A VETERAN British solo ocean rower who was rescued from Antarctic
waters after a violent storm smashed his oars, said yesterday he is
considering a third attempt to row from New Zealand to South Africa.
Jim Shekhdar’s second effort ended when a storm hit his 26ft rowing
boat Hornette 750 miles east of New Zealand on Monday, breaking one
set of oars and sweeping away his spares.
He sent out a distress signal and was rescued, after being adrift for
30 hours, by the New Zealand fisheries research ship Tangaroa on
Tuesday night.
"I’m still a little emotional," Mr Shekhdar told a radio station from
the ship yesterday. "I really didn’t want to be here. But I’m very
grateful to everybody who worked so hard to get me here."
He praised the Tangaroa’s skipper, Roger Goodeson, for his seamanship
during the rescue. But Mr Shekhdar said he would not rule out a third
attempt at the 9,000-mile row from Bluff, via Cape Horn at the stormy
tip of South America, to Cape Town. "It’s scary out there. I’d hate to
think I can’t achieve it, because it is achievable," he said. "It’s a
hell of a job so I’ve got to think about [another attempt] for a bit.
I’m going to take a couple of days to sort things out."
Mr Shekhdar’s first effort ended after he had covered only 50 miles
when his global positioning navigation system and wind-powered
generator failed. The violent windstorm which ended his second attempt
caught him by surprise, throwing him against the vessel’s hatch and
cutting open his head.
The rowing boat then rolled about 15 times with Mr Shekhdar fighting
to find stability inside it.
Mr Goodeson said the British adventurer was likely to remain on the
ship until 10 December, when it was due to return to New Zealand.
Mr Shekhdar, from Northwood, near London, who expected his journey to
last seven to 12 months, previously said he would be traversing some
of the world’s roughest waters in "probably the best-built cork in the
world".
He has already rowed across the Atlantic and completed a solo row of
the Pacific from Peru to Australia in early 2001.
