Sedna now all stickered up and ready to go. Photo by June Barnard.
Since I last wrote, launch day has been pushed back again, by 24 hours, but is now holding steady and looking good for early Wednesday morning Fremantle time, which will be Tuesday night Pacific time.
This seemed a good time to let you know how you can follow along with my adventure over the coming few months, and point out a few new features of my website.
Conspicuous by its absence will be the RozTracker (aka EpicTracker). Due to increasing pirate activity in the Indian Ocean, we have deemed it prudent not to post my position online. So the map of my route will not be revealed until I am safely back on dry land, but there will be many other ways to follow my progress.
Blog: as always, I will be blogging daily on this website. Technology permitting (as it didn’t last year!) I will also be posting photos of me, my boat, sea, and sky. And anything more interesting that crosses my path and hangs around long enough to be photographed. You can sign up to get my blogs via email, if you prefer, by entering your email address in the box to the right —-> where it says “receive blog via email”.
Podcast: I’ll be checking in weekly with Vic Phillipson to continue the Roz Roams podcast.
Facebook: Tweets and blog alerts will also be posted to my personal and public pages on Facebook.
Live webcast of departure: we’re planning to livestream my departure on Wednesday morning via Ustream. I’ll post the details as soon as I get them, including the URL where you can watch live as I launch myself on an unsuspecting Indian Ocean. Stay tuned.
Nomaddica: this is a brand new app, generously developed for me by Nick Jaffe of Arktisma, to help me raise the funds to pay for satellite phone airtime, without which there can be no blogs, tweets, or podcasts. I am inviting people to sponsor a mile (or more!) of my voyage for the bargain price of $10. $10 can buy:
- about half of a blog upload
- or a photo upload
- or half a phone call to my shore manager (aka my mother).
Check it out – click on “show interactive map” to get the full experience!
P.S. Mum sends her apologies if she hasn’t yet written to thank you for sponsoring a mile. We’ve had a great response over the last few days, and she is struggling to keep up with her thank you emails. I thank you for keeping her so busy – it gives her less time to worry….!
Other Stuff:
Our campaign for a plastic-bag free Olympics runs on…. We had hoped to have a definite ban in place by now, but we still have some work to do. We are seeking to get as many signatures as possible on our petition in order to convince the powers-that-be to do the right thing.
As you probably know, more than 7 million tons of plastic trash reaches the marine environment every year. Even more goes into landfill. Most plastic is not biodegradable, and the chemicals it emits have been linked to human symptoms such as hormone disruption, breast cancer, prostate cancer, autism, Type 2 diabetes and decreased fertility. It has also been estimated that ocean plastics are responsible for the deaths of around 1.5 million marine mammals per year.
Please add your signature, and ask everybody in your network to do so too. I would love to see 100,000 signatures on there. Then they will HAVE to take notice!
It's crunch time. I need to decide which way to turn: Tuvalu or Tarawa?
Originally I set my sights on Tuvalu – mostly for environmental reasons. It is one of those unfortunate countries being most impacted by rising sea levels, and has already started to relocate its population to New Zealand. What better way to illustrate the impact of climate change?
But unfortunately Tuvalu has significant drawbacks apart from the obvious one that it is disappearing. With a population of only 10,000 and limited infrastructure, it is difficult to get to or away from, and the chances of finding anywhere satisfactory to store my boat are minimal.
Tarawa, on the other hand, while hardly a seething metropolis, does have reasonably good flight schedules, and rather more in the way of infrastructure. It is also where Jason Lewis and his crewmate dropped in on their way from Hawaii to Australia, which gives me some faint reassurance that winds and currents might allow me to get there.
Because this is the deciding factor: which is the safest option navigationally? Both are tiny targets in a very, very big ocean, and if I miss landfall it's a long way to the next possible pitstop. The worst situation would be to dither and procrastinate and end up falling between two atolls. That would be just plain embarrassing, not to mention extremely inconvenient.
It would have been nice to get south of the Equator on this leg, but at 1 degree and change north of the Equator, Tarawa is at least below all the tricky stuff of the ITCZ and the counter current – just about – hopefully leaving me a clear run for Stage 3. So I may just have to celebrate crossing the International Date Line on this leg, and leave my Equator crossing until next time around.
So hopefully by this time tomorrow, after a final round of consultation with weatherguy, I will have a decision.
[photo: This morning a load of these fellas were chirping noisily near my boat, swooping for fish. I see them most days, and I've never yet seen one catch anything. But they seem to be having a good time anyway.]
Other Stuff:
Today was a slightly odd day weatherwise. I was woken by the sound of rain pounding on the cabin roof, and treated myself to a lie-in while several showers passed by. I don't mind if a shower soaks me once I'm out and rowing, but it's not nice to be on a wet seat cushion from the get-go. For most of the rest of the day there was barely a breath of wind, and when it revived it was coming from a new direction – northeast rather than the east. This was rather disorienting – I've got so very used to the east trade winds.
It was this that focused my mind on the Tuvalu/Tarawa decision. If I'm about to enter the mysterious world of the ITCZ, I need to be absolutely sure which way I want to go. If the weather is going to be all over the place, somebody around here needs to know what's what.
