“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. Thomas Edison
I am thinking about an early July departure from Tofino, so that puts me at about 8 months away. Not much time really. I’ve also been thinking (a lot) about what I can do to ensure that this departure is successful. I really don’t want to have to repeat it if something were to go wrong. I know from experience that it takes at least two tries to get something right. It took 2 shots at the 24 hour HPV record, 2 goes at the 24 hour HPB record, and the drive leg has already broken twice on WiTHiN – once during the initial lake trials, and then sea trials on Vancouver Island.
I was reading Jason Lewis’s expedition360.com blog again and it took them 2 years and 3 or 4 tries to get away from the California coast. All of their failures were due to a broken drive! It took Roz Savage 2 tries to get away from the California coast in her ocean rowing boat.
I know exactly what I need to do. I need to spend time in WiTHiN on the water! Any water. And I would love nothing more than to be doing that, but the season has closed down on me. The lakes around here are now frozen. It might be an idea to dock WiTHiN in Comox on Vancouver Island for the winter. It’s a cheap $150 flight from Calgary direct to Comox. I could fly out there once a week and spend a few days out in the straight. I think the experience would be invaluable.
At OARS, I noticed a sobering post by the site administrator titled “Incomplete Rows in 2009” There were short descriptions of SEVENTEEN incompleted expeditions so far in 2009. Yikes!
I checked the Ocean Rowing Society statistics page and saw that in all-time, there have been 405 attempts to cross an ocean by human power (for the most part, that has been by rowing – but we plan on changing that :-)) and 156 of those attempts were incomplete – that’s a whopping 38% failure rate! Over 1 in 3 attempts end up in failure, and of those, 6 were lost at sea.
From the OARS forum, below is the list of incomplete ocean rows for 2009 and reasons for their failures (updated July 28th, 2009). This is IMPORTANT stuff and I think that anyone considering a human powered ocean crossing should take all of this to heart and plan accordingly. In the years that I have been following ocean rows, I have found the same issues responsible for prematurely ending an expedition – time and time again. I’ll summarize those issues after this list, and go over some of the steps that I can take to mitigate those risks:
On 28 July 2009 John Maher sent a message to the members of Shepherd Purple Heart Ocean Row – Subject: End of the road
“It is with regret that I confirm that Molly’s quest has been ended. In dense fog, in the deep of the night and rough seas, all communications were lost with no way to generate power due to technical malfunctions. This left us in a suicidal situation to think about continuing as the boat could not be seen and with no communications a decision was made between the team, the Falmouth and Canadian coastguards to start a rescue mission with the aid of an oil rig support vessel. With the use of their radars Molly was located and made safe. He is in the process of being returned to dry land complete with boat and a further update will follow in due course. To confirm both Molly and boat are now safe.”
SIMON PRIOR – SOLO (INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE)
www.amantomauritius.co.uk
13 Jun 2009 – statement from Simon Prior on his decision to retire from the race
“Here I am onboard the race support vessel and I’m most grateful for the kindness, warmth and empathy that the crew have shown to me upon collecting me from my rowing boat, Old Mutual Endurance. The last 54 days have been, if anything, an amazing experience with highs and lows in equal measures. Very sadly I have fallen short of the target that I set myself and I’m distraught that Mauritius never came into view.
CHARLIE GIRARD – SOLO NORTH ATLANTIC W-E
www.atlantique2009.com
On May 29th Charlie called the US coast guard for a rescue, activating his EPIRB to guide them to his position. He was 10 days into his row and in seas of 5-7ft and 15knot winds. His boat was left adrift and has subsequently been recovered. This was Charlie’s second unsuccessful attempt to row the North Atlantic solo after calling in a rescue 50miles out to sea in 2007.
Watch a local news reports on the rescue:
http://wbztv.com/video/?id=77179@wbz.dayport.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRfWL0gAbPE
DOING TIME – PAIR (INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE)
www.bigboysrow.com
Retired after pintles holding the rudder to their boat broke and they lost their para-anchor. Their boat has been cast adrift but will continue to be tracked by the Race Office while all possible options to salvage the boat are considered.
