TEDDY REZVOY'S romance with
conquering the Atlantic in a rowboat has sadly ended back where it
started: on the East Coast of the United States.
It has also left him with enduring respect for the people who enforce our
homeland security - although he would like his boat back, thank you very
much.
Rezvoy departed from Battery Park to great fanfare on July 2 to row across
the Atlantic. On July 10, some 204 miles east of New York, Teddy saw a
vessel nearby on his radar. Then everything began to unravel.
Teddy, a Ukrainian citizen who was once a Soviet soldier, told the tale to
me yesterday through an interpreter:
"The night before, I had capsized twice. The boat self-rights itself, but
after a little strain. It started a slight discomfort in my liver, which
has happened before.
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HIGH-'SEIZE' ADVENTURE:
Teddy Rezvoy shoves off from lower Manhattan on July 2. But just 204
miles into his trip, he was picked up by U.S. Navy frigate whose
crew wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerously fishy about
him. |
"As is practice, I contacted the vessel on
channel 16, giving position and destination - France. The reply was, 'Do
you need help?' I told them I could do with some medication, but it wasn't
an emergency and if they didn't have it, not to worry. I didn't know who I
was talking to."
So much for France's Bastille Day - which is today - because over the
radio, Teddy heard a joking reply: "Why should we help the French if they
don't like us?"
What happened next was no joke and suddenly, he knew whom he had been
talking to.
Out of the afternoon sun came a giant. It was the USS Doyle, a Navy
missile frigate.
Teddy's craft, a $100,000 boat called The Ukraine, was boarded. He was
searched head to toe. A knife and flares were confiscated, and he was
taken on board for another search. A Navy diver even went underwater to
search the hull of the rowboat.
Teddy told the crew, "I can't be separated from my boat. They told me my
boat would be fine. One attempt to bring it aboard failed, but they said,
'Don't worry.' "
He should have worried - it appears they left Teddy's boat out in the
middle of the Atlantic as they took him to a police station in Salem,
Mass.
Not for prosecution, mind you, just a place to sleep.
"I emphasize, nobody is suing, nobody is criticizing," Teddy said.
"I don't blame them for thinking I was a terrorist, because despite the
fact that I was heading to France, an easterly wind blew up and a 4-knot
tide actually swept me six miles traveling toward New York. They were very
thorough.
"I would just like to get the boat back." |
