Ocean Rowing Updates: Olly Rows On, Sarah Back on Dry Land

A couple of quick updates today on the two major ongoing ocean rows that I've reported on recently.

First, the big news is about Sarah Outen, who is hoping to become the first woman to row solo across the Indian Ocean. She set off a week or so back from Fremantle, Australia with her sights firmly set on reaching Mauritius, and doing so in record time. She also hoped to become the youngest person to ever achieve the crossing as well.

According to her blog however, that quest will be delayed a bit. It seems that the electrical systems on Sarah's boat went out and she was forced to call for a tow back to land. But fear not, while the boat is being examined, Sarah says she'll restock her supplies, rest up, and prepare to head back out onto the water as soon as she can. She's not quite done yet.

Meanwhile, her fellow countryman, British adventurer Olly Hicks, continues his attempt to circumnavigate Antartica by row boat as part of the Virgin Global Row challenge. After a slow start, that included a week of basically standing still, Olly seems to really be in the groove now, and making solid progress as he rows south and east, to drop below New Zealand before heading out across the South Pacific.

Olly continues to update his daily blog as well, with insights into his day to day life aboard the Flying Carrot. In a recent post he laments the build up of barnacles on his beloved boat, saying they only serve to remind him of how slow he is moving, saying that at times he feels like "little better than drift wood with lights and music!" He's also endured some foggy days of late, which hasn't brightened his mood much, but he seems focused and intent on just taking things one day at a time, happy to be making positive miles.

If everything continues to go as planned, Olly should reach South Georgia around June, where he'll take a break from the water, wait out the winter, and then continue on his way. All told, the expedition is expected to take 18 months to complete.

Rowing The Indian Ocean: Sarah's Off! Again!

After first setting off back on March 16th, but having to be towed back to shore just a week later, Sarah Outen is once again back on the water, and making her second attempt to row solo across the Indian Ocean.

Sarah set out from Fremantle, Australia, just as she had on her pervious attempt, on Tuesday, and expects that it'll take her roughly 100 days to complete her journey to Mauritius, off the coast of Africa. In between, she'll be rowing as much as 12 hours a day, and continuing to battle big waves and inclement weather, both of which were an issue for her early on in the first attempt.

Before setting out, Sarah wasn't above having a little fun first. For April 1st, she and her team released some photos of her loading an outboard motor onto her boat, and made a blog post that she would be carrying a lot of fuel to power it, just in case. Of course, it was all an April Fools Day prank, and the young Brit got back underway sans fuel and motor.

You can once again follow along with Sarah's journey through daily blog posts from her support team in Australia, as well as track her movements on the GPS tracking page. Godspeed Sarah. Stay safe and paddle strong. Hope this second attempt is a successful one.

Rowing The Indian Ocean: Sarah's Off!

British rower Sarah Outen set off on her quest to become the first woman to row solo across the Indian Ocean this past weekend. She hopes to also be the youngest, and fastest to complete that challenge.

Sarah got underway from Fremantle, in Western Australia, on Saturday, a week earlier than expected thanks to a great weather window. She'll now make her way some 3100 miles across the Indian Ocean to Mauritius, battling the elements, and dodging shipping traffic, all the way. She expects high winds and 30 foot waves as she passes through shark infested waters, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

You'll be able to follow Sarah's progress from her website, where you'll find her dispatches from the ocean, a live tracking system, more information about the route, a photo gallery and more.

Sarah is looking at this expedition as a good old fashioned adventure, and of course she wants those records as well, but she's also doing it for a good cause. She's hoping to raise awareness and funds for the Arthritis Care organization, and has also dedicated the row to her father, who passed away back in June of 2006.

Good luck Sarah! We'll be following! (Side Note: Why are all these crazy long distance rowers from the U.K.?)

Jon Bowermaster's Dispatches From The Maldives

The man who never stays home (at least not for long), Jon Bowermaster is off once again, this time to the Maldives, where he is investigating the impact of rising sea levels on the tiny island nation which consists of more than 1200 islands spread out across the Indian Ocean south-west of India itself.

Yesterday Jon made his first dispatch from the Maldives, where the President has announced that he intends to make the country carbon neutral by 2010. The islands are a tourist paradise, and the place gets much of it's revenue from the tourism business, so the emphasis will shift now to ecotourism and a move away from fossil fuels and toward wind energy and solar power.

Predictions for the future of the Maldives are dire. With global climate change causing the polar ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise, the entire nation could be underwater by 2100. Because of that outlook, I put the country on my list of five places to see before they're changed forever, which I wrote at Gadling a few weeks back. If things continue as they are now, 80% of the islands could disappear before the end of this century, meaning that many of the 400,000 people who currently live there will be forced to find new homes.

Jon will be touring the area by boat and float plane over the next two weeks. Look for more dispatches on what is happening there right now in the days ahead. And be sure to checkout Jon's newly re-launched website, which has a great design, access to an amazing amount of information, and a simple to navigate layout. My favorite new feature? The "Where is Jon?" tab in the upper right corner of the home page. It tells me where he's off to in his ongoing adventures.