HALIFAX (CP) - A German adventurer who was hurled
into the ocean when his rowboat capsized during a transatlantic
crossing was plucked Thursday from stormy seas 600 kilometres east of
St. John's, Nfld.
Andreas Rommel - grand nephew of the Desert Fox, Second World
War Gen. Erwin Rommel - was reported safe aboard the bulk carrier
Federal Elbe.
He left the United States from Chatham, Cape Cod, last week in an
attempt to row solo to England. But he ran into rough seas that badly
damaged his boat.
Rommel had been keeping a journal of his voyage, posted via satellite
on the Ocean Rowing Society website.
"It felt like something was smashing the boat with a sledgehammer," he
wrote on Aug. 22 after battling three hurricanes rushing north from
the Gulf of Mexico.
"It was pitch black and I was inside. All of a sudden, my boat
capsized . . . I felt like a hamster in a cage-wheel. I was totally in
shock. This was it, I thought. Then the boat self-righted again."
Crewmen from the Federal Elbe, which was nearby when Rommel's craft
capsized, were able to pull him from the water as he bobbed around in
five-metre seas.
"I was in the middle of a heavy storm and I was getting battered,"
Rommel wrote in his final journal entry. "My survival suit and my
beacon were ready. I felt my boat wasn't going to take it this time. "
Officials at the Rescue Co-ordinator Centre in Halifax said Rommel was
well despite his ordeal, for which he was well-prepared.
A Canadian Forces Aurora patrol aircraft remained overhead during the
rescue operation while a Cormorant helicopter was dispatched to pick
him up.
The chopper returned to Gander, Nfld., on Thursday evening while
Rommel remained aboard the Federal Elbe. The ship was expected to
arrive in the port of Becancour, Que., on Monday evening.
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