Team Northern Atlantic 2011

August 20th, 2010. From 0445 to 1645, Mike and I rowed from Smith Point, Virginia, to Tangier Island and back for a total of 28 miles, in one day. It was painful, it was beautiful, it was awesome. While I can’t talk to Mike about rowing for at least two weeks now, I can share a video of our adventure. Check it out:

Amazingly, Leven Brown, Ray Carroll, Don Lennox & Livar Nysted (‘Artemis Investments’) have just smashed the 113 year old Harbo and Samuelson crossing record of 55 days by completing their crossing in 43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds. What a row!!! Congratulations to these men on board ‘Artemis Investments’ for such a great and historic accomplishment! Of course Mike and I are a bit disappointed that the 113 year old record will not fall to us, but all is fair in the sport of Ocean Rowing. ‘Tis an awesome accomplishment to have rowed the ocean, record or no record. Nevertheless, we will now be striving to smash the new crossing record of 43 days, 21 hours, 26 minutes and 48 seconds and to bring the record back home to the United States of America where she belongs!

As ‘Artemis Investments’ was arriving at St. Marys in the Isles of Scilly, Mike and I were taking our training dory out on the Potomac river for our first training row together (on the water). We left Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, Virginia yesterday afternoon around 4:30pm and rowed up river to Potomac Boat Club and back to Gravelly Point Park. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had an awesome row. This is the first time I’ve had the dory on the water this year. I’ve been working on her off-and-on over the last few months putting bow and stern rowing positions in her, touching-up paint, etc. I definitely spend more time working on the dory than rowing her, but hopefully that’s about to change.

Next weekend Mike and I are making tentative plans to try the row out to Tangier Island to complete the row I did not complete last year. Getting this row done will be a huge psychological boost for me and will be excellent training for Mike and I in preparation for rowing on big water. The row to Tangier Island from Reedville, VA is only about 14 miles, but the route is across some significant open water, shipping lanes, etc., so one never knows what might happen. Right now, we’re planning on rowing to Tangier Island and back all in the same day, so we hope to cover around 28 miles in one day. That’s a pretty heavy lift, but will see how it goes.

Even with all the controversy surrounding this year’s 33rd America’s Cup, it was still not difficult to become sidetracked by the sheer coolness of the multihull sailing vessels involved in the race – Alinghi and BMW ORACLE. These multihulls evoke shock and awe when considering their speed, size and beauty. Team Northern Atlantic are hoping to further the acceptance of the multihull concept in the sport of ocean rowing.

Our 30 foot multihull ocean rowing boat is being built on Shelter Island, New York by Captain Roy Finlay. Roy built and skippered ‘ORCA’, the first multihull ocean rowing boat ever rowed across any ocean. ORCA’s four-man crew left the Canary Islands and arrived in Barbados in 36 days. We believe that multihull ocean rowing boats in general, and the ORCA design in particular, hold great potential for setting new ocean rowing speed records.

The picture on the left (below) is our new boat starting to take shape: MDF frames on the strong-back almost ready for foam planking and fiberglass to form the hull. The picture on the right (below) is ORCA, rowed by a four-man crew from the Canaries to Barbados in 2007/2008 in just 36 days. Our boat will be a very similar design. She’s fast, but the boat is only part of the equation: Speed = Boat + Crew + Weather. I believe Team Northern Atlantic are well on our way to taking care of the first two operands in the equation!

For all you wooden boat master craftsmen out there, this post is not for you. Move along. For all the rest of ya, who’ve not got an eye for symmetry nor detail, check out these pictures of the ‘Row the Pond’ Training Dory.

We’re putting cedar floor boards in the gunning dory, which we plan to row across the Chesapeake Bay in July as part of our preparation to row across the Northern Atlantic next year (but in a different boat, which is being built by a professional boat builder as I write).

