A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane
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0:01 - 0:03In June of 1998,
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0:03 - 0:08Tori Murden McClure left Nags Head,
North Carolina for France. -
0:08 - 0:10That's her boat, the American Pearl.
-
0:10 - 0:13It's 23 feet long and just six feet across
-
0:13 - 0:15at its widest point.
-
0:15 - 0:20The deck was the size of a cargo bed
of a Ford F-150 pickup truck. -
0:20 - 0:22Tori and her friends built it by hand,
-
0:22 - 0:25and it weighed about 1,800 pounds.
-
0:25 - 0:27Her plan was to row it alone
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0:27 - 0:29across the Atlantic Ocean --
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0:29 - 0:32no motor, no sail --
-
0:32 - 0:35something no woman and no American
had ever done before. -
0:35 - 0:37This would be her route:
-
0:37 - 0:41over 3,600 miles across
the open North Atlantic Ocean. -
0:41 - 0:44Professionally, Tori worked
as a project administrator -
0:44 - 0:45for the city of Louisville, Kentucky,
-
0:45 - 0:47her hometown,
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0:47 - 0:50but her real passion was exploring.
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0:50 - 0:52This was not her first big expedition.
-
0:52 - 0:57Several years earlier, she'd become
the first woman to ski to the South Pole. -
0:57 - 0:59She was an accomplished rower in college,
-
0:59 - 1:02even competed for a spot
on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, -
1:02 - 1:06but this, this was different.
-
1:06 - 1:13(Video) (Music) Tori Murden McClure:
Hi. It's Sunday, July 5. -
1:13 - 1:15Sector time 9 a.m.
-
1:15 - 1:18So that's Kentucky time now.
-
1:18 - 1:20Dawn Landes: Tori made
these videos as she rowed. -
1:20 - 1:23This is her 21st day at sea.
-
1:23 - 1:25At this point, she'd covered
over 1,000 miles, -
1:25 - 1:28had had no radio contact
in more than two weeks -
1:28 - 1:31following a storm that disabled
all her long-range communications systems -
1:31 - 1:33just five days in.
-
1:33 - 1:35Most days looked like this.
-
1:35 - 1:39At this point, she'd rowed
over 200,000 strokes, -
1:39 - 1:41fighting the current and the wind.
-
1:41 - 1:45Some days, she traveled
as little as 15 feet. -
1:45 - 1:46Yeah.
-
1:46 - 1:49And as frustrating as those days were,
-
1:49 - 1:52other days were like this.
-
1:52 - 1:55(Video) TMM: And I want to show you
my little friends. -
1:55 - 2:00DL: She saw fish, dolphins,
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2:00 - 2:02whales, sharks,
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2:02 - 2:05and even some sea turtles.
-
2:05 - 2:08After two weeks with no human contact,
-
2:08 - 2:10Tori was able to contact
a local cargo ship -
2:10 - 2:13via VHF radio.
-
2:13 - 2:17(Video) TMM: Do you guys
have a weather report, over? -
2:17 - 2:20Man: Heading up to a low
-
2:20 - 2:22ahead of you but it's heading,
-
2:22 - 2:24and you're obviously going northeast
-
2:24 - 2:26and there's a high behind us.
-
2:26 - 2:28That'd be coming
-
2:28 - 2:30east-northeast also.
-
2:30 - 2:32TMM: Good.
-
2:32 - 2:36DL: She's pretty happy to talk
to another human at this point. -
2:36 - 2:38(Video) TMM: So weather report
says nothing dramatic -
2:38 - 2:41is going to happen soon.
-
2:41 - 2:43DL: What the weather report
didn't tell her -
2:43 - 2:46was that she was rowing right into
the path of Hurricane Danielle -
2:46 - 2:50in the worst hurricane season
on record in the North Atlantic. -
2:52 - 2:55(Video) TMM: Just sprained my ankle.
-
2:55 - 2:59There's a very strong wind
from the east now. -
2:59 - 3:01It's blowing about.
-
3:01 - 3:04It's blowing!
-
3:04 - 3:07After 12 days of storm
-
3:07 - 3:09I get to row for four hours
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3:09 - 3:11without a flagging wind.
-
3:11 - 3:13I'm not very happy right now.
-
3:13 - 3:14As happy as I was this morning,
-
3:14 - 3:18I am unhappy now, so ...
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3:20 - 3:22DL: After nearly three months at sea,
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3:22 - 3:25she'd covered over 3,000 miles.
-
3:25 - 3:27She was two thirds of the way there,
-
3:27 - 3:30but in the storm, the waves were
the size of a seven-story building. -
3:30 - 3:33Her boat kept capsizing.
-
3:33 - 3:36Some of them were pitchpole capsizes,
flipping her end over end, -
3:36 - 3:38and rowing became impossible.
-
3:38 - 3:41(Video) TMM: It's 6:30 a.m.
-
3:42 - 3:45I'm in something big, bad and ugly.
-
3:45 - 3:48Two capsizes.
-
3:48 - 3:53Last capsize, I took the rib
off the top of my ceiling with my back. -
3:56 - 4:00I've had about six capsizes now.
-
4:00 - 4:02The last one was a pitchpole.
-
4:02 - 4:05I have the Argus beacon with me.
-
4:05 - 4:07I would set off the distress signal,
-
4:07 - 4:11but quite frankly, I don't think they'd
ever be able to find this little boat. -
4:11 - 4:13It's so far underwater right now,
-
4:13 - 4:17the only part that's showing
pretty much is the cabin. -
4:17 - 4:20It's about 10 a.m.