DREAM IT DO IT – PAIR (INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE)
www.indianoceanrace2009.com/racediary.html
From the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009 news page:
Following the retirement and recovery of Boat 2 ‘Dream it Do it’ to the Abrolhos Islands Roger and Tom were flown to Geraldton so that Roger could seek medical examination and assistance from Geraldton Hospital. Examination confirmed the original on-board diagnosis that Roger had indeed cracked a couple of ribs.
HOPPIOLA – SOLO (INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE)
www.hoppipolla1.blogspot.com
From the Indian Ocean Rowing Race 2009 news page:
Throughout Monday 20th April, the progress of boat 8 had been monitored, and in consideration with the forecast wind strength and direction there was concern for the safety of Hoppipolla. The Support Vessel was directed to Hoppipolla’s position and at 09:00GMT (17:00 WA time) Mick Moran, requested assistance. Mick had been experiencing problems with his steering system and centre board and had been finding it impossible to row in the desired direction. The Support Vessel took Hoppipolla under tow and returned to the Batavia Marina.
WHATEVER IT TAKES
– FOUR (INDIAN OCEAN ROWING RACE)
www.crossingtheindian.com
From blog dated 26th April
“Whatever It Takes” discovered water leaking into their aft cabin through the hull bilge pump. As the dark of night was approaching, Go West worked furiously to stop the leak. Dave donned a survival suit and jumped overboard armed with a screwdriver. He spent about an hour in 4 meter seas working on the problem. After an excruciating time he had successfully screwed the housing in properly (one screw was 10mm proud of the housing). The leak had only reduced by about 50% so he attempted to stem the leak with waterproof ‘putty’. It was a valiant effort, but to no avail. The Australian Maritime College “Whatever it Takes” had a terminal leak, the stern cabin and lockers had taken on around 150 litres of water.
After calling in a resuce the team was safely towed ashore.
BERTRAND DE GAULLIER – SOLO (BOUVET RAMES GUYANE) – Translated from French
Communique de Bouvet Rames Guyane 29.04.09
Bertrand de Gaullier, which had capsized Monday and triggered two beacons, waited to be rescued for 36 hours. An expectation of the more painful it was quickly realized that two tags were no longer on board and it would be very difficult to find relief. But Bertrand has never lost his composure and followed the procedure of recovery in professional sea despite his injured right arm which made him suffer for many weeks. It is true that the Captain and Commander of the base of the marines and commandos Lorient, Bertrand de Gaullier des Bordes has always been accustomed to exercise extreme and dangerous situations.
http://www.bouvet-ramesguyane.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1087&Itemid=139
REMY ALNET – SOLO (BOUVET RAMES GUYANE) – Translated from French
Testimony of Remy 18.04.09
“I was in the cockpit and I wanted to put the music louder. I was opening the panel of my car when a wave larger than the other has completely flooded the interior. The boat was unbalanced and quickly capsized. I wanted to run the pumping system, but it did not work. I have plunged more than ten times, unfortunately without success. I’m back on the hull of my boat but I was getting cold and lose strength … I knew I had to tinker a place of retreat since the arches for that purpose had been broken at the outset, I then had the idea of crossing the oars on each side of the boat and then to pass ropes between these two extremes, I thus made a sort of ring. Then it plunges back that I had to recover my survival suit and food to consider an expectation that I knew I could be long. I imagined that we were looking for me and I kept hoping but it was very hard because the waves me destabilization and a little balance in my shell, I often fell into the water. I can say that I swallowed seawater overnight. But I clung to my oars, I do not let go. I had more strength, and I finally cling to the oars. In addition, the boat sank, he was only 50 cm above the water … The night was interminable. When, at daybreak, I saw the freighter that was 300 yards away, I went back under the water for my rockets. I waited until the last moment to recover because I knew I had to drown the cabinet and then the boat would sink a little more. I’ve touvées and got back on the boat. I had three, the first one did not work, the second not only at the third that it worked. The crew of the Astro Chloe saw me and took me retrieved using a basket. They tried to save my boat but it did not work. ”
Currently aboard the Super Tanker “Astro Chloe, Remy Alnet will be landed on a boat patrol in Brazil to be deposited in Cayenne. “I do not have my papers, I lost everything and it is preferable that I landed on French soil,” explained the skipper.
