Customer Reviews

Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As this book is presented as an "adventure" book, that is the way I will judge it.

Anyone who has the courage to row across the Atlantic Ocean, the physical ability to carry it off, and the intelligence to plan the trip in such a manner that they are actually able to complete the trip has my admiration in their feat.

Many people have died in this attempt. In fact, during the particular race the author writes about, nearly a fourth of the competing boats sank and those rowers needed rescued. Fortunately, fatalities were prevented because of both luck and the support provided by the race organizers. This is an extreme "sport" that few would attempt and even fewer are able to accomplish. True, the author had several years of rowing experience, but nothing that really prepared her for the tremendous physical and emotional distances she had to deal with in rowing the Atlantic.

This is an engaging, well-written book (up to a point). However, as an adventure book, it does have its faults. For one, rowing the Atlantic Ocean alone has been done many times before, both by men and by women, so it has lost its "firstness" factor. For example, nearly everyone remembers who was the first to fly the Atlantic alone, but few would remember the second or the third or the sixth to do so. Most people would even remember the words spoken by the first man to set foot on the moon, but does anyone remember what the second man said? In "Rowing the Atlantic", there is simply no suspense in whether rowing across the Atlantic Ocean alone can be done. We know it can be done; it has been done. We just don't know whether or not author will be able to do it.

Secondly, the trip isn't terribly eventful. Yes, the author's cook stove quits working so she has only cold food, she has problems with her oars, but she is never left without working oars, and she loses her telephone service near the end of the trip. Also, the weather was bad at times and she is physically drained, but there is nothing here that really made this particular trip any more adventuresome than many others that have gone on before--or that have been written about before. Obviously, these troublesome situations are much more eventful to the person on the boat; but to the reader, unless they are new to adventure books, this is not really a suspenseful trip. In fact, I thought the part of the book that dealt with the author quitting her job, training for the trip and getting her boat ready was the bigger adventure of the book.

Also, while I salute the author for changing her life and "finding herself," I found it ridiculous that she blames her infidelity to her husband (and later her divorce) to her desire to find out who she really was. Imagine a man saying, "Yes, I cheated on my wife because I was trying to find myself." By the way, the author made a point of bringing this up in the book; I am just stating my opinion on it. So when the author speaks of an "unraveling marriage," it certainly appears that a great deal of the unraveling was of her own undoing. Also, at the end of the book when her now ex-husband shows up to support her, she claims that she still loves him but she has moved on. Imagine, again, a man saying this about his wife, "I love her, but I have moved on." The author should realize that how you treat people on your quest to find yourself is just as important, if not more so, than actually finding out whom "you really are" (whatever that means).

In the end, I would rate the first half of this book as a four. It is well-written, it moves along quickly, it was interesting to learn what lead the author to change her life around, and it was engaging to see whether she was going to be able to carry off her adventure. But by about half-way through, I felt the book to be losing its momentum, because the adventure seemed to be over and all that was left was to reach land. While this is a reasonably decent book, it is not anywhere near the adventure that books such as "The Long Walk", "Adrift", "Carrying the Fire", "Endurance", "Travels in West Africa", "Alone", "Alive", "Man Eaters", "Running the Amazon" or similar books rate. It is these books that rate as four or five star books to me, so I can not rate "Rowing the Atlantic" as a five star book.

Overall all then, I give the book a three star rating because it is just an average adventure book. It is a well-written book and it is enjoyable to read, but it is just average. Anyone who quits their job and rows a boat across the Atlantic Ocean deserves a five star rating for having the spunk to attempt the feat, but that doesn't make the book a great book. What I am saying with my comparisons to other adventure books is that while this is an entertaining book to read, it will never make the list of the top 50 adventure books of all time. And since it is advertised as an adventure book, that is the way I am going to rate it.

This is the story of a young woman who realised that being ordinary just wasn't enough and set out to discover who she really was.

She did this by entering the Atlantic Rowing Race in 2005; rowing a 23' boat 3,000 miles alone across the Atlantic Ocean. She had no experience and her expectations were based entirely on optimism and the determination to at last do something entirely on her own.

Roz Savage switches smoothly between the story of her voyage and the events in her life that led to it, and the two lines intersect perfectly. She describes her thoughts and fears as she deals with a series of disasters, all overcome by ingenuity or sheer persistence or by ignoring them. She includes some very personal revelations and her self-deprecating style is quite moving. I had to pause every so often just to absorb what I had just read.

Roz demonstrates by often painful examples that getting outside one's comfort-zone is extremely uncomfortable. She reveals her innermost thoughts and weaknesses, but leaves us to observe her strengths.

It is very well written and both exciting and intimate, so I could almost hear Roz's voice narrating as I read.

Unusually for me, I read the book straight through at one sitting. Rowing the Atlantic is entertaining and inspirational at many levels and I cannot recommend it too highly as a good read for anyone of any age or background. It's a keeper--a book to re-read every year or so and ideal as a gift for `teens and adults alike.

