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