I am writing this post to seek some help and information for Ralph Tuijn, a man who is rowing from Peru to Autralia (Brisbane).
He should already be in a westward current, but the northerly current is still going strong, as are the wind and the waves. He has now arrived below the first island in the Galapagos archipelago. When he gets too close to the islands or cross the equator it will be the end of the expedition
Is there anyone with recent experience in this region or with access to recent maps and statistics about the currents? Any information we can get will help him a lot
From the looks of this plot it seems he needs to get to below 2.5 degrees south to get out of the east setting current OR go north of the equator for a very strong west setting current. If he stays south he'll start getting some real current help as he approaches 100 degrees W.
Of course the wind and waves are working against this as a storm moves up from Chile. All best wishes.
We were a bit worried because based on the maps he shoud have been in a better current already, It's pretty heavy to row a 1300 kg heavy boat against the current...
The good news is that for the last 24 hours he is making progress to the south!
What really is important is his moral: the past weeks he was fighting against current, waves and wind, he reads his guestbook on the website
(he has got a NERA fleet on his boat) and I know it will be a big boost for his moral to hear from sailing fanatics all over the world
If someone feels the need to encourage him in any way, here is the link to his guestbook:
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