Rowing the Atlantic solo is a daunting task

“Rowing the Atlantic is a daunting task; rowing it alone is downright crazy!”

That is exactly what I thought three years ago after finishing a rowing race across the Mediterranean, which did not exactly go according to the plan. In fact, I did not want to have anything to do with ocean rowing after that experience…

50th Birthday challenge

What I had planned as a little 50th Birthday challenge turned out to be too much of a challenge, where our team of four strangers who had only met for a couple of practice rows out in the Solent, had to face a rather brutal storm, which blew us off course a few dozen miles. Rowing against those big 20 footers, which looked even bigger at night, was futile and we gave up rowing altogether and waited for the support boat to rescue us.

There were other challenges, both physical and mental, which are inevitable when a group of strangers end up in a small boat which they then have to row in quite brutal round-the-clock shifts.

Despite all the difficulties, there were some unforgettable moments too when everything was just perfect – the sunrises and sunsets, wildlife, and the team spirit and humanity at its best – and all of that with extreme discomfort, pain and brutality of Mother Nature in the background. There was something that struck the chord inside me – the severe and uncontrollable nature of the environment versus the choices that we, the humans can make in how we react to it. Is the worst on the outside going to bring the best inside of us?

I caught the Ocean Rowing Bug

Hence, the seed was sown, and the bug of ocean rowing got through my immune system and infected my mind. I started looking for opportunities to join the right team, as I did not have an experience to form my own one. At one point, I nearly made it with a group of Australians, but it fell apart at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. In August 2023, I was back at square one, but now absolutely determined to do it.

UsING my dream to help others

On the background of realising this crazy dream of mine there was the war in Ukraine. Since its very beginning I decided that I could not turn my back on my medical colleagues over there, that I needed to help. I had previously made a few friends over there through educational programmes that I had run in Kyiv since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. When the war started, I set up a Just Giving page and was able to raise a significant amount of money for Ukrainian medics. I was then used my contacts over there to source and personally deliver tactical medical kits and hospital disposables to those who needed it, making sure that every item had a “human face” attached to it.

Sharing Ukrainian Voices WITH MY BLOG

I also set up an online blog Ukrivski.com and started recording stories of the people who I was helping. This had become a separate project, aimed at explaining the war to Western audiences as seen through the eyes of ordinary Ukrainians. It is all about choices that they have had to make, and I hope that despite the horrors described in those stories you would be able to see and admire the power of human spirit and strength of those people that are truly inspiring.

Rowing Solo Across the Atlantic: A Journey of Personal and Humanitarian Conviction

As for rowing, I now know more about what I want and how I want to do it. Having spoken to a few ocean rowers, including Tom Mclean, who did the original solo transatlantic crossing in a fishing skiff in 1969, I am humbled and inspired. I am convinced that doing it solo is the right choice for me. I am also convinced that I would like to do it in a “pure class” boat and I have been lucky to have a acquired Happy Socks, a boat with quite a pedigree, which I will dedicate a separate page to. I have a mammoth task to tackle within less than a year, but I have a great land-support team who will be navigating me through the unknown terrain.

I am doing it both for personal reasons and for humanitarian ones, which do have much in common. A Ukrainian friend of mine, who is a military anaesthetist currently working at a frontline hospital summarised it perfectly…

“As an idle observer, it is like maintaining a sacred fire at the edge of the World in an abandoned church after the crowds have left, having given to temptations and cheap entertainment, and abandoning the Truth. Only one person remains, unmoved by the Worldly temptations. He maintains the fire, holding the World at the edge of an opening abyss. To come off the common path and reach the edge of the World is the only way to find your own one. In times chaos, uncertainty, and catastrophes, when you don’t know what to do, always move towards your fear.”

I am doing it to test myself, to be in a place where we rarely have an opportunity to find ourselves; to see if this experience will break me or make me a better man.

I am also doing it for my Ukrainian medical colleagues, both as a psychological support in order to show that they are remembered and cared for, and to raise money for my newly registered charity Ukrops, which will allow to invest money in a bigger project which will change their lives to the better in the long term.

Follow me and be part of the journey as I prepare to row the Atlantic 2025

Leo Krivskiy 💙💛