Erden Eruç

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erden Eruç
Born (1961-07-14) 14 July 1961[5]
Nicosia, Cyprus, raised in Turkey[6]
Residence Seattle, USA[7]
Nationality Turkish
Education B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Boğaziçi University
M.S. in Engineering Mechanics, Ohio State University
M.B.A., George Mason University[8]
Occupation Consultant, circumnavigator, founder, president and Chief Exploration Officer of Around-n-Over[8]
Years active 1994–present[8]
Known for First solo human-powered circumnavigation and several ocean rowing world records
Spouse(s) Nancy Board (2003–present)[9]
Website
http://www.around-n-over.org
http://castawaywithpurpose.com

Erden Eruç (born 14 July 1961) is a Turkish adventurer who completed the first entirely solo human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United States.[10] The journey had begun from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007.[11] The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with canoes for a few river crossings.[10] The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe.[12][1]

The human-powered circumnavigation plan was expanded to include summitting the tallest mountains on six continents.[6][13] As of 2013, Eruç has summitted three of the peaks, including Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in North America on 29 May 2003 more than four years before he began his solo circumnavigation, then Mount Kosciuszko in Australia and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa during the circumnavigation. Eruç still plans to climb the remaining three mountains of his Six Summits Project on future journeys: Mount Everest in Asia, Mount Elbrus in Europe and Aconcagua in South America.[10]

By the end of his circumnavigation, Eruç had set several ocean rowing world records including the first person to row three oceans,[14] the most continuous (non-stop) days at sea by a solo ocean rower - 312 days on the Pacific Ocean,[15] the first rower to cross any ocean from the southern to the northern hemisphere and the longest distance rowed across the Atlantic Ocean at 9,817 km (6,100 mi),[16] as well as the most experienced living ocean rower with 876 days at sea and almost 29,000 career nautical miles.[15]

A documentary film called Castaway With Purpose is currently in production that will feature Eruç's circumnavigation.[17]

Early life

External media
Images
On Mount McKinley (© 2003 Around-n-Over)
With bicycle (© 2003 Around-n-Over)
Rowboat and bike (© 2003 Around-n-Over)
Video
Rotating globe with route (by KPLU-FM, Seattle/Tacoma)

Eruç was born in Nicosia, Cyprus[18] in 1961 and raised in Turkey.[5][6] He has been an avid outdoorsman from an early age. When he was 11, his father took him for a climbing trip to Mount Erciyes, an extinct stratovolcano in south central Turkey and the highest mountain in central Anatolia with a summit at 3,916 m (12,848 ft).[4] During his higher education years, Eruç studied mechanical engineering at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul where he earned both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree. In 1986, he moved to the United States where he continued his studies in engineering and business administration, earning a second Master of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics at Ohio State University and an MBA degree at George Mason University.[8]

When his schooling was complete, Eruç worked in various technical consulting projects in the U.S. for nine years, advancing into project management. At the age of 41 he left the corporate office world, allowing him all the time he needed to pursue a dream of far-flung outdoor adventures. His new occupation was educating and inspiring others, especially children, through the pursuit of entirely human-powered travels around the world.[4]

During his journey to Alaska to climb Mount McKinley, Eruç took some time out and married Nancy Board in June 2003.[9] Board, an American businesswoman and owner of a Seattle management consulting firm, is also an outdoor enthusiast and the acting Vice President of the Around-n-Over organization.[19] The couple met a few years earlier while both were consultants at a United States Postal Service project in Chicago. Though they are from different religious backgrounds, Eruç being a Muslim and Board being a Catholic, they were married in a native Alaskan Haida-Tsimshian ceremony on a Homer, Alaska beach.[9]

Nonprofit organization

In December 2002, Eruç established a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Around-n-Over based in Seattle which received IRS approval as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity late in 2003.[20][21] The Around-n-Over organization has the following mission statement: "All for Education and Inspiration... To accomplish, to inspire and to teach... We are in the business of realizing dreams, and helping others achieve theirs."[22] The organization was also formed to honor fellow adventurers who had lost their lives, especially Göran Kropp who fell and died while climbing with Eruç,[23] while providing structure to handle funds for various expedition expenses. Another aim of the organization is to aid the Turkish İLKYAR Foundation which provides assistance to Turkish elementary and middle school children in rural parts of the country, with a special emphasis on trying to keep girls in school. The Mateves Secondary School near Mount Kilimanjaro is also being assisted by funds donated to Around-n-Over.[24]

