lost_at

Rowers lost at sea

"To those at sea..." the third toast
(Russian seafaring tradition)

ROW #	OCEAN ROWED	FIRST NAME	SURNAME	COUNTRY	BOAT	MILES	DEPART	LOST	DAYS AT SEA	FROM
1	Atlantic W to E (double)	David	Johnstone	GB	Puffin	1432	21/05/66	03/09/66	105 days -last log entry	Virginia Beach, VA (USA)
1	Atlantic W to E (double)	John	Hoare	GB	Puffin	1432	21/05/66	03/09/66	105 days -last log entry	Virginia Beach, VA (USA)
2	Atlantic W to E (solo)	Kenneth	Kerr	GB	Bass Challenger	~2100	21/05/80	after16/09/80	119? days	Corner Brook, Newfoundland (Canada)
3	Atlantic W to E (solo)	Andrew	Wilson	GB	Nautica	-	25/06/80	-	-	St. Johns, Newfoundland (Canada)
4	Atlantic E to W (solo)	Eugene	Smurgis	Russia	Max-4	755	29/09/93	19/11/93	52 days	London (England)
5	Pacific W to E (solo)	Peter	Bird	GB	Sector Two	1400	27/03/96	03/06/96	69 days	Nakhodka (Russia)
6	Atlantic W to E (solo)	Nenad	Belic	USA	LUN	2618	11/05/01	30/09/01	151 days	Cape Cod (USA)
Editors Note: All six of the ocean row boats listed above eventually made it to Land and were recovered. The only "body" of those oceanrowers lost at sea that was recovered was that of Eugene Smurgis. His body was returned to Lipetzk, Russia for burial, and a street in Lipetzk was named after him as a mark of respect for his ocean rowing efforts.

During one of my trips with Peter Bird and Kenneth F Crutchlow (ORS Director) we were in Russia obtaining official permission from the city council of Vladivostok, Russia, for Peter to row from Vladivostok to San Francisco. One of our hosts, Vladimir Maltsev, a former executive involved with Russian shipping, would always offer the third toast at different gatherings we attended with, " To those at sea..."
Not until Peter Bird was lost at sea did I appreciate the full meaning of Vladimir's toast. He was not only recognizing the efforts of those on ships crossing the seas but also the spirit of those friends and family that have been lost at sea. It's an odd situation trying to achieve closure when someone you love is lost at sea and there is no physical remains to be found.
Peter Bird was lost at sea June 3 1996, a full moon. We had his memorial June 30 at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon, California ; another full moon, a blue moon. Once in a blue moon overlooking the San Francisco Bay on a beautiful clear summer evening over a hundred mourners at a memorial for Peter, I made a toast: " To those at sea..."

Tom Lynch American Coordinator of the Ocean Rowing Society