The last week has seen two intrepid adventurers forced to abandon their separate bids to cross the Pacific solo. On Wednesday it was announced that Anne Quemere, veteran of two oar-powered Atlantic crossings, had been forced to abandon her kite-boat half-way across the Pacific. And today came the news that Alex Bellini has been rescued just 65 miles from the coast of Australia, 10 months after setting out from Peru.

Alex is no stranger to adversity. In 2004 his first attempt to cross the Atlantic ended when his boat was shipwrecked on a rocky island off the coast of Spain. On his second attempt he ran out of food after 175 days at sea, and had to be resupplied.

And of course I've suffered my own setbacks - my Pacific attempt last year ended in disappointment when I capsized 3 times in 24 hours and an over-concerned wellwisher called out the US Coast Guard. (I had taken out insurance with a private medical rescue company to eliminate the need to call the Coasties, but matters were taken out of my hands once that phone call had been made - without my knowledge or consent. See the video links below for more.)

The purpose of this blog is to try and put some perspective on the risks inherent in ocean rowing.

Yes, the ocean is a challenging and occasionally hostile environment.
Yes, sometimes rescue is necessary.
And yes, ocean adventurers have voluntarily chosen to put themselves into this potentially dangerous situation, unlike fishermen or naval captains or commercial skippers who brave the sea because their livelihood depends on it.

However...

As a percentage, far fewer people die while rowing an ocean than die on Everest. Over 300 people have successfully rowed an ocean, with only seven ocean-rowing fatalities (2%), compared with 1,400 successful summiteers on Everest and 179 fatalities (13%).

And while I take the attitude that if I have got myself into a sticky situation then it should be up to me to get myself out of it, I have been impressed by the camaraderie and concern shown by most seafarers. Whether it is sharing expertise, tools and skills while in port, or offering life-saving assistance in mid-ocean, the code of the sea seems to be that we are all in the same boat (metaphorically speaking).

It is a bit like the "spirit of the Blitz" that prevailed in the East End of London during World War II - a crisis can be a great leveller, when our best hope of survival is to unite forces - regardless of whether our vessel is a 500-foot container ship or a 24-foot rowboat.

And long may that attitude prevail.


Note: Note: Alex's route is rather different from mine. He set out from Lima, Peru, bound non-stop for Sydney, Australia. I am rowing from San Francisco to Cairns, Australia, via long stopovers in Hawaii and the South Pacific. I would love to make landfall in Sydney - it is one of my favourite cities in the whole world - but the winds and currents are very challenging on the approach, and it is also significantly further than Cairns. Ocean rowing is hard enough - I don't feel the need to make it any tougher than necessary!


Videos of the end of the Pacific attempt, 2007:

Trans Pacific Rower Hoisted By Humboldt Bay Coast Guard

What led up to the rescue

Mission: Find the Brocade (slideshow, no sound)