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O Mag!
I am in Oprah magazine, July issue! Here's the full article - OPR070118WellWhere_lo
Part 2: Towed
Click here for Part 1. The Coast Guard arrive. Their boat is big and steel and this concerns me. There are three crew plus the driver. The crew are busy readying fenders and without any radio communication the boat veers towards me. They can not be wanting to come alongside, says the voice in my head. Oh yes they can. [...]
Follow Your Fear – Part 1
Wednesday was going to be THE DAY for my 2nd attempt to set a new record rowing around the Farallon Islands. Then it wasn't THE DAY, so I committed to moving a sailboat. Wednesday, 7AM I wake up and instantly know there is no wind. Except I have committed to moving a sailboat... We move the sailboat, which takes 3x [...]
Keep Calm and Carry On Rowing
Last week I joined the 63ft ORMA trimaran Paradox for her delivery up the coast from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco. Captaining boats like this was my pre-rowing life. The trip was a blast from the past and what a blast upwind it was! The sailing was wetter and colder than I EVER hope to experience in my [...]
Row to Nowhere
I looked out my kitchen window at 6AM and saw fog. This wasn’t unexpected. The weather was, essentially, unstable. The forecast for the Farallon Islands was good, great even. The question was, could I get away from the clutches of land to take advantage of it? My row to the bridge was more arduous than I would have liked. The [...]
Around Farallon: Record Attempt
Tomorrow - Tuesday 24th April - I will venture out the Golden Gate and head for the Farallon Islands, to set what could be (subject to ratification) a new Guinness World Record. Paul Chinn from the San Francisco Chronicle will be at the San Francisco Yacht Club at 7AM to photograph my departure. The weather window isn't perfect. The last [...]
Weather Window: Confirmed
My Record Attempt is 100% go! go! go! for TUESDAY THIS WEEK!! Departing from the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, I will row some 70-75 nautical miles, solo and unsupported, clockwise around the Farallon Islands, passing beneath SE Farallon and rounding North Farallon before rowing back to the Golden Gate Bridge. On record, no one has rowed to or [...]
Latest News
After a tough start to the year, I have finally turned a corner! Last week I rowed to the Farallons Islands. 70.2 miles total in 48 hours, with the ships and the whales and the sharks!!! I recommend a comfy chair and a fresh brew to read the theee ‘Snakes & Ladders’ blogs on how the row went! My Farallon [...]
Snakes & Ladders – Final Part 3
Click here for Part 1 I got back on the oars at 04:48 and rowed for a while and then checked the time. It was 05:08. I rowed for another stretch and looked left towards Ocean Beach to check progress. Time? 05:25. Sometimes you just want to arrive, like ta-dah! But rowing, paddling, walking… these are the slowest means of [...]
Snakes & Ladders – Part 2
Click here for part 1 Spag Bog at 4AM anyone? Ever since the labels floated off the tinned food on the family boat one holiday, spaghetti bolognese has been known in my family, as spag bog. That’s what dad wrote (with a grin) on the tin before the next batch went into the bilge and we avoided another summer holiday [...]
Snakes & Ladders – Part 1
“WAIT!” A man hurried down the dock towards me and my boat. I looked around, but there was no one else on the dock. “You’re leaving too soon!” he said. I was 30 minutes from departing to row to the Farallon Islands. The man, who introduced himself as David Holscher fished out his phone and showed me when the current [...]
To The Farallons And Back
Tomorrow I will depart from the SFYC in Tiburon and row towards the SE Farallon Island... and back. This is not the world record attempt (Golden Gate Bridge > round the Farallons > back to the Golden Gate Bridge), which is pending approval from the Guinness World Record Association. But a warm-up. A 24-30 hour non-stop warm up! Here's the [...]
The Farallon Plan
December 31st I received a message via my RowLiaRow FB page. Would you be interested in joining me as I transport scientists to/from the Farallons as part of the Farallon Patrol on 1/20? It’s the only way ‘civilians’ ever get to go ashore on the Farallons. I slept on it and replied yes. My hesitation? I wanted to row, not [...]
NEW BOAT: Designer Announced
I am delighted to announce I will be working with Antrim Designs on the new boat for my World Record Attempt to be the first woman to row solo across the North Pacific Ocean. After my first solo sailing race across the Atlantic in a 35ft trimaran, I delivered an Antrim 40 trimaran 1,000 miles up the coast of the [...]
Big Waves: Bigger Boat
Click here to read Part 1. “I’m in” Captain Rod texted at 08:33AM that morning. After our aborted mission, we were on again for tomorrow! Captain Rod and I had worked together before, in the 2014 and 2016 edition of the Great Pacific Race (a rowboat race from Monterey to Hawaii). I was the Safety Officer and Captain Rod skippered [...]