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 and equipment failure. But by Friday, her spokeswoman, Nicole Bilodeau, said the rower is in good spirits and intends to resume her trip this week.
“She is absolutely bound and determined to continue on,” Ms. Bilodeau said.
Ms. Savage, 39, who made her home in Woodside this summer, was back on dry land after being airlifted off her boat by the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday night, Aug. 23.
Rough seas, several capsizes and the failure of key pieces of equipment crippled her prospects just 11 days into her journey, according to reports on her RozSavage.com Web site. She was about 90 miles off shore, in the seas off Humboldt Bay.
Now she’s in a race against time to recover her boat before someone else does, and to resume her voyage so she can arrive in Hawaii before the winter storms hit. On Tuesday, Aug. 28, Ms. Savage plans to head out from San Francisco on a 150-foot boat equipped with a crane, haul her boat onboard to make repairs, and then continue her journey, said Ms. Bilodeau.
‘Lying on the ceiling’
Ms. Savage left from San Francisco on Aug. 12 on the first leg of a three-stage trip that will end in Australia. Ten days after she departed, she faced high winds and fierce waves. Her boat capsized twice overnight on Aug. 22, an experience she describes 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 hours of communication, she agreed to leave her vessel.
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, and is collaborating with Blue Frontier Campaign to take documentary footage of her travels to promote ocean conservation.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
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