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March 19, 2007
PEDAL POWERED EXPEDITION CROSSES ARABIAN SEA EN ROUTE AROUND THE WORLD >>
After 47 days at sea, Briton Jason Lewis (39) and Indian Sher Dhillon
(34) pedalled into Djibouti, East Africa Sunday completing the 1,900
mile journey from India on a unique pedal powered boat.
The last 24 hours of the voyage were the most critical as gale force
winds threatened to blow the duo onto the Somali coast.
"At one point I thought we'd lose everything" Lewis said on arrival in
Djibouti. "My worst fear became a reality when a fierce northerly wind
started to blow us south and onto the exposed coastline of western
Somalia where there would have been no hope of rescue".
On reaching land Sher Dhillon said "To arrive in a continent for the
first time by boat is truly amazing in this age of air travel and to
have pedalled the thing here makes it even more rewarding"
On their first day out from Mumbai they hit the unmarked wreckage of a
sunken ship, damaging the underside of the boat and destroying the
rudder. After limping back Mumbai and having a new rudder built they
set out again, only to have their water maker fail just a week from
land. The coastguard arranged for a passing ship to drop off 180
litres of drinking water, which the pair survived on for the remainder
of the voyage.
On nearing the Gulf of Aden a fierce current pushed them southwards
towards the island of Soqotra, one of the world's most feared areas
for attacks by pirates. Just days before the pair neared the island a
UN cargo vessel was hijacked and the crew kidnapped for ransom.
The expedition is part of a larger endeavour by Lewis to complete the
first human powered circumnavigation of the world.
Since departing the Greenwich Meridian Line in 1994, Jason Lewis has
travelled 35,000 miles - three quarters of the way around the planet -
without wind or motor assistance -- pedalling a one-of-a-kind pedal
boat ('Moksha', meaning liberation in Sanskrit) across the world's
oceans, bicycling and rollerblading over land. On August 18th 2000,
Lewis became the first in history to pedal across the Pacific Ocean
from San Francisco in the US to Port Douglas, Australia - 178 days and
8,000 nautical miles. In 1994, original pedalling partner Stevie Smith
and Lewis completed the first East-West crossing of the Atlantic by
pedal power, and a year later Lewis completed the first unsupported
crossing of the USA on roller blades.
"The idea of circumnavigating the world by human power is still as
exciting and demanding as it was 13 years ago when I first started. To
me it's still the ultimate human challenge. This next leg through
Africa and the Middle East signifies the closing stages of the
expedition, but they're major sections in their own right".
Lewis expects to complete the circumnavigation by October this year.
The final leg will entail mountain biking the final 6,000 miles
through Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, the Middle East and finally Europe to
finish at the Greenwich Meridian Line in London.
Visit the Press Room on the x360 website for past press clippings,
streaming video clips and photos -
http://www.expedition360.com/press_room/home.htm
Regular updates and archived journals from this leg can be read from
here.
http://www.expedition360.com/journal/
For further information, interviews and photos please contact Kenny
Brown +44 777 563 7004
ENDS
Posted by jason at 1:30 PM
March 17, 2007
DUO SET TO COMPLETE PEDAL POWERED CROSSING OF ARABIAN SEA EN ROUTE AROUND THE WORLD
CONTACTS: Jason and Sher are available for interviews via satellite
phone - +8816 310 127 49
Filmmaker Kenny Brown can be contacted in Djibouti on UK cell phone
+44 777 563 7004
Two adventurers are set to arrive in Djibouti, NE Africa on Sunday
after pedaling a 26-foot boat across the Arabian Sea from Mumbai,
India as part of an historic attempt to circumnavigate the Earth by
human power.
Briton Jason Lewis, from Dorset, and Indian Sher Dhillon, from
Chandigarh in the Punjab province, pedaled for 47 days and nights to
complete the 1,835-mile crossing. The expedition is part of a larger
endeavour by Lewis to complete the first human powered
circumnavigation of the world, now into its 13th (and hopefully
final) year.
The pair encountered a number of challenges along the way: on their
first day out from Mumbai they crashed into the unmarked wreckage of
a sunken ship, damaging the underside of the boat and destroying the
rudder. After limping back to Mumbai to have a new rudder built they
set out again, only to have their water maker fail a week from land.
The coastguard arranged for a passing ship to drop off 180 litres of
drinking water, allowing the men to survive the rest of the voyage.
‘‘As soon as knew we were out of water my throat began to dry up and
I became instantly thirsty. I didn’t believe we’d be able to make it
all the way to Africa on just 180 litres for that distance,” said
Lewis speaking by satellite phone.
Then upon the final approach to the Gulf of Aden a fierce current
pushed them south toward the island of Soqotra, one of the world’s
most feared areas for pirate attacks. Days earlier, a UN cargo vessel
was hijacked in the area and the crew kidnapped for ransom.
Said Dhillon: “Being the victim of a piracy attack was always one of
the main risks for the voyage and it was never far from our minds.
Being so slow to maneuver we’d make an easy target. My worst fear was
to end up on al-Jazeera TV with a bag over my head!”
ARRIVAL DETAILS and ITINERARY
WHEN: Sunday, March 18 expected to arrive at NOON local time.
WHERE: PORT DU PECHE, Djibouti
WHAT: Press interviews, Short multimedia presentation of expedition
through SE Asia and thanks to sponsors, followed by Q+A and photos.
