DISPATCHES and PRESS REGARDING ANDREW'S RE-SUPPLY

Apr 16,  2000. London.
The Kosiam will arrive Honolulu April 18th early afternoon. Andrew and his rowboat will off loaded on arrival and will be driven a few miles to the Barber's Point Coast Guard Station where a press conference will be held.
After the press conference Andrew will be examined by a Doctor to determine when he will fit enough to travel to London.

Kenneth F. Crutchlow
Executive Director
Ocean Rowing Society

Honolulu
April 08 2000
We were unable to be on the Fierce Packer due to paperwork problems but I was on the Hercules C130 that the coastguard scrambled  after Andrew set off both his Emergency Argos Beacon and his EPIRB.
We flew a total of 2600miles in 11 hours , the same distance Andrew had rowed from San Diego that has taken him 266 days .
The closest ship to Andrew was the Dae Hae a Korean fishing ship and  Mark Harrison our coastguard pilot was able to reach the Dae Hae on the radio but all we could hear was "no English No English"
It was not until the ship's Korean agent in Honolulu Mr. James J. Suh of the Daehan Shipping Agency. Inc. was contacted by the coastguard that communication was established with the Dae Hae.
As soon as Mr Suh explained that Andrew was laying in the bottom of the Brittany Rose with no strength to move, the Captain ordererd his nets be cut away and he immediately went to Andrew's aid.
After our arrival back JRCC (Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre) in Honolulu we were kept informed by Lt.Patrick Baker about Andrew's medical condition. The doctor from Tripler Army Hospital(the same hospital where Peter Bird was treated after his shipwreck on Maui in 1982) determined that Andrew did not need to be evacuated immediately but could rest until Sunday when the tanker "Kosiam" will (weather permitting) pick up Andrew and his boat.
The efforts of the United States Coastguard were exemplary. In my many years of giving them information about ocean rowers they have always been  highly professional and understanding.

HM Coastguard in Falmouth were the first to receive the EPIRB signal and they relayed the information to Honolulu Coast Guard  immediately. The emergency Argos beacon prompted a phone call from the ops room of Argos to our HQ in London and this message reached me in Honolulo within 15mins of Andrew setting off the beacons -the system worked perfectly!
It appears that Andrew's daughter Brittany and her mother have been located in Florida. Hopefully he will get his wish and be reunited with her.
Andrew is due to arrive in Honolulu on April 18th

April, 02, Guerneville, California: After arriving in San Francisco on United Airlines from London last Thursday, I started to gather in one place the supplies for five more months. Including 789 pounds of Mountain House freeze dried food, a Magellan global satellite communicator, three Argos beacons, a bottle of Scotch donated by American Director Tom Lynch, a penny whistle from Steve and Sandy Hansen, and Le Shark Casual Wear sent more clothing for Andrew. 
     I will fly to Honolulu Monday, April 3rd on United Airlines, and will meet with the owner of the freighter Fierce Packer, Paul Shultz. We will leave Tuesday bound for Andrew... I will also be carrying medication for Andrew for his epilepsy, and a few cartons of his favorite cigarettes Marlboro. The cost of the re-supply effort has exceeded our original estimate of 15,000 pounds and is approaching 25,000. We appreciate all donations thus far...
     We would like to thank all our friends who attended the Saturday BBQ at American Director Tom Lynch's house in Guerneville and helped move, sort, unpack and re-pack over 200 boxes of freeze dried food. Special thanks to Lynn and Mark Crescione of Creekside Inn in Guerneville for their generous donation and food for the crew. Also Diana and Stein Hoff of Norway for their recent donation.
 click here for larger image of the crew

The following appeared in the Editorial page of Honolulu Advertiser on 05.
04. 1999

James Loy

Coast Guard not about money

Society cannot associate a humanitarian obligation of saving lives with the cost of  fulfilling it

When Richard Branson ditched his not-air balloon off the coast of Hawaii last winter, media coverage focused on the money the Coast Guard spent to pluck the balloonists from the ocean, Branson's great wealth and the Coast Guard's policy of not seeking reimbursement from the people it rescues.

Why did the Coast Guard spend so much money to rescue a millionaire thrill-seeker without asking to be paid back?

About the same time, the Coast Guard rescued - as we do every winter - a number of ice fishermen who found themselves stranded on drifting ice floes. The same questions arose. Shouldn't people who deliberately put themselves at risk reimburse the Coast Guard for the cost of their rescues?
Shouldn't people who can afford rescues be asked to pay for them?

I oppose seeking reimbursement for any search-and-rescue case. Two bad things would happen:

Financial considerations would keep people from reporting their conditions and seeking help in early stages of distress. In the business world, time is money. In the search-and-rescue business, time is life. Just as the fire department wants you to call 911 as soon as you smell in you house, the Coast Guard wants to hear from you as soon as you begin to get concerned about your ability to handle the conditions on the water.