We’ve got all the cedar floor boards cut now, and have but the sanding and screwing left to do on them. After that, all that’s left to do is to touch-up the paint once more and then we can take her out and try to sink her! We need to see how she performs totally swamped with water before we try to row her across the Chesapeake Bay. That’s one thing I did not do last year that I wish I had, so it’s definitely one milestone on the ‘project schedule’ now.

I am very fond of cedar. I think cedar floor boards in a wooden boat are a classy touch – they look and smell great. My nostrils and lungs are full of cedar dust now, hopefully to soon be replaced by the light July sea breezes of the Chesapeake Bay!

Mike and I are going sailing this weekend. If interested, watch the tracking section on our website for a near-real-time map of our location. Not much wind is forecasted for this weekend, so we might not be sailing far, but we’ll see.

Launch FineMeSPOT Map

Launch sat2twitter Map

The November/December 2009 edition of WoodenBoat Magazine has a really good article on ‘Oars, Oarlocks, and Rowing’ in traditional wooden rowing boats (page 4). I love this magazine, by the way! I referred to this article when putting the rowing positions in my gunning dory. I worked on them some more this afternoon and got them mostly roughed in. The epoxy and wood need a bit more sanding, some painting, and a touch of varnish and then we should be about ready to put her on the water again. I can’t wait.

While Mike and I try to sort out our ocean rowing vessel for our transatlantic crossing next year, we will be using my Marblehead gunning dory for some open water training expeditions this summer and fall. What’s a Marblehead gunning dory, you ask? Gunning dory’s are beautiful, double-ender boats designed for duck hunting and surf launching in the Marblehead, MA region. I mostly restored a roughly ten year old gunning dory last year with the intent of her only being rowed by me. With Mike onboard as my ocean rowing partner, however, I’ve decided to modify my dory for two rowers so that we can use her for some open water training while we sort out what our ocean rowing boat will be.

This Summer, we hope to row across the Chesapeake Bay, from Reedville, VA to possibly Crisfield, Maryland. We are also hoping to participate in the Blackburn Challenge on July 17 as well as the Wye Island Regatta on September 11.

Today, we worked on fortifying the gunwales with some of my left-over white oak so we can put two additional rowing positions in the boat.

Mike and I attended an ISAF Safety at Sea Seminar at the US Naval Academy this weekend (March 27-28, 2010). It was a great event and we both learned a great deal about seamanship and boating safety. The speakers were exceptional, and the information provided was, for the most part, lucid and pertinent. One of my favorite presentations was made by Captain Matt Klunder, USNA Commandant, who admonished the importance of the sea throughout American history, and exhorted us to help expand appreciation for the sport of sailing and nautical sport in general.  As Americans, the sea is in our blood.

I also particularly enjoyed the talk presented by Gary Jobson as he provided a number of colorful, and somewhat scary, anecdotes from his heavy weather sailing experiences, particularly the 1979 FastNet race and his experiences on board Ted Turner’s vessel, Tenacious.

The in-the-pool demonstrations were enlightening in that we learned how difficult it is to get into a life raft with foul weather gear on. Moreover, life rafts are not comfortable – even in a calm swimming pool.

The Navy Midshipman did live man-over-board demonstrations in their 44 foot yachts and we got to see a live demo of a rescue at sea operation with a real Coast Guard helicopter!  The real-life demonstrations truly helped to interject a sense of reality to rescue at sea and the difficulty thereof.  Stuff happens!

Especially pertinent to our own objectives were the discussions on weather, heavy weather sailing and the Gulf Stream – the warm water current running South-to-North up the Eastern Seaboard. The information on warm and cold water eddies off of the Gulf Stream were tasty morsels of information. We want more!

More importantly, however, I think this weekend helped us to better understand just how much more we need to learn!

Education + Preparation = Success

Happily, Mike and I passed our ISAF Certification Tests so we are both eligible for international offshore sailing events now!

