Your Mileage May Vary

Adventure

Tag: Rowing

Mark Delstanche rows solo from New York City to London

2021.09.20 /

Rebecca McPhee, Explorersweb »

Mark Delstanche, 47, has become the first person to solo row from New York to London. He set off from Battery Park, New York on June 14, and after 97 days he crossed the finish line at Tower Bridge, London. Since the beginning, Delstanche has faced complications. His boat Square Peg was custom-made with a flywheel-powered propeller, which broke early in his journey. He then rowed through some of the worst weather in years. Over the three months, he endured eight major storms and seven capsizes. The storms damaged most of his electronic equipment. During one capsize, he twisted his knee.

Adventure Journal asks 59-year-old Erden Eruç why he is rowing around the world, again!

2021.06.09 /
Turkish-American adventurer Erden Eruç rowing his boat

Turkish-American record-setting adventurer Erden Eruç rowing his boat

In their 2018 profile of Erden Eruç, Exploreweb wrote »

In July 2007, Erden Eruç set out from California’s Bodega Bay to row the Pacific Ocean in a 7.1m plywood rowboat. Five years, 11 days, 12 hours and 22 minutes later, he returned to Bodega Bay to become the first person in history to circumnavigate the world solo by human power.

Eruç rowed across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and cycled across three continents: Australia, Africa and North America. En route, he also climbed Mount Kosciuszko (Australia) and Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa) and trekked the challenging Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. In all, he traveled 66,299km under his own steam…

Jeff Moag, writing in the Adventure Journal »

Erden Eruç has more time at sea in a rowboat than anyone alive, nearly three years all told, including 312-days alone on the Pacific. The 59-year-old Seattleite was the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone and under his own power, crossing the world’s three great oceans—Pacific, Indian and Atlantic—in an expedition that took five years and consumed his life savings.

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Alastair Humphreys tells us how he chooses his adventures

2021.05.06 /

Alastair Humphreys »

How do you choose your next adventure when there are so many options available?

Wizarding up ideas for adventures is one of my favourite things to do. I find it enjoyable, exciting, but also easy. If I was a specialist I would need to search for something higher, harder and faster within my niche every time I wanted a new challenge. But because I am a generalist, I make the next adventure more challenging by making it differently challenging to previous projects. It is an important part of keeping adventure fresh for me.

I am surprised how often people tell me that they really want to do an adventure but don’t know what to do. Hopefully this walk-through of the way I come up with ideas might get your own adventure cogs whirring…

  • Cycling round the world
  • The Marathon des Sables
  • The South Pole
  • The Arctic Ocean
  • Iceland
  • Rowing the Atlantic
  • …

Six rowers become the first to cross the infamous Drake Passage unassisted

2019.12.28 /

Six men, rowed their 29-foot (9-meter) rowboat for 13 days, to become the first to cross the Drake Passage unassisted.

Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press via Time »

Six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower.

They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales breached near their small boat and rode building-sized waves while rowing 24 hours a day toward Antarctica.

The team of men from four countries finished crossing the Drake Passage on Wednesday in just under two weeks after pushing off from the southern tip of South America.

Lia Ditton is getting set to row across the Pacific Ocean unassisted—and she’s afraid

2019.10.07 /

Adventure Journal »

Lia Ditton is a 39-year-old licensed sea captain, yachtswoman and solo ocean rower from London. She has racked up over 150,000 miles on the sea and has taken part in some of the most grueling races on earth, such as the OSTAR transatlantic race, the Le Route du Rhum, and the Woodvale challenge. And she’s about to embark on her greatest challenge yet, rowing solo and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean. This is her story.

Three months before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, I will depart from Choshi, Japan, on a mission to row 5,500 miles alone and unsupported, across the Pacific Ocean to the west coast of the USA. Nineteen attempts have been made to row this distance. Two were successful. Both men, both towed to land the last 20 and 50 miles respectively. One person was lost at sea.

If I succeed, I will be the first woman ever to row the North Pacific unsupported and the first person to row land-to-land [ed note: Sarah Outen rowed the North Pacific solo from Japan to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, but with a support team, back in 2013].

Read the rest of Lia’s essay at Adventure Journal »

Please tread lightly, pack out your trash, and treat every person and location with respect.

Please do not bury waste or wipes – even those that are biodegradable. Always pack out bags, sanitary wipes, and feminine hygiene products to minimize impact on the environment and the spread of disease.

If you find any errors, have any tips, or see anything that might need improving, please let me know.

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