IT WAS DRAMA on the high seas off Barbados yesterday morning as high winds marred the triumphant arrival of a crew of international rowers.
Family members of the rowers from South Africa, Brazil, Scotland, England and Ireland were on tenterhooks as they anxiously waited through the night, until finally, the boat, Avalon, which had drifted off course for about four miles, was towed in by the Barbados Coast Guard.
When it made landfall at its Port St Charles destination at 7:30 a.m., the crew was greeted with shouts of joy, the blowing of whistles and banners.
“Welcome home!” some relatives shouted.
It was bittersweet moment for the crew that rowed 3 250 miles in the Atlantic Ocean Trade Winds Expedition, but had to abandon the race just two and a half miles away from their destination.
Please read the full story in today’s Weekend Nation, or in the eNATION edition.