If the specter of financial reimbursement hung over the decision to report maritime distress, we could get fewer calls, we get calls during later stages of emergencies, and more people would die at sea. This factor alone
outweighs any consideration of how much money we might recoup.

There is another compelling factor. If we charged for rescues, the Coast Guard would forever battle the possibility of having financial considerations affect our search-planning decisions. We would be endlessly
second-guessed. Why did we send that helicopter after the guy who could pay us back but send only a small boat after the deckhand on the fishing boat?
Are we absolutely sure that reimbursement wasn't a factor?

Similarly, it would be impossible to construct an objective test for deciding when people are so wealthy that they ought bear the cost their rescues.

You'd be surprised what a properly motivated boater really can afford. Presented with the choice of paying for his rescue or drowning, a man treading water in the middle of the ocean would gladly mortgage his house
if that's what it takes to be hoisted into the helicopter hovering overhead. However it is manifestly immortal to associate our humanitarian obligation with the cost of fulfilling it.

The Coast Guard values the life of the most destitute immigrant just the same as that of the wealthiest adventure seeker. We would devote the same resources to rescue either one, and we have no interest in distinguishing between them. We assign cutters and aircraft to cases based on the nature and location of he distress, not on the status of the distressed.

I do not welcome legislative or policy initiatives that might distract my operational commanders from the business of saving lives.

The Coast Guard is recognized as a good steward of public funds. That's why we will continue its work to prevent distress situations through public education, requirements for carrying safety equipment and other measures.
That's why we will continue to reduce the taxpayer's burden by referring non-emergency cases to commercial towing services when it is appropriate to do so.

However, the cost of a few high-profile cases pales before the moral and humanitarian effects of changing the way we respond to the "routine" cases we handle every year with the attendant saving of 4,000 lives. As long as I'm commandant, you won't hear any of my Coast Guard radio operators say, "Roger, sir. I understand you're taking on water and preparing to abandon ship. Can you tell me your position and give me the number of a major credit card?'

Adm. James Loy is commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

London 26th March 2000
I have found out first hand the wonders of the Internet. I went to yahoo, typed in Kiritimati, and up came some "links". One of them was for PR Fly fishing ,Inc. (http://www.prflyfishing.com/Christmas_Island_Outfitters.htm)
in Virginia . I sent an e-mail message and asked "does anyone know anything about Kiritimati?" I went on to tell about Andrew. Within an hour Melinda Somers was on the phone from Virginia to me in London, offering to help any way she could .In this situation what is needed and is most helpful for me is to have as accurate and complete information as possible.
Melinda immediately grasped the urgency of the re supply effort and within one day she came up with flight reservations for me on the weekly Air Kiribati flight from Honolulu. She told me, she had spoken to Sue Fukuda, Reservations Manager of Air Kiribati in Honolulu ,who knows everything about the comings and goings to Kiritimati (AKA Christmas Island). Melinda said "Sue in knows of a freighter that is loading in Honolulu and will head to Kiritimati on March 28th. She sent the mobile phone number of one of the owners, Paul Schultz ,who is on board and suggested I called him.
I first faxed Paul Andrew's progression chart, then I phoned him and we agreed, that Andrew is heading for Kiritimati .The big question was, could Paul help us. The answer came back "if you can
load 10.000 gallons of fuel on March 26th ,we will re supply him" Paul explained, that normally he would be glad to help a man at sea in Andrew's predicament at no charge, but his last charters did not pay him, hence he needs fuel paid for however many days it will take to reach Andrew.
So, we had a ship. Now, how to pay for 10.000 gallons of fuel at 93cents a gallon? It was Saturday, no Banks open to transfer money (come to think of it, no money in the Bank to transfer ). So, what to do?
My thoughts went back to a time in the mid 80's. Peter Bird and I were in New York looking for sponsorship for his Pacific row. We did not have enough cash between us to go to Macdonald's for dinner, but I did have an American Express Card, this meant: going to a restaurant, which would take my card.
I remember, it was one more of the many pleasant evenings we had spent together in a good restaurant.
It worked in the 80's, so why not now? I have sent Paul my Gold American Express card number and on Monday the 27th he will move the "Fierce Packer" (a 185foot long freighter ) to the fuel dock and give them my credit card details. Will they approve the card? I hope, yes... Then I will fly to Honolulu on United Airlines with all the re supplies and medication, meet the good ship "Fierce Packer" in Kiritimati on April 04th ; then it's next stop - Andrew

On April 09th Andrew will be 43years old. If you want to send him a message, go to "Andrew's Guest book"
For his birthday Andrew's mother is sending him a bottle of Scotch and a carton of Marlboro cigarettes.
 Donations towards the re supply effort may be sent to
Ocean Rowing Society
211 Royal College Street London NW1 0SG.

