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Intrepid Rowers Arrive from Japan

By Andy Turpin | November 13, 2009 | San Francisco |
Mother Nature blessed the rowers with crisp, clear weather for the S.F. arrival.

latitude/John A.
©2009 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

And you thought you had a backache!

At around 8:30 a.m. this morning, diehard oarsmen Mick Dawson and Chris Martin rowed beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, completing a nearly 6,000-mile voyage across the North Pacific from Choshi, Japan. The two are the first to have made the trip without support craft.

Rowing in shifts of two hours on and two hours off, Dawson and Martin endured a wide range of challenges since departing May 8, including mechanical and electrical problems, and storm conditions that featured 60-ft waves. Their 23-ft, purpose-built craft, Bojangles, was constructed from a carbon-kevlar composite which gives it maximum strength with minimal weight. The Golden Gate YC hosted a reception for the weary oarsmen this morning, before they headed off for a much-needed rest in a San Francisco hotel. That first warm shower must have been heaven.

Sailing

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