Adventurer Sarah Outen Arrives in Montreal After Aborting Solo Atlantic Row

MONTREAL, October 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

British adventurer Sarah Outen has arrived in Montreal aboard the Federal Oshima after being forced to abort her solo row across the Atlantic.

On Saturday October 3rd, Sarah called to be evacuated from the ocean, having received warnings that she was now in the direct path of Hurricane Joaquin's expected track. Winds in excess of 70 knots and 12-meter waves were expected.

Bulk carrier the Federal Oshima, owned by Canadian company Fednav, was the nearest ship able to reroute to pick Sarah up. The crew evacuated her safely and she has spent the last week on the ship as it continued its journey to Montreal. Sadly, Sarah's rowing boat, Happy Socks, was lost at sea in the process.

Sarah Outen said: "I am very grateful to the Captain and crew of Federal Oshima for coming to my assistance. I have experienced conditions of that strength in the North Pacific in 2012 and so the decision to request assistance was easy. Mother Nature reigns supreme and I respect her. I am glad that it recurved away from land, however - the loss of life and damage on land would have been huge. Losing my boat Happy Socks has been very painful - we were a team, so I have lost a friend." 

Sarah was two-thirds of the way across the Atlantic. She set off from Cape Cod, MA, USA on 14/05/2015 to row the 3000 miles to Cornwall, England. The North Atlantic season has been a poor one, and Sarah was continually pushed off course and backwards by bad weather and currents, thought to be a consequence of this strong El Nino year. Sarah had spent 143 days aboard Happy Socks rowing thousands of miles of ocean before being picked up by the Federal Oshima.

She added: "Having spent over a year of my life aboard small rowing boats alone on the world's oceans, the Atlantic turned out to be the row to end all rows for me. I had a brilliant and challenging time out there this summer. I am excited to be returning home to finish the final leg of what has been an extraordinary few years of my life and round off my London2London expedition." 

The Atlantic crossing was the final major leg of Sarah's ground-breaking expedition, London2London: Via the World. She has spent the last five years cycling, kayaking and rowing around the world's Northern Hemisphere. On finishing in London, Sarah will have clocked up over 27,000 miles, raised thousands of pounds for her supported charities and engaged with thousands of school children around the world.

She will return to the UK next week to complete the final UK leg of her expedition - cycling and kayaking from Cornwall, England up to Tower Bridge, London, arriving on 3rd November 2015.

Sarah's expedition: http://sarahouten.com/

@SarahOuten

SOURCE Sarah Outen