Quick bit of blowing my own trumpet – Nicole tells me that in this month's edition of Outside Magazine (American publication, very popular with all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts) I have been chosen as one of the Top Five Twitters, alongside the likes of Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps. Honored, I'm sure.
But don't worry – I won't get big-headed. Two things keep stop me growing out of my hats. 1. My Dad. He died 5 years ago, but I can still hear his voice. Like any true Yorkshireman he was never over-impressed with anybody's achievements, his own or anybody else's. Or not that he let on, anyway. 2. The ocean. The Pacific couldn't care less about Adventure Twitterers, 8-time Olympic gold medal winners or 7-time Tour de France winners. To the ocean, we're all just flotsam.
Eco Champ of the Day: Ocean Girl: "Our household had been on reduced plastic bag but after following your blog, we moved to NO plastic bag completely." FANTASTIC!! Thanks, OG. Let's hope after reading this a few other people will do the same.
Joan – thanks for the tips on viewing the eclipse. Hmmm, the arts and crafts locker – let's see!
And thanks for all the other great comments and gruesome grub stories – all very entertaining!
Quick answers to quick question:
Q: What is your degree from Oxford in Roz? A: Jurisprudence (aka Law). But in fact I really specialized in rowing and drinking beer.
Q: Any insects out there? A: No – bliss!
Weather report:
Position at 2115 HST: 07 29.366N, 174 24.380W Wind: 5-8kts E this morning and afternoon, 5-20kts NE this evening Seas: 5-8ft Weather: variable – see above
As of Monday, 06 July 2009. The easterly trade winds have turned more northerly still around the 15-20 kts range with periods of lighter winds. Wind speed gradually abates beginning 08July to become 5-12kts by 10July. As the winds abate they shift to ESE-SEerly direction, which may make it harder to row southwards in headwinds. Seas abate to 3-5ft.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy with low level clouds. Isolated rainshowers.
ITCZ: The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) has quieted since last report so maybe the passage through will be less dramatic. Convective clouds have become fewer. The northern ITCZ edge has become diffuse but the axis is along 170W to 180W between 03 00N and 04 00N. As of this morning, winds south of 08 30N to the Equator between 170-177W were from 5-17kts with only isolated rainshowers of moderate strength.
Ocean Current: Still looking for the current to become Eerly flowing at about 06 00N in the North Equatorial Counter Current. We will see how this can aid your passage across the Equator.
Forecast below is for a SWerly course. Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) 06/1800-07/1800 ENE 15-20 6-8 07/1800-08/1800 NE 15-20 6-8 08/1800-09/1800 NE-E 10-15 5-7 09/1800-10/1800 E-SE 7-12 4-6 10/1800-11/1800 SE-E 5-10 3-5
It's crunch time. I need to decide which way to turn: Tuvalu or Tarawa?
Originally I set my sights on Tuvalu – mostly for environmental reasons. It is one of those unfortunate countries being most impacted by rising sea levels, and has already started to relocate its population to New Zealand. What better way to illustrate the impact of climate change?
But unfortunately Tuvalu has significant drawbacks apart from the obvious one that it is disappearing. With a population of only 10,000 and limited infrastructure, it is difficult to get to or away from, and the chances of finding anywhere satisfactory to store my boat are minimal.
Tarawa, on the other hand, while hardly a seething metropolis, does have reasonably good flight schedules, and rather more in the way of infrastructure. It is also where Jason Lewis and his crewmate dropped in on their way from Hawaii to Australia, which gives me some faint reassurance that winds and currents might allow me to get there.
Because this is the deciding factor: which is the safest option navigationally? Both are tiny targets in a very, very big ocean, and if I miss landfall it's a long way to the next possible pitstop. The worst situation would be to dither and procrastinate and end up falling between two atolls. That would be just plain embarrassing, not to mention extremely inconvenient.
It would have been nice to get south of the Equator on this leg, but at 1 degree and change north of the Equator, Tarawa is at least below all the tricky stuff of the ITCZ and the counter current – just about – hopefully leaving me a clear run for Stage 3. So I may just have to celebrate crossing the International Date Line on this leg, and leave my Equator crossing until next time around.
So hopefully by this time tomorrow, after a final round of consultation with weatherguy, I will have a decision.
[photo: This morning a load of these fellas were chirping noisily near my boat, swooping for fish. I see them most days, and I've never yet seen one catch anything. But they seem to be having a good time anyway.]
Other Stuff:
Today was a slightly odd day weatherwise. I was woken by the sound of rain pounding on the cabin roof, and treated myself to a lie-in while several showers passed by. I don't mind if a shower soaks me once I'm out and rowing, but it's not nice to be on a wet seat cushion from the get-go. For most of the rest of the day there was barely a breath of wind, and when it revived it was coming from a new direction – northeast rather than the east. This was rather disorienting – I've got so very used to the east trade winds.
It was this that focused my mind on the Tuvalu/Tarawa decision. If I'm about to enter the mysterious world of the ITCZ, I need to be absolutely sure which way I want to go. If the weather is going to be all over the place, somebody around here needs to know what's what.
Quick bit of blowing my own trumpet – Nicole tells me that in this month's edition of Outside Magazine (American publication, very popular with all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts) I have been chosen as one of the Top Five Twitters, alongside the likes of Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps. Honored, I'm sure.