Hear the testimony of Remy Alnet
http://www.bouvet-ramesguyane.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=982&Itemid=139
PATRICIA LEMOINE – SOLO (BOUVET RAMES GUYANE) – translated from French
Communicates Bouvet Rames Guyane 11.04.09
If the conditions of wind and current remain the leading men of the Bouvet Rames Guyane Cayenne should see during the weekend, thus crossing the Atlantic to train in six weeks. At the other end of the water, things get complicated for most skippers and South, although it dragged on the shores of the Black Pot, Patricia Lemoine throws in the towel and announced it abandoned.
OLIVER HICKS – SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION
www.virginglobalrow.com
Olly’s departed Tasmania, Australia on 23rd January and began an attempt to row around Antarctica and become the first person to complete a circumnavigation of the globe without touching land. Olly decided to suspend his how at New Zealand. Olly managed to get within 12nm of the coast before being pushed back out to sea so was forced to call in a tow and was picked up at 25nm from land (in 40kn winds and a 4m swell) and he and his boat were safely bought ashore. Olly gives his reasons for suspending the row in his blog dated 10th April:
…our mileage made good is miserable and would works out if I was to carry on regardless in completion of the end goal in about 5 years….. In large this poor progress is down to problems with the boat. She does not like to go downwind of her own accord or indeed once the wind gets above 20knots not even under oars. Since the average wind speeds in the Southern Ocean are 20-30kts this is obviously something of a problem. The boat is also incredibly heavy about 2 tonnes and on a calm day I can make only about 1.4kts average which is v slow. We had anticipated making about 1000nm a month as per my Atlantic boat but evidently this has not been borne out. Another fact taken into consideration was that this is the worst year on record for drift ice coming out of the Ross sea. With Icebergs over 5km long reported in the region.
VICTOR MOONEY – SOLO ATLANTIC (SENEGAL TO NEW YORK)
www.goreechallenge.com
On 15th April Victor’s team announced that his desalinator had stopped working and that he would be abandoning his row. He was rescued by a nearby fishing vessel. His boat was lost after the line towing it behind the fishing vessel broke. The following day he posted this blog:
ERDEN ERUC – SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION
www.around-n-over.org
Erden has decided to come in to land in the North of New Guinea and continue his circumnavigation (by ocean rowing boat
across the oceans and by bike across the continents via the highest mountain on each of the 6 ‘mainland’ continents) later in the year. He will be walking across New Guinea from September, then kayaking to a suitable island from which to continue rowing to mainland Australia. Then it’s back on the bike via Mt Kosciusko aiming to reach Western Australia by April 2010 to set off on the indian ocean leg of his journey.
EDDY LESAGE – SOLO ATLANTIC E-W
www.eddylesage.fr
Blog updated by Eddy’s support team 21st January
17/01 Watermaker stopped working
18/01 Eddy unable to repair watermaker whilst at sea. Whats more he has hurt his right thigh (torn muscle or spasms?). Added to that the batteries haven’t been charging properly.
19/01 In the evening Eddy accepted help offered to him by a safety organisation, to take him back to the island of El Hiero, where he was taken to hospital, a normal procedure in cases like this.
20/01 Eddy left the hospital and unfortunately had to record the damage caused to Martha Dos while she was being towed.
21/01 Eddy has made an inventory of the contents of the boat and is keeping us informed as to how he wants to proceed.
