WEBVTT

00:00:00.996 --> 00:00:02.807
In June of 1998,

00:00:02.807 --> 00:00:08.147
Tori Murden McClure left Nags Head,
North Carolina, for France.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:08.147 --> 00:00:10.469
That's her boat, the American Pearl.

00:00:10.469 --> 00:00:13.023
It's 23 feet long and just six feet across

00:00:13.023 --> 00:00:14.881
at its widest point.

00:00:14.881 --> 00:00:19.873
The deck was the size of a cargo bed
of a Ford F-150 pickup truck.

00:00:19.873 --> 00:00:22.357
Tori and her friends built it by hand,

00:00:22.357 --> 00:00:25.051
and it weighed about 1,800 pounds.

00:00:25.051 --> 00:00:27.414
Her plan was to row it alone

00:00:27.414 --> 00:00:29.364
across the Atlantic Ocean

00:00:29.364 --> 00:00:31.500
-- no motor, no sail --

00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:35.262
something no woman and no American
had ever done before.

00:00:35.262 --> 00:00:36.841
This would be her route:

00:00:36.841 --> 00:00:41.368
over 3,600 miles across
the open North Atlantic Ocean.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:41.368 --> 00:00:43.853
Professionally, Tori worked
as a project administrator

00:00:43.853 --> 00:00:45.478
for the city of Louisville, Kentucky,

00:00:45.478 --> 00:00:47.289
her hometown,

00:00:47.289 --> 00:00:49.704
but her real passion was exploring.

00:00:49.704 --> 00:00:52.188
This was not her first big expedition.

00:00:52.188 --> 00:00:56.554
Several years earlier, she'd become
the first woman to ski to the South Pole.

00:00:56.554 --> 00:00:58.783
She was an accomplished rower in college,

00:00:58.783 --> 00:01:02.265
even competed for a spot
on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team,

00:01:02.265 --> 00:01:06.189
but this, this was different.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:12.830
(Music) (Video) Tori Murden McClure: Hi.
It's Sunday, July the 5th,

00:01:12.830 --> 00:01:15.291
Sector time 9 a.m.,

00:01:15.291 --> 00:01:17.892
so that's Kentucky time now.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:17.892 --> 00:01:20.237
Dawn Landes: Tori made
these videos as she rowed.

00:01:20.237 --> 00:01:22.536
This is her 21st day at sea.

00:01:22.536 --> 00:01:25.299
At this point, she'd covered
over a thousand miles,

00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:27.969
had had no radio contact
in more than two weeks

00:01:27.969 --> 00:01:31.289
following a storm that disabled
all her long-range communications systems

00:01:31.289 --> 00:01:33.123
just five days in.

00:01:33.123 --> 00:01:35.144
Most days looked like this.

00:01:35.144 --> 00:01:38.905
At this point, she'd rowed
over 200,000 strokes,

00:01:38.905 --> 00:01:41.227
fighting the current and the wind.

00:01:41.227 --> 00:01:44.710
Some days, she traveled
as little as 15 feet.

00:01:44.710 --> 00:01:46.219
Yeah.

00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:48.866
And as frustrating as those days were,

00:01:48.866 --> 00:01:51.908
other days were like this.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:51.908 --> 00:01:55.019
(Video) TMM: And I want to show you
my little friends.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:55.019 --> 00:01:59.930
DL: She saw fish, dolphins,

00:01:59.930 --> 00:02:02.461
whales, sharks,

00:02:02.461 --> 00:02:05.340
and even some sea turtles.

00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:07.615
After two weeks with no human contact,

00:02:07.615 --> 00:02:09.937
Tori was able to contact
a local cargo ship

00:02:09.937 --> 00:02:12.863
via VHF radio.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:12.863 --> 00:02:16.648
(Video) TMM: Do you guys
have a weather report, over?

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:16.648 --> 00:02:19.782
Man: Heading up to a low

00:02:19.782 --> 00:02:22.267
ahead of you but it's heading,

00:02:22.267 --> 00:02:24.147
and you're obviously going northeast

00:02:24.147 --> 00:02:26.051
and there's a high behind us.

