row4climate-blog

[row4climate-blog]

A very successful cycling trip!

Today we cycled the last 70 miles. After spending the night in Carcross, Yukon Territory, we biked through a scattering of high alpine lakes for miles up towards White pass before steeply descending down a winding road to the small town of Skagway, AK.

This has been an impressive bike trip! From spectacular views, to awesome glaciers, to incredible wildlife, to the kind and generous people and communities-- I’ve really appreciated all that the Canadian and Alaskan north has to offer and am eager to come back sometime!

While the enormity and untamed beautify of this part of the world feels indestructible, the impact of climate change is all too real. Throughout our trip, I am reminded how changes in the climate are impacting, and will continue to impact, the landscape, vegetation, animals, and communities in these regions (as well as globally). It is very important that we continue to fight against climate change and enact policies to champion a better future.

[row4climate-blog]

Husky hugs all around!

We Huskies (two University of Washington grads) found the rest of the dawg pack! Nothing beats getting to play with 100+ huskies at the end of a long day of cycling!

After 85 miles of riding in the hot sun, we peddled a last few kilometers down a dusty road to the welcome of huskies on the Muktuk Adventures ranch just outside of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. This ranch offers mushing adventures in the winter but in the summer the dogs are still up to play!

The day of riding went very smoothly! Saw another black bear on the side of the road as well as a porcupine and a lot of prairie dogs.

[row4climate-blog]

A journey is at its best when you enjoy the ride

So much more happens when you travel by bike rather than take a car. You come to really appreciate that slight downhill, you notice that change in weather, you get extra energy from that stunning view around the bend, and best of all you get an unparalleled feeling of accomplishment at the end of a long day of riding.

Day 1: we rented touring bikes in Haines, AK and rode 33 miles up the Chilkat River. The riding was pretty easy and took us less than 2 hours but the views were outstanding.

Day 2: If it weren’t for the stunning landscape, this day would have sucked. We spent almost 9 hours riding 65 miles which included 3,500 feet of elevation gain. Our bikes loaded down with all our gear made the climb harder than I anticipated. However in good moods and with great scenery, we made the trek with only a few short breaks. 

Along the way we met our first bear (which dashed across the road before we could tell what type of bear it was or get a pic). We also encounter about 9,999 mosquitos, millions of beautiful lakes and rivers, some very steep and pointy peaks, lots of impressive glaciers, and one big thundercloud which soaked us as we were climbing the final big hill right before the campground. 

Day 3: We were at last rewarded with some long downhills, another bear (Black bear) and finally after leaving Haines three days ago and 150 miles ago, we reached our next town, Haines Junction. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream, showers, coffee and a laundromat!

[row4climate-blog]

Finally in Alaska!

Flew into Juneau yesterday afternoon with my college friend Teresa and made a bee line for the Mendenhall glacier. This massive glacier did not disappoint! I got my first glimpse from our campsite on the other side of the lake.

 After setting up camp we walked over to the west glacier trailhead. There at the trail entrance was a sign marking the terminus (end) of the glacier in 1910. As the trail wound through dense lush forest and around slippery boulder sections, we traveled through time. 

A few miles in we passed the terminus of the glacier in 1942. As we neared the end of the 3.5 mile trail, our pace slowed while the retreat of the glacier increased. Climate change has caused the glacier to shrink more and more each year and the retreat will only increase in the future.

For more information on the Mendenhall Glacier, check out these links:

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2011/09/15/mendenhall-glacier-now-and-then/

https://www.npr.org/2016/07/27/485601554/visitors-to-a-shrinking-alaskan-glacier-get-a-lesson-on-climate-change

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alaska-mendenhall-glacier-time-lapse_us_5668c19be4b009377b23c915

http://www.uas.alaska.edu/arts_sciences/naturalsciences/envs/faculty_staff/mendenhall.html

Today we will take a seaplane and begin our bike tour.

[row4climate-blog]

Yet another turn of events

Well last night I was supposed to be on the ferry on my way to Alaska, but as luck would have it, the ferry’s engine room caught on fire earlier in the day and the ferry was CANCELED!! Luckily the fire was hours before I was supposed to board the ferry and no one was harmed by it. See more about the fire here: https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article214061014.html

I honesty can not believe it though... out of all the times the ferry sails, the fire happened right before I was supposed to take it. What can possibly happened next? I guess the upside is that the fire did not happen while I was on it.

After some quick google searches, I am now flying up to Alaska and will still begin my bike trip on time since the ferry was going to take 3 days to sail up there. The cancelation is a big disappointment, but at least my trip will still be on track.

[row4climate-blog]

While the row has ended we’re still in a race

The last few days I’ve been in turmoil. I repeatedly feel like I’m in the wrong place. I think my heart is still lost out in the middle of the Pacific, determinedly riding the big waves. While I am having trouble accepting that my ocean rowing dreams have come to a shattering halt, recent events have shed light on the gravity of Anna’s condition. Anna was diagnosed with a kidney infection as a result of being dehydrated, hypoglycaemic and hypothermic.

While it would be easy to dwell on my disappointment, I’ve come to the  realization that we still have a race to win and it isn't time to stop fighting for our planet. This is my new plan: For the first two weeks of July, I will cycle 400 miles through the remote Alaskan and Canadian wilderness, getting an up-close view of rapidly receding glaciers, as well as bountiful wildlife and scenery. I remain determined to bring awareness to the impacts of climate change and I am looking forward to documenting my cycling journey.

Upon returning from this journey, I will begin my PhD at Stanford University using models and radar observations to improve our understanding of ice sheets and aid in improving sea level rise predictions.

The path forward is never easy. This week has probably been the toughest week of my life but we’ve still got a lot to do in this world. Resilience and perseverance is what it will take to champion a greener future.

Stay tuned for more updates. 

[row4climate-blog]

A Difficult Decision

Early this morning, team Ripple Effect had to make an extremely difficult decision. After fighting steady high winds and waves for 5 days they had put all of their effort into making as much Westerly progress as possible. They put the boat on a course of about 210 degrees to the southwest, which was as much of an angle as possible against the waves coming from the northwest. With the winds never dropping below 20 knots for so many days in a row, the seas had built to about 12 feet average, with some being high enough to quickly capsize the boat if it caught one to broadside. It took three crew members to row in such conditions, leaving only one crew to rest at a time. Despite extreme conditions Ripple Effect was going strong and making excellent westward progress. Fully determined to move the boat fast, Eliza rowed 12 straight hours.

  At the end of the Monday night shift, skipper Anna fainted at the oars. The relentless winds, waves, cold temperatures, and hydration and nourishment issues, as well as fear and anxiety overcame Anna. Thankfully, Eliza was able to get her safely into the cabin. Eliza tended to Anna all night, warming her and checking her vital signs hourly. However, Anna made the decision that she couldn’t continue on the journey. That is unfortunate for everyone, but health is essential for racing. Eliza and the remaining crew desperately wanted to continue. Without a full crew, it was impossible for the others to continue safely. 

The Pacific is proving very fierce this year. Two days ago, Team Attack Poverty capsized in the extreme conditions and suffered from hypothermia. They called for assistance and are now off the water. Team Attack Poverty was made up of two men who had previously rowed across the Atlantic Ocean. They were rescued by a passing cargo ship. 

A chase boat was able to reach the Ripple Effect crew and Anna will recover. However, after so much hard preparation and work to make it happen, it is difficult to accept that they are out of the race. Eliza put forth her determination and commitment. She has reached a large audience with her very important climate message. She will continue her work as an inspiring young climate scientist who is advocating for climate awareness and political action.

[row4climate-blog]

Past the 100-mile Mark!

Team Ripple Effect just rowed past the 100-mile mark! The first part of the race is exhausting as the crews try to break away from the shore. The prevailing winds blow onshore in California because as the land heats up the air over it rises and the cool air over the ocean rushes in to replace it.  In addition, a storm came through yesterday bringing gale force winds. Today the National Weather Service predicts Northwest winds up to 25 knots and waves 7 to 11 feet in height. These strong winds also bring big waves and small boats can’t go directly West across the waves. With the wind and waves pushing them onshore the Ripple Effect and all the teams have to battle mightily for any westward movement. 

Yesterday the winds were 25 to 29 knots from the North - Northwest with swells between 9 and 11 feet at about 7 seconds. Crews are tired and some are seasick. They are getting used to the rhythm of rowing and sleeping in two-hour intervals. Since there is no refrigeration on board fresh food is now gone and cooking is a struggle in the big winds. The strong winds and big waves are unrelenting so most of the crews including the Ripple Effect put out their para-anchors last night so they could wait out the storm and try to sleep. 

A para-anchor is like a parachute designed for the water. Rather than tethering the boat to the seabed, it increases the drag through the water and acts like a brake. It slows the boat down and lets the crew stop rowing, climb into their cabin, and rest. If you are keeping an eye on the tracker you can see when a crew has deployed their para-anchor because their speed slows way down.

Eliza and the Ripple Effect crew are working hard and putting forth amazing effort. They have rowed 105 nautical miles from Monterey!

[row4climate-blog]

Day One Done!

Eliza and Team Ripple Effect are one day into the race! They are sending daily reports back through texts and satellite phone. Here’s Ripple Effect’s location on the map: 

Ripple Effect is the lead boat and they are making good progress. They started with three crew members rowing and one resting. They have now switched to two rowing and two resting. The wind has picked up this evening and the conditions are likely to be challenging for the first week until they get farther west into calmer waters. Team Ripple Effect is handling it well and going strong! As of 7:00 pm they had rowed 33 nautical miles and had 2,055 more miles to go to get to Hawaii!

The best place to track the boats is on the GreatPacificRace.com website, or try the YB Race app which gives boat speed.

[row4climate-blog]

And we’re off!

Leaving the dock in an hour and fifteen minutes! Follow Great Pacific Race facebook for a live video stream of the start, download the Great Pacific Race app to track our progress, and continue to follow my blog and my teams social media channels for updates along our voyage! See you in Hawaii!

[row4climate-blog]

Departure set for Wednesday night 6PM!

A weather window has opened up Wednesday night which means I’m finally about to depart! Here’s a look at the winds Wednesday night and you can see it’s not too windy heading directly west out of Monterey.

It’s hard to believe that it really is here. After 10 months of planning and preparation, I’ll be departing tomorrow! I’ve spent the last few days running to stores endless times (I’ve probably been to West Marine over 10 times and Hardware stores closer to 20 times in the last week!). I’ve also been savoring my last showers, last nights in a real bed, and last real food until I arrive in Hawaii.

I’ve also been busy putting all of my sponsor’s logos on Ripple Effect and she looks beautiful:)

[row4climate-blog]

Postponed Start

Due to very high winds of the coast, the start of the Great Pacific Race has been postponed until Tuesday night at the earliest. 

Chris Martin, race director, explains "We have decided to delay the start because of aggressive offshore weather. Wind speeds are expected to reach 30 kt (35 mph) and gust to more than 40 kt (46 mph) with short period wave heights of 12ft. Ocean row boats are designed to and can cope with the worst conditions that the Pacific can generate but we would prefer that our crews have the best possible and safest start to their race."

While the delay is disappointing, the few extra days will be nice for finishing off the final preparations on the boat and give us all more practice time. Stay tuned for more updates regarding the start in the next few days.

In the meantime here are some pictures of us rowing and working on the boat over the last few days!

Here I am painting the antifouling paint on the hull

We may have gotten more paint on us!

First over night was a little cold!

...and just a little fun in Monterey!

[row4climate-blog]

A real test before the start

This last week has been all about learning. Learning how to row our boat, learning how the electronic system works, learning how to operate the navigation chart plotting system, understanding the safety networks, learning about the water maker, the bilge bump, how to deploy a sea anchor... and that’s just the beginning. Yesterday was the biggest lesson yet. I woke up at 6:00 AM for a 7:00 AM muster and 8:30 start of the prologue race. This was the ultimate test for all the crews before we all depart on the actual race in 2 days. The morning started off foggy with light winds and moderate swell. Here we are leaving the marina.

