Ocean Rowing Boat Being Outfitted for Trans-Atlantic Journey

Bojangles on Hyde Street Pier.

NPS

News Release Date: February 22, 2012

Contact: John Cunnane, 415-561-7049

SAN FRANCISCO - Join the excitement as the 24-foot, carbon/kevlar composite foam rowboat Bojangles is refitted for an epic journey across the North Atlantic. From March 1 to March 7, visit with British Ocean Rowers Mick Dawson and Andrew Morris as they ready their high-tech craft at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's Hyde Street Pier.

The Olympic Atlantic Row (OAR) will begin with an April 23 launch, after which Dawson and Morris will provide all the power for a trip to Great Britain, then down the river Thames to Central London's Tower Bridge. They plan to arrive on the first day of the 2012 Olympic Games.

San Francisco Bay marks the spot where the rowers arrived in November, 2009, after an epic Pacific Ocean journey (189 days, 10 hours and 55 minutes) that started on the east coast of Japan. This was the first two-man team to row non-stop across the North Pacific Ocean. Their specially designed ocean rowing boat, Bojangles, has been on display at the Park ever since.

There is much work to be done in order to prepare Bojangles for her next sea voyage. New solar panels, navigational equipment and electrics will be installed as part of the refit. During the seven-day work period, visitors to the pier (enter at Hyde and Jefferson streets) will be able to observe the preparation work and speak with the crew between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Because Dawson and Morris believe that with the right preparation and the will to succeed anything is possible, they have also formed OAR Inspiring, an educational program that teaches young people how to navigate through the challenges in their own lives.

For more information about Bojangles, the OAR project, or OAR Inspiring please visit www.olympicatlanticrow.com.

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