Episode 4 releases today!

This is an update episode....but what does that mean?

Well, it's basically me chatting and give you a brief update on where I am in my planning to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Not only that, but I am also going to answer some questions that people have had. 

Here are some of those questions...

1. What is the difference between ocean rowing and rowing on a lake?

2. What's the best way to practice/train for ocean rowing if you live in a land area and not near an ocean?

3. What kind of boat am I planning on using?

4. Am I looking to get a record? Just have fun? What's the reason/plan?

5. What kind of campaign do I want to run?

Find out the answers...or my answers as of now... by checking out the podcast. It's a short episode, so you can easily fit it in, but get your answers on where I am roughly 3.5 years before I take on this adventure.

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I finally got out on the water! YAY!!

I signed up for a lesson right before the coach was going in for a shoulder surgery, so I was glad to get one lesson in.

The lesson went pretty well. He said he wouldn't have thought I had been off the water for 12+ years. He gave me the go-ahead to be able to row with the club members. So! I got on the water for a second time that week too! YAY! That time in a sculling quad boat with four people. 

It wasn't bad for my first and second time in the boat.

Excited to get out and do more. Getting out in the quad definitely made me want to be able to get out on the water by myself even more quickly. I like the team part, but also feel like I am holding people back, even if I'm not. Because I am new to sculling, people think of me as not being very good, and that's tough. I am always up for learning and getting better, so I liked that aspect, but I am excited to row on my own and learn to push myself. I think I like sweeping in a group better and sculling with less people, but you have to start somewhere. So I will keep going and learning until I can get out there on my own!

Checkout the video for some footage of my first time rowing in a double and sculling!

Today was supposed to be my first lesson on the water rowing in a boat with two oars. I grew up rowing with one oar, which is called sweep. But two oars is called skulling. Well, they are very different because in racing shells (boats), when you only have one oar, you are in the boat with other people and you have to stabilize together. When it is just you, the boat moves more and it is more unstable. Plus, learning to move the oar (feathering and so forth) with both hands instead of one is different too.

Anyways, today I was supposed to have my first lesson. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and it wasn't safe to go out. Therefore, I ended up just learning about the boat house and asking some other technical questions that I will mention in my podcast later this month. I will keep you posted, but here is my rowing update. 

Here is my most recent post on my story.

In this video I talk about why I am going to be posting more frequently. The main reason is because I realize people might want to hear about my thought process. 

Lots of people who want to row an ocean end up just signing up and doing it. Me on the other hand, I like to think things through. And I don't end up talking myself out of them, on the contrary, I just like to know what I am getting into because I like a challenge but I like to be prepared. If I went in without researching, I would be miserable. However, if I know what to expect, than that is better. So my goal is to share more about my thought process as I go along and not just things I do. Don't worry though, the day I actually sign up, you will know!

The other thing I talk about in this video is how I want to build a boat with my husband, Aaron. Unfortunately, people don't really build their own boats these days because they aren't wood anymore. I would really like to build my boat, but I am having some struggles. So here are some of my struggles and I will keep you posted on what happens. If you know how I can get a CAD file to build a boat, please reach out to me and let me know!

I made a post the other day and got a lot of responses, more than I thought I would. In that post I mentioned that I plan on hiking to Mt. Everest Base Camp in late 2020 and possibly rowing across the Atlantic ocean, alone, in late 2021. See my first post for more info into that. Anyways, someone actually reached out to me after that post and asked me a question that I have been thinking a lot about. She asked me...

Am I scared?

I hadn't really thought about it until then, or I didn't think I had. It turns out that I think I have thought about it more than I realized. I just didn't really consider it as fear until now. Instead, it just added to my uncertainty and doubt. 

So to answer the question...yes. First, I am not scared at all about Everest. 30,000 people a year hike it and I will be with others, so no biggie. Plus, the biggest issue is altitude, which I have done before with Machu Pichhu. Rowing however, yes, I am scared. But...it's not going to stop me.

I am going to keep pondering this question and make a video and podcast about it once I have put all my thoughts together. 

This post is the beginning. I will be doing a lot of these videos Live on Facebook, then sharing on YouTube and posting here. So, this is the first video where I went public on my ideas. 

Watch to see what my dreams were and how it all started.