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Andreas Rommel's first word - "I can say to you Justin, there is no doubt your boat is self-righting"

Agu 15, 2004 14: 43 EST
Andreas Rommel plans to become the first German in history to row Atlantic W-E from Cape Cod (USA) to UK. He was last out of the North Atlantic rowers and had not done any dispatches - until - today! We found the report with our colleagues at the OceanRowing society, where Andreas tells his own story of surviving Alex, among other details.

"August 15 2004

My first 20 days was a battle against a very difficult current. This is my first expedition with the boat, and I discovered how heavy it is. Not to mention, I never rowed a boat before. But there is a first for everything, isn’t there?

I was rowing for 4 to 6 hours straight without moving 1 meter. I was shouting at the wind, the current, myself, asking why I was doing this. But at the end of the day, I didn’t lose a mile. Even if my progression was that slow, I never went back! This kept me going.For the first 15 days, I was in a constant heavy fog. What a amazing surprise when 1 day I escaped it for a few hours, and saw a migration of about 15 whale sharks passing by the boat. Three of those giants came to check me out for about 10 minutes. It was surreal.

My first intense moment (before meeting Alex) was the day I nearly got crushed by a tanker. It was in the middle of the afternoon. Due to the fog, I couldn’t see further than 100 feet and the waves didn’t help much. I was minding my own business, swearing at everything as usual, when I heard a strange noise coming out of the fog.

I was as exited as a kid, thinking, hey I’ll encounter some whales or other strange creatures. But coming out of nowhere, like a giant ghost, a huge 700 ft. metal mass was directing its course so close to me that I could read the name of the boat. I jumped on my radio and got the captain on.

I asked him if he didn’t see me on his radar. He said no he didn’t, and asked me if he needed to change his course. Well, no, I told him to stay where he is. If luck wouldn’t be with me, I would have been crushed by now, and the captain wouldn’t even know it. My guess is, my radar has some issues in high waves.

Another fun detail, beside feeling I’m paddling through a field of mud for 14 to 16 hours, my water maker broke 3 days into my journey. Now I have to pump each night for 1 hour to get fresh water, just the idea of it makes me sick in my stomach, this pumping system is harder than rowing for an entire day. This brought me to drink half of my emergency water supply, and also push me to drink the minimum I need to survive.

Now let’s talk about Alex. I got a call from a reporter of the German “Stern Magazine”, telling me the good news about Cyclone Alex heading right towards me. A few hours before I thought the cyclone would hit me, I secured everything the best I could. I took out the survival suit and laid it out inside the cabin. I was waiting anxiously all night long. I thought I would be in the middle of the storm by 9:00GMT.

9:00GMT came, the wind went up to 40 knots and the waves up to25 ft. The sky looked apocalyptic. But all of this didn’t stop me from falling asleep, as I was so exhausted. By 10:30GMT I was in a deep sleep. What a rude awakening I had as the boat flipped over 360 degrees! I was hit pretty hard, hurt my hips, hurt my face, my nose was bleeding. The wind went up 65 knots and the waves were 35-40 ft. high!

I can say to you Justin, there is no doubt your boat is self-righting.

I spent the first 2 hours inside, as I had no clue what to do. But I got nervous that I would lose something important during this nightmare, or the boat would just be smacked by a wave. I put my harness on and went out. What an adrenaline rush. I spent 5 hours in a T-shirt and a pants, soaked to the bone, repeating myself that I hade to direct the boat in order to surf the waves. The boat nearly capsized many times. It would lie on its side, but would be righted straight away. On some waves, I was going 12-15 knots. The situation was crazy, but I just couldn’t get back to my cabin.

After the cyclone, the only victim was my active radar detector. Not too bad, I thought. To end this on a positive note, I’m getting used to my situation and my morale is high. I think I should be hitting faster currents in the next few days.

I heard about the Pink Lady, I feel a lot of sadness for the crew, so close to target. But I’m also very glad that everybody came back safe, this is what counts. All my sympathy to you guys, and I hope I will get to meet you for a few beers in the near future. I would like also to thank some of you for the support you have given to my mother (she needs it more than I do). My brother will write you a weekly update as I’m giving it to him per phone."

One of the rowers out there, Golden Gate rower Mick Dawson, has been at sea the longest; about 2 and a half months. Mick left Choshi, Japan at 02:10 GMT May 6th 2004 in his second attempt to reach Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, CA, USA.

His sat phone stopped working and his home team didn't hear from him in a month! Until a few days ago: The message from Mick was delivered through a skipper named Shakhid from a passing Bangladeshi vessel! He will use any chance to stay in touch through any ship he may meet.

Pink lady set off from St John’s, Newfoundland on June 30 to break the world record for the fastest north Atlantic row from Canada . Crew members Mark Stubbs, 40, from Poole in Dorset, with Jonathan Gornall, 48, from London, Pete Bray, 48, from South Wales and John Wills, 33, from Surrey were rescued yesterday when their boat was split in two by Hurricane Alex.

To Anne Quemere one of the most beautiful experiences in the world is that of a crossing an ocean. Four years ago she decided to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In December 2002, she rowed out into the open sea, leaving from Canary Islands and arriving in Guadeloupe 56 days later solo and without assistance, breaking the women’s record previously held by Tori Murden who made the crossing in 81 days. Now she is back, to repeat the crossing West to East.

Emmanuel Coindre capsized his row boat outside the coast of US last year. He called from his sat phone requesting help sitting on top of the boats hull. Emmanuel is now back again on his quest to became the first person to row the Atlantic solo three times.
His earlier achievements actually already involve three crossings; two in a row boat and one on a watercycle.

Andreas Rommel plans to become the first German in history to row Atlantic W-E from Cape Cod (USA) to UK. Andreas is last out of the North Atlantic rowers.

Photo of Andreas Rommel courtesy of globalrow.com

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