Daryl is facing the prospect of up to 90 days of rowing day and night, with short sleep breaks in between.
He’ll only be talking to his mascots Jerry the mouse and Wilson, a football with face (a la Castaway) donated to him by a well meaning friend.
Daryl will mostly be rowing naked as he has been advised that this is the best way to avoid chafing and salt sores.
As a committed ocean conservationist who has protested regularly against shark finning, whaling and the dolphin slaughters in Japan, and who shares many people’s concerns about ocean pollution, he is also using the race to raise funds for marine conservation organisation, Earthrace Conservation.
Daryl and his boat, ‘Bojangles’, will be at the mercy of notoriously variable Pacific weather and ocean conditions varying from flat calm to huge storms, as well as the potential hazard of meeting much larger cargo vessels, cruise liners and a variety of large marine animals also crossing the Pacific at the same time.
While the route will be followed by support boats, should anything go wrong, the nearest help may be several days away.
From Monterey where he is in final preparations for the race, Daryl said, “I’m hoping the biggest challenge was getting to the start line after my boat was held up at US Customs until today. After all that stress, I think I deserve some plain sailing from here to Hawaii.
“I’m looking forward to getting out on the ocean now and can’t wait to start.”
Daryl is raising funds for Ocean Conservation and Kidney Cancer Awareness. To follow his adventures on Twitter, click here.
