Relaunched Filled with Gratitude
Day: 3 — Position: N12 49’ E142 23’
Odometer since Guam: about 137M
Distance to Balikpapan on Borneo: 1872M
Sea surface temperature: 83.3F - 28.5C
OCEAN ROWING RECORDS AS RUNNING TOTALS
Solo career total in days: 1,056 (New World Record)
Overall career total in days: 1,140 (New World Record)
Solo career total in miles by Guam: 25,492M now about 25,628M (New World Record)
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Overall career total in miles by Guam: 28,472M now about 28,608M
* Ralph Tuijn (NL) leads this with 35,635M
** Circumference of the Earth along the equator is 21,600M long
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I relaunched from Guam on Monday morning with my heart full of gratitude and my faith in humanity fully restored. Any Guamanian who touched the journey or interacted with me, went out of their way to honor my journey.
I am keenly aware that I am the face of this journey, its engine, its spokesman. I have always said that the biggest lesson I learned during my 2007-2012 circumnavigation by human power, was that the journey itself always provided. Those whom I needed appeared around me, some there to open doors so I could advance my journey and did so cheerfully. Guam raised the bar a notch as I will try to narrate.
My reception to Guam began with the communications by my shore team with USCG Sector Guam in advance of my arrival. They monitored my course and provided key information about approaches to this island. Then Chief Jeffrey Gee coordinated with the Air Force team conducting live fire exercises to use the airspace east of the island which was a huge gesture and major relief.
Leading up to my arrival at the Apra Harbor entrance, Doug Woodring at Ocean Recovery Alliance contacted his friend Mike Cassidy who owned a vessel to find me at sea in case I could not come within reach of the harbor. My high school friend Sandy Leipheimer was in the communication loop, receiving replacement items for the boat and gathering basic staples ahead of time. She and Mike were ready to meet me at sea to resupply if necessary for me to continue nonstop.
Commander Mark Miller leading my shore team, was also in touch with the Marianas Yacht Club to gather information including possible anchorages along the coast if I needed to rest.
When Nancy made her decision to fly to Guam, I committed to stop with or without a tow. We had not seen each other since September. In case of a tow, I was going to cross my inbound track on the way out. With that decision made, Doug Woodring held a Zoom conference with Guam press corps. Several articles were already published in local newspapers leading up to my landfall. It seemed Guam was ready to welcome and celebrate my arrival.
Cait Denight Gayle, the Commodore of the Marianas Yacht Club (MYC) sprung into action notifying the Harbormaster, Port Authority and Customs. Between Cait and Breanne LaRance, an active on shore team member, they made arrangements with the offices of the Governor and Senators, the Guam Visitors Bureau, gathered the local media and arranged open air meet and greets at the MYC. It was going to be a busy week on Guam.
When I finally had land to my east on Saturday the 12th, it was Mike Cassidy who found me at sea in the morning northwest of Tumon Bay with another 11M to go before the Apra Harbor entrance. In addition to obtaining a rough timeline, he also enquired about what food I would like to have for dinner. I had at least 7-8 hours to go and for dinner, I asked for Thai food — “anything with lemongrass” was my answer.
It was Mike Cassidy who then arranged the vessel which towed me into the Apra Harbor after I crossed its entrance channel. They towed me just over three nautical miles east, deep into Apra Harbor through a maze of coral fields and shallows to the Marianas Yacht Club. Jim Cooley who had sailed there from Washington state on a catamaran with his family, accompanied us on his dinghy, later helping tie my rowboat to a buoy. I descended into chest deep water to walk up to the shore, holding a change of clothes over my head. The time was around 17:30 local time.
I won’t dwell on the arrival as I already wrote about it in my previous update but I must add that the Thai food was to die for after my routine of freeze dried foods for months at sea!
After the welcoming party began disbanding at MYC, the Leipheimer’s took Nancy and me to their friend Dr. Ed Stanley who we met outside, and who was ready with a vial of the COVID booster shot which had to be administered before 21:00. We got there at 20:45 before the defrosted vaccine expired and “he shot me in the parking lot,” a commentary we joked about later. Besides offering kind friendship to us with his wife Rowena, Dr. Stanley would later facilitate a prescription for prophylactic malaria medication for potential exposure on Borneo, and loan me some tools for boat repair work.
