Rowing across the Atlantic in the hurricane season

this is what my day-to-day life was like

out at sea

[Applause]

i had never sailed i’d never rode

i’d never seen the ocean i’d never built

anything as big as an ocean rowing boat

nor have i ever challenged myself like i

did

i’m maxim ivanov and this summer i

crossed the atlantic ocean

at the age of 16

thank you making me the youngest ocean

rower in the world

my father and i are also the first ocean

rovers to ever cross the

atlantic east to west during the

hurricane season

but i don’t want to talk to you about

these two-dimensional achievements

rather i think that i should talk to you

about my difficulties my struggles

and the coping mechanisms that i

developed because i believe that this

would be of most value to you

the first monster that i faced was the

fear of the unknown

now absolutely everything about this

project was unknown to me

imagine crossing the atlantic only using

the power of two oars

that was completely inconceivable to me

even

all the little challenges that led up to

that goal

they all seemed so unbeknown to me

i had no knowledge how to build an ocean

rowing boat

i had no capacity to communicate with

the giant ships

that were going to surround me i had no

experience

of traversing through waves and winds

and currents

i probably didn’t even have the nerve to

properly face the media

interested in our project and i was

scared

i was very scared but i had a trick up

my sleeve

actually this trick propelled me past

all the hardship

that i faced in my first year and a half

of preparation

in the first year and a half of

preparation i had no idea

how to build an ocean rowing boat no

idea how to row

but i asked myself what was my

motivation

what motivated me to row and train for

hundreds of hours

and spend thousands of hours in my

garage building a boat instead of seeing

my friends

turns out it was curiosity

it was curiosity that was that voice in

the back of my head

asking me okay well how do you build an

ocean rowing boat

max how would you feel to be in the

middle of the ocean

would your rowing skill really be up on

par with ocean rowing

skills after a year and a half of

preparation

i wanted answers and that is when i

learned

that i had created a monster killer

a fear slayer creativity

carried me to the very day of departure

creativity killed the fear

of the unknown

the second fear that i faced was

extremely terrifying

the second monster that i faced was

extremely scary

it was the fear for my life

standing in the middle of the ocean

there was no way i could feel

safe our ocean rowing boat was

constantly rocking

due to the never ending bombardment of

our of the waves

i had to force myself to eat six times a

day

even when i didn’t feel like it even

when i was feeling seasick

i had to row 12 hours a day

a month after month after month

i had to row amongst nine meter waves

and stay locked up in a cage which was

my cabin

when there was a hurricane or a storm

passing by

2020 is the most active hurricane season

ever recorded and all of these things

made me fear for my life

but being exposed to all these horrid

conditions

for so long forced my body to adapt

but also forced my mind to adapt

i created this sixth sense which told me

that it was always time to act

and never time to panic this is how i

slowly began

losing that exact fear for my life in

dangerous situations

instead of panicking i made the

conscious decision to act accordingly

and fix the problem

as soon as possible and that

is what made me the master of my destiny

that is what made me the master of my

life

from then on even standing in seemingly

threatening situations

i was feeling quite safe with the new

knowledge

and new experience that i had gained

they were the two things that lent me

the spear with which i killed the second

monster

and rid me of most of my worries

experience killed the fear for my life

the third thing the third monster that i

faced

was the monster the fear

for failure the field of failure

now every ocean rower and every sailor

knows

that no matter how much you prepare no

matter how many precautions you

set things will start breaking down in

the ocean

our boat was flooding with hundreds of

liters of water

every day forcing us to pump it out day

after day

our autopilot which is used to control

the boat broke down

our solar panels which charge our

navigation and communicational systems

corroded

leaving us completely in the dark our

rudder which is

essential to the control of the boat

broke

six times and the list goes on

and we knew that actually each and every

one of these problems

could have ended our journey they could

have stopped us

from reaching our goal but what we also

knew

is the antidote we knew the way the only

answer to all these problems

and it was simply sitting down and

giving it

everything we’ve got throwing every idea

at it and hoping for the best

and that is what we did and that is how

we not only fixed

most of the problems that is how we

fixed all of the problems

but you may ask yourself what motivated

you in these tough times to do all this

interestingly enough it’s actually

something that a friend had told me the

very night before departure

he said max

this is going to be hard this is going

to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done

in your life

but i don’t want you looking at it as an

obstacle or a challenge rather i think

you should look at it as a blessing

because you’re one very very lucky

person to be doing this

and experiencing this wonderful thing

and i contemplated these words not only

for days but for weeks

while i was crossing the ocean and i

finally

found three things that i was grateful

for the first thing that i was grateful

for

was the fact that i knew so many things

had in line

for me to even be able to attempt this

crossing

if only one of them we hadn’t fixed if

only one of them hadn’t worked for some

reason

i wouldn’t be here standing talking to

you

the second thing that i was grateful for

was the fact that i have the sheer

means and opportunity to attempt such a

challenge

and i know a lot of people in this world

cannot say the same thing

and i’m incredibly grateful for this and

do not take this for granted

the third thing that i was grateful for

was the fact that even

even in the most tough dark moment

of the entire row i knew that even at

that moment

there would be hundreds of people in

way worse and much horrid situations

than me and that is what motivated me to

tell myself

you should stop pitting yourself and

start being grateful

for the fact that you’re alive and for

the fact that you’re healthy

and with this new thankfulness and

gratefulness

i was no longer a slave to the monster

i quenched my thirst for success and

gratitude killed

the fear of failure

nobody is fearless your approach

is what defines you thank you