Kenneth

PS This e-mail just in from Luc Callebaut on board trimaran Sloepmouche in Nuka Hiva (http//www. sites.netscape.net/sloepmouche/homepage)
   ..".a friend of mine told me that one of his aviator friends should fly next week (and for a week?) from Christmas to Palmyra for aerial photography. Perhaps you could arrange a drop?"
We have ruled out air drop because Andrew cannot manoeuvre his craft. Imagine the frustration of seeing the supplies dropped and not being able to reach them. But if a message can be delivered (via V.H.F. radio) from a pilot telling Andrew we are on the way that would mean a lot to Andrew. -

The last words Andrew spoke to anyone was January 04th , when he told the Captain of Montauk Maiden "I will see you in Australia"

AM-CA--Alone at Sea, Bjt,750<

>^British rower, seeking publicity to find daughter, endures ninth month

>at

>sea<

>^AP Photo CADIU101, AP Graphic<

>^mrfotvsm1<

>^By MICHELLE RAY ORTIZ=

>^Associated Press Writer=

>¶   SAN DIEGO (AP) _ Alone at sea, Andrew Halsey is seeking the

>recognition he hopes will reunite him with his daughter.

>¶   The 42-year-old British man left San Diego in a 27-foot rowboat in

>July, figuring he could make the 7,500-mile trip to Sydney, Australia,

>in eight months. Now in his ninth month on the Pacific, he has traveled

>6,000 miles but is still 5,000 miles from his destination.

>¶   It is a quixotic quest to some, perhaps even pointless because

>Halsey certainly would not be the first to do it. What drives him is the

>memory of a daughter he hasn't seen in seven years.

>¶   "He's hoping that with some of the press, that she may find him

>because he cannot find her," said Joanna Fox, a San Diego graphic artist

>who has assisted Halsey's effort.

>¶   In tribute to his daughter, Halsey christened his craft the Brittany

>Rose.

>¶   He last saw Brittany when she was a young girl, living with her

>mother in Iowa. In the years since, he has been unable to find her or

>his ex-wife, Kim.

>¶   It is Halsey's hope that his daughter, now 15, will hear about his

>effort and contact him _ not an easy task.

>¶   Halsey is not even half way to his goal. Supporters are organizing a

>resupply mission to enable him to continue his journey.

>¶   Halsey missed favorable weather patterns in the early going. Ocean

>currents in August swept him back and forth off the Mexican coast for

>five months. He has logged in more than than 6,000 miles as a result.

>¶   He finally broke free in January and has averaged about 30 miles a

>day in recent weeks. But Sydney remains 5,000 miles away.

>¶   Halsey's food will run out in mid-April, along with the battery

>power for his satellite locator unit.

>¶   Supporters hope to raise $25,000 to resupply him.

>¶   A former bricklayer fond of cigarettes and liquor, Halsey is prone

>to severe epileptic seizures. Part of his mission is to prove that

>people with epilepsy can do whatever they want, said Kenneth Crutchlow,

>director of the Ocean Rowing Society based in London.

>¶   "And he's certainly doing that," he said.

>¶   Three times Halsey set off distress signals causing the U.S. Coast

>Guard to divert merchant ships several hours off route to check on him.

>Although the ships normally would be obligated to pick up Halsey, he

>managed to send them away by assuring them the signals were set off

>accidentally.

>¶   One ship left him a carton of cigarettes. Another, a month's worth

>of food.

>¶   "The U.S. Coast Guard has shown incredible patience with Andrew,"

>Crutchlow said.

>¶   Since the last ship contact in early January, there has been no

>direct communication with Halsey. A hand-held e-mail unit he carried

>stopped working in October.

>¶   "Normally a rower would have given up and tried it again next year,"

>Crutchlow said. "He seems to feel he does not have the luxury of trying

>again."

>¶   Crutchlow has seen how determination can drive people. He was the

>manager for Briton Peter Bird, who rowed for 304 days from Russia to San

>Francisco in 1994. He was lost at sea during a Pacific crossing in 1996.

>¶   Halsey is on pace to break Bird's time alone at sea on May 10.

>¶   He already has accomplished one major rowing feat _ crossing the

>Atlantic in 1997.

>¶   During his 116-day Atlantic journey, he gazed at a picture of his

>laughing daughter, according to his journal from the trip.

>¶   "I could never help laughing back at her," he wrote. "It always

>cheered me up."

>¶   This time, Halsey has said he is willing to die crossing the

>Pacific. Crutchlow and others believe he would do so.

>¶   "We are getting concerned," said Dory Thompson, whose San Diego

>company supplied the hand-powered devices Halsey uses to make ocean

>water drinkable. "It's obvious that he's not going to give up."

