Upcoming Appearances

Published: February 2, 2010Posted in: Announcements, Events, Top NewsTags:

Early 2010 is a busy time: speaking engagements, a new eco-mission to develop, and an expedition to organise, pending my departure for Pacific III on April 15.

I do miss writing blogs about the state of the world and general musings on the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. And I will come back to my meaningful meanderings in due course. Truth is, there is a lot of musing going on, and much concern over the state of the world, but my thoughts are still gestating and I don’t want to go public prematurely. But the gestation period must soon end, as I’ve got a number of speaking engagements coming up so I need to have my act together. To continue the birthing metaphor, this baby is overdue and it’s time to induce.

Yes, my halcyon Hawaiian period of quiet contemplation (mixed in with a few interviews and business meetings) is about to end. Tonight I head for colder and higher climes in Colorado for the Vail Symposium. I’ll be doing a couple of TV interviews and a school presentation too – all in one day. Thursday Feb 4 is going to be a busy one.

More details on the Vail Symposium (lecture and after-party) available here.

Then up at the crack of dawn the next day to head to San Francisco for the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. I’m starting to feel like quite a regular at this event, but this year will be a first, in that I actually have a film to show. Rowing The Atlantic will be screened on the afternoon of Friday Feb 5, followed by Q&A with me and the filmmaker, JB Benna of Journeyfilm.

Lots of other amazing aquatic films being shown too.

Presidio Yacht Club, Fort Baker, Sausalito

Presidio Yacht Club, Fort Baker, Sausalito

On Saturday Feb 6 I will be giving a brunch-time presentation at the Presidio Yacht Club, the point from which I embarked on my solo row from San Francisco to Waikiki in 2008. I set out at midnight, although it was getting on for 2am before I managed to clear the Golden Gate Bridge when the “slack tide” proved not to be quite as slack as a rower might have wished. It seemed like forever that I was looking up at the underside of the GGB, trying to get clear. The ecstasy of crossing that hurdle had me whooping and cheering like I’d crossed the finish line, rather than the start line of a 2,500 mile row….

Anyway, I hope that my presentation will not be a similar feat of endurance. The event starts at 10.30am, at the Presidio Yacht Club in Fort Baker, Sausalito. The presentation itself is free of charge. Brunch will be available at a cost of $10. The Rear Commodore is talking big talk of spinach quiche, fruit compote, sticky buns, juice, coffee, etc. If you would like to partake of this fine repast, please email marktishler@aim.com. Books will be on sale afterwards for purchase and signing. Presidio Yacht Club presentation details here.

On Sunday night I’ll be meeting one-time resident of Kiribati, J Maarten Troost (author of Sex Lives of Cannibals), for dinner in Monterey, courtesy of Ocean Champions director David Wilmot and his wife Maureen. Maarten was a source of helpful information last year, when it became apparent that I was going to land up on Tarawa in Kiribati rather than my original target of Tuvalu.

After that I have a few smaller presentations at schools, book clubs, etc, pending a two-night gig for National Geographic in Seattle, on March 22-23.

National Geographic Endeavor

National Geographic Endeavor

And the grande finale to my early 2010 speaker series will be a presentation at a special, one-off, ocean-themed TED in honour of Dr Sylvia Earle. A year ago she made a heartfelt plea on behalf of the oceans (watch the video here), and it won the TED Prize. So in April, a five-day TED conference focused on the many facets of the ocean will take place on Lindblad’s National Geographic Endeavor in the Galapagos Islands. Talks will be promoted through TED.com with a call to policy makers and citizens alike to create more marine protected areas. Although attendance on the ship will be strictly limited, all the presentations will be made available online afterwards. I’ve pushed back my departure date from Kiribati in order to be there.

Galapagos, oceans, TED – an invitation I simply couldn’t refuse!

Other Stuff:

I’ve been busy beefing up the Adventure section of my website. I was getting a lot of FAQs from aspiring ocean rowers, adventurers, and journalists, so it seemed best to put it all online for general reference. Not quite finished yet, but even now you’ll find some new stuff under the Adventure drop-down menu at rozsavage.com.

Just over 3 days left to go on the auction of Copenhagen memorabilia in the Savage eBay Store. For things such as a limited edition Climate Express umbrella, the baseball cap I wore for the walk from Big Ben to Brussels (which endured all kinds of weather but still glows as orange as ever), and a commemorative pack of United Nations playing cards, each with a personal story, check it out soon!

Auction of Copenhagen Memorabilia

Published: January 30, 2010Posted in: UncategorizedTags:
Buy this hat - yes, the very one that sat on my head from Big Ben to Brussels!

Buy this hat - yes, the very one that sat on my head from Big Ben to Brussels!

I accumulated all kinds of swag and memorabilia while I was in Copenhagen, from the UNEP Climate Express train and various other events. I’m looking to raise a few $$ to replace the last of the items that were stolen during COP15, so we’ve launched a special sale of these once-in-a-lifetime goodies.

Even if you weren’t able to make it to Copenhagen for the climate change conference, here is a way you can buy a little piece of history.

As to what I took away from Copenhagen apart from these trinkets – well, physically, I left with more than I had when I arrived. But emotionally I left with so much more, and that feeling is growing as I see amazing stories arriving daily of companies, countries and individuals taking action at sub-national level. Where our global leaders have failed, we are now succeeding!

San Francisco Ocean Film Festival: Screening of Rowing The Atlantic

Published: January 24, 2010Posted in: Announcements, RowingTags: , ,
On the Atlantic

On the Atlantic

On Feb 5 I will be in San Francisco for the Ocean Film Festival screening of Rowing The Atlantic, the film by JB Benna of Journeyfilm. It was a finalist in last year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival. The film includes a lot of the footage I shot during the Atlantic Rowing Race – I was director, producer, scriptwriter, cameraman and, errr, star, plus interviews and commentary filmed afterwards in Sausalito.