My wife and I have had the good fortune to meet Roz Savage and were very impressed by her, but until reading this book we had not realised just how special she is.

Clearly by not seeking to rely on friends, Roz has made many of them.

I guess it's nice to get a "friend of a friend" to give you $10,000 to row across the atlantic (yeah with no strings attached, right!) or to use the settlement from a divorce (caused by your own infidelity) to fund this, but despite some clear courage and self-reflexive and insightful thinking, this still just turns out to sound like some trust-fund kid who doesn't know what to do with their life. Ok in your 20's. A bit more pathetic nearing your 40's.

Roz Savage needed 103 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat. Yes, a rowboat. Admittedly, it was a high-tech rowboat, with a carbon fiber hull, GPS, satphone, and even more bells and whistles, but still: a ROWBOAT! So tell me, what have YOU done with your life?

But Savage doesn't just tell us this story to brag about her accomplishments. She also tells us of the misdirected life she had to overcome to reach that point; the dismal career that ate up her twenties; the marriage that she entered for the wrong reasons and then left, she admits, in haste; her decision, at thirty-six, to become an ocean rower and physical adventurer. And she tells us what she learned, both good and bad, from the experience.

The lessons Savage brings out of her experience rowing the Atlantic solo and unsupported are not necessarily the ones you might expect. She finds stores of resilience in the oddest places, and her determination to perform this remarkable task is reinforced in largely the opposite of the ways most people would anticipate. And even though she comes dead last in the Atlantic Rowing Race, she comes out of the experience transformed into a hero.

In case you get the notion to follow in Savage's footsteps, she makes plain just how great the difficulties she endured were. Her frank narrative of her struggles and accomplishments makes plain that this is very difficult. But she also makes plain that in her difficulties were the seeds of her greatest accomplishments. And she shows you how your difficulties, even if they aren't as dramatic as hers, are where you will find your true humanity.

In a world that produces few heroes, Roz Savage is one. And she's a hero not because she is larger than life, but precisely because she lives life more completely and absolutely than most people would dare. Give a copy of this book to your daughter. Study this book yourself. Each of us would be well advised to learn from Roz Savage what it means to be completely human.

The non-seamen amongst readers will be very glad to know that Roz Savage includes a useful diagram alongside her title page, of her rowing vessel Sedna, and all her parts. Those confused by boating technicalities can flip to the front to once again distinguish scuppers from gunwales.

Another nicety is the map of Roz' ocean voyage inside both front and back covers. One need not even READ the book to learn she made it safely (alive and well) from the Canary Islands to Antigua in 103 days.

But reading this 240-page book is quite an adventure itself.

Some of the text --- details concerning the author's background, events and decisions that lead her to the risk voyage --- (sorry to say) is plebian, and even juvenile. I'd have been happier with fewer, and shorter personal discovery detours.

Roz also habitually degrades herself, and names her critical parts like characters in a naughty child's fable or homily. They include Mr. Self-Critical, Mr. Competitive, Mr. Self-Doubt, Mr. Guilt. You get the picture. This aspect of the book reminded me of Mr. Noisy, a picture book character who went around yelling, "I want a piece of MEAT," "Give me some MEAT," when our kids were small.

By page 61, I was shouting "shut up" to Roz' various Mr. pseudo-selves. Not surprisingly, she shouts "shut-up" to herself, too. On the other hand, by the end of the book, these pesky characters had taken on more meaning, along with the meaning of her accomplishment.

There is much other great stuff here, however --- to do with breezes from the south; winds gusting to 60 knots; repeatedly broken oars; several dangerous tangles with a sea anchor; rowing with a naked butt to avoid salt blisters; birthday whale sightings, and the sheer adrenaline of pumping oars, alone, around the clock, with only three hour shifts between to sleep.

On the whole, I'd give this book four stars: 10 stars for courage, five stars for self-discovery, three stars for writing skill, one star for silliness. The early pages were certainly not the greatest reading ever, but I quickly speed-read the dull parts.

Do try it, though, especially if you are into true-life sea adventures. At points, this one is hair raising. Definitely worth the time.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Roz Savage tells a bold tale of overcoming obstacles I can't even begin to imagine. But after reading this extraordinary adventure, you'll feel like you too can do anything! Roz recounts the events in her life that led her to make a break with the past and ultimately her decision to row the Atlantic. You have an onboard seat for the amazing 100+ days of rowing. Even better she shares the life lessons she learned along the way. And there are many.

Treat yourself and a friend or two, to spend some time with a wonderful and engaging adventuress. You won't be sorry. You may even find yourself looking for a new adventure or two! Get this book!

