Roz Savage finishes Indian Ocean row

Long distance rower Roz Savage has added yet another ocean to her already impressive resume. The woman who has already rowed solo across the Atlantic and Pacific, has now completed the Indian Ocean as well, arriving in Mauritius today after 154 days at sea.

Savage began her journey way back in April, when she set out from Fremantle, Australia. After a few early set backs with her boat, she eventually hit the open water, where she spent more than five months alone, battling high winds, big waves, and ocean storms. Some days she made good progress, racking up plenty of miles, and others she struggled all day just to end up back where she started.

Of course, with four major long distance rows under her belt – Roz did the Pacific in three stages – it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. The Indian Ocean did present its own unique challenges however and for the first time, she had to deal with the real possibility of encountering pirates on one of her journeys. Because of that threat, Savage chose to keep her GPS tracking system off until she was nearly to the finish line, just in case someone else was following her progress.

With the completion of her Indian Ocean crossing, Roz has now become the first woman to row solo across the Indian, Pacific, and the Atlantic. With all of that time spent out on the water, she’s gained quite an appreciation for our planet and the importance of taking care of our oceans. That’s a message she has carried with her across the globe and continues to spread where ever she goes.

Now that she’s conquered the last of the “Big Three” of ocean rowing, Roz has announced she’s hanging up her oars to pursue other endeavors. I’m not sure how you top rowing three oceans, but I’m sure she’ll find a way.

British woman rowing across the Indian Ocean

British ocean rower Roz Savage just can’t seem to stay at home. The adventurous 43-year old has already conquered both the Atlantic and Pacific, and now has her sights squarely set on rowing across the Indian Ocean as well. She set out from Fremantle, Australia yesterday and is now making her way to Mumbai, India in a voyage that is expected to cover more than 4000 miles and take four and a half months to complete.

Roz wasn’t always an adventurer. Like many of us, she had a regular job, a house in the suburbs, and a bit of a mundane life. Sometime in her mid-30’s however, she discovered that she wanted something more, and set out on her first big adventure – rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. In 2005, she became the first woman to accomplish that feat solo, and it only inspired her to want to row some more. In 2008, she embarked on a successful three-stage, three-year solo row of the Pacific Ocean as well. In all, Savage estimates that she has rowed over 11,000 miles, using 3.5 million oar strokes, and has spent nearly a year of her life alone on the water.

All that time out at sea has provided Roz with a new found appreciation for our planet, and the oceans in particular. That has turned her into a tireless environmentalist who believes that the overall health of the Earth is directly influenced by the health of the oceans. She is hoping to convey that message to the world while she toils away on her latest voyage.

Despite the fact that she already has plenty of experience on the open water, Roz has taken steps to be extra cautious on this journey. On her previous expeditions for instance, she provided a “Roz Tracker” on her website to allow others to follow her progress online. This time out, she has removed that option to keep pirates operating in the area from knowing her whereabouts. She is also keeping her exact final destination a secret as well, for the same reason.

If she successfully crosses the Indian Ocean, Roz will have completed the “Big Three” of rowing. But that doesn’t seem to have put a damper on her plans for the future. Her website suggests that she’s already planning another crossing of the Atlantic in 2012, this time going from the U.S. to the U.K.

Like I said, she clearly doesn’t like to stay home.

[Photo credit: Roz Savage]

British woman completes solo row across the Pacific Ocean

British ocean rower Roz Savage arrived in Madang, Papua New Guinea yesterday, completing the third, and final, stage of her solo row across the Pacific Ocean. Her arrival marked an end to an adventure that she has dedicated more than five years of her life to finishing.

Roz first came up with the idea of rowing across the Pacific after she completed a solo row across the Atlantic back in 2005. That journey took 103 days to complete and covered 2935 miles of open water. In 2007 she launched her first attempt on the Pacific but was forced to return to land a few days after getting underway. Undaunted, she returned to the water in 2008, and completed the first stage of her journey, rowing the 2324 miles from San Francisco to Hawaii in just under 100 days. In 2009, stage two took her from Hawaii to Tuvalu in the South Pacific, covering an additional 3158 miles over 104 days.

For her third, and final stage, Roz planned to row from Tuvalu to Australia, but strong ocean currents, persistent winds, and other conditions prevented her from traveling that far south. Instead, she drifted towards Papua New Guinea, where she finally stepped back onto dry land after covering an additional 2248 miles in just 45 days.

By completing this final leg, Roz has now become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific, a voyage that took a total of 249 days to complete and covered 7730 miles in total. A former management consultant for a major bank in the U.K., Roz quit her job back in 2001 to pursue a life of adventure. Since then, she has become a tireless environmental activist who has worked hard to raise awareness of the plight of the world’s oceans and is likely to continue pursuing that cause in the future. To that end, she recently launched a new website called Eco Heroes that has become a social network for the environmentally conscious set to connect.

British woman completes second stage of trans-Pacific row

Way back in May we covered Roz Savage as she set out on the second leg of her attempt to row solo across the Pacific. Now, 105 days later, she has finished that stage, arriving on the island of Tarawa yesterday, where she was greeted by her support team and hundreds of locals, who gave her a traditional island welcome.

Last year, Roz became the first woman to row solo from San Francisco to Hawaii, a distance of 2324 miles. This year’s second stage covered another 3158 miles and sets up a third and final stage, from Tarawa to Australia in 2010. When she’s finishes sometime next summer, Roz will become the first woman to complete a solo row across the Pacific Ocean. Back in 2005, she finished her first ocean row, by crossing the Atlantic in 103 days.

Tarawa was not Roz’s intended destination on this leg of her journey. Originally she had planned to arrive at the island of Tuvalu, but ocean currents and winds helped to push her further west than she had hoped, forcing her to row several hundred miles further than what had been scheduled.

While this epic journey is inspiring enough on its own, Roz is also rowing for a cause. She is hoping to raise awareness about a number of environmental concerns, including the use of plastics, and the importance of recycling. The health of the oceans, as you can imagine, are important to health of the entire planet, and that is a message that Roz hopes to convey, as she makes her environmentally friendly expedition across the Pacific.

Congrats to Roz on finishing the second leg of her journey, and good luck in 2010 on stage three.