Durban — The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Richards Bay helped a man training for The World’s Toughest Row off the coast.
NSRI Richards Bay deputy station commander Norman Rautenbach said that on Saturday, July 6, during routine training exercises at sea, on board the NSRI Richards Bay rescue craft Ocean Guardian and Spirit of Round Table II, NSRI were contacted by the family of a man reporting that he required assistance offshore of Richards Bay.
“We had been briefed the day before that there would be a man in a 7m rowing boat training for The World’s Toughest Row off the coast and to be on standby if needed,” Rautenbach said.
Rautenbach explained that Marc Germiquet, from Botswana, staying in Durban with his partner, had left Durban the day before and was expected to turn around at Richards Bay to return to Durban, but it appeared that he had travelled a lot faster than planned and the change in the wind direction was also predicted later than previously forecast. This meant that in the prevailing south-westerly winds, he was on a trajectory to most likely land up in Mozambique by the next morning if there was no change in the winds. He requested to be assisted into Richards Bay, as in a rowing boat it would have been impossible to row against the wind and swell into the harbour.
“Following a search we located the man in the vicinity of the Patinga wreck,” Rautenbach said.
He said the man’s wife was told he was safe.
“He was safe and in good spirits, and considering the challenge that he is training for, landing up in Mozambique would have been no problem for him, but we were happy to assist him,” Rautenbach said.
“We established a tow-line using our RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) Spirit of Round Table II and we towed him to our NSRI Richards Bay station 19 rescue base.
“Arrangements were made for the man to return to Durban the next day, so he joined us at our NSRI rescue base to watch the rugby, braai and we arranged accommodation for him for the night,” Rautenbach continued.
“The family were very grateful for the assistance and we have wished him well on the upcoming The World’s Toughest Row – a 3 000 nautical mile row we believe he enters with 45 other boats, this coming December. He is dedicating the row to raise funds for the Bush Ways Foundation, a non-profit organisation building pre-primary schools in rural communities of Botswana.”
According to the Ocean Ways website, The World’s Toughest Row is an annual event that tests participants’ physical and mental limits as they row across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Starting from San Sebastián de La Gomera in the Canary Islands and concluding in English Harbour, Antigua, the race covers about 3 000 nautical miles of treacherous waters.
Germiquet, also known as Germ, is 50 years old and is involved in sports such as paddling river/sea, kayaking, surf ski, mountain biking and running.
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