Rower Abandons Atlantic Crossing
Sarah Outen rescued by cargo ship
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Adventurer Sarah Outen sought outside help on Saturday during her attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat, according to the BBC. She had been at sea for 143 days when the weather turned stormy, with 69 mph winds and massive waves, due to Hurricane Joaquin. She was rescued by a passing cargo ship, the Federal Oshima, on its way to Montreal, Canada, but left her own boat behind.
Outen first set out to complete a circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle, kayak, and rowboat in 2011. Though her original plan was to finish the journey in two and a half years, setbacks—including boat damage from a tropical storm—delayed the trip significantly. Outen left Cape Cod in May 2015 to begin the final leg of her journey. She planned to reach London, her original starting point, in September 2015, the BBC reports.
Outen was the first woman to cross the north Pacific Ocean solo in 2013, according to the BBC, and, as Outside reported, the first woman to row across the Indian Ocean solo in 2009.
“It was a very easy decision to make in terms of calling an end to the row,” Outen said in a phonecast update on her website. She said that the conditions were just as bad as those that prompted her to seek assistance during an earlier attempt to cross the Pacific Ocean.
She has not yet announced whether she will try again to row across the Atlantic.