Unsupported Atlantic row completed by former marine
A former Royal Marine has successfully completed a row across the Atlantic Ocean.
Dave ‘Dinger’ Bell arrived in Newlyn in Cornwall at about 13:00 on Sunday after 119 days alone at sea. His team believes he is one of the first people to successfully row unsupported from New York to continental Europe, says the BBC.
Along the way he was stung by a jellyfish, hit by huge storms, and revealed he has a fear of open water.
On arrival at Newlyn harbour Bell, from Bere Regis in Dorset, said “I’m never doing anything dangerous ever again” and celebrated with a cup of coffee and plate of chicken and pasta.
Due to changing weather conditions and incoming winds he decided to make landfall at Newlyn, rather than Falmouth as planned.
His final effort involved rowing non-stop for 40 hours after getting into challenging weather off the Isles of Scilly.
Organisers said it has “been a nail-biting couple of days waiting for him to arrive” and he was met by an RNLI lifeboat who helped guide him in for the last three miles.
A number of people gathered to welcome him on shore, including his partner, brother and father.
The expedition was self-funded, with funds raised going to two charities, The SBS Association and Rock 2 Recovery UK.
