Something about that AI future, a cartoon of note, and in the “don’t say you weren’t warned” department…
I’ve always wanted to row across an ocean. As a kid I had a newspaper photo of Ridgeway and Blyth glued into my three-ring binder when all the other kids had football, baseball, and basketball heroes. Me, I had a couple of guys who’d rowed across the Atlantic.
I’ll admit I was a kinda weird kid.
I got a note from Don McIntyre on his latest project or grift of the Real Ocean Row.
Don McIntyre, he’s the guy behind the reboot of the Golden Globe Race and the recent Mini Globe Race. Apparently, he’s a clever fellow and has a talent in providing services and a framework where people pay him money to accomplish their dreams.
I get it. It’s really no different than cruising rallies and suchlike. It takes a certain Barnum-ish personality and mindset to put this kind of thing together and some might have issues. The important thing is the Real Ocean Row is about putting dollars into someone’s pocket.
I’ve always had the desire to get in a boat and row a few thousand miles. The appeal is instant. It makes it all simple… if you can call rowing thousands of miles simple. A group event with a framework that allows one to just get to doing while giving your desires a sanity wash in the process.
Somehow, doing something crazy in a group is seen as OK while doing it on your own is batshit crazy.
So, I’ll admit there’s a place for the Real Ocean Row. It provides a service that some folks need. Just that it’s not for me.
Personally, I have zero interest in doing a race and too cheap for the $21,418.26 entry fee. So it ain’t gonna happen on my watch. That said, rowing a simple dory along the lines of the one used by Ridgeway and Blyth has always been part of my bucket list.
Maybe for my 80th birthday…
Sometime around 1991-1992 the coasties rescued an older gentleman who had drifted offshore in his skiff (?) near King’s Bay, GA. He told them he rowed south each year down the intercoastal, never read any followup on it.
FFS King Grifter is at it again! If we accept that there are people who climb “rope free” and those that will only do it tethered, then we can accept there will always be people who are prepared to pay for the perceived “safety” of a group undertaking, and willing to pay the price.
I still have a copy of “A Fighting Chance”, bought in my early teens. I even got a set of Dory plans from W.F.Harrisons. Having sailed across, I absolutely do not “get it”. Even a tiny lug rig like that on a Currach, would be better. I used to do long distance running, but i still do not get the ocean rowing, crossing in the same boat with 20sqft of sail is much the same experience and still requires “effort”.
I have also witnessed where “promotion” was put over “preparation”, and almost cost 4 lives, despite me raising concerns that were ignored.
Bolgers 26ft “Cruising Canoe” would be my choice for a sail n oar Transat.