If you live in the Bay Area, I hope you might be able to come and join us. I will be around for Q&A afterwards.

And there are many more stunning films in the SFOFF lineup – all connected in some way with our incredibly precious oceans. Check out the program for full details.

See you there!

How To Recognise Your Life Purpose When It Smacks You Between The Eyes

Published: January 22, 2010Posted in: InspirationTags: ,

Never buy a coffee from a coffee shop called Insomnia. I mean, really, how much more obvious could it be that it was going to lead to a poor night’s sleep? Sometimes the obvious is so obvious that it gets hidden by its own obviousness.

20100121 CBut insomnia has its compensations. As I lay awake in the wee small hours, I was buzzing with insights as well as caffeine. Some of them even still made sense when I played back my voicenotes this morning. Here is one. Some people, especially around this early part of the New Year, are asking themselves if they are heading in the right direction, if they are on track for the life that they want. Are they living out their life purpose? And how would they know if they are?

Far be it from me to offer advice. I just do what feels right to me. If head and heart agree, then chances are I’m doing the “right” thing. I think that these three are fairly reliable indicators.

1. Does your “purpose” absolutely chime with your personal values, the things that you hold dear?

2. Does it feel like everything that has happened in your life so far has been leading you up to this point? Every skill, experience, and/or attribute that you have acquired – has it all helped to equip you for this project?

3. Does it make you bounce out of bed in the mornings, eager to do what you can to pursue your purpose and move a bit closer to your goal?

20100121 AIf you answer “yes” to all of these, you probably already know that you’ve found your purpose, and you don’t need me to tell you that. If you answer “no” to any of these, would you like to be able to say “yes” instead? If so, then maybe you want to think about asking a few more questions, trying out a few more options.

But no need to stress about it too much – in fact, stressing or striving too hard can complicate matters unnecessarily. Sometimes you just need to get yourself out of the way and allow the answer to come. Relax – there really isn’t any such thing as a “wrong” thing – it’s all a learning experience, even if only to eliminate some options. Thomas Edison once said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” So what if you try one “purpose” on for size, only to find it doesn’t fit? No worries. 9,999 more chances to succeed await you!

I’d been thinking about this quite a bit recently, in connection with planetary rights lawyer Polly Higgins’s Emergency Application in the case of People of the Planet vs The Politicians. I have been privileged enough to see some of Polly’s early drafts in connection with the application, which have exercised long-dormant parts of my intellect. Many, many years ago, I allegedly studied for an undergraduate law degree – although as I recall, most of my hours in the law library were spent 20100121 Bresearching the surprising ability of law books to serve as very adequate pillows after early morning crew outings on the river. But somewhere in between the snoozes a few smidgeons of law must have permeated my skull – possibly by some kind of osmosis as my head lay on the pages of dense legal text. Anyway, I find that I am just about able to follow Polly’s lines of legal argument.

There is a kind of satisfying closure in this discovery – “A-ha. So THAT is why I needed to study law all those years ago. I always wondered, and now it makes sense.” Still trying to figure out the point of my O-level French, but maybe in time all will become clear….!

[Photos: another random life skill picked up along the way - taking pretty pictures. These from the Big Island of Hawaii a couple of days ago. More on Flickr.]

Daring Adventurers, Cute Animals… and Me.

Published: January 17, 2010Posted in: UncategorizedTags:

Or even Daring Animals, Cute Adventurers… and Me.

Here’s a teaser for the Banff Film Festival, featuring some gorgeous and jaw-dropping shots from around the world, and some strange woman crawling over the cabin roof while her rowboat tips around in 20 foot waves.

This is a brief clip from the film of Rowing The Atlantic, made by Journeyfilm, which was a finalist in the 2009 Banff  Mountain Film Festival. The whole festival now goes on tour around the world. Literally. Even the South Pole. But not, unfortunately, Kiribati.

In keeping with this blog’s theme of mountains and adventure generally, if you’re pining for some intrepid outdoor action pending my departure in April, here are some resources:

The Adventure Blog – an excellent roundup of the latest news from the world of adventure. I receive it by email (simply subscribe at the website), and it’s just about the only newsletter I actually read on a regular basis rather than deleting unread.

The Atlantic Rowing Race – started late this year, apparently due to everybody’s marine flares (which have to be shipped separately for safety reasons) going astray. Solo rower Charlie Pitcher is going great guns in his radical boat – he did 66 miles the other day, to my immense envy, and is leading the race as I write.

Or if it’s epic feats of endurance that float your boat (!), check out Journeyfilm’s DVD of Ultramarathon Man Dean Karnazes running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. And he has a very cute website too. I met Dean in San Francisco once, in a coffee shop. He’d run there, of course.

If you’re more into the gizmology and engineering side of oceans, you’ll enjoy The Adventures of Greg. He’s preparing to be the first person to travel from Canada to Hawaii by human power, in a (very claustrophobic-looking) pedal-powered boat. He’s got some other amazingly ambitious plans as well, and blogs regularly about the progress of building his incredible machines.

Oh, and he designed my “Savage” logo too, as a favour for me contributing a few tidbits of advice about ocean crossings. And his brother made the stickers for my boat. He’s a good guy! Award yourself extra bonus points if you can pronounce his last name correctly.

So I hope that all this energy and adrenaline will keep you amused and entertained over the winter (or summer, for my readers down under).

Enjoy!

And Steve, I hope this keeps you happy! ;-)

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