Breathing Deep, and Keeping the Faith

Image by rozsavage via Flickr

It is now less than 4 days before I launch, and it's all happening. There is still so much to do, and I know it WILL all happen - just not quite sure HOW. But if I've learned anything through the last few years, it's that if you keep the faith, and work your butt off, you can make almost anything happen.

Oh, and it also helps to have a band of angels, aka extremely good friends. We've made some amazing friends here in Hawaii - and tomorrow Team California arrives. Six or seven friends are arriving from the mainland to help with final preparations and to see me off on Sunday. They will all be put to work (I hope they know this!) to run around for final provisions, fix up the boat, and help get me packed. The team includes Nicole's granny and brother, my friends Aenor and Melinda (veterans of the post-airlift salvage mission of 2007), Nancy our hostess in Sausalito, and Ellen of Google fame.

I truly could not do what I do (or at least, not with any shred of sanity) without the assistance and support of these incredibly dedicated friends. And I don't know if I'll ever be able (being British and all) to let them know just how much I appreciate them.

So while I'm in this rather emotional, un-British kind of mood, I'd just like to say how amazing it has been to work with Nicole over the last 3 months. Working alone was.... well, I managed. But working with Nicole has been so much more effective, and so much fun. There have been some amazing comedy moments that I wish I could share with you, but unfortunately we didn't know they were about to happen so we didn't have the cameras rolling. But there has been a lot of hilarity, interspersed with serious, profound, how-are-we-going-to-save-the-world kind of moments that will stay in my (very unreliable) memory forever.

When I get to meet incredible people like this, who are prepared to give so much in return for so little, it makes me feel that I must be doing something right - or at least doing the right things for the right reasons.

And on that note I will hand over to our latest RozCast - recorded by Nicole and me in Waikiki last night at sunset.

The Ultimate Packing List

First, a quick brag:
Voted #3 in Top Ten Adventure Twitters by Outside Magazine - woohoo!

Now, on to the news...

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

Cord (lots)
Headtorches
Sewing kit
Karabiners
Snorkelling mask
Waterproofs

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!

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Larger Debt

On certain Facebook pages you have to enter randomly-selected words to prove that you’re a human being. This morning I was faced with the stark words “LARGER” and “DEBT” – not a happy combination, and a reminder that with less than 4 months to go until launch date the expedition coffers are empty.

And today has continued to be, well, just one of those days when I feel like crawling back under the covers and waiting for better times to arrive.

Indulge me a moment while I share my pity party. Despite dozens of inquiries, I still have nowhere under cover to store my boat. I want to work on the boat today, but it’s pouring with rain here in Hawaii. Several projects are running behind schedule. Various technological questions are still to be answered. And there is no money to throw at the problem.

And then somebody posts an ill-informed comment suggesting that I should give it all up. I can’t blame them for being ill-informed – I haven’t yet announced my big, exciting environmental initiative for this year - but although I know that “it is not the critic who counts” it was unfortunate timing and it hurts to be kicked when I am already down.

So how to deal with these days of gloom and grey? I have retreated to the Kalapawei Café for some coffee shop therapy with my journal and a latte. I’ll share part of today’s entry:

“It’s one of those frustrating periods of stuckness when it seems nothing can possibly be finished in time…. Until the stuckness ends and is succeeded by a period of rapid progress and dizzying change. I haven’t yet figured out a way to trigger that transition, apart from just to keep plugging away until things start to flow again. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Keep doing the right things for the right reasons. Know that I feel a calling to do this - and that there is nothing else that I can do but to keep faith in the process, and know that it will all be worthwhile – eventually.”

And so I turn to my To Do list, and pick up the phone… (sigh).

Other stuff:

Today Oliver Hicks set out from Tasmania on his bid to be the first person to row solo around the world. His voyage around the Southern Ocean is slated to take 500 days. “New Zealand safety authorities said Hicks was exposing himself to extreme risk and the likelihood of a rescue being needed was significant.” Good luck, Ollie – you know more than most about rowing in the colder latitudes, and I wish you all the very best. You can follow Ollie's adventure here.

Since arriving in Hawaii I have been busy networking, picking up contacts from previous visits, and making many new friends, notably at Sunday’s Ala Wai Challenge. Thanks to Jeff Apaka for inviting me to appear at the event, and thanks to all who showed such interest in my adventures both past and future. I am looking forward to working with all my Hawaiian friends in the run-up to my launch on May 15.

