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Nov. 13 — A Norwegian
grandfather is set to become the first person to row from continental
Europe to the Americas.
Stein Hoff, 57, left Lisbon on Aug. 10 and is due to drift five
kilometers (three miles) off the mouth of Guyana's Demerara river, just
outside the capital Georgetown. Hoff "plans to arrive outside of
Georgetown on Thursday evening and will be ready to row in on Friday
morning," his wife Diana Hoff told AFP by email.
The Britain-based Ocean Rowing Society says on its website that once
Hoff completes the 6,850 kilometer (3,700 miles) journey to this former
British colony in South America, he will become the first person to row
from continental Europe to the Americas.
A doctor by profession, Hoff, a father of three and grandfather of one,
says he rows 12 to 15 hours a day in his vessel. He keeps in touch with
the world via a satellite phone and a laptop computer.
The rower's wife and mother, along with journalists and well-wishers,
are to sail to the mouth of the River on a Guyana Coast Guard vessel
Friday to meet Hoff.
"We take great pride in Norwegians making these achievements and I feel
particularly proud because he has chosen to come to Guyana," said
economist Magnus Saxagaard, a Norwegian working in Guyana and in
constant contact with the Hoffs.
A reception is scheduled in Hoff's honor at a Georgetown hotel on
Friday.
Before flying on Nov. 24 to the Caribbean island of Barbados, where he
once worked, Hoff will make arrangements to return his seven-meter (23
feet) rowboat, the Star Atlantic, to Norway. |
