The contest that entered Jasmine Harrison started on December 12th in Spain. The 21-year-old rower arrived on the island of Antigua this week, after a 70-day journey.
A liberating feeling
She rowed across the Atlantic on her own, although she could have competed in the competition as a team. I’ve always been completely independent, says Harrison. Foreign media. “One day I thought, ‘I want to do this, so I’ll do it. It gives me a liberating feeling to do something by myself.'”
Dutchman Mark Slats and Kai Widmer participated in the same competition. They rowed across the ocean at a world record. After 32 days, 18 hours and 13 minutes, they arrived on January 14:
Harrison faced a number of setbacks during her journey. For example, her boat capsized last week, less than two hundred kilometers from the finish line. It happened at night while she was sleeping.
Painful elbow
“I was thrown into the wall, at 20 knots (over 23 miles) per hour. It hurts, especially in the middle of your sleep.” The rower was left with a sore elbow, but after a phone consultation with her doctor she decided to continue rowing.
She says she lived primarily on “biscuits and chocolate.” When possible, she paddled in long sessions for about twelve hours, with short breaks to stretch her legs, eat and keep the boat. She was also paddling at night.
Satelliettelefoon
She says Harrison has enjoyed being away from “the stress of everyday life and the impact of the Coronavirus”. She used her satellite phone to call home and “talked to some people more than she would have.”
She hopes her journey will inspire others to get out, too. “We don’t all have to follow the same path our parents took. We are all different, find something you love.”
