Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
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Katie Spotz, 22, recently became the youngest person ever to row across an entire ocean alone, and the first American to row a boat without help from one continent to another. More from CBS News on Friday:
As she approached the continental shelf, waves crashed over the boat and Spotz worried it would tip over. And on Saturday, she had to use a fire extinguisher after a piece of tracking equipment caught fire.
Spotz says she “had half-a-million calories on board, and the majority of those calories came from dehydrated meals. And I supplemented them with energy bars and energy gels, trail mix.”
She spent the entire time sitting of sleeping, never getting to stand up. “When I arrived, they had me climb up a ladder and I expected I wouldn’t even be able to walk. And as soon as I had my feet planted, I was just swaying back and forth. It was a real challenge.”
In essence, she’d forgotten how to walk. “I just kind of was in the cockpit and it’s only about four feet long.”
But she says she’s not through with her adventures. “I definitely have some ideas,” she admitted to Rodriguez, “but I wanna let my mom kind of relax and have some rest before worrying her with the next one!”
In Guyana Sunday, Spotz told reporters, “The hardest part was just the solo part,” saying she struggled with boredom and had trouble sleeping inside the cramped rowboat.
Spotz rowed for as many as 10 hours a day with breaks for naps, navigation and boat maintenance. At night, she would drift aboard the specially designed ocean row boat, which had equipment including solar panels for power.
“At night I would update my Facebook and e-mails. There is not much else to do on a rowboat.”
