Moar Than Us on the Water

Julie Bennett, who has Glen Arbor roots, plans to row 2,800 miles across Pacific Ocean

Photo: Bennett, left, wearing green bracelet, poses with her rowing crew.

By Justine Gaziano

Sun contributor

“We know it takes a whole community of people to get us on the water,” said Julie Bennett, Glen Arbor native, as she prepares to take on the World’s Toughest Row next summer—a 2,800 mile trek over 50 days across the mid-Pacific Ocean from Monterey, Calif., to Kauai, Hawaii.

Back in 1866, two Norwegian immigrants became the first people ever to row across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to England. It was not attempted again until 1966, when another pair repeated that feat in the 20th century from Cape Cod to Ireland. With rowing journeys beginning in the late ’90s as part of World’s Toughest Row, the organization began the mid-Pacific Ocean route later in 2021 with 14 boats setting out in 2023.

Next summer, Bennett will become the first woman in Michigan to make this Pacific Ocean journey where she will bring along her crewmates. She is proud to represent Leelanau County, her Christian school in Grand Rapids, and the greater rowing community.

Bennett has known the waters and wonders of Glen Arbor since she attended Glen Lake School, from which she graduated in 1982. The summers found her waiting tables at The Red Pine and bagging groceries at Steffens IGA (now Anderson’s Market). After graduating from Hope College in 1987, Bennett returned for her first job teaching fifth grade at Glen Lake. That same year, her siblings were in the third, sixth and eighth grades in the same building where she taught.

In the spring of 1988, her now husband proposed to her at Joe’s Friendly Tavern in Empire, the village where she grew up. Once married, the two moved to Grand Rapids where Bennett has been a teacher ever since. In the fall of 2020, she transitioned from teaching in the classroom to working at a small Christian school as IT support, which evolved into a STEM position that she continues today. Although she has migrated downstate to Grand Rapids, Bennett returns to Glen Arbor each summer with her husband and kids.

As a lifelong learner and educator, Bennett has had a long connection to the water before she set out to row. With a middle name Lynn meaning “of the lake,” being part of the Glen Lake schools growing up, and attending Hope College with a flying dutchmen mascot known as “old man in a ship’s wheel,” Bennett’s life has always pointed her toward being on the water. Bennett’s first encounter with rowing began in her mid-40s when her son came home from high school one day sharing that he wanted to join a rowing team, and so, she decided to check out rowing in Grand Rapids.

Over the 15 years since her rowing began, Bennett has become a Level II certified coach, rows with Grand Rapids Rowing Club, coaches adult rowing, and teaches the program Learn To Row in the summertime. She also volunteers on Lake Leelanau each summer, which hosts a camp for breast cancer survivors known as Recovery on Water (ROW). ROW supports 50-60 women rowing, and Bennett has the opportunity to cheer on each of these women, join them in the boat, carry their oars and make sure they walk away from the camp with a smile on their faces.

As Bennett’s interest in ocean rowing continued, she started tracking various boats participating in the World’s Toughest Row through Yellow Brick Tracking. Two summers ago, Bennett was coaching sculling, a form of rowing where individuals use two oars, when she asked a younger girl from Kalamazoo, “Why do you want to learn how to do this?” The girl mentioned that she was on a team for World’s Toughest Row, and although an accomplished rugby player, she had never been on the water before. This continued to pique Bennett’s interest. As a result of a series of conversations and connections with other female rowers, Bennett was asked to join a team called the “Shore Thing,” when one of its participants dropped out. Unfortunately, that opportunity fell through, but by means of a circuitous route in the rowing community, Bennett was able to join her current team: “Moar Than Us.”

“Moar Than Us” represents Bennett’s and her teammates’ belief that “it takes a whole community of people to get us on the water.” The women are the ones rowing, but each woman on the team knows that a huge group of people are carrying them—donating products, giving financially, praying, supporting and encouraging them. Bennett is bringing her family, friends, and sponsors along with her on this journey; this is not about the big corporate sponsors providing the funding. Bennett wants her journey to be local.

The women know that they will spend long nights in dark and lonely hours rowing at 2 a.m., but it is the sticker on the side of boat, the logo from a local resort and product from Cherry Republic that will spur them on. Bennett also plans to bring a diary for each person to log what is happening, in tandem with friends and family who will have written notes in advance that each member of the team can read at different points of their journey.

The team is comprised of three Midwesterners: Bennett, Erin Enk-Wise, and Susan Satt. Enk-Wise is a traveling physical therapist who is the “skipper” in their boat, and Satt is an athletic trainer by trade from South Haven. The three of them will have been together and training for just over two years by the time they start out on their race across parts of the mid-Pacific Ocean.