If you’d like to cheer me up, a few dollars would help brighten my day. Every $ counts – as does the knowledge that you care enough to share. Donations can be made here via PayPal.

A couple of new podcasts have gone live in the last few days, so by way of apology for not having blogged for a week, here is more than enough Savage Verbiage to keep you going! Me in conversation with my friend and Podcast Sister Anna Farmery...

The Engaging Brand - Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Part 1)
The Engaging Brand - Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway (Part 2)

Tight Jeans and Tipping Points

Yesterday I hit a personal “tipping point” that may sounds trivial in the overall scheme of things, but it gave me some useful insights into human psychology. Ever since I arrived in Hawaii on Sept 1, my weight has been creeping up, little by little, pound by pound. Jeans got a bit tighter, my face got a bit rounder – but the change was never dramatic enough from one weigh-in to the next to give me cause for alarm.

Until yesterday.

I stood on the scales in the morning to find that my weight had leaped 4 pounds in 2 days, taking me over 130lb (plenty enough for a narrow-framed 5ft 3in) and bringing my total gain to 23lb in 4 months.

I had hit my tipping point. It was time to get this back under control.

This is not a plea for flattering reassurances that I look fine anyway, or suggestions that I am trying to force my body to be lighter than it wants to be, or recommendations that I stop worrying about such trivial matters and concern myself with the state of the planet instead.

No - this is my own little personal parable, about the part of human psychology that allows us to turn a blind eye to gradual changes – especially if they are unwelcome changes. We don’t see what is happening because we don’t want to see it. We tend to ignore the problem until it has grown into a crisis.

“A stitch in time saves nine”, as my mother used to say. In my trivial example, I now have undeniable evidence of my weight gain, and it will be some time before my jeans and I are seen together in public again. And of course I am wishing I had taken action when I had a 5lb weight issue rather than a 15lb weight issue.

In planetary terms, what has to happen before we take decisive action to reduce our environmental impact? How much evidence is “enough” evidence for us to reach our collective tipping point?

I am optimistic. My perception is that the scales are tipping (forget the bathroom scales now – picture Libra-type scales). The will for change is growing, and the defence of the old status quo is eroding. The question is becoming not so much “if and when”, but “how much and how soon”. And I believe that we, as a species, do have the ability to rise to this challenge, if we can only put aside our illusions of separateness and tackle this global problem together.

Happy Birthday To Me

Today I turn 41 years young. It has taken me many years to forgive my parents for giving me a birthday so close to Christmas (really - what WERE they thinking back in March 1967? No - don't answer that one - this IS my parents we're talking about... ) - but now I'm quite reconciled to it, especially now that, thanks to the power of the internet, it no longer matters that there is nobody around to celebrate my birthday with me because they've all gone home to their parents for Christmas. In the e-world that I largely inhabit, we can party online. A huge thank you to everybody who has written to wish me a happy birthday - thanks to you, it has been!

I've had birthday e-cards, birthday wishes on my Facebook Wall (41 at the last count - one for every year of my life - and rising...), birthday Tweets, and some wonderful gifts too. Such as:

- Marcus Eriksen of the JUNK, made a gift of the $500 manual watermaker they loaned me several hundred miles east of Hawaii after I ran out of water

- my good friend and social media guru Ellen Leanse sponsored some Kiva micro-loans in my name - as a birthday gift that keeps on giving. She wrote, "I've used Kiva.org to help find two start-up businesses in the Pacific Islands and fund them with micro-loans. Both of the businesses are farms; I tried to find businesses as low on the production chain as possible in keeping with your vision for the environment."

- Podcast Sister Anna Farmery sending me some fantastic quotes about growing older, errr, more mature - which I'd like to share with you here...

The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet.
- Robert Orben

Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative.
- Maurice Chevalier

I'm at an age when my back goes out more than I do.
- Phyllis Diller

You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime.
- John P. Grier

If I'd known I was going to live this long (100 years),
I'd have taken better care of myself.
- Ubie Blake

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.
- Tom Stoppard

And finally, for a big smile, major wanderlust, and some rather dodgy dancing, please check out this seriously feel-good video.