It wasn't until I read the simple paragraph above at the end of chapter 21 describing the embrace shared between you and your wonderful mum at the end of the race that I could breathe normally again. Even though I knew the ending, my heart was in my throat for the duration of the incredible journey you took me on. Along the way I had many doubts that "we" would ever make it. I say "we" because your book has that rare capacity to put the reader right in the cramped boat with you, almost experiencing your despair, hopelessness, sense of danger, exultation, the discomfort: aching shoulders, blisters on hands, boil on your poor bum, even the sting of the salty spray of the of the wind on your face. You lay bare your heart (among other body parts) and your honesty comes through every sentence. Thank goodness you gave your readers the luxury of that lovely massage at the end. We needed that!

Your former life on your commute and at the office: "flourescent-lit, gray blandness of it all depressed my spirit, but I wanted the money and prestige, so I pushed my doubt aside and got on with it. Everyone else seemed to find it quite normal, (me: lol) and I hoped eventually I would too." Luckily for us you never did find that life normal so you were able to take us on a grand adventure, that definitely would not have been as much fun if we had to stay in the office with you.

It was amazing to watch you evolve from being so materialistic (how many people know this about themselves, much less admit it?) and then to express so beautifully your new philosophy of life of which I have no room here to comment on, other than to say you could write a whole separate book on just that, and I would proudly display it on my (read often) bookshelf alongside Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and Tolle's "A New Earth." (Also any books by Patrick McDonnell creator of "Mutts" comic strip).

Btw, when I finished reading "Rowing the Atlantic" late last night, I then read a bit of Teddy Kennedy's "True Compass". A wonderful book as well, but in the bit I read, he was sailing in his luxury yacht... just wasn't the same.

Roz Savage is dedicated to wonderful causes: to bring awareness to Climate Change, plastics in our oceans, etc. Can one 5'4" beautiful English woman make a difference in how we treat our beautiful planet? Well, for me, as I sit writing this review at my favorite Starbucks armed with a journal (a la Roz), I made sure to order my coffee in a "for here" cup so it wouldn't end up in a landfill.

I plan to tweet Oprah about Roz and encourage others to do so if you enjoy this book: it would not only make a fabulous selection for her book club, but with the Oprah sticker on the front of the book, just imagine how fast the Roz message might get spread to the far corners of our oceans and earth. It can't be fast enough!

I read Rowing the Atlantic last spring, in response to an increasing interest in ocean adventure stories, and an overall passion for the oceans and the way we, as humans, relate to them. I found Roz's story compelling and fascinating. Most striking to me was her resourcefulness in solving challenges, both practical and psychological.

On the practical side, Roz was determined and creative in overcoming the many pitfalls that marked this journey. Upon reading her blog written during her Pacific Ocean Crossings, I witnessed and was inspired by the same fierce determination and creativity. Both accounts of her rowing adventures have left me astonished at her abilities to focus and to be unrelenting when she has a goal in mind.

On the psychological side, I saw a more vulnerable, complex person behind the warrior-like mentality of the ocean rower! Her self-disclosure, reflections and obvious sensitivity describe a woman of very many dimensions and extremes. I appreciated her introducing us to her annoying crew mates of Mr Doubt, etc., and explaining how she solved the challenges that they posed to her. I think we all tug these characters around, and it was refreshing to read how she finally pitched them overboard.

The gap that is evident in this story - the one between a strong, courageous and determined woman, and a woman of very human frailty and complexity - is the part of Roz's story which left me wanting to know more.

She is planning now to do an Indian Ocean crossing, this time with a clear environmental mission, and I wish her all the best in her Odyssey. Row on!

When Roz Savage realized she was bored with her career and marriage, she decided to take a little trip to clear her mind. Hey, we've all been there. But in Roz' case, she picked up the oars, got into her rowboat and rowed thousands of miles across the stormy, shark-infested Atlantic. Alone. Okay, it helps that she was a champion rower in college, but even so, Roz is clearly an overachiever.

Surprisingly, her voyage is not all that exciting, and I'm not in love with Savage's writing style. She refers to personality traits by giving them names like Mr. Self-Deception and Mr. Denial. She also frequently lapses into dialogue that sounds suspiciously like motivational speaking. No surprise there...Ms. Savage used the voyage to jumpstart a career in this field.

Aside from regularly getting soaked by waves, having to subsist on cold food and the eventual destruction of all her little luxuries...stereo, stove, phone...the trip is pretty smooth. Now my feeling is, if one is going to row from one spot to another and write a book about it, include at least one horrifying encounter with a shark. Or better, sharks. The ominous gray shadow just under the surface...you see it following you. Soon there are others. Suddenly one breeches the surface, it's mouth gaping open with row after row of razor sharp teeth just inches away from you. Separated by nothing more than some fragile wood, you cower in the boat, but the sharks sense that there is prey...now that's what I wanna hear. Not a lament about not being able to phone mom because the telephone got wet. I love adventure books, this one is just okay. For some real excitement, try reading Keep Australia on Your Left. Plenty of excitement and sharks.

Overall a nice story about rowing across the ocean. I will read any book about rowing or sailing around the world since I am a fan of "survival" stories. This isnt much of a survivor story but at least she made the journey alone, and THAT is quite the accomplishment.