First time oarsman completes epic 3,000 mile Atlantic Ocean crossing

By Douglas Whitbread via SWNS

An inspirational oarsman has returned to the United Kingdom after an epic mission crossing 3,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean - despite having never rowed before in his life.

Will Drew, 38, had spent just five days training with fellow crew members Sam Morris and Toby Kendall before they set off from La Gomera, Canary Islands, in December.

During the perilous journey, they faced fifty-foot waves and had close encounters with sharks, while surviving on a diet of pork scratching and dairy milk chocolate bars.

But despite the trio’s inexperience as sailors, they completed the dangerous voyage in an impressive time of 38 days and 13 minutes.

Will, from Grimsby, England, said it was “the most magical feeling” when they finally crossed the finish on January 19 at 8:00 A.M.

He said: “It was the best moment – there were boats blowing their horns, and we lit our flares.

“It was just the most magical feeling – you’ve done it, you’re there – and there’s a beer and burger waiting for you.

“With your family there, it really is something else.”

Will said after the team had set off in their 8.6m boat - named "The Dirty Oar" - on December 12, they soon began to regret their lack of experience.

He said: “Before the row, I’d never been in a rowing boat, and I’d never really sailed either - most of my endurance experience has been in ultramarathon running.

“That didn’t really help us because we hadn’t really identified our strategy or rowing schedule until day eight or nine into the race.”

(L-R)Sam Morris, Will Drew, Sam Morris, and Toby Kendall before the row. (Atlantic Campaigns/Penny Bird via SWNS)

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The three oarsmen chose to row around the clock during the epic journey, and despite consuming 4,5000 calories a day, Will said he still lost 12 kilos (26 pounds).

He said: “We decided to take quite high-calorie food, which was basically going to keep us sustained, but despite that, we still lost about 11 or 12 kilos.

“We had a load of Haribo, we had a load of pork scratching, and Sam took 72 bars of 200g dairy milk.

“We were basically, chewing snacks the whole way, but having said that, we ate most of the Haribo before we left. We should have taken more sugary stuff, I think!”

Will, who works as a property developer, said the toughest aspect of the trip was maintaining relationships among his team mates under extremely harsh conditions.

He said: “I think the hardest part of the crossing is the team dynamics – when you’ve all got sleep deprivation and you’re exhausted as well as running out of food and snacks.

“There’s a lot that can go wrong on the boat if you don’t look after your kit and equipment. We lost an oar, and there were various things that broke.

“And if you’ve got a crewmate who snores or sleeps in the fetal position, you’re pretty stuck. You have to sleep like a pencil, but you’re so exhausted, you literally crash.”

The team had close encounters with whales and turtles along the journey – and at one stage, they even had a shark follow their boat.

Will said: “We had a shark fin about twenty meters from our wake that was following us for about just under a minute, and then it tailed off.

“But rather than thinking, ‘This is a proper jaws moment,' we said, ‘Let’s get the camera out and try and take a picture of it.’”

He added: “You don’t really consider any dangers that you might be in the middle of the Atlantic.

“You hear those stories from previous years, but when you’re out there, it’s not really something that you register.”

Despite his daredevil attitude, Will admitted there were several very “hairy” moments during the transatlanic crossing.

He said: “The biggest swell was 40ft-50ft, and it was pretty hairy when you’re in the trough of a wave and then you see this massive breaker coming over you.

“The boat self-rights and do flip themselves back over, and they’re pretty well designed.

“But nevertheless, when you’re out there in the dark, if its heavy cloud cover, you literally can’t see what’s coming.

Will, who was taking part among other teams in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, said he had signed up for the race following the sudden deaths of a few close friends.

He said: “I had a bit of a tough time last year with various things – work-wise and having had a few friends of mine sadly taking their own lives.

“I wanted a bit of a mental reset, re-calibration, and I found the evening shifts quite a good time to do that.

“You only had your own thoughts to keep you company, and it was actually quite a wholesome thing to do, and it was really beneficial to me.”

His team, who were raising money for charities throughout their journey, have so far amassed £92,981 ($124,709) to reduce plastic waste in the worlds oceans.

They are accepting further donations here.