Row, Row, Row Your Boat For 3,000 Miles
Makes epic journey as tribute to mother how died of cancer
RowForHope.com
If you thought you were tired, imaging how Paul Ridley, 25, of Stamford, feels. He rowed almost 3,000 miles.
Paul Ridley’s arms must be tired. The 25-year-old Stamford, Conn., man has just finished an almost 3,000-mile rowing trip across the Atlantic Ocean for charity.
On Jan. 1, Ridley hopped in his 19-foot rowboat Liv (Norwegian for "Life") in the Canary Islands and started his aqua-trek with two goals in mind: to row 2,950 miles across the Atlantic Ocean and to raise $500,000 to fight cancer, according to his blog, Row for Hope.
On Sunday afternoon, day 88 of the journey, he posted word that he had landed safely in Antigua in the Caribbean.
"The row has been completed," he wrote.
The inspiration for his trip, according to his Web site, was to raise money in memory of his mother, Katherine Raub Ridley, who died of skin cancer in 2001.
It was a difficult time for the family who learned, later that year, that Ridley’s father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was treated and is now cancer-free.
Ridley, who started rowing while he was at Colgate University, began the journey with the plan to row 10 to 12 hours a day. By day, Ridley planned to stay in contact through satellite phone. By night, he planned to sleep in an enclosed cabin.
Posted Saturday, Jul 18, 2009 - 7:57 PM EST
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