I could not have asked for better hosts than Sandy and John Leipheimer. They accommodated Nancy and me for a week, helped with laundry, tolerating for days my “organized pile” on their living room carpet, chuckling as I devoured sticks of butter with toasted bread, loaning me a vehicle to chase down supplies and to regularly visit my rowboat at MYC. They arranged presentations at their DoDEA school, one of which was to address a large group of ROTC students in their gymnasium. The gift of having a dear friend to reminisce with, bringing up high school stories after all these years, was wonderful.
Having a vehicle made it convenient to dash down to MYC for casual meetings with visitors. Chief Jeffrey Gee and his family stopped by to see my rowboat and to introduce their young son to me. It was great to put a face on that huge gesture of directing an entire live fire exercise in another direction away from where I needed to be.
Tim Ohno became an instant friend to me and Nancy, visiting MYC more than once. He was the buddy assigned to my brother Erkan years ago during his special forces training in the US, essentially becoming a sponsor and host to help my brother feel welcome during his stay.
Jim Cooley brought tubs of dried food packets from their catamaran for me to pick through. I chose mostly cheese varieties and some cod, as I had plenty of my own food already. During a storm, their catamaran broke free of its moorings drifting on a reef which broke both their rudders. They must replace those now before continuing on their own journey.
When I wanted to have QR code stickers printed for my rowboat, I went to Hafa Adai Signs run by Rodson Greeno who not only gave them to me as a gift but also sent me away with two jars of his no pesticide organic honey by Guam Bee Company. By then, it seemed that everyone knew about me and my yellow rowboat.
An in-person introduction by MYC Commodore Cait Gayle to OSROCO (Oil Spill Response Operations Company) located nearby in Apra Harbor resulted in a commitment by Tom Perez and Alfred Panabe to help tow my rowboat to the harbor entrance at 09:00 on Monday morning. That same morning at 07:00, we had arranged the inspection for departing vessels by the USDA for invasive Brown Tree Snake which was stressing the local bird populations by stealing their eggs. The flightless Guam Rail was especially vulnerable, down to about 25 pairs on Cocos Island at the southwest corner of Guam. This snake is nocturnal so a morning inspection was necessary by a trained dog and its handler to ensure that none was aboard my rowboat.
Nancy unfortunately had to fly back home before my relaunch. She would have been proud to be part of the send off organized to honor my journey. As an island people, Guamanians understood deep down the commitment that it took to cross an ocean with such a small vessel. Their innate hospitality and perhaps affinity to early seafarers, brought them out to touch my journey. The appreciation that Guam became part of my story on this historic crossing now broadcast to the entire world, was also mentioned as “putting Guam on the map.”
With Guam’s Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and first Gentleman, Jeff Cook.
There could not have been a higher recognition bestowed on my journey than having Guam’s Governor Lou Leon Guerrero join us. Her husband, First Gentleman Jeff Cook, Vice Speaker Tina Muna-Barnes, Senator Amanda Shelton, Senator Joe San Agustin, Guam Visitors Bureau chairman Milton Morinag, General Manager Rory Respicio and Port Authority of Guam Management Team were already present when she arrived. I was presented certificates and praised by each participant who honored the journey in their own unique way. On arrival, I had received a lae woven of tree nuts that hung around my chest; this time as I stood next to the Governor, a lae made of bright white sea shells, courtesy of Senator Shelton, I wore proudly, noticeably contrasting over the black t-shirt of the local pub: Caraboa Brewing.
A flurry of activity ensued, everyone taking a moment in front of the camera and I too was put on the spot to say a few words. The word gratitude did not do justice to how I felt inside, with a heart so full, ready to burst. In hindsight I should have invited Sandy to stand next to me, to publicly acknowledge the friendship and generosity she and John offered. As my focus shifted from the ceremony to wading into the waist deep water to prepare my rowboat for departure, I also neglected to hug them good bye. I will regret that until the day that Nancy and I return to Guam without the distractions of an expedition…
Jim Cooley helped with his small dinghy braving the morning winds while towing me among the coral heads. I was steering to help and In one section when he was not able to turn his dinghy toward the wind, I pulled on my starboard oar to help stay clear of the reef. We eventually made it to deeper water where OSROCO guys took over the tow with a larger vessel to the harbor entrance. I untied from their tow near the red buoy on the north side of the entrance channel at 10:16 local time then rowed across my inbound track at 10:22 to start the rest of my journey toward Balikpapan in Kalimantan province of Indonesia on Borneo.
Erden
