ESCONDIDO: Pastor completes solo rowing trip to Catalina Island

By JOHN RAIFSNIDER - For the North County Times | Monday, September 1, 2008 3:19 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO --- Local pastor Jim Rauch got more than he bargained for in his solo rowing adventure to Catalina Island last week --- about 5 miles and 1 hour more.

Last week, after years of planning, working and exercising, Rauch, 48, rowed his 24-foot scull 31 1/2 miles across rough seas and a prevailing headwind to get to the popular tourist island --- a 7-hour-plus journey that took him from Long Beach Harbor to Avalon Bay.

He figured originally it would take just six hours to go 26 miles, but a 5-mile miscalculation on the length of the trip cost him extra time and energy. Rauch said he inadvertently calculated the original distance by using a horn on the jetty at the ocean edge of the harbor as the starting point instead of from deep inside the harbor, where he actually took off from.

He said he was concerned when he realized his mistake, saying he had trained for a 6-hour, 26-mile trip across the open ocean

"Through all of this, I kept asking myself if I had I done enough to make it the whole way, and I felt I had," said Rauch, the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Escondido.

Rauch said he realized he had miscalculated when after six hours of rowing he was still more than an hour away from Avalon Bay. That’s also about the time when his wife Elizabeth began to worry.

From the marina at Avalon Bay, his wife said she grew anxious when the estimated time for her husband’s arrival passed.

"There were so many boats in the marina that day, and there were still so many more coming into the marina, that I couldn’t tell which one was with Jim," she said of the chase boat that accompanied her husband on the voyage. "I had bought a pair of binoculars and I kept scanning the horizon looking for him. I was more than a little concerned when he wasn’t on time."

Rauch said he prayed and contemplated scripture during his journey and that he never lost hope or considered giving up.

"A church member gave me a little red towel to take with me on the journey, and embroidered on it was this prayer. 'Dear Lord, please take care of me. My boat is so small and the sea is so wide.' I felt that this prayer was answered and I received help from God and from so many good people along the way."

Rauch said now that he has accomplished one of the many goals in his life --- rowing to Catalina before he turned 50 ---- he's ready for another challenge. Only this time, he said, he'll stick to terra firma.

"I’d like to ... lead a group of men my age on a hike up Half Dome in Yosemite," he said with a smile. "But I haven’t yet talked with my wife about that idea."

John Raifsnider is a freelance writer for the North County Times.