But don't worry – I won't get big-headed. Two things keep stop me growing out of my hats. 1. My Dad. He died 5 years ago, but I can still hear his voice. Like any true Yorkshireman he was never over-impressed with anybody's achievements, his own or anybody else's. Or not that he let on, anyway. 2. The ocean. The Pacific couldn't care less about Adventure Twitterers, 8-time Olympic gold medal winners or 7-time Tour de France winners. To the ocean, we're all just flotsam.
Eco Champ of the Day: Ocean Girl: "Our household had been on reduced plastic bag but after following your blog, we moved to NO plastic bag completely." FANTASTIC!! Thanks, OG. Let's hope after reading this a few other people will do the same.
Joan – thanks for the tips on viewing the eclipse. Hmmm, the arts and crafts locker – let's see!
And thanks for all the other great comments and gruesome grub stories – all very entertaining!
Quick answers to quick question:
Q: What is your degree from Oxford in Roz? A: Jurisprudence (aka Law). But in fact I really specialized in rowing and drinking beer.
Q: Any insects out there? A: No – bliss!
Weather report:
Position at 2115 HST: 07 29.366N, 174 24.380W Wind: 5-8kts E this morning and afternoon, 5-20kts NE this evening Seas: 5-8ft Weather: variable – see above
As of Monday, 06 July 2009. The easterly trade winds have turned more northerly still around the 15-20 kts range with periods of lighter winds. Wind speed gradually abates beginning 08July to become 5-12kts by 10July. As the winds abate they shift to ESE-SEerly direction, which may make it harder to row southwards in headwinds. Seas abate to 3-5ft.
Sky conditions: Mostly cloudy with low level clouds. Isolated rainshowers.
ITCZ: The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) has quieted since last report so maybe the passage through will be less dramatic. Convective clouds have become fewer. The northern ITCZ edge has become diffuse but the axis is along 170W to 180W between 03 00N and 04 00N. As of this morning, winds south of 08 30N to the Equator between 170-177W were from 5-17kts with only isolated rainshowers of moderate strength.
Ocean Current: Still looking for the current to become Eerly flowing at about 06 00N in the North Equatorial Counter Current. We will see how this can aid your passage across the Equator.
Forecast below is for a SWerly course. Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft) 06/1800-07/1800 ENE 15-20 6-8 07/1800-08/1800 NE 15-20 6-8 08/1800-09/1800 NE-E 10-15 5-7 09/1800-10/1800 E-SE 7-12 4-6 10/1800-11/1800 SE-E 5-10 3-5
I live and learn – and when something isn’t going as I hoped, I’m not too proud to admit I was mistaken.
I was really pleased when I found there was a way to post my Twitter updates to my blog as a single day’s update – I thought it would be a great way to share my rather unusual lifestyle with people – and I still think it was worth a try. But the experiment has been a mixed success, so I’ve decided to change tack. The Twitter updates will still be available, but over at a new blog that I have set up for the purpose. So this blog will no longer be cluttered with the minutiae of my life.
Initially I had hoped that the advantages would be:
1. Even when I didn’t have a spare hour to sit down and write a full blog, there would still be something new appearing on the site.
2. Especially in the final days before my next row, life is getting intense and interesting, and I’d hoped to share this.
3. I wanted to make my Twitter postings available to non-Twitterers, so you wouldn’t feel you were missing out on an aspect of my online postings.
But there were several problems with the LoudTwitter postings:
1. The formatting wasn’t too pretty.
2. For non-Twitterers, things like RT, @ and hashtags were confusing.
3. The Twitter blogs drowned out the “quality” blogs and important announcements.
So after a week’s pilot scheme, I have decided to redirect the Twitter-blogs to a different blog that I have set up specifically for the purpose. If you liked them, you can now find them over at
For those of you who regularly read my blogs and Twitter posts, you know that this year, my mission is all about Climate Change. Very soon, I’ll be officially unveiling my initiative for Stage 2 of the Pacific crossing – which I am so excited to share with you when the time is right – but not yet. Today, I have some very exciting news to tell you: I am pleased and honoured to announce an exciting partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). They have created a campaign called Climate Heroes, and yours truly has been named one of them.
The concept is born out of the UN-wide call for the world to UNite to Combat Climate Change in the lead up to the critical negotiations taking place this December in Copenhagen.
According to the UNEP team, “the Climate Heroes platform supports a select group who are undertaking exceptional personal feats, high-profile expeditions and other innovative acts of environmental activism to demonstrate their commitment and to raise awareness for one simple idea: Your planet needs You! These projects highlight environmental “hot topics” like CO2 output, plastic usage and tree planting.
“The ultimate goal of the collaboration between UNEP and the Climate Heroes is to build interest, inspiration and momentum to motivate action. Participating under the global banner, UNite to Combat Climate Change, their acts, and the attention they generate, will give voice to the movement of individuals and organizations across the globe who care about the state of our planet and want to see real change and real commitment. This commitment should be demonstrated by governments with a ratification of the proposals set forth in Copenhagen. The call to action for this outcome is called Seal the Deal.”
Ultimately, this is a call for each of us to do what we can: from adopting the simplest habits, like taking a reusable grocery bag to the store or a reusable mug to the coffee shop. Part of why I’m so thrilled to be partnering with UNEP is because I’m a firm believer in the accumulation of individual choices and actions. Through our united efforts, we can all be Climate Heroes and together, we can make a world of difference!
