Eco-warrior finishes World’s Toughest Row

DURBAN paddler Grant Blakeway could hardly stand when he stepped ashore in Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, on Saturday, 6 February.

He had just finished the World’s Toughest Row in a time of 56 days, three hours, and 29 minutes – and he was utterly exhausted.

The 59-year-old businessman set off from San Sebastian de La Gomera on 12 December last year to row across the Atlantic Ocean in the 2020 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, alongside 20 other teams from around the world. He was the only South African among them, and one of eight solo competitors in the 2020 fleet.

The premier event on the global ocean-rowing calendar is sponsored by Talisker Single Malt Whisky and organised by Atlantic Campaigns. The race involves a 3000-mile (approximately 4800km) unassisted row from the Canary Islands to Antigua and Barbuda. Race teams compete solo or in groups of up to five people, and carry everything they need on their boats.

A struggle to the start

For Blakeway, the finish line represented much more than just the completion of the race: it was the culmination of a two-year-long journey. In 2018, he’d signed up to participate in the 2019 edition of the event, with the hope of leveraging its global platform to shine a spotlight on marine plastic pollution. It wasn’t to be. A vacuum pump failed during construction of the LB4, the boat he was to row across the Atlantic. The hull was not structurally fit to use, and it was necessary to cast another. The new project timeline meant he would not be on the start line that year. However, he was fortunate that Atlantic Campaigns allowed him to defer his entry for a year.

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At the dawn of 2020, Blakeway renewed his preparations in earnest. The boat was due to be shipped from the UK to South Africa, and he was looking forward to training along Durban’s coastline.

“You have to complete 120 hours of rowing in your race vessel before you arrive in La Gomera to start,” explained Blakeway.

As a former SA Navy ships diver, he was comfortable at sea, but he’d never done any serious ocean-rowing before, and he knew he’d need time to find his sea legs aboard the nine-metre-long boat that would be his home for up to three months on the Atlantic.

He was prepared for that. He was not prepared for the impact of a global pandemic. “When South Africa went into hard lockdown at the end of March, the last thing on my mind was the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. The world just felt unreal. There was so much uncertainty, and so much anxiety and fear. But there was hope, too. And if I look back now, I think that’s what motivated me to push on, the chance to show others that, no matter what life throws at you, you can pick yourself up and try again. And you can keep trying. You can vasbyt, and you can persevere.”

The boat never made it to South Africa. Between the Covid-19 port restrictions and the travel bans, it was a step too far. Blakeway flew to Findhorn, Scotland, when international flights resumed late last year and, in a picturesque but very cold part of the world, he completed his training row aboard Melokuhle. “She had her own journey to the start line,” Blakeway said of the torpedo-shaped vessel that shares his team name. “She was built in Ukraine, transported across Europe to Scotland, and then shipped from the UK to the Canary Islands, where we set off into the Big Blue together.”

A battle to the finish

The journey from San Sebastian de La Gomera to English Harbour was physically and mentally challenging from the get-go, confessed Blakeway.
He said he can laugh about it now, but alone at sea, he was pushed to his limit and beyond.

“The fatigue is something I’ve never experienced on that level before,” he explains. “You’re so tired you can’t see straight. Everything takes twice as long as to do, because you’re exhausted. And even when you’re concentrating really hard, accidents happen.”

He said the race was difficult enough when you’re in a group, but when you’re a solo rower, everything becomes harder. “You’re the human engine, the navigator, the radio operator, the repair man, the medic, and the cook. When something breaks, you have to fix it. When something goes wrong, you have to make a new plan. One way or another, you find out what you’re made of during this race. The mighty Atlantic Ocean gives so much, and takes so much, too.”

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For Blakeway, a husband and father of three, the isolation was overwhelming. He credits his wife Adri for giving him love and tough love in equal measure. “She’s my biggest fan and my most loyal supporter, and I would not have made it without her,” he said. “We’ve been married for 30 years and this was our longest time apart – five months of phone calls and texts, from the time I was in Findhorn until I arrived in English Harbour.”

A mission to continue

Blakeway’s ocean voyage has made him even more determined to inspire change. “Marine plastic pollution is a serious problem around the world, but the situation won’t change until we change,” he said. “I was grateful that I didn’t see much pollution during my Atlantic crossing, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. Microplastics are almost impossible to see, ghost nets can lurk below the surface, and floating plastic debris can travel from shore to shore. My route from the Canary Islands to Antigua and Barbuda covered a tiny part of the Big Blue. There’s a whole wide ocean to protect, and it’s our responsibility to stand for good, and make a difference.”

Blakeway is raising funds in support of three organisations committed to the education, development, and mentorship of South Africa’s future ocean-defenders and leaders.

“The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge has been a life-changing event,” concluded Blakeway. “I’m so grateful to my family, my friends, my supporters, and to everybody who cheered me on from their corner of the world. When you receive messages from people you’ve never met, it’s incredibly humbling. All I can say is ‘thank you’. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You carried me through.”

Visit the fundraising page at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/melokuhle

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