rowing the Atlantic

[ashanta]

I met a guy at the gym a couple of Months ago and we became friendly. He informed that his brother was to row single handed from the Canaries to the Caribean. My friend Andy say's his brother "tiny" (these guys are about 6'6'' tall and 17 stone) is doing this for a charity which supports young people with depression, which I feel is a good cause.
Any way if you are interested you can see his progress on the website for ocean rowing at www.oceanrowing.com He had his best 24hrs rowing todate recently by making 49 miles but he has had a difficult time getting into the trades.
There is forum on the site and there are some interesting and supportive messages being made for him.
I donate to NRLI and RSPCC by direct debit but I will be certainly giving a donation to this charity for what I can only describe as brave and heroic feat. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
Regards.

Peter

 

[snowleopard]

i was on the ARC during the last transatlantic rowing race. we were given the positions of the rowers so we could avoid running them down. one was almost on our course and we were able to pass within hail. here they are:

their rate of travel was 1/2 knot, i.e. they were just drifting - the leaders of the fleet were making quite a bit more progress. they had regressed into a world of their own - the guy on watch didn't bother to tell his partner we were there even though they hadn't seen a soul for 6 weeks.

i hesitate to say it's a crazy way to travel - lot's of people say the same about us going by sea instead of plane!

good luck to your friend but rather him than me!

 

[ashanta]

Excellent!

I think tiny is only about a third of the way across looking at the progress chart on the website. He had severe difficulty stting off in what appeared to be a southerly direction but i was informed he had to do this to get to the east/west trade current in the shortest route. On one day he only managed 4 miles! He is now doing longer legs each day but as he on his own he won't manage much distance when he is sleeping.
The ARC was completed in December last year to my knowledge so I assume that Tiny is doing this passage a couple of months later. Is that good or bad in weather terms?
Regards
Peter.

 

[snowleopard]

the time of year is probably a little better as pre-christmas the trades generally stop further south. the trades are generally stronger in dec so they will be giving him less assistance.