Rescued Atlantic oarsman relives ordeal

A Sutherland man has written about his terrifying ordeal after he got into difficulties and was rescued while trying to row across the Atlantic in a home-made boat.

Duncan Hutchison raised the alarm in the early hours of Saturday morning when the electronics on the Sleipnir – his 23ft craft started to fail about 860 miles from Land’s End.

The rescue came on what was Mr Hutchison’s 100th day at sea, having departed New York three months ago.

Entries in his log book posted online reveal how his situation went from bad to worse eventually leaving the Lochinver man unable to complete the journey, writing at one point that “electronic

“Electronic failure was my biggest nightmare”

failure was my biggest nightmare from the start.”

On Friday morning he started experiencing problems with a decreasing power supply and the failure of his secondary battery followed by the primary supply cutting out leaving him without GPS tracker and navigation.

By 11pm he made the decision to radio for help.

The MV Asphalt Splendir was just 40 miles away and was diverted to assist.

In waves up to 16ft high, Mr Hutchison tried to attach a line to the boat and came to within 20 feet of the merchant vessel’s huge propellers before drifting to safety when the line broke.

Another wave raised him up and he climbed on board.

He wrote in his log book: “I’m now off wood and on to the steel of the freight.

“Climbing up ladder, with eyes looking down and eager looking for arms to help me up, I’m so grateful and thank you all.”