You can see ROZ’S ROUTE here. Each dot links to the blog from that day.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
After rowing over 4,000 miles of pirate-infested ocean Roz Savage crossed the official line of longitude at 0627 UTC on 4th of October, 2011 becoming the First Woman to Row Across the “Big Three” Oceans of the World: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans
The Ocean Rowing Society International issued a message, “This is a really fantastic achievement, please pass to Roz our sincere admiration and congratulations! We are prepared to submit Guinness Records a list of the records Roz is entitled to and will inform you about it shortly.”
When Roz set out to row the Atlantic, critics said, “She isn’t tall enough or strong enough to row an ocean.” But at last, after rowing 15,000 miles, taking over 5 million oar strokes, and spending over 500 days at sea, Roz Savage has set a world record and accomplished her goal. What motivates Roz Savage to row the oceans? It is her mission to show that each one of us has a role in fostering environmental sustainability and creating our collective future. Just like her oar-strokes, many tiny actions add up to a big achievement.
Colin Leonhardt provided an aerial video of Roz Savage as she departed on the Indian Ocean from Australia.
On April 21st Roz was questioning her career options. She wrote, “Surely there have to be easier ways to spread the good green word. By 9pm my boat had been knocked down twice already, big waves had knocked her over to an angle of greater than 90 degrees. Imagine someone abruptly rotating your bedroom through 90 degrees. It’s not that much fun. On the second knockdown a torrent of water came gushing into the cabin through one of the ventilation holes, which I had pressed into service as an outlet for my satphone antenna cable so I could put a patch antenna on the cabin roof. Clearly I was going to have to remove the antenna so I could close the ventilation hole. But getting out of my bunk and going out into the wild night was about as appealing as root canal surgery. Taking my knife between my teeth in time-honoured fashion, I reluctantly ventured out onto the darkness of the deck. It was wild out there – blowing a gale, boat pitching, water flying everywhere. I velcro’d on the ankle leash for safety and turned back to the cabin roof to cut down the antenna. But something else caught my eye – one of my spare oars was flapping uselessly, the spoon broken right across, hanging on only by a few wood fibres…”
Roz (age 43) freely admits to being an unlikely adventurer. She is only 5’4″, and was already in her late thirties by the time she started ocean rowing, having spent the first eleven years of her adult life working as a management consultant in London. Her life changed when she wrote two versions of her own obituary – the one she wanted and the one she was heading for – and realized she wasn’t on track for the kind of life that would leave a worthwhile legacy. She turned her back on her materialistic lifestyle and reinvented herself as an adventurer, using her ocean voyages to raise awareness and inspire action on environmental issues.
“On the ocean, it’s clear that I have to keep showing up day after day and sticking my oars in the water if I want to get to where I’m going. It’s the same with any big challenge, including the environment. We all have to start living more sustainably, and keep up those good habits day after day, if we are to correct our course for a cleaner, greener, brighter future.” Roz Savage
The Grand Baie Coast Guard monitored her arrival and ‘shadow’ from Gunners Coin. Roz Savage was escorted by; Tony Humphreys (Water Logistics Manager) Colin Leonhardt (Videographer), Dr. Aenor Sawyer (Expedition Medic) along with members of the press and MBC News through the Coin Channel to the Grand Baie Yacht Club in Grand Baie, Mauritius, on October 4th, 2011. Roz was warmly greeted by her Mum and Team Captain, Rita Savage, who had been eagerly awaiting Roz’s arrival at the dock. Immigration, Health and Customs Officials attended at the time of arrival and conducted the official formalities at GBYC.
Roz Savage is a United Nations Climate Hero and an Athlete Ambassador for 350.org. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an International Fellow of the Explorers’ Club of New York (ditto link), and has been listed amongst the Top Twenty Great British Adventurers by the Daily Telegraph (ditto link it). In 2010 she was named Adventurer of the Year by National Geographic .
Her inspirational book, “Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean”, is published by Simon & Schuster. The eponymous documentary has been screened around the world in association with the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
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For further information and to schedule interviews:
In the USA and Canada please contact:
Sandra Vaughn, Development Specialist for Roz Savage, (971) 373-8095; sandra.vaughn.pm@gmail.com
For B-roll and High-res press photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67864917@N02/with/6195421366/
http://vimeo.com/user1977497 Photo/Film Credit; BVPVISUALS.COM
In the UK, Australia, and all other countries please contact:
Alan Murray or Zoe Chanas at Seven20 Management.
Office: +44 (0)1403 282 199, +44 (0)1403 282 199; Mobile: +44 (0) 7760 183744, +44 (0)7760 183744; Email: alan@murraypr.com
Roz,
We’re all still rooting for ya. We will all be with you in spirit if not in person when you land. Row these last strokes with vigor and in contemplation further adventure in whatever form it might take.Stan
Row in contemplation Roz, Row
If you all could find it in your heart to click on that little “share” or “tweet” button above… The tiny action would be appreciated in it’s accumulation… just sayin~
Jay
Good reminder, Jay ;-D
Get there safe Roz.
Roz we are proud of you. Following your journey from Goa, India. Wish your destination had been Goa, all of us in Goa would have loved to welcome you.
All the best for the next 3 – 4 days. Cheers.
you have been truly inspiring to us. Thinking we went on 87 day expedition this summer that was amazing, inspiring and challenging, all the while you left before us and are still out there. I love it. keep join and think baby steps.
YEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHAAAAAAWWWWWWW!
