Two friends have raised nearly £14,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean for 70 days, 20 hours and 18 minutes as part of a race.
David Ferrier from Westnewton, Cumbria, and Garry Hoyle, from North Shields, set off from San Sebastian, in La Gomera, Canary Islands on 12 December 2023 and rowed approximately 3,000 miles to Antigua in a specially designed 7m rowing boat called Molly Moo.
They completed the race unsupported, eating dehydrated rations and relying on solar panels for any electronics.
The pair celebrated Christmas and their birthdays together, with Mr Hoyle turning 60 and Mr Ferrier turning 62, just three days after they had set off.
During the journey the teammates faced some challenging weather conditions, including battling 30ft waves and Mr Ferrier was even washed overboard.
Despite some low points, they both had several highlights from the trip, including the wildlife and a welcome party at English Harbour when they reached the finish line.
Mr Ferrier said: “The whole thing, 70 days, 20 hours and 18 minutes, seemed to go like a flash. There were so many different things there, the wildlife was astonishing. Whales, dolphins, porpoise, sharks, mahi mahi and marlin. The night sky is absolutely phenomenal. Rowing in the moonlight, the stars were just incredible you couldn’t even experience anything like it.”
Mr Hoyle added: “The end coming into English Harbor is absolutely fabulous.
“The fact that we came in during the night just added to the experience because they were setting the flares off from the hills above, the ships were playing We Are The Champions as you came into the harbour and the full experience is just tremendous.”
The duo, whose team name was ‘Seas The Moments’, decided to use the race as an opportunity to fundraise for charity, and chose GNAAS after witnessing one of their helicopters while on a training walk in the Lake District.
Mr Hoyle said: “As part of our training we did a number of walks around the lakes, and on one walk, the weather was really windy and really wet and we observed the helicopter coming in to take an individual off the hills.
“This was just at the time where we were looking at charities that we thought we could make a difference with, and the air ambulance was a little charity that was totally funded through donations.”
Prior to the race Mr Hoyle and Mr Ferrier visited GNAAS’ base in Langwathby, Penrith, with Molly Moo and met some of the charity’s critical care team, including one of their pilots, doctors and paramedics.
They’ve since returned to the base to share their story with the team and present them with a cheque for £13,733.
Mr Ferrier said: “For us it was all about trying to raise some funds for GNAAS and we are super grateful to everybody that donated. We really are blown away by the donations and potentially everybody who has donated has helped to save somebody’s life and that means so much to us.”
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