OAR Northwest

Inside Passage to Tofino

Jordan — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:15:22 +0000

Doing trips like this in your early thirties is quite different than in your early twenties. Relationships, careers and kids, can make carving out this time a great deal harder and I was thankful to have Adam, who departed in Hot Springs, for as long as we did. This did not stave off a strong [...]

Expedition Support

Otto — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:41:50 +0000

On behalf of OAR Northwest, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to some extraordinary Base Camp crew! These folks have provided countless hours, skills, dedication, spirit and late-evening international boarder crossings to support the expedition, team and base camp activities. As part of OAR Northwest’s daily expedition action, they communicate with crew [...]

An Ocean Rower’s Day

greg — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:03:00 +0000

We have been getting lots of questions via direct message and from people on the street during layovers about the average day on an ocean rowboat. I thought I’d take a moment to paint that picture, and see if we have any aspiring adventurers out there. Sleep/Wake Cycle: Traditional cycles are row 2 hours, rest [...]

Hesquiaht First Nation Place of Learning…and play

Jordan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 20:52:53 +0000

The Hot Spring, BC village has a very nice new school, called the Hesquiaht First Nation Place of Learning. According to Carly the teacher it would really be nice with forty kids, but for now it has ten; and, by the looks of it ten very well looked-after kids. Upon arriving in the Hesquiaht village we [...]

Hot Springs Cove Ho!

Jordan — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:55:59 +0000

Hot Springs cove, located in Maquinna Provincial Park, is small and narrow. Halfway up is a public dock that leads to a boardwalk trail two kilometers to the hot springs. On the trail are large twisted cedars and lush vegetation. Yellow lily like flowers called skunk cabbage, a sign of spring, grew abundantly on the [...]

Stiff Headwinds Prevent Progress

greg — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:09:10 +0000

We awakened at 6:30am Wednesday morning to a stiffer breeze than usual, and rain that had fallen all night had not just persisted, but became more heavy. After a hardy breakfast of oats, quinoa & spices with Spam, we packed the JRH in anticipation of launch within the hour. We were leaving Hot Springs Cove [...]

Northern Lights Meet Bioluminescence

Jordan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:25:50 +0000

One of the reporters on the dock in Vancouver, BC ask something akin to what I was most looking forward to on this trip. I told her it would be some point, which I predicted would be after Port Hardy, where the distance from shore, or in this case normal life and civilization would ebb [...]

One Fish, Gone Fish

Jordan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:32:59 +0000

Saturday, April 21, Midday Adam watched the fishing rod bend slightly. He was in the bow seat and called for Markus to reel it in from the stern where he was preparing food. Whatever was on the end was not a fighter. As the molted brown fish that Adam called rock cod came [...]

Humpbacks on Earth Day

Jordan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:39:04 +0000

Earth Day’s reward was not miles rowed. Rick and Adam were rowing when thirty foot plumes of steam appeared from the sea with an industrial hiss. Huge coal-colored bodies rolled softly past us–five to eight humpbacks. The water was smooth and glassy. We quit rowing and watched off and on for the better part of [...]

What about the food?

adam — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:53:31 +0000

One of the most popular questions we are asked as a crew is, “What do you eat?”. Well, the simple answer is: a lot For the trip around Vancouver we packed 468,000 calories condensed into over 125 Kg (275 lbs) of mostly dry, organic food. This averages out to just over 7,000 calories per [...]