Single-handed rower, Katie Spoz, playing hide and seek with a tanker in her rowboat (click to enlarge)
Image by Katie Spotz, www.rowforwater.comLINKS
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Katie Spotz update: Tanker territory near Guyana
Posted: Mar 09, 2010 08:35 am EST
“I would have a greater survival rate wrestling a shark than being in front of a freighter,” said 22-year old Katie Spotz as she nears land and enters tanker territory. The big waves make her barley visible.
She is now closing in on her goal to reach land and is aiming for Georgetown in Guyana, not Cayenne, French Guiana, as originally planned.
Why Georgetown?
Katie explained: “Rowing into Cayenne is very difficult unless the weather is very calm.”
“Because of the current coming up the South American coast, the waves coming from the north and the wind coming from the east, the sea becomes very messy unless there is almost no wind.”
“At the moment, the wind is about 20kt – that doesn’t count as “no wind”! I’ve been told that, with the weather and the sea like it is now, I’d almost certainly need a tow for the last few miles into port to avoid certain death.”
According to Katie the route to Georgetown is 400 miles further, but she would rather stay out at sea a bit longer and make sure that she completes the row single-handed/solo, with no outside help, than to take a risk near the end.
Tanker territory
On March 5 Katie reported that she has officially entered tanker territory. She said larger 7 to 10 ft waves made for “a slightly unnerving experience”.
Her small rowboat could easy tuck away so that she was barely visible. “Even with the technology on board for communicating and viewing other boats (AIS/VHF/GPS), it still ranks high on the “Why ocean rowing is frightening” list,” she said.
“I would have a greater survival rate wrestling a shark than being in front of a freighter.”
On 3 January 2010, 22-year old Katie Spotz set off from Pier 2, Port of Dakar, Senegal (West Africa) to Cayenne, French Guiana. In a March 6 update she said she is no longer aiming for Cayenne, French Guiana, but going to Georgetown in Guyana (all South America).
Katie aims to become the youngest person to row an ocean single-handed and to become the first American to row from Africa to South America.
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