Recently a man from France crossed the Pacific Ocean in a rowboat. He did so in 129 days, setting the world record, of course being the first to do it, he set the record and holds it. He was an expert rower, but how could he not be after accomplishing that after all even if he wasn’t when he started, that is the kind of crash course, which could give one an Expert Status, right? Actually he had crossed the Atlantic Ocean four times before attempting the World’s largest ocean.
Our think tank decided to see if were feasible to make that possible for a non-expert rower. One think tank member Swift stated; “Regarding traveling the Pacific by boat, I can see where I would take it to the extreme of comfort, which would probably defeat a lot of the purpose. It would be best to do it with as little interference in creature comforts, but keep the safety issues intact.”
Good points indeed and well you would need to make it the best you could, but that should never slow or stop your mission, as there is probably no way to paddle across the Pacific Ocean without breaking a sweat. Press on is how you win and build character and how you inspire a nation or species, do not ever forget that. Indeed it would be smart to make it as comfortable as feasible, but in the end you are talking a lot of paddle strokes in 18,000 miles and we must remember that risk is not an evil; the opposite can be however. Risk is something that is worthy to the forward progression of all humans. Battling the elements and the unknown.
Swift: “I have always found that the unknown is often worse in our head than what it truly is.”
Indeed Swift you are correct, as the unknown is what makes life worth living.
Swift; “The motion of the ocean might be able to be dealt with prior to the trip. If cyclists can train in wind tunnels to determine optimal placement of the body, perhaps the same thing could be done to train for the height and intensity of waves, especially when the lift of the boat would not be as intense as when it smacked down.”
All good points, as the waves are what will beat the athlete up on such a trip. Sure this is correct but much of this has already been done. And look if we are going to design ocean going surface unmanned robotic boats in the future then we ought to know if they can actually make it across the ocean; any ocean, water or other liquid. We must also know before we launch a man in a rowboat to do the seemingly impossible, even if it has been done the prior.
Swift; There would have to be some ergonomic position issues that would help a lot to ensure the success of the trip. Nothing worse than a sprained back out in the middle of the ocean.” Very well put Swift and lets not forget the athletes mantra; “No Pain, No Gain!” In other words we cannot make it too easy or relaxing as the athlete must over come it. You deal with the pain, you press on. That makes it even better. What a test of human will. Be cognizant of such things, but never defeated. Of course food too is an issue, you can only eat so much fish for 129 days and it may take a regular athlete up to twice as long.
Swift: “I have eaten food from solar ovens when I worked in the park and one older male built one. He baked a pineapple upside down cake in it and there wasn't even a crumb left over. It didn't seem to take that long either. I think that's the only time, I ever had food cooked that way. He did some meat a couple of times, but I was elsewhere and missed it. One thing I was thinking about today was the issue of sunburn and potential heat stroke with no covering over the rower.”
Yes those are issues and some of this will be part of the hardship and there may not be a lot we can do about it. And we cannot pick a wimp to be the rower all alone out there in the middle of the Planet’s largest ocean. If you have water and keep working the perspiration will cover your skin, but you will need some sun crème. Your body can do ANYTHING your mind commands. Sure you could make a cover on super hot days, I suppose?
Swift; “Eyes can get sunburned severely enough to detach the retina, so that would have to be addressed.”
Sure eye care is critical, so you would need protective eye goggles or sunglasses and don’t forget the bright sun is why humans have eyelashes and squint all the time. But you would have to take a comfortable pair of sunglasses. That would not corrode with the salt spray.
Swift; “I don't think that just sunglasses with wind baskets would be enough. There are hats that are designed to keep the sun from penetrating and hats that keep the head cool, which would be nice to have. It would also help to have no concept of time, wouldn't it, so one wouldn't necessarily know how many days have gone by.”
I concur with your thoughts on helping put the human rower and biosystem into a safe zone, but also realize that if you make it too easy, I am not interested anymore, no challenge, no fun. No sense of accomplishment or winning you see? So we must be careful to keep it challenging. Another issue is weight, the lighter the faster and whereas we will need some of the safety gear, we need to be careful that we are not going to make my boat too heavy and it will sink, cost too much and be too hard to paddle. More people should listen to Burt Rutan and his theory on Risk, including NASA. Ask any hard charger athlete or entrepreneur keep it simple, in it to win it. I remember when I rode my bicycle from OR to Mexico with no jacket in 6-days, 1300 miles or something like that. So it can be done with proper preparation, training and a limited amount of extras. Necessities of course, but the lighter the boat the faster one can row. Think on this.
EzineArticles Expert Author Lance Winslow
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance;
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