UNEP World Environment Day…the 30 day countdown begins now! Commemorated yearly on 5 June, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
On World Environment Day, UNEP endeavors to: • Give a human face to environmental issues • Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development • Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues • Advocate partnerships which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future
So this year, in honor of World Environment Day, UNEP is joining the Twitter revolution! They are pledging to plant a tree for every follower that they reach until 5 June, with a goal of at least 100,000 people. Tree planting is an important way to help recapture CO2 emissions – Prince Charles is a big fan of this method, and so am I!
You know how much I love to Twitter… So, let’s all pull together in this effort. It’s easy: just visit www.twitter.com/UNEPandYou and add them to your Twitter feed. Spread the word to your friends and family and help us blow that goal of 100,000 followers out of the water!
To reward you for your efforts, for the next 30 days Team Roz will be Tweeting “Do Something Tips” – ideas and suggestions for ways you can take simple actions right now to green your daily routine, reduce the amount of waste you generate and the amount of carbon you emit.
So, come on…join us! And spread the word…
Other Stuff:
Tonight I went to an event run by Jack Johnson’s Kokua Hawaii Foundation at a local school here on Hawaii’s North Shore. It included a screening of the film “Message in the Waves”, featuring various local Hawaiian heroes – and some shocking footage of plastic pollution killing animals and polluting the oceans.
But it ended on an upbeat note, with Jack Johnson singing “Reduce Reuse Recycle” – leading the way and telling us all what we can do to stop the problem at source. It’s not rocket science – so here’s something we can all do starting now. On my one-hour walk this morning I was able to pick up about 10 pieces of rubbish and put them where they do the least damage – in the bin. It all helps…
For those of you who regularly read my blogs and Twitter posts, you know that this year, my mission is all about Climate Change. Very soon, I’ll be officially unveiling my initiative for Stage 2 of the Pacific crossing – which I am so excited to share with you when the time is right – but not yet. Today, I have some very exciting news to tell you: I am pleased and honoured to announce an exciting partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). They have created a campaign called Climate Heroes, and yours truly has been named one of them.
The concept is born out of the UN-wide call for the world to UNite to Combat Climate Change in the lead up to the critical negotiations taking place this December in Copenhagen.
According to the UNEP team, “the Climate Heroes platform supports a select group who are undertaking exceptional personal feats, high-profile expeditions and other innovative acts of environmental activism to demonstrate their commitment and to raise awareness for one simple idea: Your planet needs You! These projects highlight environmental “hot topics” like CO2 output, plastic usage and tree planting.
“The ultimate goal of the collaboration between UNEP and the Climate Heroes is to build interest, inspiration and momentum to motivate action. Participating under the global banner, UNite to Combat Climate Change, their acts, and the attention they generate, will give voice to the movement of individuals and organizations across the globe who care about the state of our planet and want to see real change and real commitment. This commitment should be demonstrated by governments with a ratification of the proposals set forth in Copenhagen. The call to action for this outcome is called Seal the Deal.”
Ultimately, this is a call for each of us to do what we can: from adopting the simplest habits, like taking a reusable grocery bag to the store or a reusable mug to the coffee shop. Part of why I’m so thrilled to be partnering with UNEP is because I’m a firm believer in the accumulation of individual choices and actions. Through our united efforts, we can all be Climate Heroes and together, we can make a world of difference!
UNEP World Environment Day…the 30 day countdown begins now! Commemorated yearly on 5 June, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.
On World Environment Day, UNEP endeavors to: • Give a human face to environmental issues • Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development • Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues • Advocate partnerships which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future
So this year, in honor of World Environment Day, UNEP is joining the Twitter revolution! They are pledging to plant a tree for every follower that they reach until 5 June, with a goal of at least 100,000 people. Tree planting is an important way to help recapture CO2 emissions – Prince Charles is a big fan of this method, and so am I!
You know how much I love to Twitter… So, let’s all pull together in this effort. It’s easy: just visit www.twitter.com/UNEPandYou and add them to your Twitter feed. Spread the word to your friends and family and help us blow that goal of 100,000 followers out of the water!
To reward you for your efforts, for the next 30 days Team Roz will be Tweeting “Do Something Tips” – ideas and suggestions for ways you can take simple actions right now to green your daily routine, reduce the amount of waste you generate and the amount of carbon you emit.
So, come on…join us! And spread the word…
Other Stuff:
Tonight I went to an event run by Jack Johnson’s Kokua Hawaii Foundation at a local school here on Hawaii’s North Shore. It included a screening of the film “Message in the Waves”, featuring various local Hawaiian heroes – and some shocking footage of plastic pollution killing animals and polluting the oceans.
