Quest for an island

Record-breaking team attempts to row around the Olympic Peninsula

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Crystal clear blue skies and glassy smooth water made for perfect rowing weather early Monday morning.

Greg Spooner and Jordan Hanssen stood on Jerisich Dock in Gig Harbor loading supplies onto a 16 1/2-foot fiberglass “Melonboat,” an open-air rowboat. The boat looks too tiny for the two- to three-week trip the pair has planned.

“This boat makes me nervous,” said Marie Spooner, Greg Spooner’s mother. “It looks like it could tip over.”

“You could fill this thing up with water and it would still float,” Hanssen said, reassuring her.

Spooner’s parents, Marie and David, came to the dock to see their son off on his voyage. The two veteran rowers will attempt to circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula, starting in Gig Harbor.

The route will carry them north through Puget Sound, out through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and down the coast to Grays Harbor.

That’s where it gets tricky. The expedition will then head inland through the Chehalis and Black Rivers and out to Budd Inlet.

“It’s a far stretch, but basically we’ll make the peninsula an island,” Spooner said.

“We may have to carry the boat over some land. We just got some tracks for it yesterday.”

These rowers are no strangers to adventurous expeditions. Spooner and Hanssen are two of the four-man OAR Northwest team that was the first to row unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean during the North Atlantic Rowing Race in 2006. The team’s triumph is in the Guinness Book of World Records.

For this latest trip, the team will use a much smaller craft. The sole purpose is to prepare the rowers for a much bigger venture on the horizon — rowing from New York to Nome, Alaska. It will allow the pair to test the boat and see what changes or additions are needed for the longer trip.

“This is small potatoes compared to what we’ve done in the past,” Hanssen said. “But this will give us the opportunity to try out this boat and figure out what we need. In Puget Sound, we will experience every type of water conditions imaginable, with limited planning. Our plan is that, if we encounter problems, we’ll know how to deal with them next time.”

“This is definitely a new feel,” Spooner said of the smaller, open-air boat. “The ocean boat had a forward enclosed cabin.”

The row boat they will use is actually the prototype for hull No. 1, the original fiberglass boat built by Dave Robertson and the crew at Gig Harbor Boatworks. Robertson will also build the boat for the team’s 2011 expedition.

“The sliding seats were his design,” Hanssen said. “The beauty of this boat is that it’s real stable, but with a flat bottom. It’s light enough so we can lift it.”

Hanssen gives kudos to the unique geography of the Puget Sound.

“There aren’t many places that have a fjord that’s this big,” he said. “The Olympic Mountains are a very old mountain range.”

Hanssen shrugs off the dangers he faces on his extended journeys.

“My father died of an asthma attack when he was in his 20s,” he said. “People die on play equipment. My play equipment is Puget Sound. It’s just a different kind of fun.”

Food is stored in the bow of the boat, but there will be supply drops at Neah Bay and Hoquiam. The rowers plan to camp along the shore at night.

“If we run into some bad weather, it could get interesting,” Spooner said. “I’m not sure how far it’s going to be from the top of Black Lake to Budd Inlet. At this point, we may have to pick up the boat.”

Reach reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell@gateline.com.