The journey is one that takes as much preparation and mental training as it does physical training. They currently meet weekly on Zoom to discuss logistics, planning and training for the race. While each woman trains on her own with a focus on building muscle, core strength and endurance (similar to other sports), they will be together on boats for 120 hours, of which 72 hours must be on the water overnight in advance of their departure next June. This February, the three women will spend seven days on the water together, having the opportunity to practice drills, row together and work to simulate a short version of what lies ahead. The women are also practicing for sleep, as their circadian rhythms will be thrown off, and testing out the various foods they will eat along the way. Conscious of the mental preparation this requires, Bennett hopes to find “joy in the struggle” along the journey.

As they prepare, there are many people, businesses and partners involved in making the journey happen. Someone is donating a large medical kit with antibiotics, anti-nausea medicine, and basic first-aid items. There are sponsorships of dried snacks from Cherry Republic and dehydrated food from Yum Pouch in Grand Rapids. Most of what the women will eat is dehydrated food, including some snacks and wet food, all of which will be calculated in advance. The organization calculates the number of calories based on each woman’s weight in kilograms and confirms it prior to departure to ensure each team has an adequate amount of food to carry them through the journey.

The boat itself sits at 28 feet long by 6 feet wide. Each boat will hold everything they need for 50 days, as there is no turning back following departure. The vessel will house their equipment, gear, water, food supply, and first-aid kit. As a three-person team, they have a 39-hour schedule in which all three row in segments of 2-3 hours. In those off hours, each will eat, scrape off barnacles from the hull, sleep, communicate with the safety and navigation teams, and monitor the direction they are traveling in. They will spend a good portion of time sleep-deprived, but 20-30 minutes every two hours equates to approximately six hours of sleep per day per person.

What lies ahead is uncertain—inclement weather, sickness, injury, sleep deprivation, dehydration, the beating sun—and the women have to be ready for what each day could bring. It is assumed that each will get seasick initially, but between days 7-10 they should hopefully feel better. If one gets a gash on their leg and cannot row for a day, the other two will have to be able to row themselves and “trust each other enough to do that for the other.”

It is unlikely that the boat could capsize, but, if it does, it is designed to right itself. If a storm crosses their path and becomes stronger than their oars, they can take a break, go into the cabins and ride it out. Each woman will take a total of five courses before getting on the water, so they feel properly equipped to navigate what’s ahead – a damage control, a safety-at-sea navigational course, and a first-aid course are the first few requirements. Bennett wants to be the person who brings levity to the situations they encounter and is thinking about fun activities to do to keep their spirits high, such as some party hats for the Fourth of July.

This experience is more than just a mental and physical one; it is also a significant financial commitment. Each woman seeks to raise over $35,000 to support their boat, food supply, equipment (which includes items such as ropes, oars and their life raft), a race fee, and a doctor on call 24/7 with a certain percentage to go toward their charities. The three women have invested their efforts into raising money for three organizations that are important to each of them: National Eating Disorders Organization (NEDA), Wounded Warriors Project, and ROW.

With a personal focus on NEDA, Bennett recalls her years being teased for gaining weight in high school, which despite losing weight, developed into anorexia. This occurred at a time before society really understood what eating disorders were and how they affected individuals mentally, physically and emotionally.

Bennett came through the experience with help of family and friends, along with her spiritual mentor and pastor Mike Van Buren, who was instrumental in helping her to reclaim her health; he also married her and her husband. She continues to be a role model to young women reminding them how they “can be strong and don’t have to be skinny to have value.” As athletes, women have to fuel their bodies properly in order to compete, and, while our culture is becoming more accepting of all bodies, there is “still stigma around what is valued.” Bennett’s experiences have given her a platform to speak with female athletes playing soccer and volleyball surrounding topics of weight, nutrition, and tools for building more self-confidence and emotional resilience.

Bennett has yet to find herself wondering why she is doing this (as some might say she is out of her mind). She has always had a respect for the water and is not afraid of what it might bring. She is inspired by the positive messaging of Christian artists and holds a connection to Joshua 1:9: “be courageous, do not be afraid, for I am with you always.”

Not many, including Bennett herself, would have said that she’s adventurous by nature, but she credits the courage she’s built from her husband and her teammates: “I’ve learned to be courageous.”

It would also not be without the generosity of the local community in Leelanau County that has been so kind and generous. Bennett describes it as a “unique, gracious, supportive community” that has contributed to the confidence and courage she will take on this adventure. Bennett feels deep gratitude for the support of all those she is bringing along with her. She hopes to grow closer to the women on the water even after their journey ends, and the excitement of whale watching, being “out in creation” and letting herself “experience the ocean and all that ocean has” await her. As she completes the race, Bennett says that she will revel in both the sweetness and wetness of a fresh pineapple, as she smiles thinking about all she has accomplished and those who have cheered her on along the way.

Julie Bennett will be participating in World’s Toughest Row next June. You can learn more about Bennett’s journey on moarthanus.org, on Facebook / Instagram @moarthanus or make a donation through her venmo @JULIEB-MTU-26.