NEW YORK—After two failed attempts to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat, New York resident Victor Mooney said on Wednesday that he is planning a third attempt.
“Three is a charm and I hope to head back to the ocean,” Mooney, 43, said during a press conference at the House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn.
He arrived back in New York on the morning of April 23 after 16 days of rowing a 24-foot-long rowboat across the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He set off from Goree Island of Senegal, Africa on April 1 in an attempt to cross the ocean to the Brooklyn Bridge. The full journey would have taken 20 weeks to complete.
The purpose of his attempts is to raise awareness of AIDS and global warming. Mooney has lost one brother to the AIDS and has another who is currently affected by it.
Everything began well. He was on a custom-made ocean rowboat loaded with two water-makers, emergency gear, food, and a GPS unit. He named it The Spirit of Zayed in honor of the late former president of the United Arab Emirates, Aheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Mooney’s first attempt at the voyage in 2006 ended after just a few hours due to a leaking boat. He wasn’t going make the same mistake.
According to Mooney, everything was going well and he quickly eased into his daily routine of rowing, recording his GPS location, and taking care of his daily necessities. “I was comfortable. There was no problem,” Mooney said.
Still, while floating on the treacherous waters of the Atlantic Ocean without a hint of land in sight, Mooney made an effort to use good sense in all situations. He reminded himself that the journey was “not a race” and took his time. “If you fall off the boat there’s no one there to help you,” Mooney said.
“You’ve just got to go with the flow,” he said. “You can’t fight the ocean. You just breathe with the ocean.”
In the mornings, flying fish would often inadvertently find themselves flopping on the floor of his boat, yet without a need of extra food, Mooney would always release them back to the water. At night, he slept without disturbance.
Everything was fine until the morning of April 14 when he was close to 300 miles off the coast of Africa.
The solar panel that powered his water-maker stopped working, cutting off his access to fresh water. Mooney tried to operate it manually, only to find that hours of pumping the machine would yield less than a quarter of a glass.
He used an on-board phone to call a friend back home. His friend, Mohammad, advised Mooney to open his two flashlight-like beacons that would call in an emergency rescue team.
He waited until the following night to open them and ended his voyage.
“I cried because I said it’s over. You work so hard and once you open these beacons there’s no turning back,” Mooney said. “But I said this is what I had to do.”
The rescue came the following morning from a nearby Spanish fishing boat. Once aboard, Mooney had a bottle of water from their vending machine, made a few phone calls, and took a shower.
His rowboat, The Spirit of Zayed, was towed behind the ship.
While showering, Mooney began to feel a bit better. He said he was planning on getting back home, reassessing things, and taking the voyage again by December. “As soon as I said that the captain knocks on the bathroom door and says, ‘We lost The Sprirt of Zayed.’” His heart sank.
Mooney was brought back to Senegal by April 18 and came back to New York five days later.
Although he lost his boat, he’s still not defeated.
“Once you make a commitment to something, a project, a goal, there’s no turning back,” Mooney said. “For me, it’s your integrity. It’s who you are as a person.”
After he pays his proper respects to his lost rowboat, The Spirit of Zayed, and returns its three flags to their proper countries, Mooney plans on making a third attempt at the voyage.
Still, the venture wasn’t a complete failure, as Mooney has inspired many residents in his Brooklyn community. Among them is the close to 80-year-old Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry who joined Mooney at the press conference.
“I think this life is about attempting great things. Most of us, I think I’m safe to say, spend most of our lives in quiet desperation, never really trying to achieve too much and just settling into the routines of life. But here and there once and a while there comes somebody who sets out to do something monumental, something earth shaking, and they do it not for their own selves, but for the benefit of the human family,” Daughtry said.
“Therefore, when I think of others who have made great achievements and attempted great things, I shall surely think of Victor’s name with those names,” he said.
Back in New York, Mooney regularly rows his boat through the waters that outline the city. “I was at home,” he said.
Mooney gave Daughtry one of the boat’s three flags. The other two flags will be brought to Goree Island and Sengal.
Also at the press conference was Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely, the ambassador of Goodwill with Goree Island. She was with Mooney from his first journey.
She said that one thing she will never forget was that when Mooney’s first attempt met with failure “he was going to take the journey again and we were so proud to witness that he took the journey again,” Blakely said.
