UK and World News

UK and World News

Brave Jim's epic Pacific row

A 54-year-old adventurer has become the first man to row unaided across the Pacific Ocean.

Father-of-two Jim Shekhdar, from Northwood, west London, battled with cyclones, shark attacks and dwindling food supplies as he rowed more than 9,000 miles through treacherous seas on his journey from Peru to Australia.

"I've forgotten about the last nine months. I'm just looking forward to getting to the beach," said Mr Shekhdar on arriving in Brisbane.

"They've got the barbie going, they've the beer. Everything's OK now," he told GMTV.

"I've had shark attacks, I've been hit by a fishing boat and I was almost run over by a tanker. That was the worst.

"My family have been wondering what I have been doing," added Mr Shekhdar, who received a message of congratulations from Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The former England international water polo player left Ilo in Peru on June 29 to embark on the Pacific Ocean Challenge 2000 in his tiny boat, Le Shark.

The 6ft 2in civil engineer and management consultant said he took up the challenge because he knew the corporate lifestyle did not suit him and he wanted a new focus.

A few days before his departure he told Kenneth Crutchlow of the Ocean Rowing Society: "As far as I was concerned, the Pacific had never been rowed solo continent to continent and I wanted to be the first to do that."

Mr Shekhdar, who cancelled an NHS hip replacement operation weeks before he left Britain, rowed about 10 miles each day.