Can you imagine one day alone in a small rowboat in the Pacific Ocean? If not, you should know that a local resident and a member of Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North, Erden Eruç now holds the world record of 1075 days (2.94 years) at sea in a small rowboat. He holds multiple Guinness World Records, is adding more since journeying from Crescent City, California to Asia.. That record also includes 26,391 miles at sea in a rowboat. Check him out at https://www.erdeneruc.com.
As of March 19h he is about 173 miles from Legazpi City in the Philippines. He has had stops in Hawaii, Guam and now the Philippines. along the way. This will be Eruç’s second solo navigation of the earth by human power.
Throughout the crossing, Ocean Recovery Alliance produces educational content in English, Chinese, Spanish and his native Turkish. He has regular conference calls with primary school students in rural Turkey and is collecting ambient sound data for NOAA scientist Jay Barlow using a high frequency hydrophone. During this crossing, he raises awareness about plastics problem in the ocean in collaboration with the Ocean Recovery Alliance.
After reaching mainland Asia, Erden intends to continue overland to the foothills of Everest before attempting that climb in the fall of 2022.
He recently had a reunion with his wife, Nancy Board, at a stop in Guam that was forced on him because of tropical storms. We encourage our Rotary friends to follow Erden at erdeneruc.com. His non-profit, Around-n-Over is also eager to accept contributions from fellow Rotarians and you can contribute to his Go Fund Me Campaign HERE. Media contacts can be made through his wife, Nancy at nrboard@gmail.com.
I encourage Rotary Clubs to schedule him as a speaker after he returns home..
