www.oceanrowing.com
Feb. 15, 2001--
A Utah man man has become
the oldest person ever to row
across an ocean
singlehandedly.
That's the
official word today from the Ocean Rowing Society.
News Specialist John Hollenhorst has the latest on the
amazing journey of Richard Jones.
He's still rowing, after 128 days at sea. And he still
has many challenges to get to his destination, Miami,
Florida.
But he's now in the Carribean. Which means
he may be the first person in history to row any ocean
without any kind of outside help.
When Richard Jones began planning and training on
Bear Lake for his ocean row, he vowed to make his
Atlantic crossing in his tiny vessel without assistance.
He even stuck to that plan last weekend when he
encountered one of the world's biggest ships, the
Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy. Jones suddenly
found himself in the middle of a 12 ship convoy, with the
Kennedy itself bearing down on him. Jones hailed the big ships by radio, according to Kenneth Crutchlow of the
Ocean Rowing Society.
"AND EVENTUALLY THEY GOT A SIGHTING
ON HIM, AND THEY CHANGED COURSE."
The US Navy fleet offered Jones assistance. But he
refused even a soda or a candy bar.
Not long after,
after more than three months of rowing across the
Atlantic, he navigated the Caicos Passage, the
boundary of the Atlantic.
Crutchlow says he is
probably the first person to row any ocean without
any form of resupply or assistance.
"WE HAVE GRANTED HIM, IF YOU WILL,
A SUCCESS AT ROWING THE ATLANTIC.
WHEN HE WENT THROUGH THE CAICOS
PASSAGE, FOR US, HE SUCCESSFULLY
ROWED THE ATLANTIC."
The toughest part of his journey may still be ahead of
him. And he'll need some luck.
Jones has to thread his
way through what amounts to a 12 mile wide channel.
If winds and waves blow him too far north, he could
crash into an island, too far south and he winds up in
waters claimed by Fidel Castro.
And then there's the
Gulf Stream, a giant river of water that could push him
off course. In his latest log, posted on his Internet site, Jones sayse's "rowing his guts out" with 450 miles
to go.
The last and only successful Ocean row was in 1969.
There have been 107 attempts in all, about half ended in a rescue at sea.
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