I’ve just setup the ‘Row The Pond’ online store in order to help raise some funds for this rowing project of ours. Wednesday, March 17th, 2010, is St. Patrick’s Day this year. Before next Wednesday arrives, however, you must get yourself a ‘Row The Pond’ St. Patrick’s Day T-Shirt from our online store. Look cool, impress your Irish friends while drinking a pint of Guinness, and support a worthy cause all in one purchase. Talk about a return on investment!

This upcoming movie about Chris Martin and Mick Dawson’s Trans-Pacific Row, from Choshi, Japan to San Francisco, looks awesome, especially for ocean rowing fans!

Today we secured our first down payment on a new boat build with Global Boat Works in Devon, UK. If all goes well, they will start building our ocean rowing boat for us around May of this year. We are cautiously optimistic about having a new boat built as it is a time and energy consuming process, not to mention money consuming as well (hint, hint to potential title sponsors!). But it sure beats building a new, or renovating a used, boat ourselves! We realize it will probably be a difficult process, especially dealing with a boat builder overseas, but we believe the pain incurred now will pay dividends next year when we set off on our unassisted row across the Northern Atlantic from Battery Park, New York City to the Isles of Scilly. Jamie Fabrizio, the boat builder at Global Boatworks, comes highly recommended by all I’ve talked to in the Ocean Rowing Community. I’ve also seen some of his boats in person, like James Burge and Niall McCann’s ‘Komale’, at the Bristol Zoo, and Dave Clarke’s ‘Positive Outcomes’, in Macclesfield, and definitely understand the reason for the high praise he receives for his work. Moreover, Global Boat Works have also designed and built Charlie Pitcher’s solo boat, which is now less than 300 miles from Antigua in the Atlantic Rowing Race 2009, and who, incidentally, is leading the whole fleet by a healthy margin (especially given that he is rowing solo).

So today we begin a journey, in earnest, to make it into the history books by beating the 114 year old speed crossing record of 55 days set by Harbo and Samuelson in 1896. It’s crazy. We are undoubtedly in over our heads and probably more than just a little bit naieve about most aspects of this challenge. Nevertheless, it’s serendipity, if not synchronicity, that we find ourselves at this point in time with this crazy notion of rowing across an ocean to chase Harbo and Samuelson’s 55 day crossing record. And personally, just like in rowing an ocean, I’ve had head winds and some gales to contend with prior to getting some good forward momentum on this project. But now, at least for now, it feels like a wind is starting to build and blow us forward a bit. Steady as she goes!

The Global Boat Works Team

I found this nice little tune by singers Pint & Dale about the rowing adventure of Harbo and Samuelson.

Is anyone else following the Atlantic Rowing Race ’09 as amazed as I am that solo rower, Charlie Pitcher, is leading the fleet after the first week at sea?

http://www.atlanticrowingrace09.com/progress/

Something tells me that the future of ocean rowing boat design is about to drastically change.

I thought having to race a couple of hours late was well neigh intolerable, but the poor souls awaiting the race start of the Atlantic 2009 Rowing Race are having to wait about a week-and-a-half beyond the scheduled race start.  So, while we await the start gun, here’s another original composition.  This one is more rowing related:

A Rower’s Winter Lament

Amongst a field of British rowers, and a hand full of French, sits a lone 59 year old American (not including Anne Miltenberger rowing with Team Britannia III) from Boston, Massachusetts, Leo Rossette. Leo is fixin’ to row solo across the Atlantic in his row boat, ‘Halcyon’, as a competitor in this year’s Atlantic Rowing Race. Slated to start this coming Sunday, December 6th, 2009, the Atlantic Rowing Race is undoubtedly one of the toughest rowing races around. Nevertheless, taking part in a rowing race, sponsored and supported by Woodvale Challenge Events, is understandably a safer way to get your ocean rowing adventure on.

If you recall, Leo attempted to row the Gran Canaria to Antigua route earlier this year, around the same time Paul Ridley was setting off, but had to cancel the row due to health reasons. I called Leo, sometime after he had returned stateside, to chat with him a bit about what went wrong with his first attempt to row the Atlantic. He indicated that in addition to some stomach problems he was having prior to his departure, he suffered from severe sea sickness which prevented him from keeping anything down, including fluids, which led to severe dehydration, muscle cramping, etc. Sounds wonderfully miserable, does it not?

