Adventurer wants to row from US to Turkey

WASHINGTON - Anadolu Agency

Adventurer Erden Eruç wants to row from NYC to Çanakkale.

Record-breaking Turkish adventurer Erden Eruç has unveiled his latest ambitious epic journey, an ocean-spanning voyage from New York to western Turkey for next year’s 101st anniversary of the Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs’ Day.

The 54-year-old, born in Northern Cyprus, has already achieved fame by being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records last year when he became the first person to complete a solo, human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth.

Eruç said he and an Australian colleague are planning to leave New York on May 19 in a two-seat private boat for a journey to commemorate the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli.

“We will advance carefully and patiently. We will arrive in Gökçeada [in western Turkey] at the beginning of next year,” he said.

He added his first plan had been to row by himself but he decided that he wanted to include people from other nations.

“If I include them, I can put other flags beside the Turkish flag and so we can give a peace message,” Eruç added.

Eruç said last year’s plan had been to reach Çanakkale for the 2015 centenary, but he said health problems had forced him to delay his voyage. In 2010, Eruç was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to have rowed across three major oceans.