Most recent Satellite Coordinates: 2807.6070N,01525.6440W,0M
LAS PALMAS, Spain (Canary Islands), Jan. 29, 2006 - Seattle extreme expeditioner Erden Eruç began a four month, 4,539 mile (3,944 nautical miles) solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea aboard a 23-foot ocean rower on Sunday, departing Las Palmas in the Canary Islands for Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
The Atlantic crossing in part of Eruc's Around-n-Over (www.around-n-over.org) expedition, by which he hopes to become the first human to circumnavigate the globe solely under his own power. He as already cycled 9,526 miles and summitted Alaska's Mt. McKinley.
With an expected late May arrival on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, the 44-year-old Eruç expects to spend 12 hours-a-day rowing with two Olympic-class Dreissigacker racing oars that he hopes will propel him toward Puerto Limon on a 1,000 miles-per-month, 30 mile-per-day pace.
After a short eight-mile row out of the harbor in Las Palmas, Eruç will point his bow due south in an effort to stay clear of Grand Canary Island. "The wind combined with the currents make it necessary to keep a safe distance away from the island. I'll be watchful during the first 24 hours," said Eruç. His Atlantic crossing attempt follows a 1,500-mile rowing hop from Lisbon, Portugal to Las Palmas with Canadian adventurer Tim Harvey.
"The information that I am given by seasoned sailors here is that by the time I drop south in a couple weeks' time, the winter storms of December-January will have settled, the hurricanes will still be far off in the summer, and the seas will be gentle, forgiving with steady winds heading toward the Caribbean," he said. "I have the butterflies in my stomach, I am excited, and I am ready," said Eruç prior to his departure on Saturday. "There is the great feeling of being aware of my potential, of my capacity to achieve, and of the vast ocean that awaits me."
For the crossing, Eruç is well provisioned with a four-month supply of Mountain House freeze dried food that can be warmed in 8 to 10 minutes on a small gimbaled stove and his water maker can transform anywhere from four to six liters of seawater per hour into fresh drinking water. A sea anchor will help him to stabilize the boat in high seas.
In his attempt to become the become the first human to completely circle the globe under his own power, the native of Turkey has already completed two cycling segments including a 2,400 mile roundtrip ride from Seattle to Alaska along the formidable Alaska-Canada Highway. In 2003, before returning to Seattle by bike, Eruç climbed the 20,320 foot Denali and was married along the shores of Katchemak Bay near Homer, Alaska.
On Christmas Eve in 2004, Eruç successfully completed a 3,980 mile solo bike ride across North America. The journey took him through 12 U.S. states - Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
When his circumnavigation is complete sometime in late 2010, Eruç will have climbed each of the tallest peaks in North and South America, Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe (he will forego Antarctica) while approaching each by bike and by foot. His rowing segments will take him across three oceans and the distance of the Red and Mediterranean seas.
Along the way, the former systems engineer turned expeditioner by way of a lay-off, will talk about his global journey to local school children to share the values of selflessness, sacrifice and perseverance of previous adventurers and expeditions including his late climbing partner, mountaineer Gçran Kropp. Kropps 1996 Everest expedition included riding his bicycle, laden with climbing gear, from Sweden to Nepal and successfully summitting the world's tallest peak without the aid of supplemental oxygen.
About Around-n-Over
All photos thanks to Around-n-Over.org. Around-n-Over (www.around-n-over.org) is a tax-exempt organization to support the seven year quest of Seattle extreme athlete Erden Eruç to circumnavigate the globe under human power. Eruç aims to climb the highest summits on six continents after approaching each by bicycle and on foot, and to row across three oceans. By sharing his journey with students world-wide through Around-n-Over, Eruç aims to instill the values of selflessness, sacrifice and perseverance in the tradition of previous adventurers and expeditions. This journey was inspired by the book Ultimate High depicting Gçran Kropp's 1996 cycling journey from Sweden to climb Mt. Everest, and by Tori Murden, who in 1999 became the first woman to cross an ocean by rowing.