Hundreds of people turned up at the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor to send off paraplegic rower Angela Madsen on her 2,300 mile, 80-day trip to Hawaii, but the high surf put the trip on hold.
"I need to make 30 miles before I can rest," Madsen explained. "I can't make it in this surf."
Waves crashed over the rocks by the lighthouse and high surf advisories were posted on the beaches.
Madsen put on a show anyway, launching her boat, Spirit of Orlando, named for her friend Orlando Rogers, a Royal Marine who died two years ago. She invited kids to get on and have a look, got a proclamation from Mayor Hilary Bryant, who bicycled to the harbor and then cycled downtown to preside at the Japanese Cultural Festival.
"I saw this and I was amazed," said Bryant. "I had to come down and meet you. I'll also never complain about my broken finger again."
The ever-growing Santa Cruz Ukelele club serenaded Madsen with Hawaiian songs and, of course, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
Madsen's trip - the first by a paraplegic woman across the Pacific - is dedicated to calling attention to the needs of veterans. She said there are 900,000 vets whose health claims are still pending. She waited through 13 years of court battles to get her benefits.
Her boat was lined with pictures of vets.
She's in a holding pattern waiting in Santa Cruz for the surf to calm.
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