The organization's name is based on Eruç's plan of circumnavigating (going around an approximate great circle of) the Earth using only his own power and (-n-) also summitting (going over) the highest peaks on each of the continents, excepting only Antarctica. Eruç serves as the President and Chief Exploration Officer of Around-n-Over.[8][25]

Initial journeys

Prior to his successful circumnavigation of 2007 to 2012, Eruç had developed a substantially different route plan. This initial plan still began with his roundtrip bicycle ride from Seattle to Mount McKinley in Alaska from 1 February to 24 August 2003 with the summit being reached on 29 May.[20] Eruç then committed to purchasing a used and proven 7.1 m (23.3 ft) by 1.9 m (6.2 ft) oceangoing plywood rowboat in September of 2004, the same vessel which he would eventually row across three oceans to reach two more summits in his Six Summits Project. The rowboat, named the Calderdale by its previous owner, had already successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice with two-person teams aboard.[26]

Eruç had next planned to row south from Seattle to South America to continue the project with a climb of Aconcagua.[27] On 3 October 2004, however, Eruç once again left Seattle riding his fully loaded bicycle and arrived in Miami on 25 December.[20] He had selected Miami as a new and potentially better starting point for a circumnavigation attempt combined with the summits project. The plan at that time was to row from Miami through the Caribbean Sea and then the Panama Canal to the Pacific, row down the west coast of South America, bike to and climb Aconcagua, row to New Guinea, bike to and climb Carstensz Pyramid (an alternate to Kosciuszko for the highest peak in Oceania), row to the Asian mainland, bike to and climb Everest, row to Africa, bike to and climb Kilimanjaro, row to the Middle East, bike to and climb Elbrus, and finally row the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean back to Miami.[28]

A change in plans occurred when Eruç learned about Tim Harvey, a fellow human-powered adventurer, and Harvey's desire for a way home to Vancouver, Canada from Europe. Eruç contacted Harvey and had the Calderdale shipped to Portugal.[29] The two men began rowing from Lisbon on 16 October 2005 intending to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean together; however, conditions prevented them from rowing away from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria after their arrival on 11 December. Harvey decided to go ahead with another group travelling by sailboat, thereby ending the human-powered part of his expedition but remaining emission-free since no motor was used.[30] By late 2005, Eruç had considered making the entire journey a two-person rowing circumnavigation and consequently had started sending out requests for new rowing partners and sponsors. He eventually continued on alone and completed his first solo Atlantic row starting from Las Palmas on 29 January and finishing in Guadeloupe on 5 May 2006. The idea of a circumnavigation by rowboat was nearly abandoned when sponsorships and partners failed to materialize. Early in 2007, however, the Aktaş Group, a Turkish transportation and construction holding company, came forward as a principal sponsor and a new solo circumnavigation plan was set in motion.[20]

First solo human-powered circumnavigation

In early May of 2007, Eruç once again departed Seattle this time riding his bicycle to Tiburon, California on the north side of San Francisco Bay in California. After fighting very strong onshore winds while trying to row out of San Francisco Bay in early and mid-June, he departed instead from Bodega Bay, California on 10 July 2007.[20] Eruç had bicycled from Tiburon to Bodega Bay while his rowboat was transported separately to the new starting point, as it was during all later segments of the journey. His first expected landfall was Mooloolaba, Queensland in Australia after crossing the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, the longest and most difficult stage that Eruç would endure.

Pacific Ocean to Papua New Guinea

The rowboat proved very capable in rough seas and was only capsized once in crossing three oceans. On 20 December 2007 in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a large rogue wave tipped the boat about 120 to 150 degrees in the estimation of Eruç. The wave hit while he was asleep in the cabin and threw him to the ceiling and then back to the floor as the boat righted itself. The only losses of any value from the open deck were energy gels and fluid replacement packets, with all other valuables being either tied down or stowed securely.[31]

