Roz Savage Rowing across the Pacific, one stroke at a time.

I wanted to share a story some of you may have read, or heard about. Roz Savage, a 41 yr old British woman who is rowing solo across the Pacific to raise awareness about environmental issues. While I'm not rowing solo over thousands of miles of open ocean, I am doing a few things similar to Roz. First, I'm trying something I've never attempted. I'm doing it solo. And finally, I'm on the water and in a boat. I know...it's not quite the same as rowing solo across the Pacific, but she does give me some great inspiration. One thing that is interesting about this project is when I talk to people. One of the first things they ask is, "Your going by yourself"? For those of you who wonder, yes, it's my preference to do this solo. First, it's easier to do it this way. There isn't any waiting for someone else's schedule or, having to slow down when they're tired. I also know that when I'm tired or need some food,I am not easy to be around. The freedom of being solo is pretty nice too. If I feel like I want to put some miles in at midnight, I can. I enjoy my own company so it's not a burden, but a great time for reflection and thought. Finally, its a challenge of an individual nature. Basically I'll follow someone else's pushing and motivation if they are there. I wouldn't have to be disciplined...I could be lazy. Doing it solo challenges me to be disciplined.

Anyway, Roz has reached Hawaii and is waiting for next summer to start her 2nd leg. Along the way Roz had storms, equipment failures, including her water distilling equipment failing. Her blog is full of adventure and reflection. In addition, I love her philosophy about this whole deal. Essentially it can be simplified to, "If I repeat what I did today 364 times, will I be where I want to be next year?" A great question!

Here's an article that appeared in the London Sunday Times about Roz's philosophy on life.
I Am What I Am
[Sunday Times, 23 April 2006]

o Don't waste mental energy asking yourself if you CAN do something. Just do it. You'll surprise yourself. I did.

o Be clear about your objectives. Ignore others, stay true to yourself and measure success only against your own criteria. I was last to finish the race - big deal. I went out there to learn about myself, and I did.

o The only constant in life is change. So don't get depressed by the bad times, and don't get over-excited by good ones. Accept that things are exactly as they are, and even bad times have something to teach us.

o Life can be magical, but magic only gets you so far. Then you need discipline, determination and dedication to see it through.

o Hope can hurt. The danger is that you hope for too much and set yourself up for disappointment. Be optimistic but realistic. Nothing is ever as good or as bad as you expect it to be.

o Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today's actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?

o Decision-making: act in faith, not fear, and don't worry about making a 'wrong' decision - the way you implement it is more important than the decision itself.

o Be your own best friend. The more you rely on other people, the less control you have over your destiny.

o Be proud of your own obituary: a few years ago I wrote two versions of my obituary, the one I wanted and the one I was heading for. They were very different. I realized I needed to make some big changes if I was going to look back and be proud of my life. I am making those changes, and now I have a life worth living.

If your interested in reading more about Roz, here's a link to her website and blog.
http://www.rozsavage.com/

Clipper on Board...NOC too! The first On-line donation came in as well.

This past week has been what I would call "the start" of good things with this project. Last week I met with NOC, the Nantahala Outdoor Center based in Bryson City, NC, about sponsorship and in particular help with getting a boat. After a great meeting talking about the project, NOC has committed to helping me with this project and help in getting a boat that meets the needs of the trip. For some, a boat... is a boat... is a boat. For others, a boats design is everything. Over the last 10 years or so, it seems like to paddle you need a quiver of boats. Specific boats to do specific types of paddling. Everything from whitewater creek paddling to calmwater seakayaking to whitewater freestyle to marathon flatwater paddling all have their unique boat designs available to do very specific things. I have many boats that are designed for lots of different purposes, but for this trip, I need a boat to carry lots of gear...30 days worth. It also has to be comfortable over lots of miles of sitting, offer some protection from the elements and finally, be fast enough to cover distances efficiently. Verlen Kruger couldn't find one to fit his needs so he built what he needed to cover the 28,000 miles he paddled criss-crossing North America in the 80's. I looked at what he used when I started to look for a boat design. I looked at Kruger Canoe's Seawind and the Clipper Canoe's Sea-1 and found those to be the best choices available to meet all my needs. The Sea-1 is lighter and looked like it was more readily available since there wasn't a wait-list a mile long.

After getting the support of NOC, I wrote Clipper an email and explained the project and my needs/preferences. Clipper is based out of Washington state and makes absolutely some of the best boats on the market including the Sea-1. Take a look at their video of a guy in their shop hitting the hull of a new boat with a hammer. Not a scratch, or dent, or crack showed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMnus9nZ34E

Today, I received a reply for the great folks at Clipper. They are going to sponsor my trip through the use of a Kevlar Sea-1 for this project!
Many thanks to NOC and Clipper Canoe for the help. Now, I just have to get the boat from Washington to NC.

Also, a huge thanks to my first on-line contributor. He knows who he is...it meant a lot to see that. THANKS

My Dad's Vietnam service...what is a FAC?

I thought I'd post some information about what my dad did while a pilot in Vietnam. It was 1967-68 when he served and since I was only 6 I had no idea what he was doing. It was during a high school project that I found out what it meant to be a FAC in Vietnam.
His call sign was Sidewinder and he was stationed at a small base in Bien Hoa which is about 20 miles from Saigon. Here's a couple links that have a history, information, photo's and news about the FAC's and the 19th TASS.
http://www.squawk-flash.org/19th_tass/19th_tass.htm

http://www.fac-assoc.org/19%20TASS/19thTASS.htm

http://www.talkingproud.us/HistoryBirddog13.html

Who will this project help? Also, the brochure is posted.

This weekend I spent working on edits and rewrites of parts of the brochure to be used to publicize and promote this scholarship project. As I was working on it, I was thinking about who this is really about. It's a little about my father, but more importantly it's about the students that this might benefit. I believe my dad would appreciate that aspect of this more than anything. We live in an area where college hasn't been an option for so many of our high school graduates. The need to work, the lack of funds, or just the lack of a family that has a college going culture. Many of the kids that this could help might be the very first in their family to attend college.
My last job was as the Director of GEAR UP with Southwestern Community College, a federally funded college access and awareness program. I worked with 4 school systems to develop and implement programs and activities that address these same issues. We started working with middle school students to envision and plan what they wanted to do in life. We introduced programs such as the First Lego Robotics that built an interest in math and engineering skills through building Lego Robots that can accomplish a series of competitive tasks. Check out their website: http://firstlegoleague.org/community/HomePage.aspx
It was amazing to watch these kids from all kinds of backgrounds get excited and excel with this project. My hope is that through these kinds of projects, these kids will become inspired to pursue a career in one of these areas.
The same hope runs through my mind on this project. Maybe, just maybe, this project will allow some student to pursue that excitement and go on to a successful college and career.
Here's the brochure so check it out.
paddling for a purpose.pdf


It's in PDF format which you can open using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Connecting

Joined Facebook yesterday. Have to say....wow! Reconnecting with so many people has been just way too fun. This project is going to be alot of work, but what a hoot if I get to reconnect to some old friends.
This whole idea is Steve Claxton's fault...er idea. For those of you who don't know, Steve works in the Central Office of our school system and just completed a trans-america bike trip to establish a scholarship in his mothers name. He was very successful to say the least, but it was because of him that I started this idea. He told me that it was the people you meet along the way and how he was constantly surprised by the goodness and generosity of people. I have no idea how successful we will be in this endeavor, but I look forward to seeing where it goes.
Here's the link to Steve's trip for those of you who are interested. He's got some great journal entries and photos.
http://bikeacrossamericaclaxton.org/