Photo Lucian Bartosik copyright 2009. Click photo to donate and write Katie a message.
Katie Spotz is now within the final 100 nautical miles of her epic voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Normally, that would still be a massive distance to row. When you’ve already covered about 3,000 miles, it becomes the final straight.
Katie set a target of raising $60,000 for water projects, to enable 2,000 people to get access to clean water for life. Yesterday she surpassed that goal. Today here’s your challenge…
In just a couple day’s time (probably this weekend), Katie will set foot on land for the first time in over 10 weeks. We have received a generous donor offer to match every dollar she gets over her goal up to $5,000. This means that, if we can get a few thousand more, we’ll be able to tell her that she has raised $70,000 for water, as well as become the youngest person to cross an ocean solo. How would that be for a welcome gift?
Katie Spotz on a previous adventure. This is one fit woman!
Katie Spotz has been rowing across the Atlantic for more than 61 days. A few dorados have been following her boat for awhile, so she named them Ed, Edd, and Eddie. But on day 61, several dolphins showed up. One of them munched Edd!
Find out all the gruesome details by visiting Katie’s website. Leave her an encouraging message. Donate to her cause.
A Twitter update from one of Katie Spotz’s friend’s:
“Just had a chat with Katie on the sat-phone. She’s great, but we were rudely interrupted by a fish hitting her face! [Sam]”
Katie has been rowing from Africa to South America for more than 52 days. Her cause: To raise money for Blue Planet Run Foundation and to raise awareness of the need for clean drinking water in many parts of the world.
I’ve been following her blog. This is a strong woman, both physically and mentally. Can you imagine living in a high-tech row boat? She has a few conveniences, like solar power so she can blog and get fresh water. Of course, she has fresh fish flying all around her!
Encourage Katie by leaving a comment on her blog. She’ll reach land in 28 days at the soonest. But it could be much more if she encounters strong currents, winds, or a big storm.
I’ve never seen the ocean glow, but Katie Spotz did this week. She has been rowing in the Atlantic Ocean for 3 weeks now, getting closer to South America each day. A recent tweet from her:
“Can anyone explain what these glowing specks in the water are? Every night I see them and have no clue what they are”
Bioluminescence in the water has puzzled people for thousands of years, starting with Aniximenes in 500 B.C. Many have guessed over the years.
Are they spirits? In 1688 Pere Guy Tachard, during a cruise to Siam, said:
“We attribute the cause to the heat of the sun, which has, as it were, impregnated and filled the sea during the day with an infinity of fiery and luminous spirits. There spirits after dark reunite to pass out in a violent state…”
Are the glowing specks the spawn or seed of whales? Father Bourzes, a Jesuit missionary in the East Indies said in 1713:
“…in sailing over some Places of the Sea, we find a Matter or Substance of different Colours, sometimes red, sometines yellow. In looking at it, one would think it was Saw-dust: Our Sailors say it is the Spawn or Seed of Whales. What it is, is not certain; but when we draw up Water in passing over these Places, it is always viscous and glutinous….”
Nope. The glow is likely from bioluminescent dinoflagellates—that is, marine plankton that light up. The plankton light up when they sense a predator. The purpose is to attract a bigger predator that will eat the plankton’s predator!
This video will give you an idea of what bioluminescence looks like. Video footage courtesy OceanLab, University of Aberdeen.
Bioluminescent emissions from a range of zooplankton recorded by the ICDeep ultra low light camera as it travels 15m down through the water column, at a depth of 450m. The bioluminescence is stimulated as the animals impact on a mesh placed 50cm in front of the camera. This video was taken in the Strait of Sicily.
Katie Spotz is on day 17 of her rowing voyage from Africa to South America. She expect it will take from 70 -to 100 days to complete the trip. What would you do during that time? Besides row? Katie is spending her time listening to her iPod, of course! Music, lectures, and audio books on one iPod. She also brought an iPod Touch to watch Harry Potter movies, Twilight, Borat, and more. Check out her latest posting. Leave her an encouraging comment. Then help her raise money for Blue Planet Run Foundation.
Katie Spotz has been rowing for over 9 days. Her quest is to be the youngest person to row across the Atlantic Ocean. (See the first post on her Rowing from Africa to South America.) Cayenne, French Guiana is getting closer every day! Help her raise money for the Blue Planet Run Foundation.
One of the latest posts on her site explains exactly how she is managing to get across the ocean. Here is an excerpt:
“It’s no secret that, along with the odd bit of water, you’ll find wind, waves and, to a certain extent, currents in the ocean. And these are all factors that Katie had to take into careful consideration when planning this row. The ocean is a very powerful place, capable of causing problems for even the biggest boats – in fact, the ship carrying “Liv” from USA to Senegal was delayed by nearly a week due to the ocean conditions – so attempting to battle against it in a little rowboat would be futile, at best.
Instead, you have to pick a time of year and route that will lead to as little obstruction from the weather as possible. That’s why Katie left from Dakar, Senegal in January.
The currents in the North Atlantic Ocean are sort of laid out in a clockwise direction, flowing from USA to Europe and then Africa to South America. But it’s not quite that straightforward. On the route from Dakar to Cayenne, Katie has to contend with the North Equatorial Counter Current, an area where, to be honest, the ocean seems to do absolutely whatever it wants! Katie will come across large areas where she is battling the ocean pushing her north, south or east; sometimes she may get lucky and get a bit of help to the west.
But the current isn’t the only factor to worry about. There’s also the not inconsiderable obstacle of a wave or two, sometimes towering over 30-feet high. If going the right direction, these can be pretty helpful as “Liv” surfs down them; that is if they’re not breaking on top of her, soaking Katie to the bone and capsizing the boat over and over again (don’t worry – it’s designed to cope with that). However, while there’s very little that you can rely on when it comes to oceans, one thing is for certain: it won’t do what you want! And so far the Atlantic has been living up to expectations, delivering waves from the north-west ever since Katie set off, attempting to push her back down the African coastline.”
Katie Spotz is rowing from Africa to South America to raise awareness of the need for safe drinking water and money to do something about it. You can follow her progress on her Row for Water website. She’s rowing a custom 19 foot boat that’s designed for the ocean. It holds months of provisions, gear, freshwater, and has solar power for desalination, satellite phone, radio and radar. The boat is supposed to be seaworthy in 30 foot waves.
Endurance events are well known to Katie. She was the first person to swim the 325 mile long Allegheny River. She’s also cycled 3,300 miles across the USA, ran 150 miles across the Mojave and Colorado desert, and complete a 62-mile ultramarathon in Australia.
Sabrina Walasek of Blue Planet Run Foundation says this of Katie:
“I met Katie last spring at the Blue Planet Run 24-hour trail relay. Throughout the last several months, I have had the pleasure of getting to know her better and I continue to be awed by her abilities and endurance. Not only is she a tremendous athlete, she is such a thoughtful human being. We are fortunate to have her support in providing safe drinking water to people worldwide.
I hope that many other athletes and young people are inspired by her compassion and commitment to improving the world. She never gives up and she never forgets the billion plus people who wake up each day without safe drinking water.”
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