As Roz Savage ventures to become the first woman to row across the Pacific Ocean, less adventurous folks can track her progress via the RozTracker, reports Erika Engle in the Honolulu Star Bulletin (5/27/09). Just click on the "Where's Roz" button on RozSavage.com, and an interactive map not only shows Roz's position, but also provides links to the blog posts, tweets and videos she is uploading along her way.

The RozTracker was developed by Archinoetics, and is an outgrowth of an educational program called Project Niu, designed to teach "students about ocean science, technology and environmental stewardship," by tracking ocean currents and the travels of ocean debris. When she gets to the equator, Roz will deploy a special "niu" (Hawaiian for "coconut") that's "equipped with Iridium satellite phones, solar panels and sensors that gather and transmit data." It's hoped the device will deliver new information about marine debris near the equator.

The RozTracker applies similar technology, using Google Maps and GPS to give landlubbers a "map, journal entries and graphs measuring her heading, distances and speed, as well as her days at sea, miles traveled and number of oar strokes." There's a RozTracker widget for Facebook and, of course, an iPhone app is on the way. Roz is on the second leg of her journey, which she hopes will raise environmental awareness. She became the first woman to row across the Atlantic in 2005.