40-year old British rower Roz Savage set out to cross the Pacific ocean from San Francisco with little more than some strategically chosen gadgets and the will to accomplish something no woman has done.  With under 1,000 miles left to go on the first leg of her voyage, how are the gadgets she relies on for almost everything working so far?

CNet asked that very question to Savage in a chat via satellite phone.  So far, the only thing not working is her energy-efficient Spectra desalinator that was capable of producing 25 liters of water an hour.  Besides that, everything from her TomTom GPS to her iPods are still working perfectly.  To combat the problem of her lost Spectra, she uses a variety of reserve water supplies and a hand-pump water maker to pick up the slack. 

Solar panels and wind generators provide all the power necessary to run chargers for all the electronics on board the 24-foot rowboat.  "Sustainability is rather limitless," said Savage, when referring to her renewable power source and her growing of bean sprouts for nourishment.  The whole boat is a model of self-sufficiency. 

She has two laptops onboard; a MacBook and Panasonic Toughbook, that can be connected to the internet at all times via her satellite phone.  Savage uses the computers for various things, but primarily to send updates for her Web site.  When Savage rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in a race a few years ago, her satellite phone went dead about a month before she arrived at the finish, so this time, she’s packed an extra. 

She uses her TomTom GPS for the vital task of navigation and for updating the ship’s logs.  It’s nothing fancy, just a GO 720 that she took from her car, but still providing crucial data that she couldn’t live without.  Something almost as equally important is her handful of iPods she brought along, though she states she’s only used one packed with eBooks so far.

You have to hand it to her for trying such a daunting task, but the aid of so many on-board electronics makes the whole process a bit more doable, and less frustrating.

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Entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 6:14 am under Gadgets, technology. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.