The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community
Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/527607
www.sea-technology.com June 2015 / st 31 R owing more than 6,500 miles from Japan to San Francis- co, California, in a 23-foot boat will give Sonya Baum- stein plenty of time to think. It is an endurance challenge that has been achieved only three times, and Baumstein is tackling it without a support boat. She planned to start her journey in late May. When she sets foot in California after more than 150 days at sea, she will be the frst American and the frst woman to complete the trip. But Baumstein is thinking about more than the global record books. With every stroke, she is adding to our under- standing of the ocean and helping connect the dots between sea conditions and extreme weather. On her 650-pound boat, a snub-nosed shell that is 23 feet long and nearly 6 feet at the beam, she is carrying six oars, 900 dehydrated meals, 180 drink supplements, an electric water maker, and a suite of instruments to measure the conductivity, density and temperature of the water along her route. Larger Effect Even though she is only 30 years old, Baumstein's life has already been a journey that motivational speeches are made of, taking her around the world and to the edges of human en- durance. The summer after her freshman year of college, a speeding car hit her and two of her friends, breaking 14 of Baumstein's bones and ending her college rowing career. She re- turned to the University of Wisconsin on crutches to earn her degree, then returned to Florida to pursue a mas- ter's degree in nonproft management, while working with homeless women and children and coaching high- school crew. She rowed across the Atlantic, from the Canary Islands to Barbados. Then, she biked—into the wind—from the U.S.-Mexico border to Seattle, Washington, kayaked from Seattle to Juneau, Alaska, and piloted her stand-up paddle- board across the Bering Strait. But even logging achievements unimaginable to most of us left Baumstein wanting. "It didn't feel complete," she said. "It's very diffcult for me to do something without feeling like I have a larger ef- fect." Inspired by Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation (Bozeman, Montana), Baumstein turned her focus to ocean research. Deciding she needed a mission, Baumstein want- ed to undertake a row that would be about more than just paddling across the ocean. As she began organizing her Pa- cifc row, she contacted Gary Lagerloef and Julian Schanze of Earth and Space Research (ESR), based in Seattle, offer- ing to gather data to augment their ocean salinity projects. One of those projects uses NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D satel- lite readings to measure L-band microwave emissions from Solo Trans-Pacifc Row Will Provide 6,500-Mile Look at Ocean Salinity Sonya Baumstein to Journey From Japan to San Francisco By Steve Werblow Sonya Baumstein practices reeling in her SonTek CastAway-CTD, which will allow her to quickly gather data on water salinity, density and temperature as she rows across the Pacifc.