This May 2022, Peter Harley will be attempting a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia Beach, VA to La Trinite Sur-Mer, France a distance of 4,000 miles!
Peter is a South African (like me) living in Cary, NC, and will be attempting this epic crossing. Citius-Remex and Easy Going Rowing are providing Peter with a seat pad to help make the rowing part less painful on the butt.
As Peter said "On a call to a satphone provider last week my expedition was compared to Everest and somewhat downplayed by comparison for purposes of sponsorship.
In 2018 approximately 800 people summited Everest. It's become like a backed-up I40 (a major road in Raleigh, NC) on a Monday morning. A 13 yr old and an 80yr old have summited as have several others between 70 and 80 years of age”.
The Talisker Whiskey Challenge is widely touted as the "toughest row on earth". While I have enormous respect for the rowers in the Talisker whiskey challenge, their (Talisker) choice of that route is no accident. It poses considerably less complication and risk(s) with a 90+ % success rate. Dozens of rowers complete it annually. They also have 2 support vessels patrolling continuously. It’s also 3,000 miles versus 4,000 miles for the North Atlantic Challenge.
Peter continued …”Only 2 have ever attempted the crossing from Virginia. 1 turned back the other was lost at sea. I will be the 3rd. None have succeeded. It simply is not the same as Everest or the mid-Atlantic route. Failure is far more real than on Everest or the Talisker Whiskey Challenge. That is the challenge". Peter is attempting to raise $750,000 for an assortment of charities. "The target for the charities was ambitious but the response from corporates has been very disappointing. The little we have raised is all private donations. Somehow people just don't get it. Attempting Mt Everest or K2 or the Appalachian trail seems understandable. The idea of rowing solo across the North Atlantic doesn't compute somehow and maybe sounds unbelievable but both Bonnie (Peter's daughter) and I (Peter) have had many many reactions like that".
Peter has self-funded the entire venture to date and is looking for sponsorship and support in this epic adventure across the North Atlantic. Powered by oats, Peter is a vegetarian and is training to do between 10 to 14 hours of rowing a day when crossing the Atlantic. His 1 1-2 tonne, purpose-built shell can be seen on Jordan Lake, NC rowing as much as 10 hours at a stretch.
You can read all about the Challenge by clicking on the following link www.northatlanticchallenge.com and please help Peter if you can.