LA MONDIALE – ATLANTIC E-W (CREW OF 14)
www.oceanrowevents.com
Press release dated 15th January
Falmouth Maritime and Rescue Coordination Centre are currently coordinating the search and rescue of ‘La Mondiale’ the British ocean rowboat and its 14 crew. ‘La Mondiale’ is attempting to break the current record by rowing from Gran Canaria to Barbados, with the overall intention of raising £1 million for charitable causes. The Coastguard received a call this morning at 10.21am informing them that the rowboat had lost its rudder after hitting a submerged object 280 miles North West of Cape Verde, a temporary rudder had been rigged up but had now failed them. Martin Bidmead, Watch Manager, Falmouth Maritime and Rescue Coordiantion Centre, said:“We have been able to talk to the crew which consists of several nationalities: British, Scottish, Irish, Canadian and Faroese. They are all safe and well, they are not in a situation of distress only the boat is disabled. But the weather conditions on scene for the next few days will not allow them to make the repairs to the rudder. A Bulk Carrier ‘Island Ranger’ on passage from Brazil to Italy is currently making its way to the rowboat and is expected on scene at 8:00pm to offer assistance.”
ALDO DIANA & KEN MAYNARD – PAIR ATLANTIC E-W
www.atlanticfirefighter.com
Aldo and Ken were headed for the Cape Verdes to make repairs to their electrics which had failed leaving them with limited communication and safety equipment.
From blog dated 6th January
Once again the weather had taken a turn for the worst and we were unable to row. Late Tuesday afternoon we were both in the cabin, feeling rather bored and frustrated when just by chance Ken looked out to see a huge cargo vessel heading straight for us, only hundreds of yards away. Immediately we sprang into action and set off the flares to raise the alarm. The first flare didn’t work but luckily the second one did and fortunately the Turkish crew of the big vessel spotted us just in time to change it’s direction and a major collision was (at first) avoided. Unfortunately the day finished catastrophically for RITA. During the events that ensued poor RITA got wrecked and we boarded the cargo vessel to be taken ashore to Cape Verde. We are devastated but thank God we are alive.
LEO ROSETTE – SOLO ATLANTIC E-W
www.woodvale-challenge.com/Leo+Rosette+Progress
Announcement on tracking website dated 3rd January
Unfortunately following severe sea sickness, and a suspected stomach ulcer, Leo Rosette has been forced to return to La Gomera just days into his Atlantic crossing. Leo is now safely back on land and being treated at the local hospital in San Sebastian de la Gomera and hopes to restart his adventure once he has been cleared to do so by medical staff. Woodvale Challenge would like to thank everyone who played a part in recovering Leo and his boat Halcyon.
Here is a ranked list of reasons for failure:
3 x rudder + 1 broken by hitting submerged object
2 x capsize flood + 1 flood caused by bilge pump leak
2 x power system failures
2 x psychological issues
1 injury + 1 severe sea sickness
1 inadequate boat performance
1. Watermaker – Time and time again I have read about this problem. To me, it seems like 1 out of every 2 ocean rowing expeditions has problems with the electric desalinator. Sometimes the unit is repaired at sea, and sometimes a smaller manual backup unit is used. In the case of the Woodvale ocean rowing race, they are required to take fresh water as ballast. In an emergency, the rowers are allowed to drink this water, but doing so disqualifies the rower(s) from the race.
I have decided to take THREE water makers. My Katadyn 40E electric desalinator, a manual Katadyn survivor 35 and a small backup manual Katadyn Survivor 06. I will also have spare parts and I will make sure that I can overhaul these units before I leave.
2. Rudder – I think we have a pretty beefy rudder and steering system. The rudder is operated by a heavy-duty push-pull cable designed to be used on large sailing yachts and power boats. If something did break on the cable, I can disconnect the push-pull cable, and rig up an emergency steering line system with a pulley and take control over the rudder. If something were to happen to the rudder itself – like striking a submerged object and breaking, then I have a spare rudder from the prototype boat that just happens to fit into the new steering tube.
3. Capsize floods – This is the scary one. In recent history there have been 2 deaths and capsizing has been the primary cause of both of them. In February, 2007, Australian Andrew McCauley attempted to become the first person to cross the Tasman sea by kayak. After 30 days and nights in a slightly modified off-the-shelf kayak only about 75 km away from his destination of New Zealand, Andrew went missing. The next day they found his upturned kayak. It is speculated that Andrew capsized in choppy seas and got separated from his boat. The winds were strong that day, and they would have blown his kayak away from him very quickly. The lesson applied here for me is to always wear a safety tether when in the cockpit with the hatches open. It would be possible to be tossed out of WiTHiN by a rouge wave and partial capsize wile standing up through the top hatch. A tether would at least keep me close to the boat where I could climb back aboard.
