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Alex Bellini: 295 days alone at Sea

Italian Rower and Adventurer Alex Bellini, 30 was rescued today 120KM off the coast of Australia after being on the Pacific Ocean by himself since February 21st, 2008, rowing about 50KM a day. His goal was to cross the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Australia (18,000KM), but due to bad weather, he had to cut his journey short a couple days early.

Even though my 107KM kayak journey was 168 times shorter than Bellini’s trek, I can relate to him when he talks about the feeling he has when he’s alone on the water. When asked why he does it, Bellini responds:

“It’s a matter of emotions so it´s always hard to express. I do it because it makes me feel good, it makes me feel 100% alive and involved in a way I can´t otherwise do on land. I do it because for me it’s extremely easy to do what seems extremely hard for others to even imagine. And, after all, the journey is the reward!”

Since I’m so intrigued by this amazing challenge, I figured I’d share a few notes that I found interesting:

  • Food:He consumes 4000 calories a day of freeze-dried food and energy bars. His drinking water comes from rain and reverse-osmosis-treated sea-water
  • Sleeping: When sleeping, his boat drifts but his AIS system warns him of approaching ships
  • Bathroom: He puts some water in a bucket, does his thing and then dumps it out
  • Boat: He has a 25-foot rowing boat that weighs 800kg full loaded
  • Power: He generates electricy from solar panels built on his boat
  • Entertainment: He brought lots of reading material and plenty of MP3 songs on his 80GB Apple iPod
  • Communication: He has a satellite phone where he can use voice, e-mail, SMS and send data
  • Previous challenges: In 2002 and 2003 he ran the Alaska ultrasport, a 600KM and 1400KM trek on foot, self-supported, pulling a sled with all of his equipment

He is quite the adventurer!

bellini

Here’s more information:
FAQ: http://www.alexbellini.it/index.php?page=F.A.Q.
Boat and Equipment: http://www.alexbellini.it/index.php?page=Boat%20and%20Equipment
About Alex: http://www.alexbellini.it/index.php?page=Who%20is%20Alex

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