Well, folks, it's goodbye from the birthday girl. I'm off on a Gaia retreat for the next 6 days, and laptops and mobile phones are strongly discouraged. How will I survive?! There may have to be the occasional Tweet sneaking its way out under the barricades....

But just in case - HAPPY HOLIDAYS/CHRISTMAS/WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY! And I'll be back on Dec 30th. Hasta luego....

The Power of Positive Words: Walking for Pleasure

I was walking back from the gym today on the lane that meanders across the Cookridge golf course, my hands shoved in my pockets and my shoulders hunched against the cold wind, when a car pulled up alongside me and the window rolled down. "Are you walking for pleasure, or would you like a ride?" the driver asked.

"Err, thank you," I said, "but I'm walking for pleasure." The window went up and the car drove on, leaving me pondering on this.

Up until that point I had just been walking home. Now I was walking "for pleasure". It made all the difference. Immediately I felt warmer, and stopped hunching. My shoulders went back and I stepped out with renewed enjoyment of the exercise, my mundane little walk transformed.

It reminded me to be careful in the labels that I apply to things. When you attach the right words to an action, it can seem wonderful. Attach the wrong words and it becomes a drudge. I wonder if I can manage to think of enough good words to keep me going through another 100 days of rowing next year...

If you'd like to start supplying me with positive, life-enhancing words by posting a comment to this blog, I would be most grateful. Let's see if we can come up with enough good words to get me from Hawaii to Samoa!

[photo: a shorter-than-usual row, in a smaller-than-usual boat, courtesy of Leeds Rowing Club, Roundhay Park]

Tom Hernon: Whirlwind in a Wheelchair

A few days ago I was in a state of mild despair. I was receiving reports back from the electrician in Hawaii about the state of my boat's wiring - and the news was all bad. Chartplotter antenna - "corroded". VHF radio - "damaged beyond repair". Radio and amp - "I would change them out". And so on... "a nightmare"... "a complete mess"... "really rough shape". He ended with the rather puzzling question: "Did any of this equipment get exposed to lots of salt water???" Errr, well, yes. That's what tends to happen when you roll your boat in 20-foot waves. Repeatedly.

Just when I most needed it, I received this email:

Hi Roz I contacted you just before stage 1 of your trip offering to fab anything you need in my machine shop, I am also a engineer and can help you solve any mech problems you might have...all I ask is a link to my web site www.back2sports.net.

thanks and good luck Tom

My knight in shining armour had arrived. Enter Tom Hernon, the latest recruit to Team Savage. I checked out his bio and read that at the age of 34 a dirt bike accident had left him paralysed from the waist down, but that he had gone on to compete at a high level on the mono ski and luge - hitting a top speed of 79mph on the luge (imagine it!).

And luckily for me, Tom is now bringing his incredible energy and problem-solving abilities to bear on the beleaguered Brocade.

Since that first email 4 days ago, he has visited his local university in Michigan to pick the brains of the professors of engineering and metallurgy, teamed up with a local rowing club to "find out what is fashionable", produced sketches and designs, and peppered me with questions to get himself up to speed on the unique challenges facing equipment on board an ocean rowboat. As my friend Steve Roberts once quipped, "Water corrodes, and saltwater corrodes absolutely".

My "job" occasionally seems tough and lonely, but it always seems that just when obstacles appear insurmountable, life gives me a break, the obstacles disappear, and my faith is restored. You might call it luck, or you might call it the law of attraction, or you might say that I worked blimmin' hard to throw myself in the way of good fortune - but whatever you call it, it makes me glad to be alive. It is the biggest perk of my job - to have special people like Tom wanting to share in the adventure.

Speaking of which... thank you to the hordes of people who are sharing in my adventure by signing up to receive this blog by email through Feedblitz. It's brilliant to know that you still care, even though I am deep in the off-season at the moment. Believe me, there is much in gestation, ready to burst into life next year - not only the new website, but the Atlantic book (now titled, finally, LIMITLESS HORIZON: My Unlikely Adventure From Office To Ocean), the accompanying short film, new merchandise, an iPhone application, an iGoogle Gadget, and a very important and exciting new challenge that I'll be inviting you to join - I can guarantee you there won't be a dull moment!

[Photo: Tom Hernon on his luge. He appears to have his eyes closed, but so would I if I was going at 79mph with my head 6 inches from the ground!]