But it ended on an upbeat note, with Jack Johnson singing “Reduce Reuse Recycle” – leading the way and telling us all what we can do to stop the problem at source. It’s not rocket science – so here’s something we can all do starting now. On my one-hour walk this morning I was able to pick up about 10 pieces of rubbish and put them where they do the least damage – in the bin. It all helps…
This is my first ever test of a new kind of blog. Those of you who enjoy proper essay-like blogs, fear not – those will still happen. But when things get busy I don’t always have an hour or so to sit and write a long, thoughtful blog. I’d like to make sure I am keeping you in touch with final preparations – and Twitter (micro-blogging service) is the easiest way to do that. So here is the best of both worlds – I’ve found a way to gather up all my “Tweets” for 24 hours and post them as a blog. So here we go! I hope you enjoy these two contrasting perspectives on my life – the big thoughts and the minutiae, and sometimes the blending of the two…
21:28 Great time at Haleiwa Green Drinks tonight. Thanks to all for a special evening! #
22:18 Chillin’ post presentation. Playing pool at Kainoa’s. tinyurl.com/c5hdea#
22:22 Joel pulled his back while working on my boat. Then he found the massage chair at Kainoa’s. See pic [below] for major bliss #
23:58 So happy to be back here on the North Shore. Falling asleep to the sound of surf instead of the sound of sirens… #
07:18 Just back from early morning swim on Oahu’s North Shore. Beach deserted. Just as well because I can’t find my bikini so had to improvise! #
10:30 Back at the “uptown” office in Haliewa for a day online. Nicole off to town to meet @hawaii and @Bytemarks #
10:27 V cool! Testing sat2twitter, which I can use from satellite phone to geotag my Tweets and display to Google Map. s2t.me/d2c2bq#
14:13 Cover girl! Pic of me on front of Rowing News: The Rising Tide of Ocean Rowing. bit.ly/i0REv#
Some of this syntax might be a bit mysterious to those of you who are not active on Twitter. So just a few words of explanation:
Twitter = way of sharing thoughts, ideas, news and general drivel with anybody who cares to share. Updates can be posted via computer or mobile phone – or indeed satellite phone! Maximum length is 140 characters. A good lesson in brevity!
@ = this prefixes a username of someone else on Twitter. So, for example, @hawaii above refers to Ryan Ozawa, who goes under the alias “hawaii” on Twitter.
tinyurl etc = Tinyurl is a website that converts long website addresses into short ones – very useful when you only have 140 characters to play with.
# (hashtags) = there aren’t any above, but you might see them from time to time. They operate like searchable data tags. So, for example, if I wanted people searching on the word “sustainability” to find my Tweets, I would make sure that I included “#environment” somewhere in the post. But the hashtag at the end of each of the lines above is slightly different. If you click on it you’ll be taken over to the original Tweet on my Twitter home page. Try it and see.
By the way, you might notice above that I have been experimenting with ways to leave a trail of Tweets across the ocean, geotagged so we can plot them on a Google Map. I haven’t tried it out from my satellite phone yet but am optimistic that it will work. So you’ll be able to see exactly where I was when I posted a particular Tweet. Call me a geek, but I’m really excited about this!
This is my first ever test of a new kind of blog. Those of you who enjoy proper essay-like blogs, fear not – those will still happen. But when things get busy I don’t always have an hour or so to sit and write a long, thoughtful blog. I’d like to make sure I am keeping you in touch with final preparations – and Twitter (micro-blogging service) is the easiest way to do that. So here is the best of both worlds – I’ve found a way to gather up all my “Tweets” for 24 hours and post them as a blog. So here we go! I hope you enjoy these two contrasting perspectives on my life – the big thoughts and the minutiae, and sometimes the blending of the two…
21:28 Great time at Haleiwa Green Drinks tonight. Thanks to all for a special evening! #
22:18 Chillin’ post presentation. Playing pool at Kainoa’s. tinyurl.com/c5hdea#
22:22 Joel pulled his back while working on my boat. Then he found the massage chair at Kainoa’s. See pic [below] for major bliss #
23:58 So happy to be back here on the North Shore. Falling asleep to the sound of surf instead of the sound of sirens… #
07:18 Just back from early morning swim on Oahu’s North Shore. Beach deserted. Just as well because I can’t find my bikini so had to improvise! #
10:30 Back at the “uptown” office in Haliewa for a day online. Nicole off to town to meet @hawaii and @Bytemarks #
10:27 V cool! Testing sat2twitter, which I can use from satellite phone to geotag my Tweets and display to Google Map. s2t.me/d2c2bq#
14:13 Cover girl! Pic of me on front of Rowing News: The Rising Tide of Ocean Rowing. bit.ly/i0REv#
Some of this syntax might be a bit mysterious to those of you who are not active on Twitter. So just a few words of explanation:
Twitter = way of sharing thoughts, ideas, news and general drivel with anybody who cares to share. Updates can be posted via computer or mobile phone – or indeed satellite phone! Maximum length is 140 characters. A good lesson in brevity!
@ = this prefixes a username of someone else on Twitter. So, for example, @hawaii above refers to Ryan Ozawa, who goes under the alias “hawaii” on Twitter.
tinyurl etc = Tinyurl is a website that converts long website addresses into short ones – very useful when you only have 140 characters to play with.
# (hashtags) = there aren’t any above, but you might see them from time to time. They operate like searchable data tags. So, for example, if I wanted people searching on the word “sustainability” to find my Tweets, I would make sure that I included “#environment” somewhere in the post. But the hashtag at the end of each of the lines above is slightly different. If you click on it you’ll be taken over to the original Tweet on my Twitter home page. Try it and see.