Jason and Sher are available for interviews via satellite phone -
+8816 310 127 49
Filmmaker Kenny Brown can be contacted in Djibouti on UK cell phone
+44 777 563 7004
Since departing the Greenwich Meridian Line in 1994, Jason Lewis has
traveled 35,000 miles – three quarters of the way around the planet -
without wind or motor assistance -- pedaling a one-of-a-kind pedal
boat ('Moksha', meaning liberation in Sanskrit) across the world's
oceans, bicycling and rollerblading over land. On August 18th 2000,
Lewis became the first in history to pedal across the Pacific Ocean
from San Francisco in the US to Port Douglas, Australia - 178 days
and 8,000 nautical miles. In 1994, original pedaling partner Stevie
Smith and Lewis completed the first East-West crossing of the
Atlantic by pedal power, and a year later Lewis completed the first
unsupported crossing of the USA on roller blades.
Lewis expects to complete the circumnavigation by October this year.
The final leg will entail mountain biking the final 10,000kms through
Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, the Middle East and finally Europe to finish
at Greenwich in London.
**INTERVIEWS** IMAGES ** TV NEWS FOOTAGE
Visit the Press Room on the x360 website for past press clippings,
streaming video clips and photos -
http://www.expedition360.com/press_room/home.htm
Hi-res archive images are available online -
http://homepage.mac.com/expedition360/
Please contact us for a password. t...@expedition360.com
**DAILY UPDATES**
Regular updates and archived journals from this leg can be read from
here.
http://www.expedition360.com/journal/
Or you can find the link off the expedition360.com homepage
http://www.expedition360.com
+++++++++ENDs++++++++++
Jason Lewis
Expedition 360 * The First Human Powered Around the World Expedition *
www.expedition360.com
Posted by jason at 1:26 PM
March 12, 2007
Adventure Community Disputes Canadian's Human Powered Circumnavigation Claim
ATTN: Adventure writers, outdoor editors, book
editors.
Contacts: Jason Lewis (currently in the Gulf of Aden)
can be reached by email at team@expedition360.com
(please do not send attachments). Satellite phone
interviews can be arranged. Still pictures are
available.
Expedition documentary filmmaker Kenny Brown can be
reached in Los Angeles on +1 323 304 5364 or after
March 13 in Africa on +1 44 777 563 7004.
WORLDWIDE – Members of the adventure community today
called on Canadian Colin Angus to stop claiming to
have completed a human-powered circumnavigation of the
world.
Adventurer Jason Lewis, currently pedaling a boat
through the Gulf of Aden in an historic attempt to
complete the world’s first human-powered
circumnavigation, says he was shocked to hear the
title of Angus’ new book: “Beyond the Horizon _The
Great Race to Finish the First Human Powered
Circumnavigation of the Earth.”
Lewis, fellow explorers and the Guinness Book of World
Records agree that Angus failed to complete a
circumnavigation, because he did not enter the
Southern hemisphere nor touch at least one pair of
“antipodes,” opposite points along the planet’s
largest circle.
“Everyone in the adventure community, including Angus,
knows that he did not complete a circumnavigation,”
Lewis said. “I find it ludicrous, personally
distressing and damaging that he would publish his
book with a fraudulent claim right in the title.”
Famed explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes said he agreed with
Guinness in the debate.
"With regard to the current debate on what constitutes
a legitimate human powered circumnavigation, I would
agree with the Guinness Book as being the only fair
and impartial judge and setter of rules for such an
endeavour," Fiennes said.
Lewis, whose Expedition 360 is supported by patrons
including his Holiness the Dalai Lama and The Duke of
Gloucester, plans to finish his journey in October of
this year. The next leg involves cycling across
Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and the Middle East.
Details of the circumnavigation dispute were splashed
across the letters page of the March edition of
National Geographic Adventure, with several explorers
refuting Angus’ claims to be a modern Magellan.
Canadian explorer Tim Harvey has echoed the adventure
community’s position. Harvey, who initially set off
with Angus, said he left the trek after discovering
Angus was planning “short cuts.”
“Colin Angus never even entered the Southern
Hemisphere, as every circumnavigation must,” Harvey
wrote in a letter to National Geographic Adventure.
“To honour his claim is like honouring the winner of a
race to the North Pole, even if the racer stopped at
the Magnetic North Pole, instead of the True North
Pole.”
Harvey also said he expects Lewis and Expedition 360
to become the first to complete a human-powered
circumnavigation.
“Meanwhile, another adventurer is doing the adventure
community proud by tackling the challenge the right
way, like a man of integrity,” Harvey said.
“Jason Lewis of England has used a pedal-boat across
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and has relied on
human power every inch of the rest of the way. The
whole adventure community will lose credibility if
National Geographic allows itself to be hoodwinked by
Angus, and fails to honour the man with the integrity
to back his claim with a decade of challenge in both
hemispheres. Lewis shows us the inexpressible
difficulty of truly achieving the first ever
circumnavigation of the planet by human power.”
Angus journey was in many ways epic, but it was not a
circumnavigation.
Seattle-based adventurer Erden Eruc says Angus
conveniently dismissed the World Speed Sailing Records
Council (WSSRC) standard on around-the-world claims,
because his journey was not exclusively maritime. But
Angus used FAI (world air sports federation) standards
for around-the-world flights without ever having taken
flight by human power during his journey.
“Peer review is necessary to verify any achievement,”
Eruc says.
Lewis is on track to become the first person to
circumnavigate the world by human power in October of
this year.
Details of the National Geographic Adventure dispute
can be downloaded at http://www.expedition360.com/nat_geo_article.pdf
Posted by jason at 1:34 PM