“We hope that he will continue to journey,” she said.
“Three is a charm and I hope to head back to the ocean,” Mooney, 43, said during a press conference at the House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn.
He arrived back in New York on the morning of April 23 after 16 days of rowing a 24-foot-long rowboat across the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He set off from Goree Island of Senegal, Africa on April 1 in an attempt to cross the ocean to the Brooklyn Bridge. The full journey would have taken 20 weeks to complete.
The purpose of his attempts is to raise awareness of AIDS and global warming. Mooney has lost one brother to the AIDS and has another who is currently affected by it.
Everything began well. He was on a custom-made ocean rowboat loaded with two water-makers, emergency gear, food, and a GPS unit. He named it The Spirit of Zayed in honor of the late former president of the United Arab Emirates, Aheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Mooney’s first attempt at the voyage in 2006 ended after just a few hours due to a leaking boat. He wasn’t going make the same mistake.
According to Mooney, everything was going well and he quickly eased into his daily routine of rowing, recording his GPS location, and taking care of his daily necessities. “I was comfortable. There was no problem,” Mooney said.
Still, while floating on the treacherous waters of the Atlantic Ocean without a hint of land in sight, Mooney made an effort to use good sense in all situations. He reminded himself that the journey was “not a race” and took his time. “If you fall off the boat there’s no one there to help you,” Mooney said.
“You’ve just got to go with the flow,” he said. “You can’t fight the ocean. You just breathe with the ocean.”
In the mornings, flying fish would often inadvertently find themselves flopping on the floor of his boat, yet without a need of extra food, Mooney would always release them back to the water. At night, he slept without disturbance.
Everything was fine until the morning of April 14 when he was close to 300 miles off the coast of Africa.
The solar panel that powered his water-maker stopped working, cutting off his access to fresh water. Mooney tried to operate it manually, only to find that hours of pumping the machine would yield less than a quarter of a glass.
He used an on-board phone to call a friend back home. His friend, Mohammad, advised Mooney to open his two flashlight-like beacons that would call in an emergency rescue team.
He waited until the following night to open them and ended his voyage.
“I cried because I said it’s over. You work so hard and once you open these beacons there’s no turning back,” Mooney said. “But I said this is what I had to do.”
The rescue came the following morning from a nearby Spanish fishing boat. Once aboard, Mooney had a bottle of water from their vending machine, made a few phone calls, and took a shower.
His rowboat, The Spirit of Zayed, was towed behind the ship.
While showering, Mooney began to feel a bit better. He said he was planning on getting back home, reassessing things, and taking the voyage again by December. “As soon as I said that the captain knocks on the bathroom door and says, ‘We lost The Sprirt of Zayed.’” His heart sank.
Mooney was brought back to Senegal by April 18 and came back to New York five days later.
Although he lost his boat, he’s still not defeated.
“Once you make a commitment to something, a project, a goal, there’s no turning back,” Mooney said. “For me, it’s your integrity. It’s who you are as a person.”
After he pays his proper respects to his lost rowboat, The Spirit of Zayed, and returns its three flags to their proper countries, Mooney plans on making a third attempt at the voyage.
Still, the venture wasn’t a complete failure, as Mooney has inspired many residents in his Brooklyn community. Among them is the close to 80-year-old Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry who joined Mooney at the press conference.
“I think this life is about attempting great things. Most of us, I think I’m safe to say, spend most of our lives in quiet desperation, never really trying to achieve too much and just settling into the routines of life. But here and there once and a while there comes somebody who sets out to do something monumental, something earth shaking, and they do it not for their own selves, but for the benefit of the human family,” Daughtry said.
“Therefore, when I think of others who have made great achievements and attempted great things, I shall surely think of Victor’s name with those names,” he said.
Back in New York, Mooney regularly rows his boat through the waters that outline the city. “I was at home,” he said.
Mooney gave Daughtry one of the boat’s three flags. The other two flags will be brought to Goree Island and Sengal.
Also at the press conference was Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely, the ambassador of Goodwill with Goree Island. She was with Mooney from his first journey.
She said that one thing she will never forget was that when Mooney’s first attempt met with failure “he was going to take the journey again and we were so proud to witness that he took the journey again,” Blakely said.
“We hope that he will continue to journey,” she said.
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