I am now back in so-called "civilisation". After a much-needed break in the small coastal town of Bolinas I am now feeling fully restored, the sleep bank has been replenished, and I am ready to return to the fray.
This Tuesday I fly to Britain for a 3-week trip, combining business and pleasure. I have various meetings with sponsors, media and agents, but will also be making time to hike the 95 miles of Scotland's West Highland Way with my sister. We haven't seen each other for nearly 2 years, since before I rowed the Atlantic - not deliberately, just an inability to find ourselves in the same country at the same time. Walking an average 13 miles a day and cramming ourselves into a small 2-man tent each night will give us possibly more than enough opportunity to catch up.
I won't have my laptop with me in Scotland - every ounce counts when you're carrying your world on your back - so I'm going to write a few blogs in advance, mostly philosophical maunderings inspired by an edition of This American Life I heard on the car radio last night.
This American Life was my staple listening fare for the first week of my Pacific row, and I suspect that for evermore Ira Glass's deadpan tones will remind me of the aborted Pacific Row 2007. I counted off the hours of my rowing shifts according to its one-hour episodes. One good thing about my enforced delay is that I will be able to add another year's worth of TAL podcasts to the 57 already on my iPod.
First of Roz's Ruminations coming up tomorrow....
[photo: departing from Crescent City, Aug 12. Battery Point Lighthouse in the background. For more photos of Aug 12 see this new album in my Gallery]
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My Pacific row is a project of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a small nonprofit with the commendable objectives of promoting marine conservation through encouraging grassroots efforts and building consensus between the myriad of nonprofits involved with the oceans.
They are looking for a new director to staff their Washington, DC, office, so I am doing my bit to help find a new recruit by posting the "Positions Vacant" ad here. Contact details are at the bottom.
MARINE CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP POSITION AVAILABLE
POSITION - DIRECTOR - DC OFFICE, BLUE FRONTIER CAMPAIGN
REPORTS TO: PRESIDENT, BFC
LOCATION - WASHINGTON DC
STARTING DATE - IMMEDIATELY
The Blue Frontier Campaign is committed to building unity, providing tools and increasing awareness of the solution oriented ocean and coastal protection movement. It has organized national and regional conferences, tours and 'celebrations of the sea,' and produced organizing brochures, books including the 'Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide' and '50 Ways to Save the Ocean,' and online resources including Blue Notes emails. It also works on school curriculums, print, radio, and TV stories and the bluefront.org website.
With founder David Helvarg establishing a West Coast Office BFC is looking for a motivated independent person to run our DC office. The job will include fundraising and development for BFC, basic financial administration, organizing a national Blue Vision Summit in 2008, working on the website, and with the media as well as a wide range of marine organizations. The Director will also oversee interns and volunteers, and do conference outreach both on Capitol Hill and to local and regional seaweed groups across the nation.
We're looking for someone who is self-directing and entrepreneurial, has experience or familiarity with running the day-to-day operations of a small NGO, and is passionate about restoring our living seas through bottom up citizen action. Writing skills are a plus.
Work is based in Washington DC. Salary is commensurate with experience.
Submit resume and cover letter to:
David Helvarg
Helvarg@bluefront.org
510-778-8470
202-387-8030
Please be prepared to email a letter explaining your interest and a resume.
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Serendipity, synchronicity, or plain old-fashioned good luck decreed that one of the crew members of the White Holly just happened to be a filmmaker. Caitlin Maynard of North Beach Films has been hard at work since our return creating this video of our mission to salvage the Brocade.
It includes footage of what happened when a wave came along at just the wrong moment and set the Brocade swinging from the crane. Eric and I were trapped aloft, powerless to do anything to help, while others scurried around on deck trying to stop the Brocade crashing into railings or the shark cage. To say I was tense would be a slight understatement. Some minor damage was sustained - to my nerves, as well as to the Brocade's rudder...
[And please, no rude comments about the wetsuit - with its oversize shoulders it makes me look like Popeye. Not a good look, but it was the only one available.]
Thanks, Caitlin, for putting this together.
And if you haven't checked out my Video Gallery recently, you may want to take a look. There are a few other new items in there too.
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I see that Steve Fossett is still missing in the Nevada desert, where he was scouting for a suitable location for an attempt on the land speed record.
Although his adventures (and his budgets) have been on a significantly larger scale than mine, Mr Fossett and I do have at least one thing in common - the engineer who fitted the video cameras to my boat has also done a lot of work with SF and Sir Richard Branson, to capture footage of their record attempts.
I found this short article about how and why people relate to adventurers - interesting.
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