Solo Row across The Pacific

R

Robert H. Wilkinson

New member
Anyone watching the news today will see the story of John Beeten who just made landfall in Australia after 209 days at sea. He is a neighbor(of sorts) - hailing from Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

There has only been 9 other successful solo rows in the last 120 years. Many others have been lost at sea and some have been rescued in the surf off the coast of Australia.

When asked why he did it - he replied "because the Atlantic crossing was too easy"! He rowed across The Atlantic in 2011.

Incredible story!

Regards, Rob
 
I'm a Lewis and Clark History nut and at one of our annual conventions one speaker was a woman who had rowed across the Atlantic - after two failed attempts. Her topic was planning for expeditions. She gave us two terms: bricks and diamonds. Diamonds are things you take not thinking they will be useful or needed but you use them a great deal so they turn out to be" DIAMONDS. Bricks are things you take thinking they will be useful and they turn out to be unnecessary = "bricks."

On one of her failures she had to be rescued in 40 foot waves. She had her (very small) boat there on a trailer so we could see it. Just looking at it and thinking of being in 40 foot waves in the little boat was intimidating.

It's nice to be older and to watch the kids of today find their challenges.

Chuck
 
Chuck, the "bricks and diamonds" analogy is so true to life. I can't imagine preparing for an ocean crossing, especially in a small boat where every ounce must be accounted for. I fret for weeks over what to stow aboard for a trip on the canals. Find myself weighing down the boat with too much stuff that we could buy along the way and needing stuff that we end up having to buy.

John Beeten by the way is 53 - a few years younger than me and maybe you but not quite a kid 8)

Regards, Rob
 
Beeten took the precaution of having resupply from larger vessels several times in his 209 days. Guy had no body fat left, losing 11 lbs en route. With many 15 hr rowing days, I am surprised he has anything left on his frame.

One of these came ashore here, right up the Columbia, across the bar, in a vessel very similar to Beeten's, maybe 20 years ago, with no resupply en route, from Japan, I think, across the NE Pacific Ocean. He was barely with it, mentally. A Frenchman.

Tyboo, you remember that?
 
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