00:02:26.051 --> 00:02:27.909
That'd be coming

00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.416
east-northeast also.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:30.416 --> 00:02:32.019
DMM: Good.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:32.019 --> 00:02:36.175
DL: It's pretty happy to talk
to another human at this point.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:36.175 --> 00:02:38.357
(Video) TMM: So weather report
says nothing dramatic

00:02:38.357 --> 00:02:41.190
is going to happen soon.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:41.190 --> 00:02:43.048
DL: What the weather report
didn't tell her

00:02:43.071 --> 00:02:46.089
was that she was rowing right into
the path of Hurricane Danielle

00:02:46.089 --> 00:02:50.187
in the worst hurricane season on record
in the North Atlantic.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:52.138 --> 00:02:55.133
(Video) TMM: Just sprained my ankle.

00:02:55.133 --> 00:02:58.848
There's a very strong wind
from the east now.

00:02:58.848 --> 00:03:01.286
It's blowing about.

00:03:01.286 --> 00:03:04.165
It's blowing!

00:03:04.165 --> 00:03:06.859
After 12 days of storm

00:03:06.859 --> 00:03:08.693
I get to row for four hours

00:03:08.693 --> 00:03:11.177
without a flagging wind.

00:03:11.177 --> 00:03:14.196
I'm not very happy right now.
As happy as I was this morning,

00:03:14.196 --> 00:03:18.050
I am unhappy now, so...

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:22.195
DL: After nearly three months at sea,

00:03:22.195 --> 00:03:24.888
she'd covered over 3,000 miles.

00:03:24.888 --> 00:03:26.908
She was two thirds of the way there,

00:03:26.908 --> 00:03:30.438
but in the storm, the waves were
the size of a seven story building.

00:03:30.438 --> 00:03:32.614
Her boat kept capsizing.

00:03:32.614 --> 00:03:35.818
Some of them were pitch-pole capsizes,
flipping her end over end,

00:03:35.818 --> 00:03:38.303
and rowing became impossible.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:38.303 --> 00:03:40.996
(Video) TMM: 6:30 a.m.

00:03:40.996 --> 00:03:45.060
I'm in something big, bad, and ugly.

00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:47.660
Two capsizes.

00:03:47.660 --> 00:03:53.477
Last casize, I took the rib
off the top of my ceiling with my back.

00:03:56.356 --> 00:03:59.839
I've had about six capsizes now.

00:03:59.839 --> 00:04:02.346
The last one was a pitch-pole.

00:04:02.346 --> 00:04:05.295
I have the Argus beacon with me.

00:04:05.295 --> 00:04:07.083
I would set up the distress signal,

00:04:07.083 --> 00:04:11.309
but quite frankly, I don't think they'd
ever be able to find this little boat.

00:04:11.309 --> 00:04:13.120
It's so far underwater right now,

00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:17.299
the only part that's showing
pretty much is the cabin.

00:04:17.299 --> 00:04:20.434
It's about 10 a.m.

00:04:20.434 --> 00:04:23.127
I've lost track of the number of capsizes.

00:04:23.127 --> 00:04:26.169
I seem to capsize about
every 15 minutes.

00:04:26.169 --> 00:04:29.582
I think I may have broken my left arm.

00:04:33.204 --> 00:04:34.667
The waves

00:04:34.667 --> 00:04:37.024
are tearing the boat to shreds.

00:04:38.556 --> 00:04:40.042
I keep praying because

00:04:40.042 --> 00:04:42.550
I'm not sure I'm going
to make it through this.

00:04:42.550 --> 00:04:43.688
(Music)

00:04:43.688 --> 00:04:45.267
DL: Tori set off her distress beacon

00:04:45.267 --> 00:04:48.471
and was rescued
by a passing container ship.

00:04:48.471 --> 00:04:52.325
They found her abandoned boat
two months later adrift near France.

00:04:52.325 --> 00:04:55.506
I read about it in the newspaper.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:55.506 --> 00:04:59.779
In 1998, I was a high school student
living in Louisville, Kentucky.

00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.333
Now, I live in New York City.
I'm a songwriter,

00:05:02.333 --> 00:05:05.630
and her bravery stuck with me,
and I'm adapting her story

00:05:05.630 --> 00:05:09.252
into a musical called "Row."

00:05:12.990 --> 00:05:14.639
When Tori returned home,

00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:16.473
she was feeling disheartened,

00:05:16.473 --> 00:05:18.307
she was broke.

00:05:18.307 --> 00:05:19.956
She was having a hard time
making the transition

00:05:19.956 --> 00:05:22.115
back into civilization.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:22.115 --> 00:05:26.968
In this scene, she sits at home.

00:05:26.968 --> 00:05:28.965
Her phone is ringing,
her friends are calling,

00:05:28.965 --> 00:05:31.171
but she doesn't know how to talk to them.

