Pacific Ocean Stage Two

At sunset on May 24, 2009, Roz set out from Waikiki Yacht Club in Hawaii to row to Tuvalu in the South Pacific. This stage of her row was enlivened by a great number of encounters with marine wildlife, including a whale shark, dolphins, whales and turtles, and several booby birds who decided to hitch a ride on her boat and settled in for several weeks. There was also a very messy incident with three low-flying squid, who in their bid to escape from a predator by propelling themselves at high speed out of the water, were no doubt very surprised to find a small ocean rowboat in their way.

Once again the watermaker succumbed to conditions, and when strong westerly winds eventually made it impossible to reach Tuvalu, Roz was forced by dwindling food and water supplies to make landfall instead on the island of Tarawa in Kiribati. There she met the President, and learned from him how he plans to relocate his people as their low-lying islands become uninhabitable due to rising sea levels.

Hawaii to Kiribati 2009:

Miles traveled: 3,158

Oarstrokes: about 1,335,834

Time alone at sea: 104 days

Number of times across the Equator: 2

Larabars consumed: 297

Pounds lost: 30

Whale sharks: 1

Other sharks: dozens

Other whales: dozen or so, species unknown

Dolphins: dozens

Turtles: 3

Squid: 3, landed on deck, very messy