This book covers the story of how a young woman and the man she was to marry rowed a boat 10,000 kilometers (62,137 miles) from Portugal to Costa Rica.  It was the first time a woman had rowed across the Atlantic - from a mainland in Europe to another continent.

         Julie Angus had a graduate degree in molecular biology and was involved in developing therapeutics, but her personal interests were in ecology, so in a way, this adventure in a kind of companion book to “Now or Never” which was reviewed in another of my hubs.

        She writes that “it was the magnitude of the environmental issues facing our oceans that captured much of my attention.  The problems of climate change, acidification, overfishing and pollution were well documented, yet little progress was being made to solve these issues.”

        She was aware that miniscule actions that each of take increase the problem, but she wanted to get an intimate sense of it by journeying over the vast, impenetrable expanse of an ocean.

        Julie had decided to make the voyage two years before the adventure began, and had begun conditioning while reading of the problems others had had. Difficulties were encountered in finding someone to accompany her, as one candidate backed out only five months before the day of departure. Her fiancé was on a biking tour of Russia with a friend and she was cautioned against asking him to go with her, for the trip would be arduous and could end in their deciding against marriage.

         Colin was biking through Russia with a friend, and when Julie called, she found that he had just decided to continue his trip alone as he and his friend were having personal difficulties.  The upshot of that conversation was that arrangements were made for her to fly to Moscow, and the two of them would cycle to Lisbon, receive the ocean-going boat that was to be shipped from Northern Scotland, buy the provisions for the trip, and set out.    

        Cycling from Moscow to Lisbon took forty-nine days, and the boat was everything that Colin hoped it would be.  Six years old and made of quarter inch plywood and epoxy, it weighed 350 kilograms empty and 800 kilograms fully loaded. (That’s 770 to 1760 pounds)

        It was just over 7 meters long and had two tiny cabins.  The forward one was about the size of a kitchen cabinet, and the aft cabin, where they would sleep, was about the size of a small closet.  Between the two cabins was a deck that held two sliding rowing seats positioned in tandem.

        Below deck were a series of sealed compartments for supplies.

        The boat was self-righting and came with sea anchors, harnesses, a desalination unit, solar panels, and a VHF radio among other thing.

        Preparing for an ocean voyage can take up to two years and unlimited finances, but they had only two weeks and were already in debt because of the purchase of the boat. 

        They made endless lists, cleaned and repaired the boat, obtained charts, and studied weather reports before deciding on the route they’d use. 

        The many pages describing all their preparations are worth reading, and I found myself hunkered in a comfortable upholstered chair with a sleeping bag over my legs which were propped on a padded chair so I’d be prepared for a long afternoon of reading.

        I’d chosen well in choosing this book, as it brought back memories of the three summers I’d spent on the Atlantic teaching midshipmen about sailing while serving as captain of a 44 foot sloop belonging to the U.S. Navy.  We’d only gone to Bermuda, so my experiences on those boats bore little similarity to the voyage Colin and Julie took, but when storms were described I recalled how even the little ones we encountered were a cause for care in everything that was done.

         They saw trash floating on the ocean every day.  It was almost always plastic, and according to the text a plastic bottle takes 450 years to break down as it doesn’t biodegrade.  It photodegrades; sunlight breaks it down into smaller and smaller particles and creatures such as jellyfish consume copious amount of it.  It then works itself up the food chain to the point where “killer whales are the most contaminated species on Earth.

        Upon casting off, rowing began and except for brief breaks, which had to be taken as the weather was impossible, it continued - night and day - for three months.

        Before the voyage began, Julie had asked a sailor friend what to expect, and he had said that she should “climb under the kitchen table for three months to see what it was like.”

        They had a 3” mattress in the cabin that was the size of a closet, but it was so small that when they were buffeted by storms they were thrown about continuously and decided that in order to brace themselves against the walls it would be best if they’d sleep with their partner’s feet in their face.

        Daily records were kept as the days passed so in reading the book you’ll get the full flavor of what the voyage was like. In this account, I’ll report only a few items. You’ll have to read the book to get the rest.

• Shortly after they took off, they discovered that they’d forgotten ex-lax, and both of them were aware of how the lack of fresh vegetables would cause constipation.
• They used a GPU continually to determine their location.
• Seasickness was a real problem for several days. They used a patch behind the ear and medication.
• On the second day, they stopped using a bucket to relieve themselves; they just hung their bottoms over the side after making certain they were tied to the boat.
• During the entire voyage, neither one of them was thrown unexpectedly overboard.
• A tanker they hadn’t seen almost plowed into the center of the boat. Fortunately, the prow brushed their boat aside, but then they drifted alongside within a foot while it passed. They were lucky there was no damage.
• Their desalinization system worked well the whole trip.

