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Andy on row to nowhere |
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February 08 2003 |
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By NEIL SYSON |
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BRITISH adventurer Andrew Halsey rowed into
the record books yesterday after covering 2,300 miles of ocean in 72
days — and getting NOWHERE. |
Lone oarsman Andrew, 45,
set off for Australia from Peru in November, aiming to cross the
Pacific in 297 days.
But winds and currents sent him in a huge arc off South America
after he went only 400 miles in the right direction.
Last night the hapless hero was STILL 8,108 miles from Brisbane —
the distance he faced when he left Callao.
He has run out of cigarettes — and his mates in Camden, North
London, keep taunting him by phoning to say they are off to the pub.
But Andrew, who is epileptic, told The Sun last night he was
determined to press on.
He said: “I’m not quitting. I’m less than 90 miles from favourable
currents.
“Anyone who does adventure activities has to take the rough with the
smooth.” |
Oz oar bust ... Andrew
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Route ... Andy's progress so far
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The ex-bricklayer has
described his bleakest moments in extracts from his log sent from
his ?25,000, 27ft boat Brittany Rose — named after his daughter
Brittany, 18.
He wrote on January 11: “It’s absolutely heartbreaking to row 12 to
14 or 15 hours a day and have a couple of hours sleep and lose it
all.”
And on January 23 he said: “Have run out of ciggies and only have
six cigars left so I can be a little grumpy.”
Andrew broke the rowing record for covering the least distance in
the most time at sea. |
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The previous record, by Briton Peter Bird,
was 11 miles in a month in 1993 — also in the Pacific. |
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