Rowing The Atlantic Solo - Stu Morton - #001

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
What are you wearing to row in?

**Stu Morton** (0:02)
So generally, I think 80% of the time, people will row naked.

**Chris Williamson** (0:06)
Completely naked.

**Stu Morton** (0:07)
Completely naked, yeah.

**Chris Williamson** (0:26)
That hurt again, Hollywood style. So, Mr. Stuart Morton, welcome.

**Stu Morton** (0:31)
You all right, how you doing?

**Chris Williamson** (0:31)
Very good, thank you, how are you?

**Stu Morton** (0:33)
Good. Fantastic.

**Chris Williamson** (0:34)
So we've known each other for nearly a year now, through Reebok Tyneside, and a few of the bits and pieces as well. And since I met you, you've had an idea that I think is probably one of the maddest things I've ever heard. It's the sort of story that you hear about in the news, but you never actually know anyone who's going to go ahead and do it.
So I guess in short, what's your next three months going to look like? What are you doing?

**Stu Morton** (0:59)
I'm going to row a wooden rowing boat from Portugal to Venezuela, which has actually never been done before by anybody solo. It's been done by a team of five guys before, but never done by someone on the rowing. So it'll be like a world first.

**Chris Williamson** (1:14)
So you're rowing across the Atlantic Ocean on your own?

**Stu Morton** (1:17)
Yeah, from Mainland Europe to Mainland South America, which is important because there's a race that exists where people go from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. So it takes in sort of 80% of the Atlantic Ocean. And long story short, it's 20 grand to enter. And there's more kudos attached to going from Mainland Europe to Mainland South America. It's about 1,000 miles longer than the race. So that's the reason for choosing that. And then also the fact that no one's ever done it before, so. There's not many things left that no one's ever done before in this world. Especially in exploration and stuff, and adventures.
So it was one of those last things to grab. And it just sort of built, as it evolved, it's sort of built into what it is now. The initial intention was to just row the Atlantic.

**Chris Williamson** (2:13)
And is that in any way possible?

**Stu Morton** (2:15)
Say again?

**Chris Williamson** (2:16)
In any way possible? Yeah. From whatever bit to whatever bit, so to speak.

**Stu Morton** (2:18)
And being kind of naive to it, I was just like, well, I want to row the Atlantic. What's the most common form of doing that? And then I'll try that. And then looking into it and peeling back the layers, you sort of figure out what's on offer. And then through a bit of sort of bucking against the rules and sort of not wanting to conform, I ended up getting my own route. So basically, there's this company called Atlantic Campaigns who run the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. And it's the sort of the standard bearer, if you like, in ocean rowing. And it's 20,000 pounds to enter that race.

**Chris Williamson** (2:57)
Is that solo as well?

**Stu Morton** (2:58)
Yeah, they take on solo entries, pairs, threes, fours. I think they might have done a five, but I think four is actually the highest they do.
And basically, I looked at what you get for the 20,000 pounds. Now, I'm not putting it down at all. It's a fantastic organisation. It does great things. But for someone that doesn't come from a particular background, 20,000 pounds is like quite a bit of cash just to find to enter a race, especially when you spend upwards of 70,000 pounds to buy the boat and the kit and all the stuff that you need. So, basically, about seven years ago, I set the scene, so about seven years ago.

**Chris Williamson** (3:36)
Bring yourself in a little bit for me, man.

**Stu Morton** (3:40)
I was living in London, working in private security, and basically got invited to a dinner party. And one of the girls at the dinner party was a film director. So, I had asked if she had worked on anything recently, and she had just finished a film on a guy called Charlie Pitcher, who had rode the Atlantic on his own, independently. So, I watched that film and was sort of transfixed by it. Everyone else at the dinner party didn't really want to think about doing that. I think I was the only guy.

**Chris Williamson** (4:08)
I don't think there's anyone that really thinks about doing that, right? Let's say it's the sort of thing you hear other people talk about, but I don't know, it just isn't...