Savage in Hawaii

A British environmentalist rowed through the night until she arrived in Honolulu early Monday, completing the initial leg of her journey as she tries to become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific Ocean.

Roz Savage, 40, had spent 99 days on the ocean since she departed San Francisco on May 25 on the 2,900-mile leg to Hawaii.

"I'm very happy," Savage said at the Waikiki Yacht Club, where she docked shortly before 6 a.m. "It was challenging, but very worthwhile."

Savage's trip is meant to raise awareness about plastic debris polluting the ocean.
She hopes people start using reusable grocery bags and biodegradable trash bags.

"I'm not saying I've changed the world, but I've started creating a few ripples. I'm a real believer in the ripple effect. The message will spread," she said.

Savage navigated the rough waters of the Hawaiian islands through a dark, moonless night before she found land before dawn.
She reached shore so early that no one was there to greet her.
"It was just me in the dark," she said. "I've come all this way on my own, and now I've finished on my own, and I didn't mind at all."

Her vessel is a 24-foot long rowboat named the Brocade after her corporate sponsor, Brocade Communication Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif.
There were many challenges during the voyage, including a six-week delay just in getting started.
Winds off the California coast kept pushing her back no matter how hard she rowed, but she eventually broke free.
Then along the way, her two potable water makers broke, leaving her with only a scarce water supply with still a long way to go.
She traded food with two other Pacific travelers for a water maker.

Savage, who previously crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 103 days, will continue her Pacific rowing in early 2009 with a 2,600-mile trek to Tuvalu in the southwest Pacific, followed by the final leg to Australia.

If successful, she will have rowed 7,200 miles over three years.

Check out more about Roz Savage here.

As the noise machine sputters

I see the wing-nut noise machine is up and running this morning lying and distorting as usual.

What is so funny today is they are lying and distorting their own lies and distortions.

The disaster of picking Palin has sent them into a tailspin that they cannot get out of and the arrival of Gustav is 'stealing their thunder' from their klan gathering.

Anyone else see the irony here ...

All their talking heads are spewing and 'promising' to help any that are affected by Gustav instead of yelling that they deserved it because they were Liberals like they did when Katrina roared ashore and ignoring those who needed help and actually hindering help from those that did help.

If Gustav would have come ashore last week ... would they still be singing the same tune?

You know I am joking, right?

They would be singing the old tune from three years ago, blaming Liberals, gays, the neighbor's dog and anyone their handlers told them to but themselves for Gustav coming ashore.

Follow Gustav

Here is an interactive, javascript-animated map of Gustav's path, courtesy NOAA.

It's shaking for the Kiwis

A moderate magnitude-5.8 earthquake has struck deep underground in New Zealand's central North Island, but there have been no immediate reports of damage or injury.

The quake hit at 1:21 p.m. Monday (New Zealand time).

It was located about 6 miles southeast of Turangi near Lake Taupo, the center of an active volcanic area.

The tremblor was centered some 50 miles below the earth's surface.

It felt throughout central North Island, geological agency GNS Science reported on its web site.

New Zealand sits above an area of the earth's crust where the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates are colliding and records more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, though only about 150 are felt by residents.

Fewer than 10 a year do any damage.