Solo Rower Rescued near New Zealand Waves Break His oars

Nov 18, 2003
Solo Rower Rescued East of New Zealand After Waves Break His Oars
The Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A rescue ship plucked a veteran solo rower from the southern Pacific east of New Zealand on Tuesday night, about 30 hours after pounding waves broke his two oars and swept away his gear.

British rower Jim Shekhdar, on a nonstop solo journey from the southern port of Bluff to Cape Town in South Africa, was picked up by the New Zealand fisheries research ship Tangaroa at 9:25 p.m., after he called for help when his vessel rolled several times in severe weather.

His two oars broke, and his spares were washed from the deck.

Shekhdar was "in a pretty reasonable state, though cold and wet and with a lump on his head," when he stepped onto the rescue ship's deck, said National Search and Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Paul Harrison.

The 57-year-old adventurer suffered a minor head injury when heavy winds and large waves tossed around his 26-foot rowboat Hornette.

A New Zealand air force Orion P3 maritime surveillance airplane guided the ship to the tiny vessel, Harrison said.

It used the rowboat's emergency beacon to locate it in almost calm seas.

Once the rowboat was sheltered from the westerly wind by the hull, Shekhdar was able to climb onto the Tangaroa, about 750 miles east of New Zealand, Harrison said.

He said the rower was expected to arrive back in New Zealand Dec. 10, after the fisheries research vessel completed its assignment and returned to port.

It wasn't known whether the rowboat would be recovered. Harrison said the research ship was equipped to recover small boats.

This is the second time the solo adventurer has called for help since he launched his bid last month to row the 9,000 miles from Bluff via treacherous Cape Horn at the stormy tip of South America to Cape Town.

He was towed back to New Zealand on Oct. 17 after having traveled just 50 miles, when his global positioning navigation system and wind-powered generator failed.

Shekhdar, who expected his trip to last seven to 12 months, has already rowed across the Atlantic and completed a solo row of the Pacific from Peru to Australia in 2001.

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