Isaac Giesen is attempting to become the first New Zealander to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
Isaac Giesen is attempting to become the first New Zealander to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: The Blue Rower / Facebook
He left the Canary Islands two months ago, and he's roughly ten days away from reaching Antigua.
Mr Giesen's aunty and two close friends died by suicide and in their honour he hopes to achieve this feat.
So far he's raised about $50,000 for mental health charities who support people with depression.
“I’m trying to raise awareness about the issue that we have in New Zealand and trying to make people speak up and break this attitude that we have and try and change the attitude that we have around mental health,” he tells Morning Report.
It’s not the first time he’s crossed the Atlantic either, in fact he did last year in a four-man boat. He says there’s upsides and downsides to going solo.
“You’ve gotta do everything yourself, you’ve gotta make the water yourself, you’ve gotta do the power and all that. But it kind of is a lot easier as well because you don’t have to rely on someone else and you don’t have your life in someone else’s hands.”
“The only other problem is that if you’re not on the oars you’re not actually going as fast toward your destination but that’s not really a big problem with me because I quite like it out here and I could easily spend another hundred days at least.
For Giesen, spending time at sea alone is not a problem.
“It’s nice to have space from people and just experience what it is by yourself. You get to have your own time to yourself and your own thoughts. You can look into things without having someone else’s point of view.”
To help combat the loneliness, he’s got an iPod “filled to the brim” with Drum and Bass music and a few podcasts to keep him company. He also talks to his parents and sometimes friends every second day.
“I’ve got enough company out here,” he said.
For food, he has dehydrated meals on board and has supplemented that by catching a few fish “here and there.”
He’s made some friends along the way too. He’s had dolphins swimming alongside, with around 30 showing up one day, and he has sea birds come and visit.
“I’ve got a small one who’s two or three times bigger than a sparrow, I can’t remember their names, a little brown bird. He always comes by.”
He’s also had a turtle pay a visit who banged on the boat for about an hour.
“I jumped in to see what he was up to, but he just swam off.”
You can follow his progress and find out more about his cause at The Blue Rower.
