I got to see my first ocean rowing boat in person!

You might be wondering if it scared me...but it just made me more excited!

Every time I talk to someone for the podcast, or meet an ocean rower (this was the first one I met in person), I get more and more excited! And I think...I can do this...I WILL do this!

I got to meet Bryant Knight from Fight Oar Die, who rowed in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge (TWAC) 2018. He is doing amazing things! He has a huge vision and plans on having a team row this boat, and more in the TWAC every year. He already has an all women's boat and a guys boat scheduled over the next two years! The mission is simple...row together...fight for change! The boat is made of all veterans, and last year was their first year as an all veteran team to cross the Atlantic.

Fight Oar Die wants to let Veterans know that "despite anything that has happened in their lives - Veterans can grow, develop, excel, and achieve ANYTHING they want." - Fight Oar Die

I got to ask Bryant lots of questions over the two hour period I helped him clean equipment. He was kind enough to let me walk around and in his boat as well as just see everything. I know that next time I see a boat I will be more curious and look around more, but just climbing into the cabin was pretty cool. It's pretty hot in there, and it was a cooler day, so I can only imagine what the heat is like in the middle of the Atlantic in December. I have to say...out of everything that I could encounter, the heat is what scares me the most...shocking...I know!

Stay tuned and tomorrow I will share why I am most scared of the heat!

Here are some pictures from when I got to see the boat the other day. More stories to come in the near future I hope.

Thank you Bryant for the amazing experience and being willing to put up with me for a couple of hours. I hope I did okay cleaning the lines!

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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Guess what! I can build my boat!

So, at first, I couldn't figure out if I could even make a boat. Than someone reached out to me and he knew someone who offers the kits to make my own boat. That was super exciting. So I reached out to the person, Phil Morrison, and he responded with some different options. Not going to lie, they are all over my head and I am having trouble figuring out some of the differences, but I know it is possible!

Then, that same person who informed me about Phil, pointed out someone who is currently building his boat for an ocean rowing adventure of his own. So, I got in touch with him too. He is just now putting it together! I had someone else reach out as well that mentioned TWAC, Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge, the competition I probably will do, may not allow me to build my boat.

So, of course, I emailed Atlantic Campaigns, who runs the TWAC event, and I was basically told it is possible. There are certain things put in place and things I will need to do to make sure it is sea-worthy and passes inspections, but I CAN build my own boat! I am stoked!

YAY!

It's officially here! My first EVER Podcast!

I am so excited to share it with everyone. This podcast is designed to share everything about Ocean Rowing.

What does that mean?

I answer typical questions I get, and share where I am in my story of preparing and ultimately crossing an ocean in a rowing boat. I also interview people who have rowed or are going to row across an ocean and share their stories.
Right now, it is a bi monthly podcast.

Once a month, or maybe every other week, I will give an update episode on where I am in my planning and what questions I am looking to have answered. The frequency will change based on where I am in the planning process. And once a month there will be a guest rower to help answer questions. If it's not a rower, it is someone that can help me get to the starting point and help answer questions that I have.
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If you want to know more, feel free to comment with questions below.❓

Check out the podcast, link in below and in comments and hit subscribe to keep updated on my adventure. Feel free to share and spread the word!
Also, any questions you ask me, I will answer in one of my podcast episodes. So hit the Subscribe button!

I am starting a podcast!

I am finding that putting my story out there is getting me in touch with some people who are oging through similar things or have some of the answers I am looking for. So I have decided to create a podcast for other people interested in Ocean Rowing. Since this sport is growing, I want to make it easy for people to get information about Ocean Rowing and how to make it possible. Therefore, I am going to shar emy interviews with ocean rowers and other people who might have info to help along the way.

I will post later this week when it launches!

Stay tuned!

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.