ORS



Strong-arm tactics work for Graham
January 28.01.2004		BY HELEN BEIGHTON


OCEAN ROWER REACHES BARBADOS

*ROWER: Graham Walters, who has rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean, in his boat*		Graham Walters, 56, has rowed solo across the 2,900 mile-wide Atlantic Ocean, dodging freighters, freak waves and leaping tuna. He left Tenerife on October 26, 2003, and landed in the Caribbean island yesterday.	A man who is rowing his way across two oceans has reached the halfway-point of sunny Barbados.

		After resting and making repairs to his eight-metre-long boat,he will embark on the next step which will involve rowing solo across the 9,000 mile Pacific Ocean. Mr Walters, who has already crossed the Atlantic twice with a rowing partner, is raising money for Leicestershire hospice Loros with his latest trip. Margaret, his wife of 27 years, said: "He is now on solid ground. "I don't know exactly when he landed, but he is extremely happy."He had a leak right from the very beginning of the trip, and has been pumping out three gallons of water everyday."It was dreadful weather while he was trying to land, and the wind was against him. The north of Barbados is lined with coral, apparently, but he must have managed to negotiate that. I am very relieved."
The Leicester Mercury will be speaking to Mr Walters via satellite phone later this week, but his progress can be followed on his website, printed below, which is maintained by a friend.A travel log for December 26 reads: "Graham celebrated Christmas by decorating his cabin with sea blue paper and partaking of his first alcohol in three months. "As he phoned me he was surrounded by a dense shoal of 3ft tuna." November saw a pod of 45ft minke whales swimming alongside Mr Walters' boat, which is called the George Geary after the 1930s Leicestershire cricketer, who was Mr Walters' grandfather.
"He is now on solid ground. I don't know exactly when he landed, but he is extremely happy." Margaret Walters	OCEAN-GOING: Mr Walters' eight-metre-long boat
Before embarking on the rowing marathon Mr Walters said: "I am doing this because it is a challenge." His wife Margaret said: "Ordinary people would think rowing non-stop across the Atlantic and Pacific is mad. "However, with people of a certain ilk, there's no stopping them. With the extreme sport fraternity, they all understand each other, but I just want him back!" The second leg of past the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts, and through the Panama Canal. He should arrive at his destination, New Zealand, in December 2004. www.forest42.freeserve.co.uk