Oh my gosh. My facebook profile is not going to be the same after October 4th. Every day I shared a snippet of Roz’s blog. I can’t believe she was able to write such beautiful blogs every day. (Oh, and row oceans, too!)
Stan, any way you could (re)calculate Roz’s days at sea as well as her percentage of life spent on the ocean? Easter Sunday April 24th was day 365 plus or minus one day at Albohoros Island. (even I lost track there…:)
Thanks!
~Jay
More Power to You, Roz! We surround you with our love, thoughts and prayers. Go, Roz, Go!
Homestretch! Almost half a year at sea, impressive!
Roz, I do hope for the opportunity to meet you again some day to tell you in person just how proud I am to have met you and to have played a small part in your venture. You do what you do with such style and grace as to be an example to all who follow you whatever their age. Thank you!
Fantastic Roz!!
So glad to hear you are nearly there. What a marvellous achievement. Have followed your journey with great interest I hope it brings lots of publicity to a worthy cause!
Ahhh Roz Savage
You started off with desire, fantasy, fear and a challenge.
The desire to meet your new self. The fantasy you have now
created into your own reality. Fear was a boat mate and has since lost is way, homeless.
The continuous challenge to see how big your life can become. We your friends
and readers often wondered how crowded your boat had become. With so many tasks
and personalities surfacing each rowing day. Behind the curtain and witnessed only by
weather and animals. A single bold , bright voice , brought us into your journey. I say for
myself , I had to add a load of laundry each week from the salt spray in my
clothes . You let us feel as if we were rowing beside you , good times and bad.
The environmental encouragement is the mental floss we all need to exercise.
The teaching and gentle push helps to improve our only planet. Thank you every
day for that soft but firm devotion Roz. It comes through wonderfully in your writing.
You give to each of us, in advance, the
trust only close friends grow to know in
time. I thank you for all you have done and will do. Many thanks to all on the
Roz Savage support team. Perhaps there will be a public picture and bio on each
of these wonderful folks? Lastly there is Rita Savage. Your mom, the master of multi-tasking on dry
land. We barely know the grass surrounding
the mountain, of her inner strength. Who
could have guessed we would grow to deeply appreciate the median of the messenger.
I know personally, all that a Savage mother gives UN-selfishly. It takes a life
time and every day to give thanks back. I
look forward to the next chapter of your journey, please stay in touch. With gratitude
and hugs, Bsavage.
Hugs and blessings to the worlds prettiest around the world rower! Roz, you are all woman….maybe that’s why you can and do accomplish things that men are unable too!
Here comes the fun part. You can watch the media waking up and becoming aware of Roz by entering Roz Savage as a search term in a Google news alert. Because you are already up to speed you get to judge the media. There is power in understanding how news propagates. There is an industry built around it.
http://www.google.com/alerts
Select type : everything, news, blogs, video, discussions.
Select frequency: daily, weekly, or as it happens
Select volume : Only the best results or all
Make sure you remember how to turn this off or your mailbox will be swamped.
An example: http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2011/09/the-rower-roz-savage
The Rozlings shall
rule this week.
yup, top story of the week, for sure…
Been spreading the word on this upcoming triumph this past week. Not entirely surprised so few have heard of Roz, but it would be a better world if people fixated on Roz and people like her, rather than on the Palins, the Lohans, the ……..
Fantastic story!
Hi Roz and Rita,
We met you in Kendal last year after big sis Angela in SF said we MUST ! You graciously spared time for Jonny and me and we were both rather gob smacked by your normality, slightness of build and tenacity. What you had achieved then was awesome ! How much more in the last 5 months. I’ve been anxious and Sea sick for you .. We couldn’t eat or row for you ., but we can and have done the pray bit . It was clear that evening what a wonderfully strong bond there is between mother and Daughter and your gracious freedom and serenity , Rita , about letting Roz get on with life is a lesson to any mother .( Today is the day we have left Jonny at Uni in Warwick ) .How have you coped ? Our prayers have been for your , too .
Lights of Mauritius for now, but soon the firework celebrations of Life and may we all wake up to your message of the power to change things , one stroke at a time and wake up to save this wonderful , wonderful world ! Thank you Roz … and a huge special thanks to Rita .. Love from Jonny and Fiona Schneider… from Ilkley .
So amazingly proud of who you are! Your photo should appear in the dictionary next to the word: “Inspiration” — among other equally positive words! Enjoy your land days ahead! And may angels help you row in the last few miles! All the best to you, Roz!
It’s difficult to express adequately my admiration at your achievement, my thanks for your inspiration and my joy at your safe arrival. Thank you for doing what you did, the way you did, and for the convictions you held. x
Way to go Roz, So glad that your journey is completed. Like the others have said above WoooooooooHHHEEEEEyeah… following your efforts on line has been inspiring and rewarding. Thank you for your courage, diligence and persistence.
Glad you’re in safe and that the records are finally over. NOT likely anyone will challenge that in the short term. Now u can row for fun, beauty and ocean awareness… ummm, can you really row for fun? Being such an athletic type; but the fact is: here in Florida and most continental inshore waters, we are in trouble. Maybe not out where you are, but in 2010 I went swimming on the east coast of Florida one rough day and swallowed only 1 mouthful of water, but got sick on the drive home to my secluded home. I have an organ transplant so I am like the “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to environmental health. To think, I never had to worry about that for my swimming or my beloved fish during the 70’s, 80.s and 90’s. See you next trip, whenever & wherever that is… Enjoy victory!