Southern Ocean Row Update–Shekhdar Slammed!: Well, it’s over not long after it started. Yesterday, our favorite Wetass’s attempt to row from New Zealand to Cape Town, via Cape Horn, came to a violent end. A nasty storm–with high winds and vicious seas–crossed paths with Jim Shekhdar and somersaulted his custom boat end for end. Here’s Jim’s description:

“…at about 0800 this morning (1900Z), from absolutely nowhere I was pitchpoled with horrendous force, my head tried to get out of the closed hatch, breaking off one of the two catches and I bounced back into the cabin surrounded by everything from both cabins. After stopping the blood from the head wound, several hours in the washing machine now in my 4 point harness with helmet, it was quite surreal watching the ocean go upside down outside my door! By 2350 I had taken the decision to try to get out…”

The storm was nothing unusual for the Southern Ocean, which is why Shekhdar’s voyage was such a monumental odyssey, and you have to wonder why he wasn’t wearing his helmet to start with (as well as whether he made any other preparations for the storm–which he had been warned about–such as deploying his sea anchor). But mostly it’s a shame that such a bold, interesting, gamble is over. Shekhdar is due to be picked up by a New Zealand research vessel, and is hoping they will crane his boat aboard too. When he gets back to land, things will only get worse. “I had a lot of plans for after I made it but none for when I didn’t,” he laments. “I may even have to get a ‘proper’ job!!”. Ouch. Say it ain’t so, Jim…



Rock and Roll: “Damn, just as I was about to eat breakfast….”