Ocean Rower and adventurer Roz Savage is approaching the end of her first week at sea in an attempt to row solo across the Indian Ocean.
Her first attempt from Fremantle ended after 13 days due to the potential risk of failure from her desalinisation unit (a crucial device used to make fresh water each day.) Now beginning in Geraldon, Australia she will spend 5-6 months in her 23-foot long boat and cover up to 5,000 nautical miles before reaching her goal of Mumbai, India. If successful she will become the first woman in history to complete the 'Big Three' of ocean rowing - The Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian. According to her website the decision to aim for Mumbai was based on the recent spate of pirate activities in the waters off the east coast of Africa (an alternative end point for the expedition.) Roz had originally set off on the 13th April but had to be towed back to land after covering 350 miles. It is notoriously difficult to clear the Australian coast and the majority of her rowing had been fighting against loops and turns, eventually leaving her only 100 miles from Fremantle.
She is now making good process, and continues to update her blog every day. In her latest entry she describes how: 'Every day it is a challenge to try and figure out the best way to handle the conditions so as to get the best combination of miles covered and an accurate course. There are some days when I could happily cover 50+ miles, but they would all be in the wrong direction. Not much point in that. And other days when I claw my way seemingly inch by inch across the ocean. And very occasionally it's just neutral, like rowing on a lake on a calm day. But that is VERY occasional. It?s happened maybe once.'
To follow Roz's progress and world record attempt, visit her blog here - www.rozsavage.com.