• A spray with a foul odor erupted 6 meters from them, and after consulting their books, they determined that it was a minke whale that is capable of holding its breath for 20 minutes.
• They stopped wearing clothes because of salt sores. Their clothes had become insaturated with salt and chafed against their skin. The sunscreen they used several times a day wore off quickly because of sweat and the waves.
• A boat with a friendly Spanish-speaking captain passed and called them “Loco!”

         Never before had there been a hurricane in the area they were in, but using the radio told them that one was coming so they tied down everything on the boat and moved the life raft closer to the hatch.  The waves became savage and the wind began a continuous high-pitched shriek that lasted all night while the two of them were in the cabin.  The storm abated in the morning.

·         They whooped when they saw the Canary Island in the distance.

·         They didn’t stop, but two pilot-fish they named Fred and Ned followed the boat during the remainder of the voyage.

        While cleaning barnacles off the boat, they were reminded that barnacles shells to get weaker and weaker because of the increasing acidity of the oceans.  “According to U.S. scientist Scott C. Doney, the acidity has increased 30% since the industrial revolution began because of increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.”

        “According to research by the Carnegie Institution of Washington”s Dr. Ken Caldeira, if rising carbon dioxide levels continue unabated, oceans may face a mass extinction similar to that which occurred when dinosaurs disappeared.” 

Colin and Julie were always having simple lunches such as cheese and crackers, so I interrupted my reading to mix tuna fish with mayonnaise and a sliced olive and serve myself with it on a soda cracker. When that wasn’t enough, I switched to peanut butter on crackers.

• They were accompanied for awhile by a white shark that was about six meters long. It would have been capable of biting through the hull.
• On their 35^th day at sea – after they left the area of the Canary Islands - a bird called storm petrel landed on the boat. Later that day, more of them tapped on the water with their feet as they flew around the boat.
• A loggerhead turtle of about 1 meter in diameter wakened them one morning by bumping against the boat. They were afraid he might splinter the boat so they rowed faster.
• They suffered through another hurricane, kept in radio contact with Hurricane Center, and avoided a third.

         While 5000 kilometers from Costa Rico, they spied a sailboat and after getting dressed, they contacted them by radio.  The captain of the sailboat couldn’t see them, but when directions were given, he brought the board alongside.  It was headed for Antigua and the crew collected two shopping bags of things Julie and Colin might need,  They were extended over the rowboat by a long pole and then the sailboat departed “with a blast of a horn”.

        The two of them couldn’t believe their good luck.  Their food had become monotonous and suddenly they had cold beer, pop, chocolate, cereal, UHT milk, exciting new instant dinners, and a vast array of reading material.

         When they landed in St. Lucia they quickly labeled it a paradise, and spent 10 days cleaning the boat, eating things they’d missed, and getting ready for the last leg of the journey. 

        When they started, they were again subject to nausea.  They also experienced lethargy and headaches which they attributed to the good life they led in St. Lucia.

        They were disgusted with all the trash they saw.  “Toys, shoes, bags, and reams of unidentifiable plastic floated on the water in a line three meters wide and many kilometers long.  They couldn’t see the end of it.  It seemed like “a miniature version of the world’s largest garbage site located in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean.”  According to the text an estimated three million tons cover an area as large as British Columbia and the Yukon Territories combined.

         One more storm hit them before they reached Costa Rica, the waves gale-force and water dripping from the roof of their cabin.  The bedding couldn’t be dried out and their clothes were rotting.  Cooking utensils had been swept into the bilge where they lay “with flying fish that has mistimed their leap”.

        After three days, the storm subsided, the waves decreased, and Julie was delighted to find that Ned and Fred were still following them.

        At first, the officials at Costa Rica proclaimed that they could not land, that it was against the law.  Colin’s passport had expired a few days before so the Canadian Embassy was contacted by radio.  Things looked bad until it was discovered that The Discovery Channel, who wanted to film their arrival, had contacted port authorities, and approval had been given.

        They then rowed non-stop for 48 hours and kept their VHF radio and flares handy, as they knew they were entering a busy port, and when they anchored in shallow waters between two freighters, they fell asleep.

        You’d think that would be the end of their adventure, but it wasn’t.

        After spending two weeks in Costa Rica, they completed the last leg by cycling 8300 kilometers to Vancouver.

        For this remarkable journey, the couple won the Adventurer of the Year Award from National Geographic Adventure, and Colin published a book entitled Beyond the Horizon.