The second death was 62 year old Nenad Belic who was rowing his home built ocean rowing boat across the North Atlantic from Cape Cod to Ireland in May of 2001. He went missing after about 4 1/2 months. His boat was found upside down fully flooded 230 miles west of Ireland. This case is a bit puzzling. I have searched for more information and can’t seem to find any. I did find a drawing of his row boat, and to me, it didn’t seem to have any separate water tight compartments. I would think that if it capsized with a hatch or portlight open, it would totally flood, and possibly not right itself. Evidently, this is what happened to Nenad.
If WiTHiN were to capsize with all of the portlights and hatches in the cockpit open, but with the hatches for the cabin and bow storage compartments closed, then the cockpit would flood – but, she would right herself due to the keel, and the cockpit could be bailed out. I’ll have an electric bilge pump in the cockpit to help with the bail out. The rule will be that the inside hatches for the cabin and the bow storage compartment must be kept closed if any of the portlights or hatches are open in the main cockpit. Also, I must wear a tether if there is any possibility of capsizing with the cockpit hatches and ports open.
4. Power system failures – I am having an issue with my power right now because my solar panels aren’t producing enough electricity to run the essential equipment. I am not sure what else to do and I’m looking at some options including hand cranking and a wave generator.
5. Psychological issues – there is only one way to avoid this: TRAINING. I must expose myself to the ocean environment to adjust to that environment.
6. Injury and sea sickness – I have experienced sea sickness and it’s NOT fun. I know that typically after 2 or 3 days your body will get used to it and I think that possibly medication could be the bridge that takes me to the third day. As for injury – I will take a very thorough medical kit.
David Tangye on November 12, 2009
Excellent plan and assessment. Time on water is definitely #1 item needed now. Minor points:Its speculation but Andrew MacAuley was much physically and mentally exhausted too. Tired people make mistakes. Dunno what the latest is on containers floating around the place, but hitting them at speed is probably the worst damage you can do. Re sea sickness: take a Sea Band (2 small balls in a wrist strap that press on a pressure point). I used them once, when going offshore & into a blow after a 12 month break. I am fairly sure they kept me well.
Bryon Howard on November 12, 2009
Agreed – excellent plan and assessment.
#5 – Psychological Issues. You (we) have such a comfortable life. How do you go day after day … on you own … in middle of the Ocean!
How do you train for … adversity?
greg on November 12, 2009
Hi Bryon: Good question – how to train for the solitude and relative discomfort of life out on the Pacific? I don’t know… maybe I spend a couple of days a week living onboard WiTHiN in my garage! Now that would be horrible!!
Not a bad idea though. I could rig up my mag trainer to the output of the drive leg and it could be a good stress test for the drive leg also… hmmm…
RoninVancouver on November 12, 2009
Hi Greg,
About power system failures: Since you are using a pedal system, couldn’t you also attach a generator to assist or use as a back-up to charge batteries? Something like the generator I used when a child to power a headlight when riding my bike at night. –Ron
Russell Moore on November 12, 2009
The problem that I see is that both yourself and WiTHin have not yet been tested in real ocean conditions.
I really think that a shakedown trial will be useful in working out the mental and physical problems that you will encounter.
That will mean getting out onto some part of the ocean that will resemble what you will encounter on the real attempt. Smooth water trials just won’t show up the potential problems that may occur. Russell
Rob on November 12, 2009
Hi Greg.
You have to spend time out on the ocean if you want any chance of succeding in this venture,you havnt spent a night out at sea in rough weather (30 knots of wind and 15ft seas) alone out of site of land yet.I think if you try it you wont like it,you will be sick as a dog,be terrified and call off the venture !!!!!I dont think you have enough time to gain enough experience unless you get out on the ocean now,even then I have my doubts.Open ocean is a crual and dangeroes place….. Rob.
