My days of excessive rowing may be over, but, fear not, still busy as ever with speaking, events, and dare I admit – a job! Here is the latest:  

Selecting water projects

Together, after raising over $100,000 for the Blue Planet Network (recently changed names from Blue Planet Run to Blue Planet Network), it’s now that time – selecting projects. With the Blue Planet Network’s “Peer Water Exchange” I have the opportunity to designate those funds to specific projects and communities. Last fall, two projects in Haiti were funded, and the remaining $90,000 is likely going to fund projects in Nicaragua, Guatemala, India, Cambodia, and Uganda. Wherever the projects are, I think it will be a perfect excuse to map out my next big adventure. Stay tuned!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Early on in the summer, I received an email from an ad agency in LA to pique my interest in a new advertising campaign called “The World Needs More Winners” for the Game Show Network. The productions team of 15 was flying around the country for their six commercial spots and they happened to be filming the World Champ of Rock, Paper, Scissors in Detroit. Within 48 hours of receiving that email, I was in Detroit filming for my commercial with the team. Everyone on the productions team had interesting stories from past lives as submarine pilots to back-up dancers and everything in between. There was even one person on set who was solely responsible for the clapperboard (that black and white board with two sticks hinged together).

Since it was all very last minute, we struggled to find a location and when we did, we were asked by the authorities to stop! They eventually got what they needed after six hours of filming for a thirty-second clip. The commercial will air next month and I’m anxious to see which parts they end up using. They had a script for me which included a segment of me kissing my “mini-wilson” tennis ball. I’m might regretting that one if it ends up on national TV!

Cough drops, please

Lots of speaking engagements and especially excited for one this Friday at the United Nations for an Annual Youth Assembly with over 700 youth leaders from around the globe. If I’m really lucky, I might get to meet Angelina Jolie!!

Finally have a short video with my first talk post-row in April at the Welcome Event. If you’d like to see the talk in person, here’s a list of the upcoming ones too:

Upcoming talks and events:

August 6 – Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations in New York City

August 21 –Crocker Park Green Week in Westlake, Ohio

September 10-12 – Lake Erie Boat Week in Huron, Ohio  Event canceled!

September 26 –Wellness Weekend for Lake Health in Cleveland, Ohio

October 7 – Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District in Brecksville, Ohio

October 11-12 – Women’s Sports Foundation in New York City

October 22 – Year of Water Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio

October 23 – Bowl for Water event with Rotary Club of Solon

October 29 – Evening talk at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

After the initial media wave in New York City, I’m still busy as ever with interviews, talks, and events. Here is a recap of the highlights during the last couple weeks:

Special guest at a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game. I may have missed celebrating Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and St. Patrick’s Day in Cleveland, but this one night made up for it all. The Cavaliers were participating in “NBA Green Week” in early April and I was invited to be recognized before tip-off in front of the 20,000+ cheering Cavs fans. Little did I know they would present me with an incredible surprise – my very own jersey. Number 70 for my 70 days at sea. I wonder if they’ll notice if I run on court at their next game wearing it! As I was walking off court, I even heard one of the Cavs players shouting “Go, Katie, go”. Well, hello Lebron!

At the game, a Row for Water booth was set up at the concourse and autographed warm-up shirts worn by all the players were raffled off. Over $3,000 for the Blue Planet Run was raised, reaching my final fundraising goal of providing one person access to safe drinking water for every mile it took to cross the Atlantic.

Appearance at Beachwood High School’s “The Green Dream”. Last year, I gave a talk to a class at Beachwood High School about the challenge and goal setting. The seniors hosted an annual event with eighty eco-friendly business and I set up a booth with my rowboat outside for attendees to check out. The students generously presented me and Jin Zidell, the Blue Planet Run Founder, a check for $2,000 for safe drinking water projects. That’s enough to help 70 people gain access to safe water for life!

Welcome home party. Last Saturday I had the final celebration of the journey with an hour-long talk and a half-hour of questions and answers, followed with the biggest birthday cake ever. The Rotary Club of Chagrin Valley really went above and beyond to make this a memorable day – putting together a short video, presenting a map of the journey, inviting the guests (especially the Blue Planet Run Founder and my sponsors), and reuniting the “mini-wilson” they gave me before I began the journey. A HUGE thank you to everyone who attended and who put the event together. It was another reminder of how small this all started and the magical ripple effect of how this came to be. Except for a bit of volcanic ash that kept Sam in London (good friend and mentor during row), I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my birthday!

Speaking, speaking, and more speaking. Lots of upcoming talks to schools and groups. Yesterday I gave a talk in Portland, Oregon to an all-girls high school called St. Mary’s for their poverty awareness day and tomorrow in Vancouver for a rotary club (in between two radio shows – we’ll see if I can pull it off!). Then back to Ohio for one on Saturday morning.

