Adventures of one lifetime (From Crewe Guardian)

Adventures of one lifetime

4:25pm Monday 6th October 2008 in Lifestyle By David Morgan

AT the start of the 21st century Roz Savage had it all.

A well-paid job as a project manager for a bank, a large house in West London and even a little red sports car. But she was not happy.

Commuting to work every day, she gradually realised she was not being true to herself and dreamt of a different life - a life of meaning.

Roz, who was born in Nantwich, then sat down and wrote two versions of her own obituary.

The first, her life as it was, comfortable in the safe confines of normality, and the second, the life she wanted to have.

She thought of the people she admired, who would take risks and treat life as an adventure whatever the consequences.

"I thought having a huge house and owning a lot of things would make me happy."

Roz Savage

It was then that she realised her life had to change.

"I was so materialistic," admitted Roz, who attended Leftwich High School.

"I thought having a huge house and owning a lot of things would make me happy because I did not have a lot of money when I was growing up.

"But I realised that what I own is just stuff and it is not going to make me proud of my life. Even living in a palace would not have made a difference.

"It came as quite a shock because it was a complete reversal of everything I believed up to that point and I had to go back to my core principals. I wanted to make a contribution."

So Roz left her old life behind and had her first taste of adventure in Peru discovering Inca ruins in the Peruvian cloudforest, embarking on a pilgrimage to the Amazon and traversing the mountains of Cordillera Blanca.

It was after that she embarked on the challenge that would define her career and bring her international recognition.

In March 2006, after a 103-day voyage from the Canary Islands to Antigua, she became the only sole female competitor to complete the Atlantic Rowing Race.

She is now one of only five women to have rowed solo across the Atlantic from East to West.

"I suppose it is quite an achievement when you put it that way," said Roz, when she spoke to Limited Edition in between training sessions in California.

"But for me, the best thing was the valuable lessons I learnt along the way. I learnt a lot about myself and life in general.

"It has given me great confidence in my own ability to cope with life's challenges."

Throughout her voyage, Roz endured tremendous hardship.

Tackling 20ft waves and vicious storms, she broke all four oars and had to repair them with duct tape and makeshift splints as well as having to cut off the rope to her failed anchor in shark-infested waters.

Her cooking stove failed after only 20 days followed by her navigation equipment and music player.

She had tendonitis in her shoulders and saltwater sores on her backside.

But the rower said that the physical hardship was little compared to the mental challenge the task presented.

"It was an overwhelming challenge and sometimes I would say to myself: 'What was I thinking?' but I was too proud and stubborn to give up and so I had to deal with it.

"When you think of people like Terry Waite, he had a choice of going crazy or figuring out how to deal with a difficult situation.

"At least I had the advantage of knowing there would be an end. It is amazing what we are capable of as human beings," said the 40-year-old.

Perhaps the most shocking part of Roz's Atlantic voyage was on day 80 when her satellite phone malfunctioned leaving only the movement of her positional transponder to indicate she was still alive.

This came a month before the end, leaving her completely isolated for the rest of her journey. But where most people would feel scared and alone, Roz felt truly liberated.

She added: "The solitude was relatively easy to cope with and I found it to be quite a special time - although it was quite a tough time for my mother.

"It made the journey more personal and empowering."

Her story was so inspirational that it was filmed as A Little Silver Boat in a Big Silver Sea as part of last year's ITV documentary series Is It Worth It?

"I really enjoyed doing that but I do not enjoy watching myself.

"It was an interesting perspective because it gave me a lot of distance from the story.

"I also have tendencies to look to the future and hurtle on regardless and that forced me to look back and absorb the lessons I had learned," said Roz.

Now the rower is set to conquer the Pacific Ocean travelling from California to Australia.

The voyage is being split into three stages, breaking up her journey in Hawaii and Tuvalu.

Roz originally launched her Pacific attempt last year but had to give in after just 10 days when stormy weather caused her boat to capsize three times in 24 hours, losing vital equipment.

She added: "I remember reaching up the coastguard helicopter and looking at my poor little boat on the huge waves."

Does this make her nervous about the second attempt?

"Before the Atlantic Rowing Race, I was really excited and had high expectations but it was a lot tougher than I ever imagined.

"so now I try not to prejudge things, accept things as they are and be a bit 'zen' about it.

"It makes life easier to have that philosophy," said Roz.

She will also be using the opportunity to raise awareness of the environmental crisis facing the world's oceans by going past the North Pacific garbage patch.

"Last time I did not have a chance to get the environmental message out.

"My main principle is to encourage people to reduce the use of plastic and take responsibility for their own lives without waiting for government or organisations to take the lead.

"Every little action people take can make a massive difference one way or another."

Roz has also been busy working on a film about the Pacific.

At just 5ft 4in and weighing only 105 pounds when she conquered the Atlantic, Roz became an unlikely rowing champion and an icon for anyone facing adversity.

They said she was crazy, they said she was not big or tall or strong enough - so what would Roz like to say to her critics now?

"I would like to thank them because they gave me something to prove..."