Shekhdar Sane?: I guess you have to be more than slightly offbeat to want to row the Southern Ocean. But if you read Jim Shekhdar’s diary of his aborted attempt to get underway from New Zealand to South Africa, you have to wonder a little about how he’s going to fare on the world’s most dangerous seas. He’s been preparing for this voyage for months, yet he was still rushing about minutes before the start, buying odds and ends and tossing last minute stuff into his increasingly chaotic cabin. Due to the delay he missed the tide and found himself pushing against the current, feeling queasy. No problem: he had plenty of anti-seasickness medication onboard. Ooops. Big problem: couldn’t find the pills in the mess. No problem: he also had anti-seasickness patches (you stick them behind your ear). Ooops. Big problem: he had consolidated two boxes into one and brought the empty box by accident. What ultimately sent Shekhdar back to land was a malfunctioning wind generator. But he was out there long enough to also discover that the footwell of his custom-rowing craft fills easily with water when there is any sort of sea running. No problem: just pump water out with bilge pump. Ooops. Big problem: bilge pump has a hard time keeping up with King Neptune. We’re rooting for you Jim, but………