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Roz Savage, the British woman attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean by herself, halted her voyage Thursday less than two weeks into it due to rough seas. But by Friday, her spokeswoman, Nicole Bilodeau, said the rower is in good spirits and intends to resume her trip once the weather permits.

"She is absolutely bound and determined to continue on," Ms. Bilodeau said.

Ms. Savage, 40, who made her home in Woodside this summer, was back on dry land Thursday after being airlifted off her boat by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Rough seas, several capsizes and the failure of key pieces of equipment interrupted her plans just 12 days into her journey, according to reports on her RozSavage.com Web site ( www.RozSavage.com ). She was about 90 miles off shore, in the seas off Humbolt Bay.

Ms. Savage left from San Francisco on Aug. 12 on the first leg of her trip. Ten days later, conditions worsened. Her boat capsized twice overnight on Aug. 22, an experience she described in a podcast as "spending a night in a washing machine."

"There's just this huge shock wave through the boat, and you're bouncing off the wall and all the objects in the cabin that aren't tied down are flying around you," Ms. Savage said. "Eventually the boat comes to rest, and you're lying on the ceiling."

Venturing out of her custom rowboat's hatch after capsizing, she said in her podcast, "It's dark, and the waves look big and steep and angry, and it's just a feeling of total awe in the face of nature. You realize that nature isn't trying to kill you, it's just totally indifferent as to whether you survive or not."

Her boat's GPS system was knocked out, and she lost her sea anchor, according to a post online by her mother, Rita Savage.

Wet, bruised and cold, Ms. Savage still wanted to carry on with her voyage, her mother said.

Early Thursday, Aug. 23, the Coast Guard was advised of the situation and contacted her. After several hours of communication, she agreed to leave her vessel. A merchant ship in the vicinity was enlisted to assist.

Ms. Savage isn't one to give up easily. Last year, she finished a grueling solo row across the Atlantic as part of a race, making her one of a handful of women to accomplish the feat. For her next challenge, she set out to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean, planning a three-stage journey, and collaborating with Blue Frontier Campaign to take documentary footage focusing on ocean conservation.

A story about Ms. Savage can be found here: www.almanacnews.com and a slideshow by Almanac photographer Veronica Weber is here: www.almanacnews.com

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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