Here is a live video from the start of the prologue race

https://www.facebook.com/GreatPacificRace/videos/1665758176794243/

We had a good start, leading the way out to the first buoy in the middle of Monterey Bay, a similar course to the one we will be following during the actual race. Along the way the race support team gave us tests like making 4 gallons of water with the water maker, calling on the satellite phone, sending a text on the inreach, and retrieving a buoy as a man-over-board drill. But our biggest test was the weather. As the day progressed the conditions disintegrated. The waves got much larger and wind gusts increased above 30 kts. At some points we had waves completely crashing over the deck and swamping it and we had to be careful not to get washed over board (you can see the harnesses we have to wear in the pictures). I rowed (and used foot steering to hold our coarse) for over 10 hours straight. With the waves and wind pushing us towards land we had to row in all three rowing positions to keep our distance away from land. After a very long day we eventually got back to the marina at 12:30 AM the following day with the help of a support yacht to guide us safely back. Our battle against the strong wind and waves was great practice for the real race. The first week will be a fight to break out of the coastal weather systems pushing us back towards shore. Once we make it through that we will have the wind and waves pushing us towards HI.

[row4climate-blog]

The team is here!

The last few days have been a whirlwind! I’ve met up with my awesome crewmates, Emma, Anna, and Mariana, and we’ve been preparing our boat and organizing our gear.

This morning we did an inversion test. We stashed our gear and water ballast in the hull of the boat and then a boat hoist turned our boat upside down. We also did a test where we climbed into the cabins and then the boat was flipped. That way we could practice bracing our selves against the cabin as it turned and re-righted. Everything went smoothly which is good!

On Monday we did scrutineering - going through all of our equipment with the race support team to be sure we have the necessary gear.

We’ve also been busy sorting all of our food! Every morning we have seminars with the race officials on subjects such as the boats electronic system, navigation, and safety and emergency scenarios. 

This afternoon we’re heading out of the water for a practice row and (assuming everything goes well) our first overnight!

We’ve still got vinyling and our wonderful sponsor’s stickers to apply on our boat. I’m very excited to take on this big adventure and appreciate all the support I have from you following along! If you’d like to learn more about my crewmmates please check out our team website: rippleeffectrowing.com

[row4climate-blog]

A Powerful Message

“A picture is worth a thousand words”... everyone knows that saying. I think that perfectly describes the National Geographic cover this month. As a crew rowing 2,400 miles across the Pacific to raise awareness about the plight of our climate and the enormous issue of plastic pollution, it is encouraging to see this highlighted in National Geographic.

The 18 billion pounds of plastic that end up in the ocean each year are “just the tip of the iceberg,” the caption says. High publicity surrounding these issues will hopefully put pressure on our government and big businesses to take notice and join other nations in enacting policies that will spur significant change. This is reality. Do we want a polluted ocean full of plastic or a thriving ocean and ice in the high latitudes?

I am looking forward to giving you an up close view of the Pacific through pictures and videos along my journey. I want to share my experience rowing through the Pacific Garbage Patch and my perspective as a climate scientist. Make sure to keep following this blog, as well as my Team’s instagram, Ripple Effect Rowing, for more pictures.

Yesterday was a great first day in Monterey, 40 mile bike ride in the morning and then some boat work in the afternoon!

[row4climate-blog]

Here at last!

Arrived in Monterey this afternoon! I got to finally see my boat (my home for the next 2 months) and of course took some pictures of it in the staging area at Monterey Peninsula Yacht Club. Exciting to finally be here and eager to get out on the water soon. Looking forward to the rest of my team arriving on Friday!

[row4climate-blog]

Monterey, here I come!

Finally, the day is here to drive down to Monterey, CA for the start of the Great Pacific Race! I have 2.5 weeks to train in Monterey before departing on June 2nd.

After 8+ months of preparation, my journey across the Pacific Ocean is finally just around the corner (and then off to Stanford for my PhD in the fall)! Couldn’t be more excited for both adventures!

The last couple of weeks have been hectic with packing for the trip, moving out of my house, and finishing my preparation courses for the journey. Here I am practicing using a sextant for backup navigation to our GPS.

I’ve also been working on securing the rest of my donations and sponsorship (a huge thank you to everyone that has graciously contributed, I couldn't do it without you and I’m so excited to share my journey with you! Please stay tuned for LOTS of blogs in the next few weeks as I prepare for this monumental crossing!