The Atlantic crossing starts on Sunday Erden Eruç and Tim Harvey to take their ocean rowing boat from Lisbon to Costa Rica
44-year-old adventurer is on a journey to circumnavigate the world under own power
LISBON, Oct. 16, 2005 - Extreme athlete Erden Eruç to circumnavigate the globe solely under his own power and to summit the highest peaks on each of six different continents, announced in Lisbon in advance of their Atlantic Ocean rowing crossing with Canadian adventurer Tim Harvey that their destination will be the port of Limon in Costa Rica. Eruç, a resident of Seattle, is the president of the nonprofit Around-n-Over (www.around-n-over.org) the primary mission of which is to use human powered journeys to educate and to inspire school children.
Harvey has been on a human powered journey from Vancouver to Moscow (www.vancouvertomoscow.com) since the summer of 2004. With his former partner Colin Angus, they became the first modern men to row across the Bering Sea in an effort to travel west from North America to the farthest reaches of eastern Siberia. Along with their Russian expedition partner Yulya Kudryavtseva, they traveled over the frozen tundra in winter before gaining the Russian highway system in Yakutsk. Having covered daunting distances over land by bicycle, Harvey arrived at Moscow on August 18th.
Eruç and Harvey will start their Atlantic row with the high tide on Sunday October 16th, at 2:00 pm local time. At the dock will be the Ambassadors of Turkey and Canada along with the Commodore of Associação Naval de Lisboa. "This was clearly a project worthy of Göran's legacy," said Eruç of Harvey's efforts and added: "I had to help Tim turn his great journey into something even greater." A few e-mail exchanges later, Eruç had offered his 23 foot trans-oceanic rower to Harvey in a bid to bring Harvey from Moscow back to his starting point in Vancouver. Once in Costa Rica, Harvey will travel over land by bicycle as before, and has already joined Eruç in Lisbon after pedaling from Moscow.
Eruç will row across the Atlantic Ocean together with Harvey to reach port of Limon on the east coast of Costa Rica. “Only 142 boats have ever crossed an ocean until today, and one out of every three attempts at an ocean crossing has failed,” said Kenneth Crutchlow, the president of the London based Ocean Rowing Society (www.oceanrowing.com). Upon completion of the Atlantic Ocean crossing with Harvey, Eruç will resume his Six Summits Project. His plan is to start the circumnavigation row from Puntarenas on the west coast of Costa Rica toward Ecuador.
The immediate objective of Eruç is Mt. Aconcagua. Eruç will approach Aconcagua by bicycling south through Peru and Chile. At 22,840 feet, Aconcagua is the western hemisphere's highest point, and summiting it in December 2006-January 2007 will put Eruç within four peaks of his goal in the Six Summits Project.
The Turkish native has already touched the top of Mt. McKinley, North America's highest peak. In May 2003, Eruç reached the summit of the 20,320 foot Mt. McKinley in Alaska which included the 5,546 mile round trip bicycle ride from Seattle to Denali towing all of his climbing gear on a trailer. "Canadians helped me during my trip to Alaska," Eruç said, "and helping Tim is my gift back to them."
When his circumnavigation is completed in late 2011, Eruç will have climbed each of the tallest peaks in North and South America, Oceania, Asia, Africa and Europe while approaching each by bicycle and by foot, and rowed across three oceans. "Rowing across an ocean is already a huge undertaking, there is no need to make it any more difficult by leaving from Miami,” Eruç was told by Ocean Rowing Society which will also track the location of Eruç and Harvey across the Atlantic.
Along the way, the former systems engineer turned expeditioner after 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 Göran Kropp. Kropp is well known for his role in the rescue of several climbers who were stranded by a violent storm on Everest in 1996 and then successfully summiting the earth’s highest peak without the use of supplemental oxygen. Kropp’s journey to Everest included riding his bicycle laden with climbing gear from Sweden to Nepal.
Eruç and Harvey expect to reach Limon in Costa Rica by the end of February. Harvey will continue to Vancouver by bicycle to complete his grand journey: a human powered circumnavigation of the northern hemisphere after a first time rowing success across the Bering Sea (www.vancouvertovancouver.com). Eruç will continue south, expecting to summit Aconcagua in January 2007, then Oceania's Carstenz Pyramid in the summer of 2008, Asia's Everest in 2009, Africa's Kilimanjaro in 2010 and finally Elbrus in Russia in 2011 before returning to Seattle later that year. The expedition will include time-off between legs for hurricane seasons on the oceans and winters on the mountains which will allow for recuperation and equipment repair and replenishment.
About Around-n-Over Around-n-Over (www.around-n-over.org) is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization founded in Seattle by extreme athlete Erden Eruç to support human powered journeys. Eruç himself is on a self propelled quest to circumnavigate the globe by rowing three oceans. Eruç also aims to climb the highest summits on six continents upon landfall, approaching each by bicycle and on foot. By sharing his seven year 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.
Around-n-Over is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America. Invicta Law Group is instrumental to the success of Around-n-Over, and the following organizations have contributed to the journey: BOB Trailers, OrtliebUSA, Seattle Vertical World, Concept2 Oars, Mountain House, Katadyn, Fisheries Supply, Winslow Liferafts, McQuaid & Co, MKG & Partners and Marjinal Marketing Communications.
About Tim Harvey Tim Harvey has traveled from Vancouver to Moscow by human power, and continued to Lisbon by pedaling. Tim now plans to bring his journey full circle back to Vancouver, continuing on west bound. Tim will cover land phases by bicycle as before (www.vancouvertovancouver.com).
Born and raised in British Columbia, Tim has long enjoyed exploring the coastal wilderness by kayak and canoe. His writing on conservation and outdoor adventure has appeared across Canada, and his photography was featured in El Salvador's major newspaper. Tim spent seven months in Central America, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency to work as a photographer on biological inventories of threatened marine and wetland ecology.
Tim studied literature and journalism prior to graduation with honors from the University of Victoria in June 2002. He views challenges of a human powered journey as a chance to better understand global diversity, human potential, and the finer points of survival.
About Ocean Rowing Society Established in 1983, the London based Ocean Rowing Society (www.oceanrowing.com) is the premier authority on the sport of ocean rowing. Their dedicated staff and president Kenneth Crutchlow who keep a careful tally of all accomplishments ocean rowing, have been central to the organization of multiple ocean rowing regattas from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean, and are a huge source of knowledge.
In having their phones available 24 hours a day, the Ocean Rowing Society first provides the much needed common sense to the often over-enthusiastic future ocean rowers, then take on the role of angels ensuring their safety, putting the spouses' minds at ease and answering to rescue beacons to coordinate Coast Guard or other action, should that be necessary.