A MAN WHO DOES NOT KNOW
     THE MEANING OF THE WORD “IMPOSSIBLE”

ast week, we hosted a very special guest speaker for our Mentortalks series. It’s very hard to define Mr.Erden Eruc in one way. He is the first man in the history of many things. He is a man of big dreams. A dream that eluded him for years untill a tragic event drove him to action. The Seattle adventurer completed a 5 year journey to circumnavigate the globe under his own power. He finished his journey with muscle power, using a rowing boat, bicycle and by foot. It’s a story of inspiration and hope. it’s his story that makes history. It’s a story that proves anything is possible. And above all, his story is a message that says life is a gift. Live it. You can watch the full interview from the link of our schools YouTube page

T.KILIÇ: Hello Erdun, it’s very nice to meet you. Thank you for joining us at our wonderful school today. It is a great pleasure to meet you. Now I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. What was your first venturous adventure? And how old were you?
E.ERUÇ: Well, it depends on what you call an adventure. My father took me up on Mount.Erciyes when I was 11 years old.
T.KILIÇ: That sounds like an amazing place.
E.ERUÇ: Yeah, that’s how it all started.
T.KILIÇ: You graduated from Bosphorus University and studied mechanical engineering. You have worked as a mechanical engineer for many years. How did you put the machines aside and start the circumnavigational project ‘Muscle Power’?
E.ERUÇ: Well, I was working as a software developer and project manager in a software development lab in Washington DC. That was the year 1997 and there was a map on the wall with the Americas on the right, pacific in the middle and the whole world on the left and I would stand in front of that and trace my finger across it, trying to figure out ways to reach Turkey. Then I asked myself ‘what if I could do this by human power?’ Those were my daydreams. Then when I was climbing, when I was rock climbing with a friend, he fell and he died on my watch and that became the turning point and I said ‘no more excuses, I have to get on the way because life is short.’ So, I changed my life, I made critical decisions, created the funds, to create the time and to commit. Until then, I was talking about it, not acting. That loss triggered my desire to take off.
T.KILIÇ: And right there, that was your decision to go ahead and circumnavigate the world?
E.ERUÇ: Well, the thought of circumnavigation had been brewing for a good long while, and the accident became the swift kick I needed behind me, to get me going.
T.KILIÇ: Where did you begin to get ready for your journey?
E.ERUÇ: Well, as I suggested, 1997 is when I came up with the idea and the journey started in 2007. So, it took me 10 years to get my act together, to feel ready to take on the big ocean, the pacific ocean, so I had to purchase a rowing boat. I first rowed that from the Canary Islands to in 96 days. That was a solo row and with that, I became the first Turkish person to have rowed an ocean. I am still the only one, unfortunately. I wish that would change. Then, I felt ready to take on the circumnavigation because the starting point was going to be the shores of California and I wanted to cross the pacific first so that was a big commitment.
T.KILIÇ: I’m guessing your passion slowly began to develop when you were sitting in the office as a software engineer, right?
E.ERUÇ: Yes.
T.KILIÇ: What type of preparation did you start to do when that first thought came into your mind?
E.ERUÇ: It started in ‘97, I started to read about similar journeys, so I wanted to understand the mindset and the preparations of others. I knew that I had to cross big oceans, so I started researching about how to cross oceans by human power. Actually, the ocean crossings were not in the mix early on. I wanted to go across the bearing straits to get to Turkey. So, I had to figure out how to get across the oceans and in my research, I came across the Ocean Rowing Society based in London. They were organising races across the Atlantic ocean from the Canary Islands to Barbados at that time and they had used rowing boats that I could purchase, so, I purchased one of those. That was in 2004 and I started training on that and I started looking at all the things that could go wrong. So I started doing risk assessments of what could go wrong and how I would address those. I started training, in rowing especially. I used to take a four-person rowing boat on the Bosphorus, when I was at Boðaziçi University, so that was an introduction really. I was not a rower - I was a wrestler and a track and field athlete, so my training was not necessarily in rowing but I knew that I had to get across the oceans by rowing boat. My training slowly ramped up. Logistics - I had to figure out how do I get this rowing boat from one side of a continent to another, how do I get my bicycle, what do I take on my bicycle, do I buy a trailer (which I did - I used in the trailer) and I had to find kayaks when I needed them - I had to equip those, and on two occasions I used a dugout canoe in Papua New Guinea to cross. So the local villagers leant me their dugout canoes and I had to walk across Papua New Guinea - north to south. So each one of these are individual phases and each one of those required preparation and planning and finding local help and getting it done. So all these preparations take time, I had to enhance my knowledge in navigation, ocean turns and winds, and getting forecasts while at sea, communication while at sea. I had to prepare a website and start sharing my experience online, so I was blogging before there was such a thing as a blog. In 2003, I started writing a pure HTML that linked to each days entry, so you could jump from one, right up to another. All of those were preparations and then eventually I went to a blog set-up. All these things have to get done. You have to register the boat, you have to get emergency beacons and they need to be registered and the boat has to be licensed - with that you get a specific number - its called an MMSI number. Once you get that number then you can register all your equipment, including the beacons with the coaster guard and other places. So, a lot of details. It’s a major project management task to keep everything moving so that one can get to the moving line without fault, because, once I take off I can’t get help.

