Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1896 — TO ROW ACROSS THE ATLANTIC [ARTICLE]

TO ROW ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

Two Darina: Men in an Open Boa,t to Cross the Ocean. Preparations are well under way for tbs most daring attempt that has ever made to cross the Atlantic in an open boat. George Harbo, New York pilot, fisherman and seaman from his earliest youth, proposes to row from New York to England, using an ordinary row boat, built after plans designed by himself, and intended to show the improvement which ‘ he claims may be made in the, lifeboats. now in use. No sailing will be done on this extraordinary trip. Harbo sqjc* tre will pull out Into the Atlantic?' with a companion, about the middle of June, and that from then on they will row to Eu-■r-ope.— The two men will take turns in' rowing the boat, each working about eighteen hours a day. Harbo estimates than an average of about four knots an hour, day and night, can be made in this way. the passage in from forty to forty-five days. „ The boat has been built with a stout piece of oak running along the bottomland separated from the keel. Harbo coolly says that this is for the two men to lash themselves to when the boat is upset and the sea is too rough for them to right her. Each man in very rough weather is to be lashed at the end of a long line, tied about his waist, which will hold him to the boat when he is swept overboard, which Harbo expects will occur as a matter of course. In fact, it would seem that although the trip is to be made in June and July, Harbo looks forward to the roughest kind of a time aiid will only be disappointed if he encounters uniformly mild weather. The boat Is 18 feet long with a 5-foot beam. She is clinker-built, of cedar, with oak timber, and weighs 200 pounds, drawing when light but three inches of water. The load which is to be put into her, however, will increase her draft to seven inches. She has the general appearance of a double-ended sea skiff. Th£re is an air tight compartment in either end of the boat some twenty inches deep and three feet six inches, long. These two tanks will make'lfis boat unsinkable when they are intact. jXext to the forward compartment-dJcere will be. a twenty-gallon sheetiron water tank, which will conform exactly to the shape of the boat. Four other small tanka of a capacity of -ten gaHons-each will occupy the corresponding position at the stern. A canvas cover, under which the men may sleep, will button over the forward end of tho boat. The men will carry extra oars and a large pair of sweeps, using the latter When they work together. These, with the instruments, cooking utensils and other will taka up much of the spare room. The provisions are to consist largely of canned

goods and oatenmeal. The latter will bs especially useful, as sea water may be used in boiling it. The canned goods will be selected so as to resist the great heat ofa calm midsummer day on the ocean. Two spirit compasses will be fixed in the bottom of the boat. When the sea is ao rough that little or no headway can be made by rowing, the men will throw over a sea anchor made of canvas and opening like an umbrella. Harbo claims that two hours of work at the oar will make up for the drift of twenty-four hours in a' storm with the sea anchor out." Changes of clothing for the men will be taken lb a water-tight case. Their underclothing isto--be-]imed~withßllkso“ffs"toavoid chafing. Harbo is 32 years of ’age, and has spent his life upon the sea.