On 10 January 2008, an emergency signal was received from Eruç's Argos tracking beacon.[32] A search and rescue operation was almost started when a call from Eruç was received indicating it was a false alarm.[33] The 250 kg (550 lb) bare and 750 kg (1,650 lb) loaded rowboat was equipped with many advanced navigational, safety and communications systems as well as a pair of 12 volt gel batteries charged by a solar panel that powered them all. Along with the Argos beacon, Eruç had an EPIRB, satellite phone, GPS navigator, radar transponder, radar reflector, VHF radio, palm-size computer, one manually operated and two powered desalination units, a watertight cabin and a life raft with an emergency bag of supplies.[26][34]

Unusually strong currents in the middle and western Pacific made progress south very difficult for Eruç. After his launch from Bodega Bay, La Niña conditions had developed on the Pacific. He was ultimately unable to cross the equator on his first attempt due to the opposing currents and wind patterns in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Running dangerously low on food supplies after fighting strong La Niña winds from the southeast in the early part of the main typhoon season, and trapped in the wrong hemisphere in the typhoon season, Eruç accepted assistance from Filipino fishermen north of Papua New Guinea (PNG) on 17 May 2008. The first typhoon of that season had formed on 5 May due northwest of him and would turn into a Category-4 super typhoon named Rammasun. He had reached the PNG waters near Ninigo Islands before the winds carried him offshore. Eight months later on 15 January 2009, after the typhoon season had ended, the same fishermen returned him to the exact location where they had found him. Continuing on the Bismarck Sea, Eruç crossed the equator and reached Finsch Harbor in PNG on 4 February. At this point, he took another break of nearly eight months to mend his injured back. Beginning on 22 September 2009 he continued on foot and by sea kayak along the Solomon Sea shores of PNG and then walked shore-to-shore from Oro Bay to Port Moresby over the historic Kokoda Track until 26 November 2009.[10]

Australia and Mount Kosciuszko

Departing from Port Moresby on 8 December 2009, Eruç rowed his boat - which had been shipped around PNG for him - across the Coral Sea and reached the Cape York Peninsula, Australia on 10 January 2010. He then sea kayaked down the coast from 28 January to 15 February 2010 until he reached Cooktown where he continued by bicycle on 18 February. Eruç bicycled along the east coast toward Mount Kosciuszko, the second peak of his Six Summits Project, which he summitted on 10 April. He continued again by bicycle along the southern and western coastal areas of the country until he reached his departure point of Carnarvon, Western Australia on 7 July 2010.[10]

Indian Ocean, Africa and Mount Kilimanjaro

After preparing and re-supplying his rowboat in Perth through that June, Eruç departed from Carnarvon on 13 July 2010 to cross the Indian Ocean to Africa. Four and a half months later, he reached Mahajanga, Madagascar on 26 November 2010 and took a four month break during the cyclone season before rowing to the African coast starting on 26 March, reaching Angoche, Mozambique on 20 April. He then bicycled across the continent from 2 May to 21 August 2011 with a side excursion to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the third peak of his Six Summits Project, from the 8th to the 15th of June. After a seven-week break starting on 22 August 2011, he departed Africa from Lüderitz, Namibia in his rowboat on 10 October 2011.[10]

Atlantic Ocean and the Americas

The crossing of the Atlantic Ocean to South America lasted about five months until 11 March 2012 when Eruç reached Güiria, Venezuela. He then completed a relatively short bicycle trip of 138 km (86 mi) along the coast of Venezuela to Carúpano on 19 March. His rowboat had been moved to the port of Carúpano so he could continue from there. The final rowing segment was across the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to Cameron, Louisiana in the United States from 21 March to 27 May 2012. The final segment overall was a bicycle ride starting on 21 June and ending on 21 July 2012 at the same pier where he had started, in Bodega Bay, California.[10]

Summary

Along the way, Eruç logged 66,299 km (41,196 mi) in accomplishing the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world. He had crossed the equator two times, passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points and spent five years and eleven days of his life completing the endeavor - the current record time for a human-powered circumnavigation.[12] The total elapsed time of over five years included several long periods of downtime spent away from the route, for a total of about 26 months, with Eruç always continuing again from the exact location where he had last stopped.[note 1] Excluding the downtime periods, he had traveled a total of 1026 days, or about two years and ten months.[35]

Eruç maintained a blog of his adventure, posting dispatches on his website every few days and communicating with family, friends and schoolchildren via a satellite phone link with email capability.[36]