Woodvale built his boat, ‘Halcyon’, for him. Woodvale also packed the boat with food and supplies and shipped it to La Gomera to await Leo for his first solo attempt across the pond. Now, Leo is taking another crack at the challenge, but this time as part of a fleet of ocean rowing boats all vying for a top finish position across the finish line in Antigua.

As I think about Leo’s second attempt to row the pond, and as I ponder Leo being only one of two Americans competing in this Winter’s field of competitors, I can’t help but wonder why the American contingent is so small. Perhaps Americans are so concerned about doing their part to buttress the Global Economy working (or looking for work), that taking part in such ‘frivolity’, such self-centered adventure, is simply unthinkable? Or are we simply a nation who has conquered all and are now simply content to kick-back and enjoy the fruits of our labor, drinking beer, watching TV and accumulating more wealth? Or maybe Americans on the whole are simply too practical to expend time and wealth on such adventures? I’m not sure why Adventure Rowing is not more of an American phenomena, especially in light of the fact that ocean rowing was started by two American Norwegian immigrants (Harbo and Samuelson) in 1896. I wish it were. We need to continue our diligence in keeping British maritime dominance in check. That’s a joke, come on.

As for myself, I’d love to be competing in this Winter’s Atlantic Rowing Race. I’ve dreamed about it almost daily for over a year now. Unfortunately, my financial position got hammered by the economy this year, which made buying a $40k ocean rowing boat a bad move for me and my family. Secondly, convincing my wife, and mother of three (ages 12, 10 and 6), that allowing me to spend 2-4 months at sea in a tiny ocean rowing boat is actually a good idea for all parties, is no small undertaking. I know, excuses, excuses. These are merely set backs in my opinion, however, not roadblocks…necessarily (my wife does scare me, however).

In contrast, Leo is a retired U.S. Marshall. He’s also got tons of money from his Government Pension. That’s a joke, come on. As I understand him, his wife is not all that happy about him rowing the ocean, but tolerant of his plans. As usual, best to get on with it and ask for forgiveness later.

So good luck to Leo this go around on the Atlantic – and God’s speed. Go USA!

Here is an interesting interview with Katie Spotz, where she discusses her attempt to row across the Atlantic, from Africa to South America, this month. She’s rowing the ocean row boat, ‘Liv’, which was designed by Phil Morrison and built by American company Aquidneck Custom for Paul Ridley’s row across the Atlantic (E-W from La Gomera to Antigua) earlier this year.

I have not cleaned out my shed since my last feverish flurry to get my boat ready for my first Chesapeake Bay Row attempt. The inside of my boat shed has been caked in inches of wood and fiberglass dust since then. Today, I finally decided to clean it up a bit. I donned my ventilator mask and goggles and set about blowing the dust outside. From without, it looked like someone set off a smoke bomb inside.  In addition to the dust, half filled cans of paint, containers of epoxy and resin, pieces of White Oak, Okoume and Cedar littered the floor – all contributing to fond memories of this summer, which continue to feed my desire to get out there on the open water in my wooden row boat again. After awhile, the inside of the shed starts to look somewhat clean again.  I feel like it’s about time to dust off those old Chesapeake Bay row plans and begin anew for next year’s attempt.

Last night, my parents and I went to hear Colin and Julie Angus speak at a National Geographic Live sponsored event.  Colin and Julie talked about their adventures riding their bikes and rowing their custom designed (and built) row boats from the top ‘o Scotland all the way down to Syria.  When they were unable to row, they rode their bikes, towing their boats behind them on custom made boat trailers.  When they rowed, they disassembled their bikes, stowed them in their boats, and went rowing.  It looked like an amazing way to travel through Europe (which included the UK, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc.) and to see the country-side.  Their trip took them about 7 months to complete.

