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New
Jersey
Sunday, June 29, 2003
BY CHARLES ZUSMAN
Star-Ledger Staff
The sounds were typical of a boatyard. A whirring electric drill. Then
the buzz of a hand-held power saw. Paul Rezvoy lovingly cut out a
perfect circle in the plywood deck of the boat in preparation for the
fitting of a hatch cover.
His care was not surprising, because this is a very special boat. It
will carry his son, Theodore, "that crazy boy," as he muttered with a
laugh in Slavic-accented English, across the ocean, from New York City
to Brest, France, with the sole propulsion being a pair of oars.
As his father worked last week at the Atlantic Highlands Municipal
Marina, Theodore stood beside his boat, bright orange-yellow. "Ukraine"
appears in big letters across the bow, indicating both the boat's name
and the Rezvoys' native country. The new free enterprise spirit in lands
of the former Soviet Union is evident from the names of the sponsors on
the boat's sides -- banks, a railroad, a radio company.
The younger Rezvoy, 35, lanky, red-haired and fair-skinned, was
matter-of-fact about his upcoming rowing Odyssey. Perhaps, because, as a
matter of fact, he has done this kind of thing before. He first picked
up a pair of oars at the age of 3 in the waters near his native city of
Odessa, on the Black Sea, and in 2001 he rowed east to west for 67 days,
from the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa to Barbados.
He planned to have the boat towed to Manhattan, from where he was
scheduled to cast off sometime this week, depending on the weather and
currents.
"Last time I trained, this time I had no time," Rezvoy said. But the
physical challenge comes second to mental endurance, he said. "Your
brain is more important," he said, with the first two weeks the most
difficult." Every second you think, 'Why am I doing this?' but after two
weeks you can control it." He estimates the 3,300-mile trip will take
some 80 days.
The boat has a small cabin at the rear for sleeping and a small
enclosure up forward for storage. Rezvoy will use a desalinator to
provide drinking water, and will carry a supply of freeze-dried food.
Electric power is courtesy of the sun, via an array of solar electric
cells. His gear also includes a big, floppy hat and plenty of sunscreen.
The 23-foot boat was built in England specifically for this trip. The
hull is a half-inch thick, made of foam sandwiched between layers of
Fiberglas. Other parts of the boat are made of marine-grade plywood. The
boat gains stability from water carried in tanks as ballast.
The oars are standard sculling oars, made of lightweight carbon fiber.
Rezvoy will use a sliding seat, like modern rowing boats use, enabling
the oarsman to use his leg muscles to put more power into each stroke.
Rezvoy is being assisted by members of the Atlantic Highlands Yacht
Club, explained Kemal Goksel, an active rower himself and a marine
electronics engineer who is providing technical support. Goksel noted
that the trip has special significance for the town. In 1896 two
fishermen from Atlantic Highlands, George Harbo and Frank Samuelson,
rowed their boat, "Fox," across the Atlantic from New York in 1896 in 55
days. Rezvoy will trace their route.
But Rezvoy will carry high-tech gadgetry Harbo and Samuelson could not
have dreamed of. A satellite telephone will put him in instantaneous
contact with civilization. Navigation will be by a Global Positioning
System satellite receiver, and an automated system will relay his
position every 90 seconds and his progress will be tracked on his Web
site.
Rezvoy holds a degree from the Institute of Fine Arts in Odessa, and
this background shows on the Web site, www.oceanrowing.com, for which he
is webmaster. From there you can link to his personal Web site.
Rezvoy doesn't fear the sea, but the prospect of being hit by a ship is
a concern, especially as the trip begins and he has to cross shipping
lanes. The boat carries a device that detects radar signals from other
vessels. When it does so, it sends out a signal of its own, showing a
much larger image on the screen of the other vessel than would normally
be seen. It also flashes an alarm aboard warning Rezvoy of a nearby
ship.
Rezvoy said his schedule will be flexible. He expects to wake up about 6
in the morning, prepare breakfast, row, break for lunch, then row until
dinner Then again, to escape the sun at times he may row at night and
rest during the day.
When resting, Rezvoy will just drift and rely on the wind and current to
be in his favor.
Rezvoy said his wife, Lyumilla, had some initial misgivings, but now
takes his ocean wanderings in stride.
Asked why he wants to row across the ocean, in the diffident way of
other adventurers he has no single answer.
"I do it for my country," he said. The blue and yellow flag of Ukraine
will be aboard, doing double duty as an awning to protect
against the sun.
"I have a lot of feeling for the
ocean," he said, noting the bird and marine life he will see.
"I do it for my son," he said of his 6-year-old Dimitry. "He will be
proud of me." |