It’s all been a bit crazy!

On Saturday, April 17th, Chagrin Valley Rotary Club is putting on a “Welcome Home” celebration for Katie at Kenston High School. From 1 pm, Katie will be giving a presentation about the row, followed by an opportunity for you to ask all the questions you’ve been dying to put to her.

The best part of it is that it won’t cost you anything at all (but, of course, donations will be very gratefully accepted!).

If you want to come, please e-mail Mark Besand (bykrdad2@aol.com) or Roger Kallock (rwkallock@windstream.net). I look forward to seeing you all there. (Yes, I’m afraid I’ll be there too!)

When: Saturday, April 17th, 1 p.m.
Where: Kenston High School Auditorium
9500 Bainbridge Road
Chagrin Falls, OH 44023 [Click here for a map]
Who: Katie Spotz (and Sam Williams)
Why: To celebrate Katie’s accomplishment
Cost: Free (donations for clean water projects will be accepted)

RSVP: Mark Besand (440) 543-5520 bykrdad2@aol.com
Roger Kallock (440) 343-5954 rwkallock@windstream.net

Gradually, as I rowed across the Atlantic, things would start to grow on Liv. If left for too long, it would turn into a jungle underwater, making my boat glide through the water much slower. So, in order to stop that, every now and again I had to jump in to scrub my boat!

But I wasn’t the only thing down there. And, sometimes, the fish got a little too close for comfort. Here’s a short video with some of my close encounters while cleaning Liv and keeping everything running smoothly. Sorry for the screams!

It’s incredible how long it takes to sort through over 2,000 photos and several hours of video. I’m really sorry I’m taking forever to get these posted up; definitely blame me and not Katie!!

Little by little, I’m working through them and there are some truly fantastic photos still to come. Here are a few more just to keep you entertained.

(once again, click on the image to open up a larger version)

On March 11, 2010, after 67 days by myself onboard Liv, I was joined by a visitor. That was the day that Hobs joined the party.

At that stage of the journey, having birds flying around the boat and landing on it was a common sight, so I didn’t think much of it. But, after he’d arrived late into the night, he stayed. Long after I’d expected him to be gone, there he was, still sat in the corner. If he was going to stay, I had to make friends with him!

I realized that all was not well with poor Hobs. I’m not sure whether he had a broken wing, but he certainly wasn’t in a good way as he hobbled around the boat, looking for whatever shelter he could find. I did whatever I could, providing him with fresh water and some seeds that I had sitting around. Although he showed some interest, there was an air of resignation about him.

Following a brief, but profound, 24-hour love affair, I awoke. Hobs didn’t…

Here is a tribute to my favorite resident of Liv (sorry “Mini-Wilson”!).

It may have taken over a week, but I have finally managed to transfer all of the photos and videos that I took while rowing the Atlantic Ocean onto my computer. It seemed rude not to share them with you guys. So, here are the first few. You can click on the images to open up a bigger version.

Come back tomorrow for the story everyone’s been waiting for: “Hobs; my life with Katie”!

Where was I? Oh yeah, my head was in the clouds!

Sunday March 14, 2010, was my first night in a proper bed for over two months. And it was a good one. It needed to be, because I had a busy week ahead. The whole of Monday was spent with my dad and brother cleaning out the boat, preparing it for the return journey home. As I’m sure you can imagine, that’s a whole lot of cleaning.

Because I’d set off prepared for up to 100 days at sea, I also had loads of food left over. Rather than let it go to waste, we boxed it up and it’s now being distributed to the people who need it most in Guyana. Given how bad some of it tasted, I think they might wonder whether it’s some kind of test when it arrives! But, after the fantastic welcome I was given in Guyana, it was the least I could do.

Although I was only around for a few days, Carla and all the guys at the Tourism Authority made sure that I saw the best of Guyana and, just 48 hours after getting off my boat, I stepped into another slightly terrifying mode of transport; a six-seat plane to take us to see the Kaieteur Falls, an amazing waterfall about 120 miles inland from Georgetown. After a relaxing few hours watching the water flow over the edge of a cliff, we quickly escaped the incoming fog and returned for my final night, as I prepared for my entry into complete chaos.

That chaos came in the form of New York City and more interviews than I could have possibly imagined. The day was spent jumping into cars from studio to studio as I tried to answer every question that came my way without looking like I was about to fall asleep through exhaustion. A brief respite came in the form of a really cool interview with Rosie O’Donnell but, by the time the day ended, I had nothing on my mind but sleep. So sleep I did!

