Mentor Rower Katie Spotz Plans Solo Pacific Crossing to Fund Clean Water in Fiji

Mentor resident Katie Spotz is preparing for a journey that is hard to picture: a solo row across the Pacific Ocean covering roughly 10,000 miles. The trip is expected to take between six and eight months, with one boat and one rower.

Spotz plans to set out in December from Lima, Peru, and finish in Cairns, Australia. She said the voyage would make her the first woman to row solo from South America to Australia, a record she hopes to claim.

Taking on extreme physical challenges is familiar territory for her. In 2009, she swam 352 miles of the Allegheny River to draw attention to the need for clean water. A year later, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean alone in a rowboat.

Although she will be the only person aboard, Spotz says she will carry reminders of home. Her mother wrote 200 letters for her, which means she can open one from home every day while at sea. "My mom wrote 200 letters, so I have like a letter from home every day," Spotz said.

The expedition is meant to accomplish more than a record. Spotz is raising money for One Drop Matters, with the aim of helping communities in Fiji get access to clean drinking water.

She pointed to the low cost of the solution as part of the motivation. "There are filters that are as cheap as $10 that can help one person get clean water for a decade," Spotz said. Her goal is to help 100,000 people across the islands of Fiji. If that target is met, she said, it would reach a point where everyone in the nation has access to the filters.

The fundraising target matches the scale of the voyage: $1 million. The cause at the center of the effort is a simple one, access to clean water.

Spotz is expected to begin her journey in December. People who want to follow her progress or learn more about the fundraising effort can visit katiespotz.com.