DEATH DEFIER
Battled sharks, huge seas and total isolation Currents pushed him back hundreds of kilometres Chose “stunning” Cairns as first port of call
EMACIATED, tired and relieved after becoming the first person to row solo non-stop from America to Australia, John Beeden has already started planning his next venture – renovating his cottage in Canada.
It will be positively mundane after his amazing odyssey in which Mother Nature came off second-best after throwing everything she had at him.
A MAN who challenged Mother Nature in a duel to the death chose Cairns to host his victory dance after rowing non-stop from America.
Yorkshireman John Beeden yesterday fulfilled his dream of becoming the first person to row across the Pacific Ocean solo.
He hand-picked “stunning” Cairns as his first port of call and kissed the ground after his 209-day voyage.
The 53-year-old, who lives in Canada with his wife, was greeted with a warm reception from her, family and Far Northerners at the Cairns Marina upon arrival.
Mr Beeden began from San Francisco on America’s west coast on May 31 and rowed over 13,700km through huge waves and strong currents, not to mention energy-sapping humidity which reached its peak on the Great Barrier Reef.
Despite the typically sticky Far North welcome, he said Cairns was an ideal place to dock for the final time.
“Coming around that last corner, it was stunning to see the mountains, greenery and rainforest just past the city,” he said.
Mr Beeden survived on high-calorie food, with curries and pasta dishes cooked on a handheld propane stove and a solar-powered water desalinator used to purify seawater.
He had planned to arrive before Christmas, but the journey was interrupted by severe weather in the Pacific – with currents pushing his vessel back hundreds of kilometres. he had already rowed.
Mr Beeden, pushed to the brink of exhaustion in his legs and core towards the end of his journey, often rowed for 16 hours a day. He had rowed the Atlantic Ocean in 2011, but said the Pacific Ocean was tougher than expected.
“It’s been difficult the whole way, but in fairness, that was what I was looking for,” he said.
“I went looking for something more difficult to push me to the edge, and when I set off from San Francisco, I didn’t realise how difficult this was going to be.
“I’ve peered right over the edge a number of times, and didn’t think I could go on – I’ve had to dig deep.”
Isolation set in when a friend emailed him data that showed the closest person to him at the time was somebody in a space station more than 300km away.
Mr Beeden had dozens of sharks, dolphins and marlin join him for patches of the journey – with marlin as big as the boat chasing down tuna underneath the vessel.
“The marlin are black, but when they turn to attack the tuna, their skin turns to show incredible blue stripes ... it was amazing to see underneath me,” he said.
He will claim the title of “first to row the Pacific solo from North America to Australia mainland to mainland non-stop”, with recognition coming from the Ocean Rowing Society and Guinness World Records.
Wife Cheryl Beeden said the family was overjoyed to be reunited in Cairns.
“It has taken a toll on the family, with family and life stuff, but we’ve known this is what he wants to do,” she said.
“I think this is kind of like childbirth, because he says that he won’t be getting in a boat for a while, but I’m sure in a couple of weeks he’ll be having some other adventure.
“I think the readjustment is just being surrounded by people and noise – just everyday life,” she said.