I must have been a little preoccupied yesterday, because it clean slipped my mind that it marked my 365th day at sea. Not consecutively, obviously, but when you add up my various voyages I have now spent cumulatively a year of my life in this little rowboat.

I think that this may be a record for a woman. Not sure. Maud Fontenoy may possibly have spent longer at sea. Can someone take a look at the Statistics page on the Ocean Rowing Society website and let me know?

Of course, most women are much too sensible to want to do such a thing. Not so the men. I know that there are several men who have spent longer at sea, but I have no ambitions to try and break that record!

I couldn’t manage to find a photo of my first ever day at sea, but here is a self-portrait from Day 3 at sea, back in 2005, just after the start of the Atlantic Rowing Race. What a fresh-faced young ocean rower I was back then!

Other Stuff:

Thanks for all the heart-warming news about what you are all doing for our planet. Good to hear! If you want to take it up a level, see what you can do to persuade your family, friends, and colleagues to be as good and green as you are.

Josselyne – how nice to hear your side of the Antigua story! That was a very special day indeed.

Richard in DFW – another 180 million years to catch up with the dinosaurs? Wow, just think what we could achieve if we manage to keep ourselves in existence for that long!

Sponsored Miles: Still catching up on miles previously rowed:

Doug Grandt, Perry Clarke, Patricia Kitto, Stanley Miller, Evan Rappoport, Charles Stilfield, Russell Cullngworth, Alan Gamble, Sarah Fetters, Larry Grandt for Pauline.

22 Comments

  • You know that Roz is not far from the Australian coast, in fact 143 miles from Fremantle, but approximate total miles rowed is somewhere near 350. Roz and Rita debating whether to report sponsored miles on distance achieved from Fremantle – which we have done up to now – or miles she has rowed.

    • Hey Rita: Report both! Then we can see just how hard Roz’s work really is and how frustrating ocean rowing can be.

      • Hey JK, I agree, But I wonder if it has something to do with how much of the SatPhone budget Roz wants to spend on transmitting all that data on a regular basis… Might put a crimp on the budget for other things that are more important to transmit on a regular basis?

    • Hi Rita, I prefer the linear miles rather than total miles so I can figure out where she is when my name appears. Another thought, we love hearing from her every day, but to reduce expense an email every 2d day would be perfectly OK with me. I’m sure everyone would understand.

  • Bravo Roz – keep up the great work. You inspire so many around the world! I thought of you during my run this morning, down by the water in Newburyport just North of Boston. We have a group that works out every morning from 6-7:00.

    About 35 of us all together, doing crunches, squats, jacks, pushups and the like – its great fun, but the locals just don’t get it!

    Thanks for rowing my mile – hope you won’t have to row it again!

  • Sylvia Cook totalled 361 days at sea in 1971-2 with John Fairfax rowing Pacific E-W so it looks as though you now hold the record. Happy first birthday!

  • Roz, looks like you’ve beaten the record by four days. The Ocean Rowing Society show 361 days for John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook, but that was a single row from San Francisco to Australia from April 26, 1971 to April 22, 1972 … seems the page http://bit.ly/RowsOver100Days is dedicated to single rows … Will look a bit further

    • Roz, good thing you aren’t in this for the duration record … there aren’t many ahead of you, but the threshold to beat is up there … http://bit.ly/LongestTimeAtSea shows Peter Bird (GB) has spent 937 days at sea in total, Erden Eruç (Turkey) 629 days, John Fairfax (GB) 541, Alex Bellini (Italy) 540, Andrew Halsey (GB) 512, Mick Dawson (GB) 439 [I met him in SF last year!], Emmanuel Coindre (France) 398, and Ralph Tuijn (Netherlands) 370.

      Row reasonably, Roz ♥

      • Oh, and by the way, keep smiling Roz!
        Persistence pays off in the long term.
        With you all the way …
        Northward HO!

    • Aimee, I see you and I were posting simultaneously, and see that all those with more than Roz’s 365 days are men … so I bow to you …
      Roz, you are the top female. Congratulations!
      Wooohooo! … Yayyy Roz!

  • You ARE the new record holder Dear One… You just passed Sylvia Cook (GB) – 361 Days – the woman with the most days at sea according to their website… Congrats, Happy 1st Anniversary, …WOW!

    • Wish you had a little good champagne, your favorite cocktail, or maybe an anniversary cupcake with one wind-proof candle (Do your remember those – the ones that would re-light themselves after being blown-out?), to celebrate this AMAZING Anniversary of yours… Wish we were all there to celebrate with you – BUT I guess that would end the ongoing women’s record for solo ocean rowing that you are RESETTING every day now! (Might be a tight fit too?)

