Distances along the way

Route details

The highest point in Oceania is the Carstenz Pyramid (Punjak Jaya). Located in Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua, Carstenz rises to a height of 4,884 metres (16,023 feet). The first ascent of this mountain was achieved by Heinrich Harrer in 1962, chronicled in his book titled: "I Come From the Stone Age."

Given the human powered restriction on the Six Summits Project, climbing Carstenz required a sea-to-summit approach, meaning overland travel in West Papua, also known as Irian Jaya. Permits to travel within Irian Jaya are notoriously hard to obtain. All recent ascents of Carstenz to our knowledge fly to a nearby settlement, then receive a helicopter ride to the mountain. One party had to receive a total of nine(!) permits even to fly in, any one of which could have been cancelled at a moment's notice.

Planning a climb so far in advance with such strict permit requirements and so high an uncertainty made the logistics impossible. The local contacts were not able to extend any help beyond the next few months. So a compromise was necessary: Carstenz would be climbed in the future when there would be peace on Irian Jaya.

The human powered circumnavigation will now make landfall in Australia following the single-handed crossing of the Pacific Ocean by rowing. There, Kosciuszko (2,228 metres - 7,310 feet) in southeast Australia will offer a more accessible alternative to Carstenz.

Progress

In early May of 2007, Erden Eruç bicycled from Seattle to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, on the north side of the San Francisco Bay. Unfavorable onshore winds caused two false starts from Tiburon in June. The tide schedules at the Golden Gate had been a major consideration on the launch windows from San Francisco. To remove that extra constraint, the launch was moved to Bodega Bay, just northwest of San Francisco. A successful launch finally followed on July 10, 2007 when the winds offered a break.

Between July 10, 2007 and May 17, 2008, Erden Eruç rowed from Bodega Bay on the California shores to the waters of Papua New Guinea. The 312 days that he had spent in his rowboat became the new Guinness World Record for the longest time at sea by a solo ocean rower. The previous record was 304 days, which belonged to the late Peter Bird, a pioneer of ocean rowing who was lost at sea.

A full blown La Niña was in effect during the 2007-08 winter months that Erden spent on the Pacific with the intentions of reaching Australia. It is well known that the climate phenomenon known as La Niña brings cooler conditions to the eastern Pacific. Consequently, stronger winds blow due west which push the warm ocean surface waters westward. Warmer conditions thus created in the western Pacific then create heavier monsoons and more cylonic activity. We suspect that it was due to these stronger winds that Erden was unable to cross the Equator early on and failed to remain on track for Australia.

On May 14th, Erden reached the southmost position on his row when the seas turned on him. He had come to within 137nm of Wewak in Papua New Guinea. He was between the Manu Island and the Ninigo Group. Just 200nm due southwest in Jayapura, his teammates waited with 7 expedition bags full of resupplies. Alas, with 10 days worth of food left on board, Erden was carried offshore, away from safety toward the storm tracks, with persistent westerly winds which later turned southerly. The typhoon season had already started -- a typhoon had formed earlier on May 6th northwest of Palau which had created the sinking motion in the atmosphere, which in turn had brought the favorable north-northwest winds helping Erden to break south of the Equator. Now the entire phenomenon had been reversed. The resupply was impossible from Jayapura given the distances involved and lacking a suitable vessel.

Being carried further north to face typhoons with little food on board was a recipe for disaster, which surely would have created a rescue situation, risking the loss of the boat. The responsible seamanship required erring on the side of safety and creating the least cost to those who would be coming to Erden's aid. Philippine fishermen on vessels operated by the Frabelle Fishing Corporation assisted in the "orderly retreat" helping to retrieve Erden's boat, and later stored it at the Frabelle facilities in General Santos City on Mindanao Island in the Philippines.

We hope that you followed along:
312 days across the Pacific solo from California to the waters of Papua New Guinea!!!
  Reports from the boat -- Reported Location
  Ocean Rowing Society -- Home Page -- Maps by ARGOS Beacon

In 2003, we reached the summit of Denali (Mt. McKinley): Stage 1. Later, between October 3rd and Christmas of 2004, Erden covered 3,980 miles across the Continental USA over 82 days. He achieved this Göran style from Seattle to Miami, towing his personal climbing gear.

The original plan was to move the ocean rowing boat around the world on a continuous path starting and ending in Miami. When further research discouraged the Miami departure, and the Panama Canal proved a barrier, Erden's plans took a turn to leave from near San Francisco. Land phases would be introduced, and the boat would have to be shipped from one side of a continent to the other.

Before continuing on with the Six Summits Project, Erden took a sabbatical, and rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The row had started in Lisbon as a pair, arriving at Las Palmas in the Canaries on December 11, 2005. Erden later continued solo from Las Palmas until the island of Guadeloupe, becoming the 33rd person to cross the Atlantic Ocean east to west singlehanded. The same ocean rowing boat was used on the Pacific Ocean.

We hope that you followed along:
  92 days across the Atlantic solo from Canary Islands, landfall at Guadeloupe on day 96!!!
  Reports from the boat -- Reported Location
  Ocean Rowing Society -- Home Page -- Maps by ARGOS Beacon