00:05:31.171 --> 00:05:34.166
She sings this song.
It's called, "Dear Heart."

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:34.166 --> 00:05:37.522
(Guitar)

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:40.331 --> 00:05:44.046
♪ When I was dreaming ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:44.046 --> 00:05:47.297
♪ I took my body ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:47.297 --> 00:05:50.617
♪ to beautiful places ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:50.617 --> 00:05:53.937
♪ I'd never been ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:53.937 --> 00:05:57.211
♪ I saw Gibraltar ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:57.211 --> 00:06:00.601
♪ stars of Kentucky ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:00.601 --> 00:06:03.875
♪ burned into the moonlight ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:03.875 --> 00:06:07.451
♪ making me smile ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:07.451 --> 00:06:10.934
♪ And when I awoke here ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:10.934 --> 00:06:14.161
♪ the sky was so cloudy ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:14.161 --> 00:06:17.534
♪ I walked to a party ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:17.534 --> 00:06:20.995
♪ where people I know ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:20.995 --> 00:06:24.222
♪ try hard to know me ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:24.222 --> 00:06:27.426
♪ and ask where I've been ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:27.426 --> 00:06:30.514
♪ but I can't explain ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:30.514 --> 00:06:34.369
♪ what I've seen to them ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:34.369 --> 00:06:41.242
♪ Ah, listen, dear heart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:41.242 --> 00:06:47.929
♪ Just pay attention ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:47.929 --> 00:06:54.685
♪ Go right from the start ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:54.685 --> 00:06:57.773
♪ Ah, listen, dear heart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:57.773 --> 00:06:59.770
♪ And fall off the map ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:01.442 --> 00:07:01.692
♪ but don't fall apart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:01.692 --> 00:07:02.487
♪ Ooh aah aah ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:02.487 --> 00:07:08.245
♪ ah ah ah ah ah ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:08.245 --> 00:07:11.589
♪ Aah aah ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:11.589 --> 00:07:14.421
♪ Aah ah ah ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:14.421 --> 00:07:17.630
♪ When I was out there ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:17.630 --> 00:07:21.020
♪ the ocean would hold me ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:21.020 --> 00:07:24.364
♪ rock me and throw me ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:24.364 --> 00:07:27.684
♪ light as a child ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:27.684 --> 00:07:31.121
♪ but now I'm so heavy ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:31.121 --> 00:07:34.325
♪ nothing consoles me ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:34.325 --> 00:07:37.761
♪ My mind floats like driftwood ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:37.761 --> 00:07:41.035
♪ wayward and wild ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:41.035 --> 00:07:47.792
♪ Ah, listen, dear heart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:47.792 --> 00:07:50.717
♪ Just pay attention ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:50.717 --> 00:07:54.456
♪ Go right from the start ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:07:54.456 --> 00:08:00.748
♪ Ah, listen, dear heart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:00.748 --> 00:08:04.208
♪ You can fall off the map ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:04.208 --> 00:08:08.132
♪ but don't fall apart ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:08.132 --> 00:08:12.334
♪ Ooh ♪

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:14.912 --> 00:08:18.139
Eventually, Tori starts to get
her feet under her.

00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:20.600
She starts hanging out
with her friends again.

00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:24.478
She meets a guy and falls
in love for the first time.

00:08:24.478 --> 00:08:27.543
She gets a new job working
for another Louisville native,

00:08:27.543 --> 00:08:29.818
Muhammad Ali.

00:08:29.818 --> 00:08:32.558
One day, at lunch with her new boss,

00:08:32.558 --> 00:08:34.926
Tori shares the news
that two other women

00:08:34.926 --> 00:08:37.689
are setting out to row
across the mid-Atlantic,

00:08:37.689 --> 00:08:41.381
to do something that she
almost died trying to do.

00:08:41.381 --> 00:08:45.212
His response was classic Ali.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:45.212 --> 00:08:47.668
"You don't want to go through life
as the woman who almost

00:08:47.668 --> 00:08:50.175
rowed across the ocean."

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:50.175 --> 00:08:52.172
He was right.

00:08:52.172 --> 00:08:53.890
Tori rebuilt the American Pearl,

00:08:53.890 --> 00:08:55.678
and in December of 1999,

00:08:55.678 --> 00:08:57.954
she did it.

NOTE Paragraph

00:08:57.954 --> 00:09:00.995
(Applause)

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:04.873 --> 00:09:07.404
Thank you.

NOTE Paragraph

00:09:07.404 --> 00:09:13.325
(Applause)