Main | EXPEDITION 360 ADVENTURER TO CROSS PACIFIC OCEAN ALONE »
April 19, 1999
ADVENTURER PLANS PACIFIC OCEAN CROSSING BY PEDAL BOAT
>> LOCATION: KAILUA-KONA, THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII
>> DATE: APRIL 19th, 1999
>> SECTION: TARAWA VOYAGE
Leaves from Hawaii May 3 "The first week will be awful - aching muscles from not being fit, sea-sick, and most likely, dreadfully hot."
Kona, Hawaii (April 27, 1999) In his bid to became the first person to circumnavigate the earth by human power, Expedition 360's Jason Lewis, is once again preparing for another leg of the 35,000 mile adventure. Leaving Hawaii May 3, he will pedal 2,200 miles to the Gilbert Islands in the western Pacific. He expects the crossing to take 70 days.
"I'm taking about 150 pounds of dehydrated food," says Lewis who will be aboard Moksha, his specially-designed pedal-powered water craft. "Being a vegetarian has proved somewhat of a challenge to prepare enough nutritional content for the 5,500 calories I will need each day, but I've learned to deal with it."
A typical day's menu will be: oats, honey/apricot jam, raisins, cup of tea for breakfast; lunch of toast and hummus, and Gatorade (to restock electrolytes); rice or pasta, with reconstituted vegetables (carrots/peppers/onions/potatoes), tofu, lentils, split peas for dinner; and snacks of M&M's and Odwalla bars.
For the past three weeks Lewis has allowed himself only 4-1/2 hours of sleep a night. The other 19-1/2 hours have been spent either on the phone seeking sponsorship money to pay for the voyage, rounding up the final bits and pieces of gear, writing material for the Expedition 360 website, keeping abreast of e-mail, conducting school fieldtrips, or tinkering with the boat.
"It's always the same," he says. "The pressure to get everything ready in time builds and builds and only releases once I'm away from land. Then it all becomes very quiet very quickly. The first week will be awful - aching muscles from not being fit, sea-sick, and most likely, dreadfully hot."
To date, Lewis has completed almost 20,000 miles of the circumnavigation: from the United Kingdom to Hawaii via Portugal, the Atlantic Ocean, the breadth of the United States, and the western Pacific Ocean -- all by human power (either bicycle, in-line skates, or pedal-powered water craft).
A video and audio satellite uplink of the Hawaii launching is scheduled May 3.
Expedition 360 goals are 1) to be the first to circumnavigate the globe using only human power, and 2) through school presentations, cultural exchange programs, and curriculum development empower children in each country the expedition visits to follow their dreams and connect with the youth of the world. Expedition 360 updates can be obtained toll-free at 1-800-943-0114 or on the internet at www.goals.com.
>> END
Posted by jason at April 19, 1999 11:29 AM