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The first morning of a great adventure
22:12 p.m. EDT Jul 2, 2003
Teddy had not slept much last night. He had that typical, weary D-day look in his eyes - of those mornings commencing great adventures: The avalanche thundering morning before the Everest ice fall, the cold, dark hours before the final lift off for the Arctic ice - or the fog lifting from a shore and a vessels shadow slipping out on a black ocean.
As for Teddy, it was a typical lower Manhattan morning of a hazy sun rising between broken skyscrapers.
Teddy's dad made the final checks with a worried face. "I worked on this boat for such a long time. I did nothing else. It was my life. And now it is leaving. Carrying my son." The Battery Park boat slips in downtown Manhattan Financial District buzzed with curious onlookers. "Where is he ending up?" Someone asked. "France!" We shouted back. "You're kidding!!" Came the startled reply.
Teddy had a final sip from his mug of Starbucks coffee and took his seat in the rowing boat. His brother and father held on to it, but then - hesitantly - they let go. Teddy made a turn as a NYPD patrol boat had him in close check. He rowed out from the harbor and out on the Hudson river. A firefighter boat saluted him with water pillars and it made a nice backdrop for pictures. The film crew from Ukraine zoomed in on Teddy's small boat, with the water pillars and the Statue of Liberty in the background. Teddy's little niece sat on the dock, lost in her own thoughts watching the boat .
It will take Teddy three days before he reaches safer waters. Large ships and boats will be a constant threat to him until then. He didn't sleep much last night and he won't sleep much in the near future either. But soon enough he'll be all alone on the ocean, as the North Atlantic waves build up. Will the boat hold? Will it turn back if it rolls over? Nobody knows. We all stood in silence pondering this as we waived good bye to a lone man on a small boat rowing out through the Hudson River outlet.
A large Swan sailing yacht was getting ready to carry some fortunate men from the Financial District to a faraway location in comfort and style. There were state cabins, satellite television and fridges filled with gourmet food. "I just don't understand why somebody would do a thing like that" muttered one of the men onboard, sporting a spotless white sailors shirt as he watched Teddy's shadow fading on the horizon. "Yeah" said someone from ExplorersWeb: "I guess when you have a boat like yours, you'll never understand".
Wednesday July 2 2003 at 1105 hrs East Coast Time Teddy Rezvoy left Manhattan for his Atlantic Ocean row. He is recreating the historic row by two American/Norwegians who in 1896 rowed from New York to Brest, France; along the, “Gulf Stream Route.” In 2001 Teddy successfully rowed the Atlantic Ocean, but from the opposite direction. If he succeeds with his mission, Teddy will become the third person in history to complete a return rowing trip on the Atlantic.
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