Audible.com within 6 months. The Pacific II book list coming once I am in the same place as my logbook again – currently it is in San Francisco and I am in Oregon.

(And if you feel moved to contribute the price of an audiobook, please check out the Audible.com website to find out how much your book of choice costs, and use the PayPal button in the top right corner on my website. Thanks!)

Available in your local bookstore now! Also on Amazon.com.

In the fourth retrospective on Stage 2 of the Pacific, I’m considering two of my favorite subjects – food and books. Both played a significant role in my voyage – mostly as bribes to myself to get through the next rowing shift. We all need our treats!

Favorite foods:

1.    Wilderness Family Naturals products – a new sponsor – turned out to be a real winner. Loved the fact that the nuts were all sprouted and then dehydrated at low temperatures – super healthy. The chocolate syrup was a sweet treat, and the Coconut Powder was a fantastic addition to freeze-dried curries.
2.    Also a huge fan of the Living Nutz donations – Bodacious Banana Bread walnuts, Passionate Pesto walnuts, Zesty Almond Bliss, and Absolute Chi Teriyaki Almonds.
3.    The rawfood crackers made for me with love and pride by Marlene Depierre were fantastic. My favourites were the mock turkey (minced cashew nuts and cranberries), walnut pumpkin crackers (Mexican flavor), and “cookies” made with mango, banana, goji berries, dates, sunflower and pumpkin seeds – and the latest superfood, chia.
4.    A few special treats bought for me in Hawaii by Lorrin Lee – Kopali Organics Dried Mango, Go Raw Spirulina Superchips, carob energy nuggets, and Sun Power Natural Chocolate Chip Cookies. All utterly delicious.
5.    Plus, of course, my faithful Larabars. New favorite flavor is Peanut Butter Cookie, with Pecan Pie, Cinnamon Roll and Banana Bread following very close behind. With strategic rations of Jocalat Chocolate Coffee bars to get me through late evening rowing shifts.

Favorite books:

I listened to a total of 73 books on this voyage, thanks to Audible.com and Audible.co.uk – and Leo Laporte, who gave me his iPod with his own selection of books. Worthy of particular mention – in no particular order:

NON-FICTION

1.    Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela
Inspiring autobiography of a legend.

2.    Lost on Planet China, by J Maarten Troost
Informative and amusing, a very personal view of contemporary China as it appears to the outsider.

3.    Around Ireland with a Fridge, by Tony Hawks
An entertaining tale of eccentric British adventure.

4.    Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortensen
An uplifting story of a man with a mission. If you liked Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracey Kidder, you’ll love this too.

5.    Vet in Harness, by James Herriott
The entertaining adventures of a vet in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. Provoked a strong yearning to live in a simpler time.

6.    Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts
Epic – lasted me for days. Sometimes teeters on the brink of an ego trip, but generally a great story full of colourful characters and some interesting philosophical asides.

7.    Hemingway Adventure, by Michael Palin
I listened to all of Michael Palin’s books, but this was my favorite for its insights into the fascinating character of Hemingway, coupled with Palin’s usual excellent travel writing.

8.    Predictable Irrationality, by Dan Ariely
A fascinating insight into human psychology.

FICTION

9.    The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
Life-changing, and something new to discover every time I read it.

10.    The Risk Pool, by Richard Russo
I love to lose myself in the small town dramas of Richard Russo’s books. Great characterisations.

11.    The Time Traveller’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
A page-turner of a story, with thought-provoking themes of free will versus fate.

12.    Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
An offbeat story of an underground London peopled by weird and wonderful characters. I will never again be able to stand on Earls Court station without thinking of the Earl and his court.

13.    Siddartha, by Herman Hesse
A beautiful story of a quest for enlightenment. If you’ve read and enjoyed The Alchemist, try this one too.

Other Stuff:

And speaking of books, today a momentous occasion. I held a copy of a book in my hands, gazing at the cover. It read, Rowing The Atlantic, by Roz Savage. My baby. Very exciting. Book tour starts October 6, the official publication date.

Lots of travel at the moment. Thank heavens for those carbon offsets. Just arrived in Hawaii this morning on the red-eye from Fiji. I had planned to spend a week here, but there is just too much cool stuff happening in New York for Climate Week – the premiere of The Age Of Stupid, the Climate Ride from New York to DC, and the president of Kiribati there on an official visit. So I’m going. I just can’t stay away with so much eco-action going on. So tomorrow night I fly to San Francisco to exchange my warm weather clothes for autumn clothes, then straight on to New York. It’s all a bit crazy, but with Copenhagen just around the corner, there is no time to lose!