Action on the Water: Roz Savage to Embark on 5th Expedition

Ocean rower and environmental activist Roz Savage takes to the sea again this week, embarking on her fifth expedition. This time she will row from Fremantle, Australia to Mumbia, India. If all goes according to plan, she'll be hitting the water Wednesday morning, Fremantle time.

From her website:

I will bid to row 5,000 nautical miles from Fremantle in Australia to the west coast of India, aiming to arrive at the Gate of India monument in Mumbai. This would round off the "Big Three" – Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans – making me the first woman in history to do so.

This will be my longest single row to date, and is estimated to take five to six months.

The route may seem surprising, and indeed the original intention was to aim for Zanzibar in Africa. However, given recent problems with pirates operating in the waters off the east coast of Africa, I decided after extensive consultation with my weatherman to aim for Mumbai instead.

The winds and currents are likely to help in this choice of route. Once in the Arabian Sea, the conditions will shift from the southeast to the southwest, allowing a long, looping arc to the west coast of India.

And even in the midst of prepping for such a voyage, she still manages to inspire others to take action. Just last week she encouraged her followers to support her campaign for a plast-bag free London Olympics.

Savage spoke at Mountainfilm in 2007, a year after her solo row across the Atlantic. Keep up with her expedition and see what other environmental causes she's involved in on her website.