It has already been tried twice without success. But Peter Harley is confident his attempt to row across the Atlantic this month will work. Harley plans to row solo and unescorted from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to La Trinité Sur-Mer, France as soon as conditions are favorable. Harley, 61, born in South Africa but now residing in North Carolina, expects it will take him 3-4 months to complete his journey. It will travel approximately 4,000 miles.

It will row a couple of 24 feet named wild ride. The scull has crossed the ocean before, but with more than one person on board. The boat is equipped with a watertight cuddy cabin, solar power, fresh water system and satellite communications. The boat will right itself if it were to be knocked over by a large wave. Harley described the carbon fiber oars as “extremely light”.

He’s been training for 28 months! Of course he rowed wild ride as much as possible, mostly on Lake Jordan in North Carolina. He also goes to the gym to do weight training and runs to improve his stamina.

The most brutal part of training is sleep deprivation. Harley plans to row for about two hours at a time, then take a break to eat, rest, and maybe take a nap for an hour or two. He practiced this two-on-two program to know his body can handle it. He won’t have the luxury of a full night’s sleep. “I know the training and practice hasn’t been the same as in the ocean, but it was as close to real-world conditions as possible,” Harley said.

wild ride will weigh 1.2 tons at the start, because the boat will be full of supplies, including food. Moving that much weight with oars seems next to impossible, but that’s why good weather is essential. According to Harley, “I plan to go with the tide out, also with favorable winds. I need at least two and a half days of perfect conditions to get the Virginia Beach boat from the continental shelf to the Gulf Stream.

His trip is also a fundraiser. He hopes to raise a total of $750,000 for three separate charities. The first, called 5 Gyres, uses science, education and advocacy to tackle plastic pollution in the oceans. Next is the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, the world’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to the childhood brain tumor community. Finally, Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization that hopes to end the killing of dogs and cats in shelters by 2025. Best Friends operates the largest no-kill animal sanctuary in the United States. United.

At the moment Harley plans to leave the River Lynnhaven during the week of May 15^and. You can find him on social media, and his tracking and status updates will be available on his website, northatlanticchallenge.com.

-Kendall Osborne