C.J.WISE: What was most difficult about your?
E.ERUÇ: I think separation and loneliness can be challenging at first but I am more an introvert. I don’t need crowds to justify my existence. I enjoy my own company. One learns to enjoy one’s own company after a while because otherwise, it would be impossible. So, boredom then becomes the biggest challenge. Once you get over the ‘oh I’m all alone, by myself, I’m so sorry for myself’ kind of mindset and get used to the new routine, then boredom becomes a big challenge, so I had to create work for myself. When I was no rowing, I would journal, I would prepare blog entries for our Turkish website and our English website. The Turkish website is kaslagit.com and the US website is arroundandoverorg. I have my personal website, but that needs updating. The kaslagit.com and arroundandover.org are the ones that I updated regularly whilst I was at sea. I would clean up, pay attention to hygiene, because I can’t have any issue develop as if that festers then it becomes a liability and it becomes a problem that could stop my row and while at sea I have to be very careful about these things. So although those things created a whole new routine, after a while I took care of boredom as well. I had taken books with me. I read more at sea than in the city, because in the city you have all sorts of distractions. Lately, we have Facebook and whatever else that takes up time. While at sea you don’t have any of those and you can focus on reading and produce, and basically become more productive. It’s focus time. That’s one reason that I really miss my time at sea. I need to get back out there.
C.J.WISE: Was there ever a point when you felt like giving up?
E.ERUÇ: Yes, but that doesn’t last long. The one episode that I had was in Tanzania, I was bicycling, it was the monsoon season and the rain was really coming down hard and I came across a section of the road that was under construction. They were laying down the pavement and had directed the traffic to a service road paralleling the road and the new pavement and it was knee-deep in a slurry of mud and I had big trucks and such passing by and I had to push my bicycle and trailer through this muck and if I kept it high in the middle, I had to walk in myself. It just became impossible to get away from it because there was bush on either side. I thought this was gonna get dangerous. It gets dark and eventually I got on the pavement and I was able to continue. I was the only vehicle on the road. My bicycle and the whole highway for the next 40km. It was closed to traffic so I was able to carry on. Had I given up and gotten on a vehicle, I would probably have a different story, but I didn’t give up. I figured out a way to get on that highway and I had it to myself.
C.J.WISE: Did anyone ever accommodate you on your journey?
E.ERUÇ: Of course, always. When I came to shore with a yellow rowing boat, everyone had to know the story, because I had come from the otherside of the ocean. Local villagers in Papua New Guinea now have me in their local folklaw. Their grandmothers tell stories of past history to the next generation. There I am now part of ‘the white man that came in the yellow rowing boat.’ When they tell stories to their grandchildren, that’s what they say now. Of course, when I came loaded on a bicycle or by any other means, the journey provided, everybody wanted to become part of that journey.
C.J.WISE: You have a book where you write about your life. Would you like a movie of your book?
E.ERUÇ: We are working on a documentary and that has been going on for a while now. We had to change directors. People have day jobs and in the time left they are trying to get things done. So, yes there will be a documentary in English and just starting the process for a documentary in Turkish aswell. I sent all sorts of footage, just recently, 3 harddrives, 4 terabytes each of footage. All that will have to get sifted and turned into a narrative that will make sense for a full length movie documentary film. So, yes we are working on it.
C.J.WISE: As you spent the longest time in the ocean, do you agree life is like an ocean, because it is up and down?
