ROWER IS ALL AT SEA
Bid to cross the Atlantic is sunk ...after 60 miles!
THE home-made boat was named Sleipnir after an eight-legged horse from Norse mythology that could glide across the sea.
But self-styled adventurer Duncan Hutchison was in the lap of the gods himself when his 3,400-mile attempt to row from New York to Scotland was scuppered.
Barely four days in to his voyage Mr Hutchison, from Lochinver, Sutherland, had to abandon his ill-fated journey yesterday after severe winds started blowing him back towards the US coast after he had covered only 60 miles.
The 52-year-old was rescued in the early hours by US Coast Guards aboard a lifeboat 20 miles off the New Jersey coast. His vessel was initially towed towards land but abandoned to the sea because of worsening weather.
Petty Officer Arthur Flaherty of US Coast Guard Station Barnegat Light said Mr Hutchinson was recovering following his ordeal.
He added: ‘We took him off his boat – at the time there were 10ft high waves.
‘He was beat up from being out for a while in those conditions. It was a case of the current and the seas – they were a battle for him.
‘We towed his boat to about a mile offshore and then set it adrift because of the conditions. We have no idea where it is.’
A volunteer lifeboatman, Mr Hutchinson has spent his working life at sea, including most recently in the offshore oil industry.
He took three years building the boat in which he set out from New York on Thursday. In a post on Facebook, his support team wrote: ‘Despite the pictures of mirror-like sea from Saturday, Duncan has been having a tough time since.’
His expedition was raising money for the charity WaterAid and he has raised nearly £7,200 so far.
Meanwhile, another Scot is also attempting to row across the Atlantic to the Outer Hebrides.
Niall Iain Macdonald, of Lewis, left Norfolk, Virginia, 12 days ago and was due to have covered 250 miles yesterday. He hopes to raise £100,000 for the Scottish Association for Mental Health.