Warren Wilson College graduate Katie Spotz is preparing to launch a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean any day now. That’s a 2,500-mile trip, and 70 to 100 days alone at sea. If she’s successful, she’ll be the youngest person ever to row an ocean solo and the first American to row from Africa to South America.
Spotz is doing it all to promote safe drinking water. How cool is that? This is from Katie’s Christmas Day blog post:
The meeting with my shipping agent was productive. He sent his driver to bring me to the Port of Dakar and I arrived after dodging potholes, street vendors, and cows on roads where driving between the lines is optional and honks are used instead of turn signals.
During the meeting we were able to sort out how the boat will be loaded into the water, where the boat will be moored, and customs formalities. Due to some storms on the Atlantic, the estimated arrival for my boat is now December 30th. If it misses this date, I will need to wait until January 4th to have the boat loaded in the water (as Jan 1-3 are off days for New Years/weekend). Definitely more at ease after the meeting knowing there will be 24/7 security for the boat and that the port is not accessible to the public. Also glad to hear customs will likely only take a day to clear, something that has held up many other ocean row attempts.
Feeling a bit anxious to start rowing but I am really in the best hands here with my shipping company and my rotary host family.
Good luck, Katie!
1 Comment
I think Roz has already done this. You might want to check with her.
rozsavage.com She is doing the Pacific now. Not sure what record you are after. But I think it’s already been done.