Row, Row, Row Your Boat . . . . . . Across The Pacific!

Friday, the 13th was a great day for two British seafarers - For that was day when Captain Mick Dawson and Chris Martin completed the Golden Gate Endeavour, a 5,000-mile rowing expedition that began in Japan and ended at . . . . . You guessed it - The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco!

The two men left the port of Choshi, Japan aboard their 23ft long by 6ft-wide rowboat named Bojangles on May 8th, almost three months ago, and rowed non-stop, day and night to complete their quest. That's because while the rowboat was equipped with the latest technology, it was powered only by muscle strength, with Mick and Chris each taking turns, rowing two hours at time.

Along the way, they encountered major storms, got stalked by whales, were tossed around by large waves and almost ran out of food supplies, which comprised of freeze-dried food and an occasional candy bar.

The two had hoped to make the trip totally unassisted but decided to get some help with additional food supplies, when they ran out completely, just 900 miles off the coast of California.

On November 8th, just five days before completing their journey, they received a care package, dropped via a helicopter, which contained not only dried food and bars, but two big Macs, fries, donuts and some chocolate milk! YUM!

Martin and Chris arrived in San Francisco just before dawn on November 13th and were escorted amidst much fanfare to the San Francisco Yacht Club, where they had a hot meal and stretched their legs for the first time, in three months.

While completing the voyage was exhilarating for both men, it was especially gratifying for Martin, who had attempted it twice prior to this. In 2003, he had to turn back two weeks into his trip, due to equipment failure. In 2004, he had to abandon it, thanks to a freak storm that capsized his boat!

Besides achieving a lifelong dream, the two also managed to raise money for two charities - Gold Children's Hospice in Nigeria and the Hamilton School for Deaf Children in Britain . To read more about these amazing men and their epic journey go to www.goldengateendeavour.com.

sources:goldengateendeavour.com, BBC.co.uk, sfgate.com