By the way, you might notice above that I have been experimenting with ways to leave a trail of Tweets across the ocean, geotagged so we can plot them on a Google Map. I haven’t tried it out from my satellite phone yet but am optimistic that it will work. So you’ll be able to see exactly where I was when I posted a particular Tweet. Call me a geek, but I’m really excited about this!
The Brocade is now comfortably ensconced in her new home at Pacific Shipyards International on Pier 41. I had spent much of the last 8 months, almost ever since I landed in Hawaii, trying to find somewhere suitable to store her – with absolutely no luck. But like London buses, after none for ages, two come along at once…
Yesterday afternoon I was holding the fort in our “downtown office” at Waikiki Yacht Club while Nicole and Joel took the truck to tow Brocade from Pier 21 to Pier 41 so she could be repainted. Pier 21 was supposed to be for storage only, and we had already been pushing our luck by doing so much boatwork there. I had just received a rather terse note from the owner, asking me to move all my “crap” (his word) from the area around my boat. So painting there was definitely out of the question – and besides, the warehouse was so filthy that her pristine post-painting appearance would not have lasted for long. No point making her all pretty if she was just going to metaphorically roll in the mud. So as I Tweeted yesterday, a new location was urgently needed.
As I was catching up on my emails I came across a suggestion from Sindy Davis, blog reader, supporter, and now an in-person “real” friend as well, who suggested aircraft hangars. We had already tried a few such leads, but she sent me a link to Air Service Hawaii, which we hadn’t tried before. Not an immediate win, but a relatively short trail (only 4 phone calls) led me to Dan Espiritu, who immediately offered me space near Honolulu Airport at a huge discount.
My text to Nicole, celebrating the good news, crossed with a text from her saying that the guys at Pier 41, Pacific Boatyards, had welcomed the Brocade with open arms and offered her accommodation for as long as she needed – plus paint, under cover storage space, crane services, etc etc. This rather trumped the airport option, as the extra manpower and free paint would save us loads of $$$. Fantastic!
So now Joel is busy at work, prepping and painting the boat (see pictures), while Nicole and Conrad, local filmmaker and our new best friend, shoot footage of the works in progress. And I try to figure out if I have everything I need to sustain me for 100+ days at sea. Ocean rowing is almost unique amongst expeditions in that it is impossible to pop down to the corner store for anything that I have overlooked. I know of a crew of two guys who had to share a toothbrush the whole way across the Atlantic….
So here is my packing list so far – let me know if you see any omissions, but within reason, please. Every pound of weight is another pound I have to row across 2,600 miles of ocean!
Sawyers oars (4) Rowing seat + spare wheels Cushion pads and packtowel covers Para anchor x 2 Leecloths for bunk Manual bilge pump (in addition to fixed bilge pump) Tripod mount Handheld VHF radio x 2
Compass x 2 GPS x 3 (plus the one in my iPhone) Toughbook PC x 2 Iridium satellite phone x 2 Tracking beacon Aquapacs iPod x 5 iPod headphones and waterproof bag Pelicases Spare batteries for everything Inverter (US) Pentax waterproof camera Ricoh 500SE waterproof camera with geotagging
Foghorn Axe (don’t ask – was required by Atlantic Rowing Race rules, and is now part of the furniture!) Marine flares EPIRB Searchlight Immersion suit Liferaft Lifejacket Grab bag Type-4 Coast Guard Approved Flotation Device
Vitamins, minerals, supplements Nuts and seeds Seeds for sprouting Larabars Freeze-dried food Tinned fish
Pillows for bunk Ocean Sleepwear sleeping bag Silk inner sleeping bag Pillowcase Rowing shoes Sun shades for hatches Red ensign Hawaiian flag
Charts Scissors Grease pencil (for marking up miles on whiteboard) Sharpie Pencils Reading glasses & case Log book Knife and sharpening block
Knife, fork, spoon, teaspoon x 3 Mugs with lids Water bottles Seed sprouter Measuring jug Wooden spoons/spatulas Hand pump for jerry cans x 2 Bungee cords Assorted food storage jars Jerry cans for water Spare water bags for extra ballast Thermos flask Clips for sachets of food Drybags for storing rubbish Ziplock bags
Washing powder Washing up liquid Hospital-grade antibacterial cleanser Funnel Windproof lighter x 4 Matches Brush and dustpan Cloths and pot scourer Bottle brush for water bottles Clothespegs Scrapers for scrubbing bottom of boat Bedpan Bucket x 3
Baseball caps Fleece and long trousers for evening shift T-shirts, shorts, sports bras Rowing gloves Anti-UV sunglasses & case
Soap/shower gel Moisturiser Dental floss Toothbrush Toothpaste Alcohol/tea tree oil wipes Cream to prevent chafing Body lotion Body scrubber/ chamois leather Towel Sun lotion by Green People
… and cuddly toys!