Frank on November 13, 2009
I would recommend using as little power as is necessary. While it is certainly fun to listen to iPods or look at charts on the GPS or play the XBox, it is probably better to use all that stuff sparingly if at all. I would also learn to navigate using a sextant and a compass. You might need it someday.
Ian on November 14, 2009
Greg, you have one thing a rowing boat dosen’t have SPEED, in bad weather you don’t have to go out on deck to row but can keep pedalling no matter what. You will get there way faster than any row boat, straight into a howling wind will not be a problem for you.
Brad Bradfield A.G. on November 15, 2009
Hi Greg,
As an inventor I see two needs for your vessel. 1/ would be a pair of elongated stablizer fins that run partially lengthwise on the underside of the hull, “V’d out” from the center at approx. 45 degees. The angle/stratergy much like that of a fish. The extra fins could be fixed solidly or allow for some sway movement.
2/ Would be an extended gear/chain pedal rack that would allow you another position for the doldrums, whereas you could sit above and get some sunshine on the perfectly calm days/hours while still pedalling. Here again the extra fins below would help keep balance to the sawy of the pedalling.
Just my two-bits!
Wishing you all the very best,
Brad.
(Endurance bicycle rider 5000 mi-1974 in USA)
Daily Ocean Rowing, Kayaking and Water Expeditions News Roundup Fri 27 Nov on November 27, 2009
[…] Greg Kolodziejzyk has put together an excellent article detailing the reasons that previous ocean rowing expeditions have failed. He goes on to discuss possible strategies for handling each situation as he prepares for his challenge of pedaling 4300km from Canada to Hawaii in a human powered boat. […]
Xbox Repair Number on December 1, 2009
Nice website, I was doing a little web browsing and happened upon your blog, I was wondering if you knew your website is rendering unusually in the K-mellon browser. I will see everything however the graphics are one way or another out of wallop. In all probability not a massive deal since hardly nobody utilizes it any longer but I am old school and still run it.
George Kruzynski on January 19, 2010
Great story and prep. details. As one who rows for fun in the Gulf Islands, I immediately wondered what you will do when you run into a tangle of kelp or worse …fishing line or netting that is floating about everywhere . How will you get the prop untangled and functional again short of suiting up, diving overboard, cutting all the stuff off and reboarding..all a high energy task. When I pick up kelp on my recreational Alden shell skeg, things grind to a halt very quickly…and that’s with a sliding seat and oars. I can stop, back up to free it but you can’t with a seized prop..nor will you be able to pull the drive mechanism back through the well to clean it inside the boat. A definitely lo’ tech question but maybe you’ve already answered it previously.
George
greg on January 19, 2010
Hi George: When we were in Comox, I did run into some sea weed and it got tangled up in the prop. The entire drive (pedals, shaft and prop) can be removed through a raised bay on the floor. It’s a bit of a pain, but the drive just slides up, and I can reach down and clean off the weeds. It won’t be a problem off-shore, but touring around the gulf island, etc, it will be an issue for sure.
George Kruzynski on January 27, 2010
Hi Greg,
Maybe I’m misinformed ,but it sure looks like your prop needs to be close to vertical so you can pull the works up through the well. Murphy’s Law stipulates that it will get wrapped with something that will lock it in the transverse position. Then what ? Once you’re clear of Tofino, kelp is unlikely to be a problem but fishing line , poly rope and stray fish netting could be.
You might give some thought to a cutter mechanism of some sort eg.
http://www.spursmarine.com/
If on the other hand, you can actually get your hand down there with a knife to cut off whatever is stuck (without having to pulling the entire prop up) then you’ve got it made. I’d stick with the KISS principle 🙂
George
greg on January 29, 2010
yep – it needs to be vertical to be removed. We got sea weed tangled around the prop a few times in Comox. I can turn the pedals to align the prop and just pull it up and out. If the shaft or something in one of the gear boxes were to break, I can align the prop with a steel tab:
http://adventuresofgreg.com/blog/2009/12/24/drive-leg-removal-solution/
Thanks a lot on April 11, 2012
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chironomidflies.com on May 14, 2013
Well done on the human powered ocean crossing, wishing you the best of luck on this. I would love to have the opportunity to do something like this.