Countdown to Roz’s Arrival – Possibly Monday September 1.
On Thursday I flew over the Pacific from California to Hawaii for nearly five hours, at a speed of about 500 miles per hour. The ocean appeared to be so vast, so empty, so endless. Involved as I have been with Roz since she departed on May 25th, I still find it incredible that my daughter could choose to row, alone, across that distance. It will be so good to see her again.
On Friday morning talking briefly on the phone, she promised to ring me Saturday morning at 7.30am. Friday afternoon, Dane Golden, cameraman, called me to ask me to be at the Waikiki Yacht Club at 7am Saturday, to be part of Leo Laporte’s thrice weekly phone chat with Roz on Twitlive.tv. Friday evening I sent an email to Roz to tell her not to phone on Saturday morning as “it was not convenient.” That left her puzzled and intrigued. What was I going to be doing at that time of the morning?
At sunrise on Saturday Rick Shema and I faced the cameras at the WYC while Leo waited in California for Roz to call him from the boat. He began his usual chat with her, then brought me in to say hello to Roz. She was astonished to hear me, and then knew the answer to the question. Anybody watching Twitlive.tv on a computer would have seen us. (This is all experimental computer wizardry.)
The air is alive with messages flitting to and fro as we make plans to welcome Roz when she arrives. Roz needs to arrive in daylight hours for filming and photographic opportunities. Rick, the Weatherguy, who has done such an excellent job for Roz on this voyage, will be putting some of the finer details of her approach in his weather report – look for the link to it underneath the Marine Track box.
The plan is that as Roz approaches the Molokai Channel, and Honolulu, I will update her blog every couple of hours so that you, the readers, can be involved. It may even be possible to watch some of the exciting events live on Leo Laporte’s twitlive.tv.
Talking to Roz yesterday morning on the phone, we shared the excitement of knowing that we would be meeting up pretty soon – with a big hug. After our initial welcome, there will be a blur of activity with the media, interviews, filming, greeting friends, champagne, before Roz can indulge in a long hot shower.
I suggest that you check this website from time to time on Sunday and Monday; 10am Hawaii time would be 1pm in California, and 9 pm in the UK.
Position at 2015 HST: 21 25.800’N, 157 00.099’W. (6.15 UCT)
If you have not yet VOTED for ROZ on the AMEX site, please, please do so. time is running out, and we need more votes. See the MEMBERS PROJECT link on this page, sign up as a guest, and vote for Roz’s ocean rowing project. (Please do not vote more than once – it will cancel out your vote.)
Rick shema will be updating the weather forecast for Roz’s area from time to time. Do remember to check his messages on the website. The link is underneath the MarineTrack box on this blog page.
Click here to view Day 100 of the Atlantic Crossing 9 March 2006: The Tide is Coming In – messages for Roz – but it would be another 3 days before she finally arrived, delayed by an obstinate sea anchor.