Row, row, row your boat…
No one needs tell that to Roz Savage, who embarked May 24 on an unprecendeted solo journey across the Pacific Ocean in a 24-foot rowboat named the Brocade. She is bidding to be the first woman to ever accomplish this feat.
Originally planning to depart on the Pacific journey in early July, she upped her departure date to coincide with favorable weather patterns.
“Her departure window was fairly wide,” says spokesperson Leslie Marcotte, “so she decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Now she’s settling into her course.”
Even Roz admits the departure came about quickly.
“It was a mad scramble to get ready to leave,” she says. “I’d say I was about 95 percent ready.
“I’d officially been standby since May 15th, but there were still various loose ends to tie off. I hadn’t had a chance to do a full test on the camera system. An iPod of audiobooks on philosophy was still on its way from the East Coast. Stickers hadn’t arrived. We hadn’t done any sea trials since the extra ballast had been installed. The new website hadn’t gone live yet.
Suddenly, when I received that phone call from my weatherguy on the morning of May 23rd, it was all systems go. Not exactly “now or never”, but with weather you never know when you’ll get another chance. So I went for it.”
The challenge will be broken up into three stages, with Stage 1 taking Roz from San Francisco to Hawaii –rowing for 2,600 miles. The journey will mean several months rowing alone in the Pacific Ocean. Roz is passionate about the environment and the Pacific row is a project of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a non-profit organization that supports grassroots marine conservation efforts. Roz has also teamed up with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
It’s not the first time she’s taken to the high seas. Last year, Roz rowed across the Atlantic alone in her boat, but the journey was part of a larger fleet. This time she’s is taking on the Pacific mano-a-mano, completely alone, bidding to be the first woman to do so. Without even a safety boat trailing her, her only method of communication is via a satellite phone.
Info: www.rozsavage.com
