MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Antarctic Rower Begins Epic Voyage
Colin Yeates, who hopes to be the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the Antarctic in a rowing boat, left the Falkland Islands yesterday to begin his epic journey.
Mr Yeates, formerly of the British Royal Navy, estimates that his trip, which begins and ends in the Falklands, will take him some ten and a half months to complete.
He will be traveling in a specially designed craft that was designed and built by British firm, Rossiter Yachts Ltd. Mr Yeates told his official website, www.oceanrowing.com, that the company faced a difficult task: "Their objective was to design and build a boat that was strong enough to withstand the rigours of the Southern Ocean, big enough to carry in excess of 1600 kg of supplies and equipment and bold enough to row single- handed."
Although his journey will eventually take in some 21,630km, (11,300 miles) or "the equivalent of traveling the Atlantic Ocean more than three times," Mr Yeates had, as of Tuesday afternoon covered only 95 kilometres and was thought to be still in the vicinity of the north coast of East Falkland.
Speaking to Corina Bishop of the Falkland Islands Radio Service (FIRS) moments before he left Port Stanley, Mr Yeates said he was, "a little bit apprehensive," but added, "it has been a long time in the planning so I'm quite keen just to get on with it, get out there and see how we get on."
Mr Yeates also stressed to FIRS how helpful Falkland Islanders had been in his preparations, "the people here, despite the fact that they realize this is a very very risky venture, have been immensely kind in so many different ways," he said, adding, "everybody's been absolutely great."
You can keep up to date with Colin's progress on the website www.oceanrowing.com
Photo: Colin Yeates in his craft Charlie Rossiter being towed off the dock in Stanley before beginning his voyage.
Rob Burnett Stanley
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