1000 Leagues Across the Sea: An American Project to Row Across the North Atlantic (W- E) in 2016

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1 1000 Leagues Across the Sea: An American Project to Row Across the North Atlantic (W- E) in 2016 Introduction On May 22 nd, 2016, Team 1000 Leagues plan to disembark from the Cape Cod Area (the specific location on Cape Cod is still to be determined), in Massachusetts, USA, to row across the North Atlantic Ocean, unsupported and unassisted, to Brest, France. The distance for this route will be around 2800 nautical miles (or 3200 miles), following a great circle path. The overall project is being branded with a Jules Verne aesthetic. As the project members are fans of Steam Punk and Jules Verne (who also happens to be a French author), the Jules Verne marine mystique and aesthetic evoked from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea seemed apropos to our project. Since a League is approximately roughly three miles, we decided to name our project 1000 Leagues Across the Sea.

2 The main reason for leaving in May of 2016 is to try to avoid the harsh weather conditions of the Spring and Winter; however, as hurricane season typically runs from June to the end of November, we will begin our expedition in May. This will also hopefully give us enough time to make it to Brest, France in time for the International Maritime Festival, which takes place from July 13 th to 19 th, and only occurs once every four years. Records Figure 1. Current Team Logo Team 1000 Leagues will set several new Guinness World Records upon completing this expedition: 1) The first American Pairs Boat to ever row across the North Atlantic Ocean West to East (W- E). 2) The first American Mixed Pairs Boat (man and woman) to ever row across the North Atlantic Ocean W- E. 3) The first American Woman to ever row the Atlantic W- E. 4) The first team ever to row the Atlantic W- E from continent to continent non- stop. 5) The fastest speed record for a team rowing the Atlantic W- E non- stop from mainland North America to mainland Europe. Team Biographies Team 1000 Leagues is comprised of two rowers: James Caple and Cindy Way. James and Cindy will be the crewmembers solely responsible for rowing their boat the entire distance across the North Atlantic. In addition to these two, however, additional team members will provide Coaching, Mentoring, Logistical, PR and Weather Routing support. For example, Ocean Rower Roz Savage has been retained

3 to provide Coaching and Mentoring services for the expedition. We are actively looking for a Weather Forecaster to add to our team as well, and are hoping to talk to experienced Weather Router, Lee Bruce, about his services in the very near future. We will be rounding- out our team with Shore- Based PR/Communications personnel in the near future as well. James Caple, Team Captain James completed his first Ironman in He completed the Marine Corps Marathon in His next long distance challenge is to row across the North Atlantic with his partner, Cindy Way. James is a 1991 graduate of The Citadel (F-Troop), a 1993 graduate of Boston University, and rows competitively for Alexandria Community Rowing. James has three children: Matthew (18), Claire (16) and Evelyn (12). Cindy Way, First Mate Cindy is passionate about the outdoors. She has been a competitive horse rider in dressage and eventing, loves participating in Sprint Triathlons and rowing competitively on the Potomac River for Alexandria Community Rowing. After seven years in the US Navy, she found her passion for learning and is finishing her Doctorate in Education from George Washington University. Cindy got her first taste of rowing at Tabor Academy and is 'super excited' to start this adventure, with her fantastic partner James Caple, where she first learned to row (i.e., Marion, MA). Roz Savage, Expedition Advisor/Mentor Roz Savage MBE is an ocean rower, environmental campaigner, author, speaker and life coach. She holds four world records for ocean rowing, including first woman to row solo across three oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. She has rowed over 15,000 miles, taken around 5 million oarstrokes, and spent cumulatively over 500 days of her life alone at sea in a 23-foot rowboat. Boat We recently purchased a built- for- purpose ocean rowing boat from an individual in Connecticut who was planning a similar expedition of his own, but needed to postpone his project indefinitely. The boat was purchased for $50,000 out of our personal savings. Our boat has been across the Atlantic Ocean three times already. Her last Ocean Rower was Sean McGowan of Ireland. Justin Adkin the same boat builder who built Roz Savage s hull and who currently builds Ocean Rowing Boats for Sea Sabre in the UK - built our boat.

4 Figure 2. Cindy and James purchasing their boat in Connecticut in July of The boat was previously named Lia. We plan to re- christen her as Nautilus in keeping with our Jules Verne theme. Further, we are in discussions with a local artist about having nautilus- like tentacles painted on the bow of our ocean rowing boat to add to the visual appeal of the vessel. Our rowing boat currently has two 75- watt solar panels installed (one on the bow and one on top of the stern cabin). These solar panels trickle charge two marine batteries stored beneath the stern cabin. The batteries are used to power the GPS, VHF Radio, Deck Speakers, Bilge Pump, and Chart Plotter, all of which are either controlled or mounted on a panel directly inside the aft cabin (see picture below).

5 Current Budget and Equipment Needs The following is a non- comprehensive list of items we need in order to complete the preparations for our expedition: 1) One additional rowing position and sliding seat (preferably from Gig Harbor). The boat is currently only rigged for one rower and needs to be rigged for two. $ ) Hardened oar locks/rigging plus spares. $500. 3) 4x pairs of Sawyer Oars. $ ) 2x Immersion Suits. $ ) Life Raft. $500 (rent). 6) 2x Personal Locator Beacons. $600. 7) 2x Handheld GPS Backups. $ ) Manual Watermaker Backup. $ ) Spare SAT Phone. $ ) 100 Days Expedition Food. $3000.

6 11) 4x GoPro Cameras. $ ) Main Watermaker Repair/Refurbish. $ ) Spare Para- Anchor. $400. In sum, we currently need roughly $20,540 in equipment and expedition food in order to complete the preparations for our expedition. Conclusion The 1000 Leagues Across the Sea Project, when successful, will set as many as five new Guinness World Records, several of which can be attributed to the United States of America as a whole. We expect our project to garner a burst of significant interest once we have reached our destination in Brest, France, perhaps even leading to interviews on large media productions such as The Today Show (The OAR Northwest Team were interviewed by Matt Lauer after their capsize in the Mid- Atlantic Ocean) and Ellen Degeneres (Ocean Rower Sam Williams was interviewed by Ellen Degeneres) once we ve repatriated. We d love to talk about our expedition with Oprah Winfrey! Further, prior to leaving on our expedition next May we expect to release several Public Relations (PR) Releases to local media outlets in the Washington DC area to help spread the word of our expedition start. We anticipate the attention our project could get from such media exposure would be beneficial to key sponsors and donors of our project, who would be mentioned in all PR Releases and interviews with the media. Furthermore, sponsorship would include advertising on strategic locations of our boat and website ( Sponsorship can include in- kind gear donations as well as cash donations. Note that we have filed paper work with the IRS to form a 501(3)(C) non- profit organization. We intend that all cash donations exceeding the requisite amount needed to complete our expedition preparations will be donated to two charities: The first and foremost will be Heroes in Transition, located in Mashpee, MA, and the second will be a charity (as of yet to be determined) supporting literacy in the United States.