Atlantic Crossing
Is Their Oar Deal
Rowers pull hard in bid to set record

By CELESTE KATZ
Daily News Staff Writer

t 30, Colleen Cronin of Bayside already has run five New York Marathons, four biathlons and the Ireland Marathon. She's also a long-distance cyclist.

"I've always been one to love challenges," says Cronin.

Now, she faces one of the greatest challenges of her life: An attempt to row across the merciless Atlantic Ocean — from Canada to the verdant shores of Ireland.

Along with 38-year-old Roy Finlay of Scotland, Cronin is attempting to break the 1987 record of a 55-day crossing set by Tom McClean of Great Britain.

Speaking from the Celtic Crossing, the 26-foot vessel she and Finlay are rowing across the great ocean, Cronin said the thought of making it through the arduous trip brings tears to her eyes, much as the thought of the joy of crossing a finish line spurred her on during marathon training.

"This is a personal goal, a personal accomplishment that I am looking for. Something like this, I never imagined myself doing," says Cronin, who worked most recently as a group auditor for Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

The trip, sponsored by the Great Spirits Co., was launched July 28 from the narrows of St. John's Harbor in Newfoundland. The rowers hope to land at Sligo Bay on Ireland's northwest coast next month.

"Before this, I was pretty ignorant about the sea. I didn't know much. I certainly learned a lot over the past few months," says Cronin. "It's amazing how the sea changes every single day. Sometimes, you feel like you're in a different ocean."

Cronin, who turned 30 during the trip, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from St. John's University. She also has worked as a religion teacher, volunteered at the Queens Children's Psychiatric Center and interned as a social worker.

Her partner and skipper, Finlay, a former Royal Navy diver, began rowing at the age of 5. Since, he has served on military vessels and skippered regatta-winning yachts.

But Finlay's previous, ill-fated stab at a record-breaking row also earned him the moniker "Captain Calamity," according to the Sunday Times of London.

The British paper noted in a July 30 report on the Celtic Crossing trip that "Finlay's last attempt to break a world rowing record backfired when his crew of 16 revolted, claiming that they had to do all of the work. They were also concerned about their safety on the 48-foot vessel, Atlantic Endeavour."

As they row and rest, trading off in endless two- or four-hour shifts, Cronin and Finlay move through a world devoid of other people.

"There's no land, there's hardly ever any other ships, so it's just us and the water," she says.

But by no means has their journey been devoid of other signs of life.

"A day has not gone by yet that we've not seen a dolphin," says Cronin. "When you see a whale, you actually hear it first. [One time], we just heard this big noise and the two of us turned around ... this thing was no more than 12 feet behind us. It's absolutely incredible."

The mammals are one thing, perhaps. Their fishier friends are an entirely different story.

"When I first saw the two sharks they were literally right next to the boat, where I could have put my hand out and touched them," she says.

The staples of life are there aboard the Celtic Crossing, albeit in a slightly different form than the norm.

"The food's actually pretty decent," Cronin reports. Energy bars or cereal start the day. To ward off the dehydration that can come from exercise as strenuous as rowing 70 miles a day, there's fresh water to drink, some extracted from icebergs.

At suppertime, "It's freeze-dried dinners — beef Stroganoff, pasta primavera, chicken and rice ... you're getting your whole balance of your diet in there," she says.

The semi-enclosed Celtic Crossing has a single 6-foot sleeping berth. And the bathroom? A bucket.

Naturally, there are plenty of things to be missed during the days at sea, says Cronin. Among them: Long, hot showers, New York delis, a great, gooey slice of pizza.

When she reaches the other side, she says, that long, hot shower will be the first order of business. Then, maybe she'll down a pint.

Between then and now, there are many obstacles to be skirted — blasting winds, towering waves, fatigue and strain among them.

"There are some days that it's so enjoyable — and then there's days when the sea is so rough and you're rowing and you're rowing and the rain comes down," Cronin says.

"[But] it's worth it, it really is."

Original Publication Date: 8/15/00