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Antarctic Rower Rescued off Falklands Coast Adventurer and father of seven Colin Yeates (47) from Chandlers Ford in Hampshire who was attempting a single-handed, unsupported circumnavigation of the Antarctic in a rowing boat, ran aground on the north east coast of East Falkland at 7.30pm on Tuesday 3rd January. Speaking to Corina Bishop of the Falkland Islands Radio Service (FIRS) moments before he left Stanley on Monday morning, Mr Yeates said he was "a little bit apprehensive", adding "it has been a long time in the planning so I'm quite keen just to get on with it, get out there and see how we get on". Mr Yeates was towed out of Stanley harbour by Paul Ellis' workboat The Lively. His craft was released from the tow at 11.15am. His Ops Co-ordinator Simon Dyde reported on the Ocean Rowing Society's official website www.oceanrowing.com that the wind was force 3, South-Southeast, and that Mr Yeates "was pleased to be on his way and looked confident". Mr Yeates, a former member of the British Royal Navy who served in the Falklands War and also spent six years in the Merchant Navy, spent four years planning the trip. He aimed to spend 10 and a half months at sea covering more than 11,300 miles without setting foot on shore. Unfortunately he was just over 32 hours into his voyage when he came ashore. An hour later he raised the alarm by using his satellite phone to contact his support team, talking to them from the beach as he watched his craft being wrecked by waves. The support team contacted Stanley Police Station. The police spoke to Mr Yeates on his satellite phone to try to pinpoint his position, aware that there was less than an hour of daylight left. The temperature was 10C and the weather wet and windy. Residents from Johnsons Harbour went out to look for Mr Yeates in the Cow Bay area late on Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday morning but were unable to locate him. At 7.12 am on Wednesday morning Mr Yeates' emergency beacon activated and his position was found to be on the north coast of Volunteer Point. Hamish Jennings from Johnsons Harbour and Rod Tuckwood from Volunteer Point located and recovered the unfortunate rower who had spent the night in his sleeping bag near his boat and was reported to be safe and well. Mr Yeates said the temperature was "pretty fresh" during the night. He described his journey as a "battle", saying that he was always going north instead of south with the swell which was taking him along the coast. Mr Yeates rowed through the night but said that no matter how hard he tried he could not get away from the lie of the land and on the second night found himself almost half way back to his starting point. A change of wind direction raised his hopes and he said he thought he was underway. However, getting into thick kelp and with rocks not far off he put out a sea anchor hoping it might give him some respite. The swell then got up and carried the craft out and Mr Yeates described his situation as "between a rock and a hard place". He decided to pick the best opportunity to wade to shore with essential equipment and was closely followed by his 22 foot 1.6 ton (laden) boat, which was slightly shorter by this time. Mr Yeates said the rudder had been smashed off while he was still aboard and "crashing around the rocks". So has Mr Yeates given up his urge to circumnavigate Antarctica? Surprisingly not. The next step, he says, is to do a proper survey of the boat which, as far as he could see, has not suffered "any major structural damage", possibly repair it and if there is still time set off again. However, he thought it might be necessary to be towed out about 16 miles "to get away from the draw of the land". On Saturday 7 January Mr Yeates and his boat were reunited, with assistance from Philip Miller and his tractor. After surveying the boat, Mr Yeates announced that the damage was not as bad as at first feared, and that the boat could be made seaworthy again in short order. On Thursday 12 January Mr Yeates told Penguin News that he is waiting for raw materials to arrive by post, and that everything is "looking good". He is hopeful that the recent window of good weather will hold, so he can set off soon, after repairs are completed. Mr Yeates' craft, Charlie Rossiter, was specially designed and built to order by British firm, Rossiter Yachts Limited of Christchurch, Dorset. Mr Yeates described the boat and equipment as key to the success of the expedition, and said the company faced a difficult task: "Their objective was to design and build a boat that was strong enough to withstand the rigours of the Southern Ocean, big enough to carry in excess of 1,600 kg of supplies and equipment, and bold enough to row single-handed. They accomplished this seemingly impossible task by combining radical design with the use of state of the art materials." On his personal website www.circumpolarrow.com Mr Yeates said the first aim of the expedition was "a personal quest, to be the first person in history to row alone and unsupported…. non-stop around the Antarctic. It will be the most difficult and hazardous lone circumnavigation of the globe". Mr Yeates explained that "unsupported" meant all supplies required to complete the circumnavigation would be taken aboard before leaving Stanley. During the trip he would neither touch land nor taken onboard additional provisions. The second aim of the expedition was to collect scientific data on behalf of several scientific bodies: The British Metereological Office, The British Antarctic Survey, The UK Hydrographic Office, The Oceanography Society and The Department of Oceanography at The University of Southampton. Mr Yeates said, "It is my wish that all data would be used in the study of global warming," and suggested that the transfer in real time of accurate data from the Southern Ocean to the scientists would be invaluable in the production of a model showing the impact of climate change on global warming. Before setting out from Stanley, Mr Yeates had thanked Falkland Islanders: "The people here, despite the fact that they realize this is a very very risky venture, have been immensely kind in so many different ways; everybody's been absolutely great." After his rescue, Mr Yeates said he couldn't thank the people who came out to look for him enough, particularly Hamish Jennings who got bogged and walked for several miles to Penguin Cottage. The oarsman and his craft are entered in an Atlantic race at the end of the year from the Canaries to Barbados, a challenge that Mr Yeates said would be "a bit of a doddle compared with this part of the world". Sources: Falkland Islands Radio Service, Rob Burnett of Mercopress, Penguin News 6 & 13 January 2006, www.oceanrowing.com and www.circumpolarrow.com
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