Maritime safety officials in New Zealand will try to stop a solo ocean
rower setting out a third time on his mission to row from New Zealand
to South Africa.
Briton Jim Shekhdar and his 7.8 metre rowboat Hornette were rescued
1,200 kilometres east of New Zealand on Tuesday after his second bid
to row the treacherous southern oceans was scuppered by a severe
storm.
It snapped his oars, swept away spare gear and left him bobbing
helplessly in sub-Antarctic seas. A New Zealand fisheries research
ship pulled him to safety.
Shekhdar immediately said he would likely try again, probably in
August 2004.
The 14,400-kilometre "dangerous journey" is "not achievable in that
sort of craft," said Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Helen Mojel
said.
However, as "a foreign person with a foreign vessel," Shekhdar doesn't
need the permission of maritime authorities to set out again, she
said.
Officials will meet Shekhdar as soon as he arrives back in New Zealand
to discuss his plans.
"We'll be talking about the perils of the journey ... the wind
conditions, the weather patterns, the currents, everything," Mojel
said.
"Maybe mission impossible is a bit harsh (as a description), but it's
extraordinarily difficult," she added.
If Shekhdar does proceed with another attempt the authority might, as
a last resort, use a clause in the Maritime Safety Act regarding
vessels being fit for the purpose they were being used for to prevent
him setting off.
Shekhdar said he would likely try a third time to make the seven-to-12
month row.
"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," he added.
