Monday 2 June 2014

Atlantic Rowing

People have been rowing all over the Atlantic suddenly.
Here is the amazing Chris Duff arriving off Iceland in his Snarleyow-alike skiff Northern Reach,seven days after setting out from the Faroe Islands to complete his epic row from Scotland.
Chris writes on his Facebook page:
I arrived in Breidalsvik at 5:30 this afternoon. Many of my Icelandic friends had read my last update and had estimated when I would arrive- they were all there on the seawall to welcome me into calm waters and warm hearts... I know some of my updates from onboard Northern Reach were a bit rough to say the least. That is because at times the water was quite rough as well and I had a hard time just reading the tiny keyboard and trying not to be sea sick..Thank you all for your prayers and concerns for my safety. The passage was an unbelievable experience which will take some time for me to process.
What a great achievement.
Another landfall last weekend was the 20ft skiff Aurora, rowed in to Portree from the remote Atlantic island of St Kilda by a group of novice rowers in aid of local charities. The boat was built in the 1890s but was stored in a boat shed in Portree in 1913 and forgotten. She was restored for the row by local boatbuilder Iain MacLean. Another great achievement!
And on Saturday a Langstone Cutters/Coastal Rowing Blakeney crew took the St Ayles skiff Hoi Larntan on the Atlantic - well, they poked the nose out on the ocean at the start of the Ocean to City race in Cork. And they won a trophy for fastest four-oared wooden boat! Congratulations to them!
Back at Langstone I didn't get anywhere near the Atlantic, though I did get quite close to the English Channel with this lot:

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