Since our last roundup, one soloist has taken to the water. He is the only person rowing the world’s oceans at the moment.
Why? Because it’s hurricane season over both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans — not exactly the best time to go rowing. In the Pacific, hurricane season runs from May to November. In the Atlantic, it goes from June to November. Once these end, more rowers will begin their challenges.
Dave ‘Dinger’ Bell (UK): In 2021, Dave ‘Dinger’ Bell became one of the first people to row from New York to mainland Britain. Now he is taking on a challenge that dwarfs his previous 5,000km effort. He set off from Lima, Peru, on November 9 with the aim of rowing 25,000km solo across the Pacific and Indian Oceans to Mauritius in East Africa.
During the first two weeks, he has given no updates on his progress, but his tracker shows he has covered just under 900km.
Bell’s projected route.
The route
During the first part of his row, he will cross the Pacific Ocean alone and unsupported, an immense feat in its own right. If he reaches Australian waters in good shape, he won’t come ashore but will carry on through the notoriously difficult Torres Strait. He will then skirt the top of Australia and continue all the way across the Indian Ocean — still solo, still non-stop, and still without support.
If he completes this, it will be the longest single-stage unsupported row ever. He’s making his attempt in a brand-new carbon-fiber craft built by The Ocean Rowing Company, a boat that is designed for up to four rowers. Though it is lightweight for its size, it is still very big for a single person to haul across two oceans.
However, he needs it so large in order to store 330 days of food and supplies. He calculates that should be enough to row two oceans and the Torres Strait in a single, unbroken push.
