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Theodore Rezvoy, 36 from the
Ukraine plans to row solo across the Indian Ocean from Carnarvon to
Diego – Suarez, Madagascar, a distance 3716 nautical miles (6882 kms).
Theodore and his support crew arrived in Carnarvon on Friday of last
week and he intends to start his epic voyage on Tuesday 2nd August.
They are based at the Carnarvon Yacht Club from where the crossing
will start. The journey is controlled and monitored by the Ocean
Rowing Society in the UK.
The last attempt by the Sinelink brothers, Sergey and Alexander,
failed when their water maker broke down. They were rescued on
May16th by the container ship “Euro Viking”.
Only two solo rowers have successfully attempted this route, Swedish
rower Anders Svedlund in 1971 and Briton Simon Chalk in 2003. Three
attempts by double crews have failed.
Theodore is an experienced ocean rower with one transatlantic solo
crossing to his credit. In December 2001 he rowed from the Canary
Islands to Barbados in the West Indies. In 2003 he undertook an
attempt to row from New York to Europe but due to an unexpected
encounter with an US Navy missile-carrier which damaged his boat he
had to abandon the attempt.
Theodore was asked why he wanted to row across oceans and what it
was like to be alone for such a period of time.
“Lots of reasons why; I want my son to be proud of me also my
father, grandfather and family and the people of Ukraine.
I love the adventure and it is a great time to think about my life
which is very important.
On the ocean there are no cars, no television, no bills and no
police.
“My father, Pavel is the oldest ocean rower in the world. He crossed
the Atlantic in 2004 at the age of 65.
Most rowers are British, French and a small percent of Russians.
“For the first two weeks everything is dead. Then after that you see
the sunrises and sunsets. You see the fish life, dolphins swimming
around you and you think about life.”
Asked if he thought that an adventure of this magnitude was a little
mad, Theodore replied,
“Yes! Normal people would not go there, therefore I must be a little
crazy.”
Preparations for the voyage are well underway. Provisions have been
loaded, Customs advised and Safety equipment tested. Theodore’s
boat, the “Ukraine”, is equipped with ARGOS satellite tracking
system, EPIRB, Iridium satellite phone and VHF radios. Theodore is
married and has a son, Dimitri, aged eight and lives in Odessa,
Ukraine.
The progress of the voyage can be followed on the Ocean Rowing web
site, www.oceanrowing.com
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