Grab Bag containing: 4 chocolate bars 4 small bottles water Anti seasickness tablets First aid kit Fishing kit Glucose sweets Emergency rations Grab bag Knife Lightsticks (6) Personal EPIRB Pocket strobe light Red hand flares (2) Signal mirror with whistle + float Silva compass Spare torch bulb Thermal foil blanket Tool kit Waterproof torch Foghorn Handwarmers Fishing line and weight GPS
Toolkit comprising: 10″ mole grips 5 piece screwdriver set 6″ adjustable spanner 6″ pliers Alum keys Any specialised tools for equipment on board combination spanners 94 – 10mm glue Hammer junior hacksaw and blades Stanley knife and blades marine sealant Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector epoxy repair kit pack of metric drills penetrating oil, WD40 reflective tape self amalgamating tape duct tape small hand drill set of metric drills cable ties Wet & Dry Sand Paper Woodglue Tape Measure Alligator clamp, C-clamp Leatherman Electrical spares: 20 by 5mm 2 amp Fuses x 3 10mm nylon P clips x 4 10 amp fuse x 3 Twin pole plug ( cigar ) x 2 Nav light and bulb Spare bulb for internal light 5 amp fuse x 3 Insulated Crimps x 5 Yellow Male Crimps x 6 20 by 5mm 1 amp Fuses x 3 Liquid Electrical Tape 20 by 5mm 3 amp Fuses x 3 20 by 5mm 5 amp Fuses x 3 Ties 3 sizes x 40 Mini Torch Female Crimps x 4 Fuse wire 10m spares for bilge pump spares for watermaker spares for steering system spare seat spare rowing gates spare CO2 bottle for lifejacket spare batteries spare rudder pintles
First Aid kit: Anti inflammatories Dioralyte (for seasickness) Ibuprofen gel Micropore (tons!) Painkillers Seasickness patches Biofreeze Deep Heat Ice packs and a lot more besides – thanks to Expedition Doctor Aenor Sawyer!
Other stuff:
Happy Shiny Boat
Thanks to all who took part in a lively debate on Twitter and Facebook about what colour to repaint the Brocade. I took all these votes into consideration, but in the end had to come down on the conservative side and go with silver again because:
- it looks good with any colour sponsor stickers … - it doesn’t get too hot to the touch - if we have to do any creative editing with the video, using bits out of sequence, it will avoid having glaring continuity errors - and, ultimately, I just couldn’t imagine her being any other colour!
But there will be little “accents” of colour (she says in her best camp-interior-designer voice) with sponsor logos, seat cushion (orange), and so on.
Pacific Paddler
I went paddling with the outrigger canoeists of the Waikiki Yacht Club last night – earning ourselves a beer or three (and WHOSE idea was the tequila?!) in the yacht club bar last night. And paddling is meant to be good for your health?!
About to dash out of WYC to go do a live interview with Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central – catch it here!
There is a wonderful vibe in Team Roz at the moment. This is a big year for us, and it seems as if everything in our lives so far has been preparing us for this moment. All the skills, contacts and experiences that Nicole and I have ever had seem to be relevant to our mission for 2009 – to launch a rowing expedition, sure, but more than that, to add our voices to a movement towards a greener future, riding the wave of social media to spread the word. Here is one example.
That meeting led to Rohit inviting me to contribute to an ebook called “Women of Personality” – described as “A compiliation ebook featuring contributions from 20 visionary female entrepreneurs sharing their secrets of success.”
(Visionary – who, me?! Hey, why not?!)
And within the first 24 hours (ahem, sorry, Rohit for being so late – been a bit busy) the ebook was going great guns in the new media world…
- Dozens of tweets about the ebook using the hashtag #wop - 14 requests by email from women to be part of the second edition - Over 600 clicks on the twitter link - Almost 2000 visits to the page to download the ebook - Average time of engagement on the campaign page was OVER 4 minutes! - Over 100 downloads of the ebook on Scribd of the uploaded version of the ebook
And the good news? You can get the entire book FOR FREE simply by clicking here!
(And great to see Podcast Sister Krishna De included in the ebook – click here to listen to my interview last Christmas with Krishna.)
I realize that to many, this “new media” might be seen as the preserve of geeks and early adopters, but I am excited by its huge potential to broadcast a message – whether that is inspiration, education, or environmentalism. When this year’s eco-initiative is unveiled, I hope there will be lots in there to make even the most sceptical of un-geeks to say, “Wow, cool!” and feel the urge to share it with their friends. And don’t worry – I’ll show you how. No geekiness required!
Just one final note – how come all the other women in the ebook look so fab and glamorous and I don’t? Ah, I’d just finished rowing 2,700 miles – maybe that’s it!
Over the past three years I’ve got quite used to launching boats, but it’s been a long time since I launched a new blog. I’ve been sharing my life and adventures since 2003 over at RozSavage.com, but when it comes to Blogger I’m a newbie.
So, to my old readers, welcome to my new blog.
And to my new readers, welcome to my world.
And what an interesting world it is – not many people row across oceans for a living, and even when on dry land my existence as an off-season ocean rower is different from most. I’m rarely in one place for long, and I get to meet the most interesting and inspirational people – both on and offline. Life is rarely predictable, and certainly never boring.
I feel it would be selfish of me to live a life that I love without sharing it around a bit – hence my compulsion to blog, podcast, photo, video and Twitter, from sea and land. I hope you’ll come along with me – to share the adventure and enjoy the ride!
I almost wish I was on dry land, just so I could check out all the cool things that are happening around this website – I can’t see them from here!
When I get back to dry land, I’m especially looking forward to checking out the podcasts. If you’re following the blog but haven’t clued in to the podcasts, you might want to go to Twitlive.tv and take a look. I thoroughly enjoy my thrice-weekly chats with Leo Laporte, and you may enjoy adding another dimension to your Pacific-rowing-by-proxy experience.