They had one of their boats on stage and I got to take a pretty close look at her after their talk was over.  It looked like a stitch-and-glue ply construction with a single sliding seat rowing position built-in (the rowing position was conspicuously closer to the stern than the bow).  The bow section was used for stowing their bikes and other gear, so I’m sure getting the weight distribution correct was not easy to figure out.  The boat has a wing rigger, which seemed to be constructed of wood.  I wish I could have taken a picture of it, but Nat Geo Live!, sadly, do not allow pictures. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!!!

All-in-all, I came away from this talk excited about future adventure rowing possibilities.  I think this winter I will build-in a sliding seat rowing position in my dory for my next attempt to row across the Chesapeake Bay – an adventure that seems like child’s play comparatively speaking, so I need to get ‘er done.

Here’s a video lifted from AngusAdventures.com:

Here’s a video, recently posted by Shaun Quincey (rowing from Australia to New Zealand in November of 2009 – next month), providing a really interesting background to Shaun’s solo rowing project.  Of particular interest is Colin Quincey’s boat: she appears to be a flat-bottom dory with a fixed seat, mostly covered with decking.  I found this to be a really interesting video!  Thanks for sharing, Shaun, and best of luck with your row!

I saw Roz Savage tonight at the National Geographic Live! in downtown Washington D.C. (corner of M Street NW and 17th Street), where she gave a talk on ocean rowing and the ethereal pursuit of personal happiness.  Her talk kicked-off the first in a three-part series of National Geographic Live! talks centering around the ‘Quest for Adventure’.  I purchased tickets for the entire series, as I am hoping to live vicariously through the presenters…

Roz’s talk was interesting, but I felt I was already familiar with most of the material and information presented this evening, as I have been reading her blog for some time now.  All of the videos she showed were straight from her blog and/or from the Woodvale and AOR sites.  Note to self – if I ever get around to rowing an ocean, keep a secret stash of pictures and videos, not available online, for in-person presentations.  Nevertheless, the material was perfect for the intended audience.  Besides, I never get tired of the video where she has to cut her para-anchor free in the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race.

Most of all, I am struck by the brand Roz has created around herself and her rowing.  She now has a book out that she is selling and she’s been traveling a heck of a lot since finishing the second leg of her Pacific row.  And with the ‘Roz Savage’ brand comes a message of environmental awareness and concern, which is a cool thing to witness.  Some dude in the audience tonight asked if she was related to ‘Doc Savage‘ (yes, it takes all kinds).  The ‘Savage’ part of the brand is rather appealing to a wide audience.

I might be wrong on this, but I got a sense that Roz might be done with Ocean Rowing after completing the final leg of her Pacific Row; I also got the sense that her 2005 Atlantic Row was much tougher than she anticipated, but I’m sure that’s the case for all who endeavor to row an ocean. I imagine Ocean Rowing is one of those things that’s nearly impossible to adequately train for – you just gotta do it.  Feel the sweet pain and relish the journey!

I took note of her comment that once she got the idea in her head, she just had to do the row to get over the idea – there was just no way around it.  Dave Clarke put it to me like this: ‘once you get the idea in your head [to row an Ocean], you’re knackered!’.  It seems to be true.

I wish I could post some pictures of the event, but National Geographic is really anal about preventing photography and video recordings at these events.  National Geographic, your anti-photo and video taking policy at these events sucks.  Bloggers are adventurers too…or something like that.

Finally, I received a strange email today containing a YouTube link to this video, which is my rowing team’s ultimate retribution for me not going to the Head of the Charles this year – yes, Roz Savage, who has never met me, calls me a ‘woos’!! Be still, my heart! Also notice how excited she becomes when she hears I am coming to hear her speak in DC.

Yes, she is coming to D.C. just to see me…ok, so maybe she doesn’t know it yet. Roz Savage will be giving a talk about her row across the Atlantic for the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. The event will be on October 19 at 7:30pm. You can buy tickets here. I’ll see you there!