Team members: George Booth, Stina Booth
Hometown: Boise, ID, USA
Race vessel: Custom Faering
LOA: 18′ 11″
Human propulsion: Row
Connect: instagram
Q: What’s the difference between a bad idea and a good idea?
A: Four years.
When you’re a brother and sister adventure team who have done everything from cross Patagonian cycling trips to a 2019 to Alaska in a 20’ boat seemingly named after an Ikean footstool, you’d think you’d know better. But with four years of absence making the blisters grow fainter, Team Solveig is back in action, ready to eschew wind power, good judgment, and other people and row themselves to Alaska, again.
However they are showing up, the desire to take a 20’ open boat to Alaska is impressive, but doing it with your sibling, again, is even more so. Think of the longest road trip you took with your family as a kid. Now, imagine that taking 20 days. There’s no roof for shade or shelter, every mile you earn on your muscles, and there’s no parents to break it up when your brother is copying you, copying you. No one to threaten to pull the car over to make you stop fighting because your sister looked out your window and made you spill your ice cream on purpose. All of that, and there are bears.
It’s amazing it only took four years for them to return.
We sat down with Team Solveig over a bowl of Dramamine and spilled orange soda to talk about siblings, adventure, and the nature of fate.
What are the necessary components of a good adventure?
Fun, discomfort, chance of failure, opportunity for growth, change, suffering and joy!
What’s a lesson you learned the hard way?
I have found the hard way that you cannot guilt yourself into happiness. You can think your way into all kinds of important and proper things to do with your life but you will ultimately have to listen to and follow your heart.
I am actually not sure where R2AK fits into this dilemma; whether this thing thinks like a good idea or hearts like a good entity. Perhaps it is one of those rare and extraordinary instances of the two being in agreement. Maybe one more trip North will answer that question; more likely it won’t.
What’s your favorite kind of bracket?
My favorite bracket is the one that holds the PLB on the forward cockpit bulkhead. I know it’s there and if and when I need that little device in the future, it will be thanks to that humble little bracket.
It’s drizzling, freezing cold, and you’ve missed the tide. The cabin is leaky and the stove won’t light. How do you keep the good vibes going?
Actually I really just love to whinge about all of it. I think pretending that it isn’t happening or that it doesn’t suck is stupid and that it is much more fun to embrace the irony of being miserable and knowing that you yourself signed up for it knowing damn well how bad it would be at times and that really despite the discomforts large and small how fantastic it is to be alive!
Forget the 10k or the steak knives. What does success look like for you and your team?
For us success is finishing alive and intact, still speaking to each other and that we did it with a little more speed or assurance or perhaps a little more grace than our first foray north.
Defend your vessel. What makes it worthy?
Solveig is the bedrock of our team. She feels increasingly comfortable and at ease as the wind and waves grow menacing. She slips along easily with oars, and bubbles with pleasure to sail. She is thrilled to take a little jaunt up the beach for a cozy dry rest at night and is eager to roll down to the water again in the morning. I have never seen her bedraggled and she has nothing but heartfelt encouragement for the whole team each day! Go Solveig!!
Blank space, baby. Share some things:
I just want to say that for me this isn’t an event for hard core people with incredible skills. This race is for anyone who decides they want to go. Head north, whatever happens is what was bound to happen.
***
Welcome back to the R2AK Team Solveig. For the record, we kept our promise and didn’t use anything in your bio about your self-shot YouTube documentary of your 2019 R2AK, especially not the part at 46:18 where you are absolutely losing your minds. You’re welcome.