Over and out

Posted on by Steve Bullock

Now that Elsa is safely back in the world, she'll be posting directly rather than via satphone/campaign manager linkup. It's wonderful to have her here in person, and I'll be gradually transitioning out of my support role and back to the day job.

Elsa's got lots to share, so keep reading if you'd like to hear more about her ocean adventures! I may make the occasional guest post but she'll be the boss going forward (same as always, actually!) Sign up to the newsletter via the box at the bottom of the front page to have things delivered directly.

If you're interested in booking Elsa for talks, articles or anything else, please get in touch.

Steve

 

PS: I know 'over and out' is a bit of a radio faux-pas, but it works in this context!

Elsa safe and dry in San Diego

Posted on by Steve Bullock

After nearly two months at sea, Elsa Hammond arrived safely in San Diego this morning, Saturday 2nd August.

Elsa left Monterey Bay on June 9th, bound for Hawaii as one of only four solos in the Great Pacific Race. After battling 30ft waves and fierce winds, the final solo remaining in the race by over a month, she made a considered decision to alter course towards Mexico, and was assisted up the coast by a race support yacht.

Elsa covered almost 1,000 miles solo and unsupported in her self-righting custom built ocean rowing boat, Darien.

The video below shows Darien on tow by the support yacht, Elsa rowing to land, and her being reunited with her fiancée (Campaign Manager Steve), to whom she was engaged three weeks before she set out to sea.

Please contact us with messages of support or interview and talk requests.

Another twist to the tale… (or No, I don’t have an engine)

Posted on by Steve Bullock

Another important update regarding Elsa’s journey home:

The more diligent YellowBrick watchers amongst you will have noticed that I’ve started moving rather speedily in a north-easterly direction. No, I didn’t smuggle an engine aboard, nor am I hooked to a giant fish, as in ‘The Old Man and the Sea‘… I am safe and well aboard Cloud Nine, one of the Great Pacific Race support yachts, and Darien is chugging along happily on the tow rope behind us.

This has been a far harder decision for me to make than the change of direction, and one that I would never have imagined making when the row began. As you know, I have been struggling with adverse winds and difficult conditions since the start, and although these have altered with my change of course, they have not abated. Since turning east there has been the odd day of light or more helpful winds, but overall rowing conditions have still been frustratingly challenging. I was able to row about sixty miles past Isla Guadalupe to the south, but the likelihood of reaching mainland under my own power has been receding with each weather forecast.

For the past ten days I’ve been feeling like I’m on a roller coaster headed to Antarctica, and however much I struggle to get off it and row towards mainland I continue to be hustled south by the wind, waves and current. Once again I have found that I have had to make a decision based on progress, current weather, forecasts, and position. Any further south and the mainland peels away even further to the east, tropical cyclones grow in threat, and I would need more than a miracle to see a complete reversal of prevailing conditions.

Whilst weighing up the slim possibility of a miracle against the reality of my speedy progress south, I was told that Cloud Nine would be able to offer their assistance in reaching land if I didn’t delay much further. One thing I’ve learned from this adventure is how to make difficult decisions on my own. Although this is not a decision I would have taken if I had control over the elements, it was the only sensible option based on my southerly position, the weather, and the forecasts of weather to come.

I’m now looking back at Darien rather than looking out from her deck, but the adventure is still not over for me. With several hundred miles and some days left before we reach land, I’m looking forward to experiencing the ocean from a different angle and to resting my aching hands.

 

Some quotes from experienced supporters:

Every ocean row has it’s dangers and risks, and it should never be taken for granted that a rower will complete the challenge.  Elsa has faced some extremely difficult choices and it’s testament to her resolve and courage that she has decided to change course. I’m very proud of her continued resilience, especially when she must be struggling with fears of failure – she has not failed! But whatever happens, she stepped aboard the boat when very many wouldn’t. Mexico awaits a heroine and she’s on her way!

Sally Kettle FRGS: first woman to row the Atlantic twice E-W; 5,000 miles at sea; raised over £500k for charities

 

I am full of admiration for Elsa, not only for the tenacity and determination that she has exhibited over the last five weeks as she battled persistent headwinds, but even more for her wisdom and maturity in deciding to change course. I applaud her decision, and look forward to congratulating her in person when she returns to Britain.

Roz Savage MBE FRGS: first woman to row solo across three oceans; 15,000 miles and 500 days at sea; National Geographic Adventurer of the Year 2010 (Roz’s successful Pacific attempt was her second try!)

 

And a request for Elsa’s keen supporters from Campaign Manager Steve:

Elsa’s perseverance both in pushing toward Hawaii for a month and a half, and then back toward Mexico for the last few weeks, has been immense. The Pacific is an unforgiving ocean and her row has been particularly harsh. Broken oars and the highest miles per rower, are testament to Elsa’s incredible effort.

