For Tim Crockett, a 48-year-old former member of the Royal Marines Special Boat Service, the first 62 days rowing solo across the Atlantic weren’t so bad. It was the end, the last day, when he tried to reach the finish line in Antigua, that almost killed him.
On the 63rd day, as his 24-foot ocean rowboat, Tame the Kraken, tried to get in to English Harbour, it was hit by a storm with sustained waves of 20 to 30 feet. He told the Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal that the last hour and a half were the worst during his 3,200 mile voyage from the Canary Islands, and it was the only time he put his life jacket on. “I felt that if I had not been able to clear the headland, I might have had to jump overboard and watch the boat crash against the rocks.”
Crockett, a veteran of the first Iraq war and now a safety and security consultant to journalists around the world, was competing in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge. He was one of five solo rowers; the others competed in teams of two to four. He didn’t win, but he finished, and he was happy to be raising money for U.S. and British vets with post-traumatic stress disorder. He started the fund-raising after an old military friend committed suicide.
Rowing across the Atlantic by yourself isn’t easy. Even though Crockett was in superb physical condition before the race, he lost nine pounds. Rowers were required to take 90 days of food on board. Crockett ate three or four versions of manufactured food, giving him 6,500 to 8,500 calories a day.
He kept connected to the outside world with his sat phone and the messaging service WhatsApp, and he sent regular text and videos to his wife and two children back home in in Cobb, Georgia, including the selfie on Christmas (see photo above).
The boat was built to right itself if it capsized, and it had a small cabin where he could rest, although it was so small he wrenched his knee climbing into it on the second night out. It had solar panels to power his GPS, a desalinator, the satphone and other equipment.
Crockett had 11 hours of his favorite songs to keep him company. He said he listened to the same audiobook half a dozen times.
The name of the boat: In Norse mythology, a Kraken is a sea creature with immense strength, strong enough to sink ships by wrapping its tentacles around the hull.
An inveterate adventurer, Crockett is already thinking about his next outing. On the plane home, he read a story saying only 24 people have hiked the length of the Grand Canyon. That piqued his interest. “I need to start doing some more research,” he said. Read more:
