After conquering the Atlantic and the Pacific, ocean rower and environmental activist Roz Savage is preparing to hit the open water once again. This time she has set the Indian Ocean as her goal, which when successful, would give her the triple crown of ocean rowing.
If all goes according to schedule, Roz will set out from Fremantle in Australia on Wednesday morning local time, and turn her boat towards Mubai, India. The route is roughly 6300km (3914 miles) in length and will take an estimated 4.5 months to complete, with the notoriously rough seas of the Indian Ocean working against her.
That isn't Roz's only concern however. She faces the very real threat of pirates in the Indian Ocean, which isn't deterring her in any way, although she is taking steps to remain safe. For instance, on her other rowing adventures she used a tracking system so that we could follow her progress along the way. No such system will exist on this journey, and she's remaining mum on her final landing destination to help keep the pirates off her track.
One thing that hasn't changed with her Indian Ocean adventure however is Roz's determination to get her environmental message out to the masses. Spending nearly a year of her life out on the ocean has made her keenly aware of the health of those waters and of the planet in general. That has made her a tireless advocate for protecting our planet and doing what ever we can to aid the environment. She even launched her Eco-Heroes initiative as a grassroots way to get people involved.
Even after adding the Indian Ocean to her resume, Roz won't quite be done rowing just yet. Her website lists another Atlantic crossing, from New Jersey to London, as part of her plans for 2012. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see, but clearly there she loves a good challenge!