  • “Richard in DFW – another 180 million years to catch up with the dinosaurs? Wow, just think what we could achieve if we manage to keep ourselves in existence for that long!” Just look at what you have achieved in your one year of just 43 years, give or take, on this planet!!! Less than 1/4,000,000th of the time that the Dinosaurs had to do anything worthwhile… So you have surpassed them too…

    They want you and your causes – as they fit well with my “Bucket List” Environmental causes, this chapter of my life – to be featured in this film on me… They will begin writing the screenplay in about a week, for filming next year… I think you should play you – It will mean more… And, A National Geographic Award Winning Cinematographer and Director of Photography has expressed interest in “being involved with the amazingly visual story”… So your scenes could be done as you prep for your Homecoming Leg to England… Hope you might be interested…

  • Good rowing Roz. If I did the math and calendar work right, that 365 day at sea in your little row boat constitutes 18 1/2 % of your life since you set to oar in November 2005. Who among the rest of us can say they have dedicated that percentage of their lives to a single cause with such a noble purpose?

    May the wind blow softly at your back when the time comes to once again head west. We are all with you all the way.

    May you reach my sponsored miles soon (they are all pretty big numbers).

    • Stan, Absolutely!!! And how ’bout more of us dedicating ourselves to the noble cause of our choice… As I said in an earlier post, If we all did this just 7% of our non-working waking hours – let alone 18 1/2% as Roz has done for the last 6+ years, we would eliminate the National Debts each of our countries face in LESS THAN One Generation – Based on increased GDP’s without Increased Costs… That is both a noble cause and gift to the next generations to follow – for the next 180 Million years touching on what Roz said above.

  • Other Firsts … First woman solo rower in Atlantic Rowing Race and First Woman Rower San Francisco to Hawaii. Row Roz Row!

  • Amazing! Congrats on the record and I hope your day went well. I just started paddling in Hawaii and I am enthralled with it. Thank you for being a wonderful example of how one can change their lives to fit their vision. I support you and follow you daily. You truly are my inspiration.

  • Roz great to see [sea?] you are still going – and strong! You have become an inspiration to many and are changing the way many view life – and behave. I know you will keep dipping the oars and get – to the other side.
    Your first day at sea – I think it was in Torquay and you jumped aboard with Al and I to have a go at rowing on the ocean – as we were! 2005 – If you like I am sure I can dig up some photo’s of that first day.
    A mile away – is a mile closer!
    Nick [Rowe 2005/6 – Atlantic]

  • Roz, they said there would be no math. Yet, as it turns out it is all math. Congratulations on all your many successful days at sea. Impressive record, young lady! Be certain to celebrate? Well here is a poem to read as you celebrate your splendid feat. I just came across this poem this morning, my thoughts turned to you, your voyage, your strength, and your sound convictions.

    Phenomenal Woman

    Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
    I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
    But when I start to tell them,
    They think I’m telling lies.
    I say,
    It’s in the reach of my arms
    The span of my hips,
    The stride of my step,
    The curl of my lips.
    I’m a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That’s me.

    I walk into a room
    Just as cool as you please,
    And to a man,
    The fellows stand or
    Fall down on their knees.
    Then they swarm around me,
    A hive of honey bees.
    I say,
    It’s the fire in my eyes,
    And the flash of my teeth,
    The swing in my waist,
    And the joy in my feet.
    I’m a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That’s me.

    Men themselves have wondered
    What they see in me.
    They try so much
    But they can’t touch
    My inner mystery.
    When I try to show them
    They say they still can’t see.
    I say,
    It’s in the arch of my back,
    The sun of my smile,
    The ride of my breasts,
    The grace of my style.
    I’m a woman

    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That’s me.

    Now you understand
    Just why my head’s not bowed.
    I don’t shout or jump about
    Or have to talk real loud.
    When you see me passing
    It ought to make you proud.
    I say,
    It’s in the click of my heels,
    The bend of my hair,
    In the palm of my hand,
    The need of my care,
    ‘Cause I’m a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That’s me (Roz
    The Rower I am)

    Maya Angelou, Former Poet Laureate ~ USA

    Row ~ Roz ~ Row >II<

    Best, Ted K.

  • Fantastic record to claim. My goal for the next 11 weeks is to encourage my students (29 8 & 9 year olds) to be eco-heroes. I’ve used your quote from Earth Day as their inspiration.

    Kia Kaha – stay strong
    Arohanui – with much love

    Jo Fothergill & Room 12, Raumati Beach School, Kapiti Coast, New Zealand.

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