Elsa is understandably upset about having to change plans, despite her knowledge that these decisions were the right ones to make in the circumstances. What she has achieved has been incredible: 950 miles over almost two months under her own efforts; highest miles per rower to this point; intense perseverance under difficult conditions and having to make such challenging decisions balancing complex factors. Even so, she’s experiencing a wide range of emotions.

Elsa loves receiving letters. She will be returning to the UK at the start of September, and coming home to a pile of supportive written messages would be just fantastic. If you think that Elsa deserves a boost, please help her recognise that what she’s done is amazing, and send a postcard or a letter to:

Elsa Hammond
Clifton Hill House
Lower Clifton Hill
Bristol BS8 1BX
United Kingdom

Please also consider further supporting Elsa’s three charities: Global Ocean, the GREAT Initiative, and Plastic Oceans. Follow the links on her Causes page.

Day 50: swimming, plastic, beards

Posted on by Steve Bullock

Today I went for a swim. It’s been a really hot, sunny day, and I thought I’d best make the most of this small window of weather that is calm enough. Although I love swimming and am usually one of the first to leap into icy lakes and stormy seas, it did take me a little time to work up to leaving the relative safety of Darien’s deck to plunge into the deep blue. I had a good look around for fins and for anything else that might have made for a less enjoyable swim, and took courage from the little fish that still swarm about – if there was nothing to worry them I guessed I’d be fine. I made sure I was attached to my lifeline land slid into the water. It was cool and clear, but what struck me most was how strange it was to be looking up at Darien, lying empty without me. As far as I could see in every direction, the only things visible on the surface of the water were me and Darien, and it felt quite uncomfortable to be separated from each other with nothing else around and the seemingly endless depths beneath.

Quite a few people have been asking me about what rubbish I’ve seen while I’ve been out here. Although I’m more concerned about ‘invisible’ litter (microplastics), I’ve also been keeping a sharp eye out for anything that shouldn’t be floating about in the ocean. I think on average I’ve seen something about every three days – from what seem to be old buoys come adrift, to plastic bottles, to strange shapes I couldn’t identify. Usually they’ve been too far away, or it’s been too rough, but yesterday I was able to scoop an old plastic pot out of the water. The writing on it was fading, and instead it had started to become a home for tiny sea creatures.

Ocean plastic
Ocean plastic

Finally, from what I remember of a lot of the ocean rows and expeditions that I’ve followed, one of the requirements is to arrive back home with a large and grizzled beard. I thought I’d probably better get into the spirit of such things, and have managed to produce what I consider to be a particularly impressive specimen (although I can’t promise I’ll come home with it!).

A beard worthy of the Pacific
A beard worthy of the Pacific

Day 47: Darien

Posted on by Steve Bullock

Finally, I’ve got around to writing a long-overdue blog, promised sometime back in May. Having been on sea anchor for the last four days, not much has happened except for me getting progressively sweatier and more fed up and ready to row, so I thought now would be a good time to make good on that promise.

Why did I name my boat Darien? It’s been on my mind throughout the journey, and although my thoughts are probably a little convoluted I’d like to share them.

I came across the name Darien when I was a child, on first reading what soon became one of my favourite books: ‘Swallows and Amazons’. If you don’t know it, I urge you to get hold of a copy and read it today. For those who haven’t read it yet, the first chapter is mainly set on a promontory that the children have named Darien. It reaches out across a big lake, and from there they can look on the island that they are hoping to go and camp on and the lake they want to sail and explore. This is still one of my very favourite books, partly due to nostalgia, but also because it is just brilliant. In ‘Swallows and Amazons’, for me, the peak in Darien always meant hope and and possibility of future excitement. It is the beginning of all the adventures, the place where plans are made and places are first glimpsed.

Once I was older I read the poem that the children have taken the name Darien from: Keats’ ‘On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer’, which ends:

“…Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when, with eagle eyes,
He stared at the Pacific – and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise –
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.”

(Apologies for errors – I’m writing from memory so the punctuation might be dodgy.)

This is a poem about new experiences, about seeing things for the first time and in a new way. Every time I say those final lines to myself I feel a shiver of excitement.

I’m seeing things out here that no one in the world has ever seen before and nor ever will – sunsets, fish, waves, clouds – they change and change again and continually re-form. It is a strange feeling to be looking at, say, a fantastic sunset, and know that no one else in the world can see it as I’m seeing it. By the time it reaches other people it will have changed into something different. This journey was also about learning to see parts of myself and my own life in a new and different way – so much time alone has offered me a lot of time to think.

Darien is of the Pacific, and for me is a place from which grow adventures and from where new things are seen. My little Darien has definitely not disappointed.