Downshift

Interesting

Category: Aquatic Adventures (Page 4 of 7)

Latvian Karlis Bardelis is the first person to row from South America to Asia

2020-08-12 /

Rebecca McPhee » ExplorersWeb »

At the end of June, Karlis Bardelis, 34, became the first person to row from South America to Asia. The Latvian left La Punta, Peru in July, 2018 and reached Pontian, Malaysia, one year and 11 months later — 715 days, to be precise.

He stopped at seven islands and contended with sharks, gales and some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. In all, he rowed over 26,000km. The mammoth solo row is just one leg of his plan to circumnavigate the entire world using only human power. His challenge is now on pause due to the travel restrictions currently in place.

» ExplorersWeb spoke to Karlis Bardelis about his record-breaking row and his ongoing circumnavigation.

» Follow Karlis Bardelis and his adventures at his website Bored of Borders

Dream Big. Set a goal. Go after it. ~ Fedor Konyukhov

2020-07-17 /

Fedor Konyukhov, one of the greatest living adventurers, perhaps one of the greatest of all time, became the first person in history to cross the Southern Ocean by rowing boat. 154 days. 11,525km. Alone. In the world’s most dangerous Ocean. At the age of 67 years.


Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

Fedor Konyukhov, a Russian national, is an extraordinary man.

Sailor. Hot Air Balloonist. Trekker (Desert and Polar). Dog-sledder. Rafter. Priest. Artist. Author. Skier. Cyclist. Fedor has set world records in many of those disciplines.

At the age of 67 he rowed further south than any other rowing boat had ever been at 56°40’S – a latitude known by sailors as the Furious Fifties.

Fedor spent 154 days being thrown around in the washing machine of the Southern Ocean, solo rowing some 11,500 from New Zealand to Cape Horn, Ushuaia, Argentina.

Fedor Konyukhov »

On 9 May 2019, Russian citizen Fedor Konyukhov crossed the longitude of the Chilean Diego Ramirez Islands and became the first person in history to complete a solo voyage on a row boat across the Southern Ocean, from New Zealand to the Drake Passage in the “roaring forties” and “furious fifties” latitudes.

 

 

When international flights were cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Juan Manuel Ballestero solo sailed across the Atlantic for 85-days from Portugal to Argentina to be with his 90 year old father

2020-07-02 /

When flights to his native Argentina were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, 47 year-old Juan Manuel Ballestero devised an ambitious plan to be with his parents » to single-handedly sail his small 29 foot Ohlson 29 from Porto Santo, Portugal, 12,000 kilometres across the Atlantic ocean, to Mar del Plata, Argentina.

BBC »

Explorer’s Web »

What do you do when you’re prohibited from international air travel but can’t fathom being away from your aged father? Sail 12,000km across the Atlantic, of course.

Juan Manuel Ballestero lives on the small Portuguese island of Porto Santo. When Argentina cancelled all international flights in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he reasoned that the best alternative to reach his 90-year-old father was by sailing. Ballestero‘s voyage from Port Santo to Mar del Plata took 86 days. He arrived on June 17 to a celebrity’s welcome.

NY Times »

So he said he loaded his 29-foot sailboat with canned tuna, fruit and rice and set sail in mid-March.

“I didn’t want to stay like a coward on an island where there were no cases,” Mr. Ballestero said. “I wanted to do everything possible to return home. The most important thing for me was to be with my family.”

…

Sailing across the Atlantic in a small boat is challenging in the best of circumstances. The added difficulties of doing it during a pandemic became clear three weeks into the trip.

On April 12, the authorities in Cape Verde refused to allow him to dock at the island nation to restock his supply of food and fuel, said Mr. Ballestero.

…

While he didn’t get to celebrate his father’s 90th birthday in May, he did make it home in time for Father’s Day.


Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

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.

Oskar Speck, the man who paddled a kayak from Germany to Australia starting in 1932, and Sandy Robson, the woman who recreated the adventure some 80 years later

2019-12-02 /

Justin Housman, writing in The Adventure Journal »

In a span of seven years, he paddled a series of 15-foot kayaks more than 30,000 miles from the Danube River in Europe to the tropical shores of far northern Australia. Even better, when he first set out, he was “merely” planning to paddle to Cyprus for work, with no intention of traveling by kayak to the other side of the world. But the paddling proved irresistible and Speck did not stop once he reached Cyprus.

[…]

Speck was 25 years old when he set out on his incredible journey. He was an unemployed electrician living in Hamburg. Work was scarce and prospects were dim after the 1929 stock market crash ripped through Germany, so Speck decided to seek work in the copper mines of Cyprus. With no other means to get there, and as a proud member of a kayaking club since his youth, Speck decided to paddle his way to, hopefully, a job.

In May, 1932, Speck shoved off from banks of the Danube in a collapsible and very much not seaworthy 15-foot kayak, and began paddling south. He arrived in the Balkans several weeks later and, lulled to boredom by the languid waters of the Danube, Speck made for the Vardar River, where soon fierce rapids dashed his boat nearly to splinters. While awaiting repairs, winter set in and the Vardar froze over, locking Speck in place for months.

Read the whole article in The Adventure Journal »


Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

In November 2016, Western Australian woman Sandy Robson (aged 48), recreated Speck’s adventure, completed in some 5 years, having visited 20 countries and paddled some 23,000 kilometres.


Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.


Note: Clicking the above image will load and play the video from YouTube.

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 »

« Older posts Newer posts »

Be.

Do interesting things. Be bold. Respect. Adventure. Explore. Question. Listen. Learn. Try. Fail. Try better. Your mileage may vary. You are unique. Be yourself. Appreciate. Be kind. To others, with an equal measure to yourself. Do good. Do what’s right. It’s a one way ticket. Enjoy the ride. You are limited to one.

Note

Downshift.ca is not responsible for the content of other sites.

Made in Canada 🇨🇦 Yeah!

© 2024 Downshift

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