Emmanuel_Coindre


June 06 2005 at 08:19AM
Strong-armed Frenchman aims to cross Pacific
Tokyo - A Frenchman - who has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean five* times - will this week attempt to become the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean in a rowboat, a solitary journey that will take four months. Emmanuel Coindre**, 32, expects to row three million times as he heads the 9 000km from Choshi outside of Tokyo to San Francisco, where he hopes to arrive at the Golden Gate bridge. Coindre plans to head onto the ocean between June 10 and 15 and spend 16 to 18 hours a day rowing while on the Pacific, his website said. He will make no stops during the trip and will pack all the food he needs for the four-month trip on his rowboat, which is 6.5m long and 1.5m wide. The boat is equipped with the satellite-based Global Positioning System, a machine to desalinate water and a solar battery. The Frenchman has chosen to stay on a route just above 40 degrees latitude so as to avoid typhoons and other major storms.
Editor's Corrections: * - It was four times that Emmanuel completed ocean rows across the Atlantic (prior to this there was one pedalling crossing). ** -There were 6 successful rows across the Pacific (4-solo and 2 - double) and 4 - to Mid-Pacific. See http://www.oceanrowing.com/statistics/ocean_rowing_Pacific_Ocean.htm The one and the only person to row the Pacific this route, from W to E, was Gerard d'Aboville - solo in 1991