She’s the first woman to row the ‘big three’ solo, but environmentalist Roz Savage has another mission that needs the help of millions

At 34, Roz Savage had what she calls a midlife crisis. Like many people who re-evaluated their life, Roz decided she wanted to see more of the world. But her global journey would take a route that few have ever followed.

It all began, you might say, at the end: an obituary. A successful management consultant, Roz was taking a long train journey in 2001 when she wrote two obituaries for herself. One was written based upon the predictable, suburban life she was living. Another was based on the action-packed life she desired – and the two were in stark contrast. So Roz decided upon a new set of goals. She left her job and ticked off a list of targets that included running marathons, discovering Inca ruins, and writing a book. But then came her most ambitious goal yet: crossing the Atlantic, using her own physical and mental strength.

As Roz transformed herself from a career woman to an ocean rower, she realised she wasn’t just doing this for herself. Rather than aiming to conquer the marine environment, she wanted to save it. ‘I had a kind of environmental epiphany,’ recalls the Cheshireborn RNLI supporter. ‘I realised the harm that human pollution such as plastic bags and coffee cups were doing to marine life. Plastic pollution kills 100M animals a year. And I hoped to bring some attention to this problem with the rowing.’

Roz signed up for the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race, and during preparations she met two Exmouth lifeboat crew members, who were entering as part of a fourman team. They were some of several RNLI volunteers and supporters who have rowed the Atlantic, including TV Presenter Ben Fogle (see page 38) and RNLI Lifeboat Trainer Dave Whiddon (Dave’s journey will feature in a future issue of Offshore).

‘While some of the other rowers had sea experience, I was starting from scratch,’ says Roz. ‘My list of skills to learn was a bit like a new volunteer lifeboat crew member’s training handbook – sea survival, navigation, boat electrics. And that makes me respect the RNLI’s training all the more, because I know that, like me, many crew members do not have professional maritime experience.’

Despite scrupulous preparation, Roz wasn’t far across the Atlantic when things started to go wrong. Twenty days after setting out from the Canary Islands, her cooking stove broke. ‘I had to soak my freeze-dried meals in water for hours rather than cook them in minutes, and I don’t recommend the end result! And then my oars broke halfway through. I had to patch them up with anything I could, even sawing up a seat to mend them. The thing that got me through was focusing on the next stroke rather than the next week of rowing.’

After 103 days and nearly 3,000 miles of rowing alone, Roz reached Antigua. That in itself was a remarkable feat, but Roz’s appetite for ocean rowing was whetted rather than satisfied. It wasn’t long before she lined up a new adventure – rowing solo across the Pacific Ocean. She became the first woman to do so, in 2010. This was swiftly followed by last year’s attempt to cross the Indian Ocean, which she completed in October. She became the first woman to have completed solo rows of the ‘big three’ oceans. So what was next?

‘I was going to hang up my oars and focus more on environmental campaigning when I got a call from ocean rower Andrew Morris,’ says Roz. ‘He was arranging a row across the North Atlantic and was a crew member short. Would I join him?’

The pull of the ocean proved irresistible. Roz and Andrew planned a crossing that would end at Bristol near the end of July. But, as the Lifeboat was about to go to print, their plans were blighted. Unusually large quantities of ice were drifting off the coast of Newfoundland. Going ahead with the row would have meant Roz and Andrew risking their lives. 'One expert reckoned that we would have just about a 100% chance of hitting a chunk of ice. If we ended up in the 2°C water we would have virtually no chance of survival,' explains Roz.

Completing the journey would have added even more credentials to Roz's rowing record. But her motivation hasn't been all about records. She set out to raise the profile of environmental causes and highlight the problems of human pollution. And it worked.

She is involved in the United Nations' environmental programme, is a board member of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, and is an ambassador for the UK-based BLUE environmental project. ‘Campaigning against pollution isn’t just about saving wildlife,’ says Roz. ‘Those animals consume what we put in the sea, which is toxic and potentially carcinogenic. Then we eat them.’

After her last big rowing adventure, Roz plans to step up her commitment to cleaning up UK waters by leading clean-up sessions in rivers and on beaches. ‘I know it won’t be easy to motivate people when it comes to the environment,’ muses Roz. ‘To make a difference, we’ve got to change the way people think, on a grand scale. But I’m determined to find a way.’ It’s plain that cleaning up the ocean is her toughest task yet. But, with her track record, don’t bet against Roz Savage adding another memorable achievement to her imaginary obituary.

Follow Roz’s progress at rozsavage.com and oar2012.com.