>¶   After losing contact on Jan. 4, Crutchlow didn't know if Halsey was

>alive until March 18, when two of the three tracking systems aboard the

>Brittany Rose were set off. Crutchlow said he believes the signals are a

>call for resupply.

>¶   Crutchlow hopes to deliver five months' worth of supplies by April

>9. It will be Halsey's 43rd birthday.

>¶   He plans to sail a catamaran from Tahiti for a rendezvous with

>Halsey about 800 miles from the Marquesas Islands.

>¶   "Whatever it is that's going on out there, we haven't seen this

>before, and for that reason we are going to go through the effort and

>the expense of the resupply," he said. "He's either going to make it or

>die."

>¶   ___<

London March 19th 2000


Andrew Halsey left San Diego California 248 days ago on July 15th 1999,
expecting to row to Sydney in approximately 8 months.(which would have been
about now). Instead he is still 5000 miles from Sydney.
Halsey was plagued with unfavourable weather conditions from mid August
until January 10th
It means that in order to proceed towards Sydney 2500 miles (from San
Diego) he has in fact covered more than 6000 miles.
When he left Halsey had enough supplies for 8 months plus 1 month of
supplies given to him in January by a passing ship.
Halsey said before his departure "I will never give up".
Accepting this as fact the Ocean Rowing Society has began an effort to
re-supply Halsey. from the closest land which is the Island of Nuka Hiva in
French Polynesia.
Kenneth F. Crutchlow Executive Director of Ocean Rowing Society said "We
have donations enough to re supply Andrew Halsey with only about half of
what he needs. But I will proceed with all haste to get him what I can
before he runs out of supplies, which has to be quite soon"
When Halsey left San Diego the only communication system he had was a hand
held email unit that has not worked since last October.
The last communication of any kind from Halsey was on January 04th when he
was seen by a ship and he sent the message "see you in Australia"
He has three Argos tracking beacons to be used each in turn. Yesterday
Halsey started transmitting on two of them. This is interpreted to be a
signal requesting a re supply. and at the very least confirms he is on
board and alive. 


Kenneth F. Crutchlow
Executive Director

Ocean Rowing Society
211 Royal College Street
London NW1 0SG
United Kingdom

Tel: (+44) 171 485 8807
Fax: (+44) 171 284 2849

Email: OceanRowing@compuserve.com

http://www.oceanrowing.com

(Trans-world rower Mick Bird  http://www.goals.com/transrow/index.htm  has 
just mailed a donation toward the re-supply. Thanks Mick!!)

Tom

message recieved and understood.

I am in touch with Argos now.

There is NO emergency signil here.

Number 8 is for Adventure unit message. He has no Adventure unit.

Question, how long have you been recieving 2 positions ?

I will keep you updated

Kenneth

At 21:46 18/03/00 PST, you wrote:

>

>Ken I am now receiving TWO seperate Argos positions from TWO seperate units.

>Is the second unit Andrew's adventure unit and is the coded message asking

>for assistance. Pleas e-mail me back as soon as you find out. Here is what

>I've started receiving:

>

>Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 05:11:14 +0000 (UTC)

>From: <ads@athena.cls.fr>

>To: tlynch@sonic.net

 14927   3.291N 140.975W   2            079/0430Z-079/0426

>  ( 8) 0.10140E+4           08           00   0.29000E+2

>               00           46           00

>

>14931   3.291N 140.970W   2            079/0432Z-079/0426

>  ( 9) 0.10155E+4           08           00   0.27000E+2

>               00           32           00

>

>contact me as soon as you find out...

>Tom

This from Diane Bell in San Diego.

Union Tribune.

March 11, 2000

 

Nearly eight months ago, a Brit named Andrew Halsey set out from San Diego

in his 25-foot rowboat headed for Australia. Since then, battered by

storms, pushed thousands of miles off-course by strong currents, he has

made so little progress that friends want to bring him home. Halsey has

lost all communication except for a tracking device. By mid-April his

supply of food, water and his emergency locater battery should be spent.

Three times, passing ships have offered to take him in. Three times he has

refused. He's so determined that friends are worried he'll make good on his

pledge: "I'd rather die than quit."

So, Kenneth Crutchlow, head of the British Ocean Rowing Society, flew to

S.D. this week to appeal for help in a $25,000 effort to get Halsey food,

supplies and medicine for his epilepsy. Halsey is now about 960 miles from

the Marquesas Islands.

So why does he continue rowing against the odds? One reason lies in the

name of his boat: Brittany Rose. That's the name of his daughter, now 15,

whom Halsey hasn't seen for years. Because of a bitter divorce, he doesn't

even know her whereabouts. Halsey was hopeful that publicity from his trip

might lead him to her. One hopes it won't be too late.