E.ERUÇ: Yes. You also have to keep in mind that life is about giving up too. You need to give up on certain things to be able to move onto the next phase of your life. You need to be able to close chapters as you go. School is like that. You come out of middle school, you move onto high school, you change jobs, you have friends come in and out of your life. All of these are part of life. It does have it own cadence and ups and downs, yes. It can be challenging, but with resilience you can address those.
C.J.WISE: In one of the interviews you said that each of the oceans you’ve crossed have different character. Could these oceans symbolise some events in your life?
E.ERUÇ: No, I wouldn’t reason it as such. I just wanted to explain the behavþour of the ocean and how I perceived it whilst at sea. I found the Indian ocean to be aggressive. I found the Pacific ocean to be capricious because it kept disappointing me. Each time I had hope, it was dashed. I was not in charge and the pacific ocean was full of surprises. Then the Atlantic ocean - you can’t fail on the Atlantic ocean - it just goes according to plan. I crossed the Atlantic ocean twice and each time I was able to take advantage of the currents and winds correctly to stay on course, so, I thought the Atalntic ocean was honest. It was just my perception of these oceans.
C.J.WISE: Do you think the land or the sea is more dangerous?
E.ERUÇ: Always the land. Always the roads. Always the people. With nature, I may get surprises, but I always try to think ahead and go through proper risk assessments, risk analysis and then try to address all these surprises/problems that may arise in the future. So, I am prepared. I am trained as an adventurer, as an athlete I can take that on and survive it. But, I have no power over a vehicle that moves at 120km/h, that comes and wipes me off the face of the road, and that is a clear and present danger. Every vehicle has my name on it and I have to ride my bicycle defensively. So, that was my biggest worry. When people ask me that question they typically are thinking about the big oceans and the big waves and what about sharks and those kinds of fears that they may have about the oceans, but that’s really not the case. It’s always individuals, always people. When I came to Venezuela, a highway of robberies, just random criminal activity with a handgun, they would shoot first, they would take your money, they wouldn’t even ask for it. That kind of environment, it was banditry, it was really common and the local authorities were very concerned. I had to spend 10 day in Venezuela and I had one day of bicycle riding to do to get across a peninsula and I got around by rowing boat. With all the logistics - trying to come on shore, they were really concerned about where I would land, where I would approach the shore, because they didn’t want anyone to take advantage. So, those are always concerns. When I was on the Indian ocean, I was in touch with the naval command in Ankara, the Turkish Navy. They have an operations centre. They were tracking me with my tracking beacon and I was in touch with the rear admiral on the Gazientep which he provided me with information about pirates and counter so we had to decide a proper route that would keep me in safe waters. So, that kind of co-ordination had to happen. Piracy was a concern off the north shores of Venezuela, as well as the approach to African mainland. Yeah, as always concerns.
C.J.WISE: Thank you for your answer. Those were all our questions. The last one we would like to ask is, do you have any advice for us?
E.ERUÇ: Where do I begin? Yes, of course, of course. What I would like to say is acknowledge your dreams. Often, as you go through life, you will come up with ideas and then you will talk yourself out of it. Before anyone else can talk you out of it, you, yourself will say to yourself ‘ah, I can’t do that, I won’t do that.’ You’ll find an excuse and cop out. So, acknowledge your dreams and accept the challenge and then grow in skills and abilities and knowledge to become the person that can achieve that dream. A dream may appear too difficult, but that dream does not mean that that dream is impossible or unachievable. You just have to grow up to become that person who can achieve that dream. When I set my eyes on a circumnavigation by human power, I did not know whether I could achieve it. I had to become the person who could achieve that. I was then able to accomplish 14 separate Guinness Worl Records. I became the first person to have rowed three oceans. I became the first person to have achieved a self propelled circumnavigation by human power. All of these are historic firsts, as well as, Guinness World Records in mile or days at sea. I hold the longest total career record of 844 days at sea as a solo ocean rower, in total. I hold the for distance rowed, both solo and overall. These didin’t happen by accident. I had to commit. I had to become that person. So, my advice to you is, acknowledge your dream, figure out what it takes, what it will take to achieve that dream, then work toward that dream step by step. It doesn’t happen overnight. It is an investment, it is growing process, and you need to put in the work, to earn the rewards.
T.KILIÇ: Thank you. We were very happy to have you and I hope you’ve enjoyed us too.
E.ERUÇ: Yes, my pleasure.