I haven’t been able to watch them myself, but apparently if you check in while we are recording (10am PST, or 6pm BST on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) you can actually see Leo sitting in his studio, talking to me, along with all the comments and questions coming in from the chatroom. My mother just discovered this a week ago, and she’s hooked!
Plus, you can get a FREE audiobook from audible.com, (I suspect that this only applies to people in the USA – Rita.) AND by downloading the podcasts you help me raise funds to finance the next stage of my row. See the bottom of this blog for details.
I was introduced to Leo last summer by his long-term friend Bill Chayes, who is the producer of our Pacific rowing/environmental documentary. We, and assorted others, were guests of Bill and his wife Michelle for dinner at their beautiful arts-and-crafts home in the rolling golden countryside outside of Petaluma, close to California’s wine country. We had a wonderful meal sitting outside at a table on the deck, eating and drinking and chatting. (Ahhhh, how I LONG for an evening like that right now – nothing I like better than a good dinner party.. But I’m 1300 miles and at least 40 days away from any opportunity..)
And Leo was sufficiently interested in what I was doing to offer to do a regular series of podcasts with me. I have to confess, I didn’t really know who Leo was at the time, but now I’ve been in North America for a bit longer I am starting to appreciate just what a lucky break this was. Leo has introduced me to a whole new audience via the podcasts and Twitter, as well as securing sponsorship from audible.com.
So what this means is that the more people that download the podcasts, the more audible.com pay as part of the sponsorship arrangement. And when you sign up, you can get a free audiobook. I listen nonstop to audiobooks while I row – Leo gave me an iPod loaded with 323 books that I’m steadily munching my way through – and during our podcasts he always asks me what I’m “reading”. So you can even listen to the same book I’m listening to, and share my experience in a whole new way!
Other stuff
Position at 2100 22nd July Pacific Time, 0400 23rd July UTC: 24 28.173′N, 135 24.224′W.
Conditions the same as for the last few days – grey, chilly, windy and rough. I shall say no more in case I lapse into grumbles. I should be pleased that I am making good progress, and not mind about being constantly wet, salty, and bounced around. But it’s sometimes easier said than done. Only those audiobooks are helping me through it – today, on Leo’s recommendation, I listened to The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennette – excellent!
It’s good to be past halfway, but last night I did feel a little bit lonely. My weatherguy was most insistent that I had to have a halfway party. I looked around my boat. No company. No treat foods left. No bottles of anything interesting. Not much to start a party with at all. I briefly considered making some party decorations out of the silver wrappers from my expedition meals, but then gave up and went to bed. I will make up for it by partying extra hard when I get to Hawaii.
Thanks again for all the messages – especially to Margo, my East Coast enviro-sister! Looking forward to re-toasting with a glass of red wine next time I see you.
Thanks also to Jenny at KWMR – would love to get together for an interview once I’ve delivered the message in a bottle to the Hawaiian Islands Sanctuary. You’re on!
And to Jim, John, Chris, Rod, Currin (why is everybody telling me about what delicious wines they’re using to toast my progress?! Making me envious!!), Eric, Karyn, Rodli, Tim, Toni, Gene and Sindy.
OK, it’s time I came clean. I’ve been deliberately keeping fairly quiet about my departure date, as we are taking a low-key approach this year after the events of last summer. We don’t want to build it up to a fever pitch, only for it all to come to a premature end after just ten days…
But a number of people have been asking, via email and the comments, when I plan to set out again on the Pacific. So for regular readers of this website, here is the latest Estimated Time of Departure:
I will be on standby to depart from May 15th, and hope to be out at sea by the end of June at the latest. The actual date and place of departure depend totally on the weather.
My weatherman, Rick Shema of Weatherguy.com, will be scanning the whole western coast of the US, searching for a window of at least 3 days, and preferably more, of a let-up in the prevailing onshore winds. When he tells me where and when, I will drop everything, hitch up my boat to my car, wave goodbye to my friends, and go.
It could be as little as a few hours notice – but hopefully I will have a few minutes to make an announcement on this website.
I will also make sure I add a final posting to Twitter.com, where I regularly post one-line updates on what I am doing. If you haven’t explored Twitter, take a look. You can start Twittering yourself, and/or follow my status updates – either on Twitter itself (my username is rozsavage) or by becoming my friend on Facebook (again, search for me as rozsavage).
If all this talk of Twittering and Facebook is gobbledegook to you, don’t worry. Just keep following this site!
[photo: last year's departure from Crescent City]
Sponsors
Thank you to my supportive and generous sponsors, please click here for a full list.
Roz Savage is a British ocean rower and environmental campaigner. Coupled with her solo row across the Atlantic in 2005-6, she has rowed over 11,000 miles, taken 3.5 million oarstrokes, and spent cumulatively nearly a year of her life at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. Her personal creed of taking life 'one oarstroke at a time', and her promotion of the EcoHero movement, has inspired countless people around the world. In 2011 she will set out to complete the "Big Three" by rowing solo across the Indian Ocean.
Our campaign for a plastic-bag free Olympics runs on…. We had hoped to have a definite ban in place by now, but we still have some work to do. We are seeking to get as many signatures as possible on our petition in order to convince the powers-that-be to do the right thing.
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