-
4:20 - 4:23I've lost track of the number of capsizes.
-
4:23 - 4:26I seem to capsize about
every 15 minutes. -
4:26 - 4:30I think I may have broken my left arm.
-
4:33 - 4:35The waves
-
4:35 - 4:37are tearing the boat to shreds.
-
4:39 - 4:40I keep praying because
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4:40 - 4:43I'm not sure I'm going
to make it through this. -
4:43 - 4:45DL: Tori set off her distress beacon
-
4:45 - 4:48and was rescued
by a passing container ship. -
4:48 - 4:52They found her abandoned boat
two months later adrift near France. -
4:52 - 4:56I read about it in the newspaper.
-
4:56 - 5:00In 1998, I was a high school student
living in Louisville, Kentucky. -
5:00 - 5:02Now, I live in New York City.
I'm a songwriter. -
5:02 - 5:06And her bravery stuck with me,
and I'm adapting her story -
5:06 - 5:09into a musical called "Row."
-
5:13 - 5:15When Tori returned home,
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5:15 - 5:16she was feeling disheartened,
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5:16 - 5:18she was broke.
-
5:18 - 5:20She was having a hard time
making the transition -
5:20 - 5:22back into civilization.
-
5:24 - 5:27In this scene, she sits at home.
-
5:27 - 5:29The phone is ringing,
her friends are calling, -
5:29 - 5:31but she doesn't know how to talk to them.
-
5:31 - 5:34She sings this song.
It's called "Dear Heart." -
5:34 - 5:38(Guitar)
-
5:40 - 5:44When I was dreaming,
-
5:44 - 5:47I took my body
-
5:47 - 5:51to beautiful places
-
5:51 - 5:54I'd never been.
-
5:54 - 5:57I saw Gibraltar,
-
5:57 - 6:01and stars of Kentucky
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6:01 - 6:04burned in the moonlight,
-
6:04 - 6:07making me smile.
-
6:07 - 6:11And when I awoke here,
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6:11 - 6:14the sky was so cloudy.
-
6:14 - 6:18I walked to a party
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6:18 - 6:21where people I know
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6:21 - 6:24try hard to know me
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6:24 - 6:27and ask where I've been,
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6:27 - 6:31but I can't explain
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6:31 - 6:34what I've seen to them.
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6:34 - 6:41Ah, listen, dear heart.
-
6:41 - 6:44Just pay attention,
-
6:44 - 6:48go right from the start.
-
6:48 - 6:54Ah, listen, dear heart.
-
6:54 - 6:57You can fall off the map,
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6:57 - 7:02but don't fall apart.
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7:02 - 7:03Ooh ooh ooh,
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7:03 - 7:08ah ah ah ah ah.
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7:08 - 7:12Ah ah,
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7:12 - 7:14ah ah ah.
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7:14 - 7:18When I was out there,
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7:18 - 7:21the ocean would hold me,
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7:21 - 7:24rock me and throw me,
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7:24 - 7:28light as a child.
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7:28 - 7:31But now I'm so heavy,
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7:31 - 7:34nothing consoles me.
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7:34 - 7:38My mind floats like driftwood,
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7:38 - 7:41wayward and wild.
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7:41 - 7:48Ah, listen, dear heart.
-
7:48 - 7:51Just pay attention,
-
7:51 - 7:54go right from the start.
-
7:54 - 8:01Ah, listen, dear heart.
-
8:01 - 8:04You can fall off the map,
-
8:04 - 8:08but don't fall apart.
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8:08 - 8:12Ooh.
-
8:15 - 8:18Eventually, Tori starts to get
her feet under her. -
8:18 - 8:21She starts hanging out
with her friends again. -
8:21 - 8:24She meets a guy and falls
in love for the first time. -
8:24 - 8:28She gets a new job working
for another Louisville native, -
8:28 - 8:30Muhammad Ali.
-
8:30 - 8:33One day, at lunch with her new boss,
-
8:33 - 8:35Tori shares the news
that two other women -
8:35 - 8:38are setting out to row
across the mid-Atlantic, -
8:38 - 8:41to do something that she
almost died trying to do. -
8:41 - 8:45His response was classic Ali:
-
8:45 - 8:46"You don't want to go through life
-
8:46 - 8:50as the woman who almost
rowed across the ocean." -
8:50 - 8:52He was right.
-
8:52 - 8:54Tori rebuilt the American Pearl,
-
8:54 - 8:56and in December of 1999,
-
8:56 - 8:58she did it.
-
8:58 - 9:01(Applause)
(Guitar) -
9:05 - 9:07Thank you.
-
9:07 - 9:10(Applause)
- Title:
- A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane
- Speaker:
- Dawn Landes
- Description:
-
Singer-songwriter Dawn Landes tells the story of Tori Murden McClure, who dreamed of rowing across the Atlantic in a small boat — but whose dream was almost capsized by waves the size of a seven-story building. Through video, story and song, Landes imagines the mindset of a woman alone in the midst of the vast ocean. (This talk was part of a session at TED2015 guest-curated by Pop-Up Magazine: popupmagazine.com or @popupmag on Twitter.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:26
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane | ||
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Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane | ||
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Cynthia Betubiza edited English subtitles for A song for my hero, the woman who rowed into a hurricane |