The 29 year old Irishman, Keith Whelan is on a mission, to become the first rower to row across the Indian Ocean alone. If successful, he will become the youngest male in the world to row it solo.
Keith is also known as the Naked Adventurer, since he will be rowing naked most of the trip to prevent skin sores from clothes drenched in salty water. He has been eating hard and training harder over the past 18 months in preparation for his challenge. The astonishing fact is that he had never rowed a boat two years ago.
All these efforts are to the set the world record, get into the spotlight and raise enough funds for his charity Keep a Child Alive. He chose this charity because it provides life saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support to children and families affected by HIV/Aids in Africa and India.
The journey will take over 4 months cover around 6,000 kilometers. Keith will leave from Western Australia, where he will launch his 23ft long boat. The solar panels on the boat will support very limited electronic equipment such as a GPS, Satellite phone,VHF radio, AIS system and of course a water purifier. The boat also carries 150 litres of ballast fresh water which will help to stabalize itself in case of a capsize. In the event of an emergency, the boat is be equipped with an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Becon in addition to Personal Location Beacon and lastly a life raft if things go bad.
The challenge will require him to row 12 hours a day, 2 hours on and 2 hours off. This adds up to 1.8 million rowing strokes during his journey. Most of the energy and nutritional requirements will be fulfilled by dehydrated and freeze dried food which would consist of energy bars, chocolate treats, energy shakes and electrolyte drinks.
To achieve this world record, he must row by himself and reach his destination without being touched by anyone else.
Throughout his journey, Keith will be tweeting, blogging and updating his facebook page. You can also find his real time location on www.thenakedadventurer.com.