Audio dispatches

Occasional technical problems caused Eruç to record audio dispatches to keep his followers up-to-date. All are from the humanedgetech.com website as linked from the dispatch pages of Around-n-Over.[36]

The following three audio dispatches were recorded between Madagascar and the African coast:

These two were recorded while crossing the Caribbean Sea:

The last two were recorded while crossing the Gulf of Mexico:

Documentary film

Castaway With Purpose is a documentary film currently in production that will feature Eruç's circumnavigation.[17] The documentary crew will travel to some of the same places Eruç passed through, filming those places along with the people he met. The crew will then combine the new film with highlights from many hours of existing video footage, still images and journal entries created by Eruç during the five year voyage. A Kickstarter fundraising campaign was held in the summer of 2013 to help fund the film's production. The crowdsourced fundraiser ended successfully on 18 August 2013 with 286 backers pledging a total of $75,041 USD to the project.[37]

Awards

Records

  • First to complete an entirely solo[note 3] and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth[10]
  • First to row all three major oceans - Pacific, Indian and Atlantic[42][14]
  • First to cross the Atlantic Ocean from the southern to the northern hemisphere (solo east-to-west)[16]
  • Longest distance rowed across the Atlantic Ocean - 9,817 km (6,100 mi)[16]
  • Most continuous (non-stop) days at sea by a solo ocean rower - 312 days (record was previously held by Peter Bird at 304 days)[15]
  • Most experienced living ocean rower - 876 days at sea (Peter Bird maintains the record for the most days at 937 days)[15]
  • Most total career miles rowed by an ocean rower - almost 29,000 nautical miles