I’m now back home in Ohio, gradually sorting through all the video and photos I took as I crossed the Atlantic Ocean. I’ll share them with you as soon as I can, which hopefully will be from tomorrow, so please come back to have a look! In the meantime, here are some of the interviews I did over the past week. I hope they’re not too cringe-worthy!

• CBS Early Show
• CBS Evening News
• World News with Diane Sawyer
• Discovery Channel — Daily Planet
• Anderson Cooper
• New York Times

“Welcome to Guyana” – a sentence I’d been waiting to hear for 70 days, 5 hours and 22 minutes!

It appeared as darkness fell, starting as a soft glow on the horizon. As the night progressed, it turned into dotted lights and, by the morning, had turned into trees and buildings. Even hearing new sounds that I hadn’t heard for two months was a revelation. As relieved as I was to see land, I didn’t allow myself to become too excited until my feet were planted on terra firma, as I knew these final miles could be the most treacherous.

When I got to within four miles of the end, I immediately realized it was a different day to the rest of them when a helicopter appeared overhead and, the best thing of all, a boat full of friendly faces, including my dad and brother. But that wasn’t the end of the challenge, as the final approach into the Demerara River proved as difficult as any other. It started to rain, at times I was rowing as hard as I could just to stay in the same spot and, worst of all, I was having to make sure I looked like I knew what I was doing for all the interested onlookers!

Eventually, I found myself rowing up to the landing spot. However, the relief of hitting land was quickly replaced by fear, as I spotted my final obstacle: a ladder.

I questioned whether this was really the best place to land, as I was expecting to not be able to walk, at least straight, once on land. As I crawled my way out, I was faced with one final battle, finding my way to a desperately wanted, long-awaited watermelon amidst a mob of media. As tempting as it was to karate-chop my way through the masses, I patiently waited for my moment. And there it was. Sweet heavenly watermelon.

After the interviews and welcoming party, we made our way to the Princess Hotel and I was handed a pina colada and shown to my room where I discovered the next wonder. A bed. A bed where I didn’t have to worry about being run down by freighters. A bed where I didn’t have to gasp for air as the night wore on. A bed where I could sleep for a whole night without constantly being thrown into the wall by a rogue wave.

Once I found out a casino was attached to the hotel, my brother and I made our way there to see if my head would explode from sensory overload! Luckily, it didn’t, for I seem to have found my head in the clouds again; this time literally.

But you can hear about that another time. I’ve got a boat to tidy up for shipping, and a plane to catch to take me on the next adventure.

Please follow Twitter for the latest updates following Katie’s arrival into Georgetown (official arrival time 1607GMT). Katie is currently having a well-earned rest, but rest assured we will continue updating the blog and add photos when we get our hands on them. If anyone has any footage or photographs from Katie’s arrival, please email them to sam@pedallingalltheway.com.

Finally, thanks to everyone who helped out with Katie’s arrival into Guyana and provided her with a fantastic welcome, and to all of you following her progress throughout today and the last few months. Special thanks also to @demwaves, who provided most of the live photos throughout the day.

1620GMT — SHE’S FINISHED!!! Thanks to your fantastic donations and smashing the last $60,000 fundraising target, we’ve had to set one more new one! The new goal of $84,510 works out as $30 (i.e. clean drinking water for life for one person) for every one of the 2,817 miles from Dakar, Senegal to Georgetown, Guyana, the route that Katie has just rowed. Click here to donate.

[In case you're concerned, the water isn't brown because it's dirty — it's all the silt brought down the river.]

1612GMT — Guyana flag buntings welcome Katie into Georgetown. [via @demwaves]

1606GMT — “Katie Spotz’ brother and father on Guyana Coast Guard escort vessel. Slight foot pain but her brother says ’she is fine’” [via @demwaves]

1544GMT — “Katie Spotz moving slowly into port Georgetown due to tidal conditions. Demerara river visibly calm but current appears to slowing her down to dock. Still under Guyana Coast Guard escort with media crew aboard.” [via @demwaves]

1528GMT — Katie passes penultimate navigational beacon into Georgetown [via @demwaves]

1508GMT — The welcoming party can see Katie. Only minutes to go!

1442GMT — First photos of Katie approaching land [Thanks to @demwaves for the photos]

1440GMT — Pictures of Katie’s welcoming party waiting in anticipation.

1405GMT — Guyana prepares to welcome Katie to Georgetown, as she is tracked by the Coast Guard boat and a helicopter.

1337GMT — The Coast Guard have spotted Katie; she has 4 miles left to row and the tide has just turned, helping her in.

1247GMT — The Guyana Coast Guard leave Georgetown to find Katie and escort her through the final few miles