While thousands of experts said it was impossible, after surviving 7,000 miles of open ocean the Brown brothers stepped off their tiny open fishing boat at 6:40 pm, London Time, Friday, September 4, 2009 at the Limehouse Marina in downtown London making world history by setting several world records, The Smallest Powerboat to Cross The Atlantic, The First Flats Boat to Cross the Atlantic, and the Longest Ocean Voyage in a Flats Boat.
The tiny open fishing boat, an Intruder made by Dream Boats in Hudson Florida, separates itself from other smaller boats that have made the crossing is that it does not have a cabin, a keel, a sail, or an escort and it had to carry its own fuel. This boat literally runs in less than an incredible four inches of water, including the motor.
The Ralph and Robert Brown remained completely exposed to the elements for the entire voyage and did not have a keel to right the boat in the event it were to flip. Ralph and Bob Brown survived being run over by an iceberg in Greenland, almost running of fuel hundreds of miles from shore, refusing to be rescued three separate times, surviving massive waves from the remnants of two hurricanes, being slammed into rocks by gale force 12 winds, running out of money and many other amazing events.
Although the boat retained it’s seaworthiness the attached equipment has literally fallen apart from the impact of an estimated 140,000 slams during the crossing.
The I AM SECOND Wounded Hero Voyage presented by Interstate Battery was made in honor of John Harvey, George Holmes, and Dewey Johnson, three fallen US Marines who died in ex-Marine Ralph Brown’s place during the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw – Iran 1980, fulfilling Ralph’s 29 year old solemn promise to honor their sacrifice and will be used to kick off the "Do More" (than just say "Thanks") Campaign in raising funds for wounded hero foundations in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
They began their voyage at the Central Command Center, Tampa, Florida and will be continuing on to Paris and to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. The record setting portion was from Tampa to London.
Details can be seen at www.CrossTheAtlantic.com
Ralph and Bob Brown are guests of Wendy Hodkinson , General Secretary of the UK’s Cruising Association’s
CA House, 1 Northey Street, Limehouse Basin, London (020 75372828, generalsecretary@cruising.org.uk )
They may be contacted through Bruce Schulman – Project Manager in the USA +1-408-829-4193, bruce@CrossTheAtlantic.com
Ralph’s Cell +44 (0) 79 0785 2329 Usually best to call Bruce.
PHOTO permission granted to "www.CrossTheAtlantic.com Inc."
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