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Human powered circumnavigators sometimes deviate from their track...[which] is accepted custom by these adventurers as long as the explorer returns to the point where he last stopped and continues the trip from there.[1]
  2. ↑ first four awards are mentioned in the biographical reference on the nonprofit's website [4]
  3. ↑ the word solo is emphasized since Eruç always rowed completely alone in his boat and moved his own body under his own power. The first individual to complete an entirely human-powered circumnavigation was Jason Lewis.[2][3] Over a 13 year period from 1994 to 2007, Lewis had other people's assistance several times in a two-person pedal boat which allowed one to sleep while the other continued pedaling. Stevie Smith, Chris Tipper, April Abril, Lourdes Arango and Sher Dhillon all share credit with Lewis for the various ocean crossings in the pedal boat.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Around the World Rules and Definitions - True Circumnavigation". AdventureStats by ExplorersWeb. Retrieved 8 Dec 2013. 
  2. ↑ "AdventureStats: Global HPC - Human Powered Circumnavigations". Explorersweb. Retrieved 7 Dec 2013. 
  3. ↑ "First individual circumnavigation of the globe using human power". Guinness World Records. 6 Oct 2007. Retrieved 7 Dec 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "About us - Who is Erden Eruç?". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Dispatches from the Road: July '03 Archive (July 16th entry)". Around-n-Over. 16 Jul 2003. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Sveriges Radio - Stockholm, Sweden - interview". Sveriges Radio/Around-n-Over. 13 Jul 2004. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013. 
  7. ↑ "Adventurers of the Year: Circumnavigator Erden Eruc...now lives in Sydney". Outside Magazine (online edition). 8 Apr 2013. Retrieved 30 Dec 2013. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Resumé for Erden Eruç". Around-n-Over. 2003. Retrieved 7 Dec 2013. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Erden Eruç finds time for wedding during global adventure trip". Seattle Post-Iintelligencer (seattlepi.com). 18 Jun 2003. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 "Media Kit - Project Summary Document". Around-n-Over (PDF file linked from "http://www.around-n-over.org/media/mediakit.htm"). 22 Aug 2012. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  11. ↑ "What fueled Erden Eruc’s around-the-world voyage?". PressDemocrat.com. 26 Jul 2012. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Media Kit - What is Circumnavigation?". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 7 Dec 2013. 
  13. ↑ "Our Projects - Six Summits Project". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Table - Multiple Crossings". The Ocean Rowing Society. 1 Oct 2013. Retrieved 8 Dec 2013. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "Table - Longest total time at sea (more than 250 days)". The Ocean Rowing Society. 1 Nov 2013. Retrieved 8 Dec 2013. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Table - First Ocean Rowers by Ocean". The Ocean Rowing Society. 27 Sep 2013. Retrieved 8 Dec 2013. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Castaway With Purpose". Castaway With Purpose. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013. 
  18. ↑ "Dispatch - September 4, 2007". HumanEdgeTech/Around-n-Over. Retrieved 16 Dec 2013. 
  19. ↑ "The Team - Nancy Board". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 "Around-n-Over Calendar". Around-n-Over. 2003. Retrieved 13 Jan 2014. 
  21. ↑ "Around-n-Over Nonprofit Overview". faqs.org. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  22. ↑ "About us". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  23. ↑ "About us - Remember our friends: Lest we forget - In memoriam - Göran Kropp". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  24. ↑ "About us - Charitable causes". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  25. ↑ "The Team - Erden Eruç". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Media Kit - Crossing oceans: A special boat". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  27. ↑ "2003 radio interview with Val Stouffer and Tony Miner on KIRO 710AM Seattle, Washington". 15 Jan 2003. Retrieved 13 Jan 2014. 
  28. ↑ "2004 radio interview with David Barasoain on WABE 90.1, Atlanta, Georgia". 17 Dec 2004. Retrieved 13 Jan 2014. 
  29. ↑ "Zero-emission trekkers finish their gruelling trip to Moscow". 20 Aug 2005. Retrieved 13 Jan 2014. 
  30. ↑ "B.C. man completes death-defying adventure". 13 Nov 2006. Retrieved 13 Jan 2014. 
  31. ↑ "Dispatch - December 20, 2007". HumanEdgeTech/Around-n-Over. Retrieved 16 Dec 2013. 
  32. ↑ "Dispatch - January 12, 2008 (by N. Board)". HumanEdgeTech/Around-n-Over. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Dispatch - January 15, 2008 (by E. Eruç)". HumanEdgeTech/Around-n-Over. Retrieved 10 Dec 2013. 
  34. ↑ "Dispatch - July 29, 2007". HumanEdgeTech/Around-n-Over. Retrieved 16 Dec 2013. 
  35. ↑ "Around the World in 1,026 Days". Outside Magazine (online edition). 1 Feb 2013. Retrieved 14 Dec 2013. 
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "Around-n-Over - Dispatches". Around-n-Over. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  37. ↑ "Castaway With Purpose". Kickstarter. Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  38. ↑ "2010 Vancouver Award". London Speaker Bureau. Retrieved 6 Dec 2013. 
  39. ↑ "2013 Citation of Merit announcement". The Explorers Club. Retrieved 6 Dec 2013. 
  40. ↑ "2013 Citation of Merit list". The Explorers Club. Retrieved 6 Dec 2013. 
  41. ↑ "2013 Adventurers of the Year". Outside Magazine (online edition). Retrieved 5 Dec 2013. 
  42. ↑ "Guinness World Records - First Person to Row Three Oceans". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 8 Dec 2013. 

Further reading

All articles are linked or mentioned on the Around-n-Over website's Media Coverage page or in the dispatch pages. Many articles on the website are only available in Turkish; however, all articles listed in this section are in English.

All the following articles were written before the successful circumnavigation began and contain different plans from the actual route taken between 2007 and 2012.

  • Kropp Circle, by Jason Daley, Outside Magazine, June 2003, page 32
  • My Brilliant (Second) Career, by Tahl Raz, GQ Magazine, October 2003, page 156
  • Outdoor People of the Year - Additional Nominees (runners-up), by John Byorth, Hooked on the Outdoors Magazine, December 2003, page 55
  • By rowboat, bike, climbing rope, Mountaineer follows his dream around the world, by Brad Stracener, The Mountaineer, September 2004, Volume 98, Number 9, Cover Article, pages 1 & 3
  • Paddle, Pedal, Peak, by John Galvin, Bicycling Magazine, November 2004, Volume 45, Number 10, pp 27–28
  • Around the World in...Many Days, Paddler Magazine, November/December 2004, Volume 24, Number 6, page 30
  • The Best of Adventure 2005 (mention), National Geographic Adventure, December 2004/January 2005, Volume 6, Number 10, page 64
  • Starting Lines: Journey of One, by Chris Barge, Adventure Sports, January/February 2005, Number 20, page 16

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.