The Voyage: Roz Savage
Failure Is Temporary; It's Giving Up That Makes It Permanent
31 Aug 2007, San Francisco, California

It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I had planned for this row for so long, but I was starting to feel that I was battling just too hard to make it happen. When would I cross the fine line between being determined and being foolish?

We had worked so hard to keep all options open. My valiant crew on board the White Holly had slaved away all day yesterday to fit a new sea anchor, install additional water ballast, and mend or replace the broken electronics, to make the Brocade safe and ready to row.

I had also spoken to the Ocean Rowing Society and found that while it would not be a qualifying record row if I restarted from the location where I was picked up by the US Coast Guard, it WOULD be valid if I restarted from the Farralon Islands, which are officially part of the city of San Francisco and of the continental US. We had therefore diverted the White Holly to this new start point.

But to make this expedition happen, three elements had to be in place. The boat had to be safe, I had to be ready, and the weather had to be right. We had the first two, but what of the third?

I was having long conversations with my weather guy twice daily - see the Weather tab on this site for his comments. The situation was this: the weather for the first few days would be marginal. When we ran the figures, it looked as if I would manage to avoid colliding with the California coast, but it would be tough to make much westerly progress. On the criteria of our old stoplight system the conditions were yellow, bordering on red. And looking beyond that, the trade winds have been flukey this year so my progress to Hawaii would be slow. The longer I was out on the ocean, the more likely that I would run into winter storms before reaching my destination. With the delay in departing while I waited in vain for a window to open from San Francisco, plus the week I had lost since being picked up off Fort Bragg, it was now getting perilously late in the season.

So we were lacking the third crucial component. When your weather guy advocates postponement until the next season, you have to take him seriously. I am very lucky to have such a sound advisor as Rick Shema, and there is no point in enlisting professional advice if you are going to ignore it.

Rowing across an ocean is a challenging enterprise, and it is important to maximise the chances of success. When there are tough decisions to be made, you have to trust the process. I was keen to go and reluctant to give up on the dream, but in a calmer time I had laid down what weather conditions were necessary to succeed, and present circumstances did not meet my criteria.

I was mulling on this all day yesterday while we worked on the boat, and this morning I woke up knowing that postponement was the right thing to do.

It saddens me to make this announcement, especially given the wonderful waves of good wishes and enthusiastic support that I have received - from my sponsors Brocade, the Blue Frontier Campaign, my gallant support team, the crew of the White Holly, Captain Lorenzo, and the many people who have been following my adventures via this website. I would have loved it if I could have given you a happy ending sooner rather than later.

But I am absolutely determined that there WILL be a happy ending - it will just take a bit longer than expected. In the meantime, I thank you all for your interest and your support, and I promise that I will reward your faith in me - next summer, when the time is right.

PS From Rita: You can sign up for an email alert - scroll down the page and find the box on the right where you can do so. You will then receive an alert each time a new message is added to this site.



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Day 20: Recent Information
Rita Savage
31 Aug 2007

For some recent information click on Track and Weather on the tabs above. Rick Shema, otherwise known as Weatherguy, gives a daily report with very useful information. Some other data is still out of date due to the fact that we are not yet receiving all the electronic messages from the boat Brocade.


(Picture: Finding the Needle in the Haystack! Photographed from USS Momsen a few days ago)

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We Found Her!
roz
29 Aug 2007, The Brocade

[photo: Eric's prediction of where we would find the Brocade, using the position updates provided by the MarineTrack beacon. Thanks to his prediction, when we spotted the Brocade on the radar, 5 miles away, we were already heading straight for her.]



Audio report from the White Holly with Brocade on board.

Also note that with the boat secure, we have re-enabled position reports & the map on the tracking page.

Thanks are due to all members of her support team and especially those responsible for expert and accurate tracking information, and to Rick (Weatherguy) for his prediction of suitable conditions for the rescue. Their reports are updated regularly on the website and can be found by clicking on the tabs above.

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A Message from the Blue Pacific
Roz and Rita Savage
29 Aug 2007, the White Holly

[photo: Roz on the bow of White Holly]



Roz has sent this audio message from the research vessel White Holly. The sound towards the end is not very good, but I think we can hear enough to get a good idea of what she is saying. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

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