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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 March 17, 2007 1:26 PM