Rough start as rowers take on Cape to Rio trek

BRAAM Malherbe and his rowing partner Wayne Robertson are being tossed and turned by the rough seas on their way to Rio de Janeiro, and they have only just begun their voyage.

Initially the rowers had planned to leave on January 1, but after windy conditions and unexpected illness, their arduous journey was delayed.

Malherbe has been keeping everyone updated on their 6 700km journey from Cape Town to Rio via social media after they departed from the V&A Waterfront on February 7.

“We had few long nights with a near collision with a big fishing vessel,” Malherbe captioned on a video posted to Facebook on Monday.

“Some of them were not responding to our radio calls and we rowed all night to avoid and get far away from them. This is the biggest danger at the moment beside the underwater vessels, whales and storms.

“On top of all this I was sick with a bad throat and sinus infection for three days. Got antibiotics and now I’m good and feel strong.”

Malherbe also explained that he and Robertson had both climbed into the cabin to make some coffee at 8am one day, but when Maleherbe went to wash his cup he was confronted by a massive ship.

The ship passed roughly 400m from them without them having heard it coming, and they had to act quickly to get out of its way. The weather has also been a battle. “We had a really tough few hours. Weather was so bad that we had to get in the cabin #DOTChallenge,” Malherbe tweeted on Monday night.

“We didn’t lock the cabin properly. Waves hit us side on and we rolled over. Chaos inside and we crashing about like in a washing machine.

“Even with all the chaos, we have some good moments. We are so tiny compared to the big ocean. Such a significant experience #DOTChallenge.”

The two men are aiming to be the first to row across the Atlantic Ocean, and are doing so to raise funds for the Do One Thing (DOT) challenge.

They aim to raise funds for the DOT Challenge – a movement and app that aims to connect like-minded individuals who want to make our planet healthy, green and sustainable.

The journey will be a totally unassisted row covering the distance from Cape Town to Rio, which is expected to take the rowers 90 days, requiring a calculated 2 400 000 strokes.